Comments on No Debt MBA: An "arrangement" to pay the bills

Harri - Interesting! I didn't know the...

2011-08-19T06:39:15.637-07:00

Harri - Interesting! I didn't know the context in the UK. Certainly media attention like that would make the idea much more approachable and appealing to young women.

Sex work as a means of funding your way through ed...

2011-08-19T06:28:37.192-07:00

Sex work as a means of funding your way through education has been glamorized in the UK in recent years. A PHD student started a blog under the pen name 'Belle du Jour',entitled 'The Secret Diary of a London Call Girl', detailing her life as a high class prostitute. Incredibly popular, Belle du Jour became a household name. The blog spawned a best selling book and a highly rated TV series.

There's no question that Belle's story has altered perceptions of sex work and 'funding' opportunities for a generation of female students. I can't imagine that the glamour, the money and the media endorsement this country has inadvertently given this subject, can outweigh the emotional hurt that such a lifestyle choice almost certainly brings with it.

Although a transaction may benefit both individual...

2011-08-18T07:26:45.859-07:00

Although a transaction may benefit both individuals, it does not follow that such an activity should be sanctioned.

If sexuality is nothing more than a commodity, then it would be absolutely no issue to finance debt through prostitution; this is the libertarian way. I understand the economics of the argument, but we cannot analyzing this situation in a vacuum (i.e. X job = Y money = less loans). Removing the humanity from the situation would give license to actions that most society would agree was wrong.

For instance, permitting a minor to buy drugs - from strictly an economic standpoint - would benefit both the seller (monetarily) and the buyer (the high). Few would argue though that a society should accept this transaction.

Of course not - such transactions are imbued with a moral element. If, however, we accept the possibility that there are moral parameters by which we, as humans, ought to govern ourselves, then prostitution could be seen as crossing the line.

A former co-worker had a very wealthy (and married...

2011-08-17T20:02:34.565-07:00

A former co-worker had a very wealthy (and married) sugar daddy who paid for her child care, rent, clothes, food, manicures, took her out to lunch 3-4 times a week and weekends away on his private jet. This lasted for 3 years.

She finally broke up with him when he refused to marry her. She said the perks were nice, but love would have been nicer.

I think it's fine if they like the arrangement...

2011-08-16T23:05:24.650-07:00

I think it's fine if they like the arrangement. For example, if they wake up in the mornings and feel ashamed, then it's probably not worth it. If they are perfectly happy with their "job", then more power to them. I rather blog for cash, lol.

Seems like it's just asking to become dependen...

2011-08-16T20:27:10.957-07:00

Seems like it's just asking to become dependent or abused ...

Wow! I guess sometimes you gotta do what you gotta...

2011-08-16T20:21:04.966-07:00

Wow! I guess sometimes you gotta do what you gotta do. Although it's not something I'd ever see myself doing...okay, I might consider it for $100,000. Aside from that, I think I'd rather do what needs to be done without such measures. It just seems like something that would get worse over time. Crazy stuff, but everybody should be able to do whatever they want as long as nobody is getting hurt or super-illegal. I don't know.?

I think that in the short-term they might see it a...

2011-08-16T19:32:09.473-07:00

I think that in the short-term they might see it as a legitimate option, but over the long run they'll be worse off for it. Just not a wise move for their long-term self respect and view of the world, despite how it might seem ok at the time.

Maybe it's better to make strategic choices about taking on college debt, choosing the right school, etc.

I know many won't agree with my view, but that's ok...

You know, honestly, it's really easy for me to...

2011-08-16T17:42:31.589-07:00

You know, honestly, it's really easy for me to say that I wouldn't do that, because my university tuition was about $5000 (CAD) a year, which was the same as the tuition at every university across the province, and I went to a very good school.

If I was staring down the barrel of $40,000 a year in tuition fees alone, I might have a different perspective. I can't even imagine shouldering that kind of debt to get an education.

As far as I'm concerned people can pay back th...

2011-08-16T10:06:13.604-07:00

As far as I'm concerned people can pay back their student loans with whatever income they'd like. If that means resorting to prostitution...well, it's probably not the preferred method but it gets the job done.

It's probably not healthy, emotionally or otherwise, but is it really all that much worse than working a retail job for 100 hours a week to pay the bills? That has to be just as unhealthy, and it requires far more time.