Comedian Rob Delaney -- with 1.18 million followers -- agrees that Hillary should be embarrassed by this tweet.
I've put off forming relationships, lived in sub-standard housing and avoided happy moments with friends in order to pay down student debt with interest rates double or triple what Americans pay for houses, cars and televisions.
So, yeah, I'm not happy about the Hillary Clinton campaign tweeting this about 15 minutes ago.
To put my feelings in perspective, let's look at a few responses:
And, yeah, this -- probably more feeling like using this imagined emoji after reading this tone-deaf tweet.
Luckily, we have a choice. Bernie has put forward a simple plan to make undergraduate education free for everyone at public universities. In contrast, Hillary has proposed a Democratic Party-style "kludge" that aims to "bend the cost curve" of public universities with "incentives" for states to make an undergraduate education debt free.
I'm angry, but at least I know I have the power to vote for Bernie -- this tweet is grossly offensive and Hillary's campaign should immediately apologize.
Debt is devastating:
Debt is not a joke, Hillary. From the comments:
My students have committed suicide over student debt and poverty in the past few years. I don't think there is an emoji for that feeling, and anyone who thinks that student debt is a "three emoji" feeling is out to fucking lunch.
I live with the fact of student suicide because I work at a public university where almost 50% of our students are first generation college students and a far greater number are supported through a combination of student loans plus full-time work. I have taught 100% 1st generation students courses as well where every student is 18 years old and both working and going to college full time.
Is there an emoji for the feeling you have after a student you have worked with kills himself or herself over his or her struggle. I had to talk a student down just last semester and wound up at emergency psych. services with him after class, where he wrote that he was going to kill himself right on an in-class response paper. What is the emoji I would use for this?
-mahakali overdrive
1:29 PM PT: Lots of folks having a good debate in comments. Thank you!
A few points:
1.) Student debt is a crisis with massive implications for one's life journey. How would you feel if her campaign had tweeted, "What does it feel like to have no health insurance? Tell us in three emoticons or less!"
2.) Framing the question in terms of "how does this make you feel?" Yeah, it's incredibly condescending.
3.) Yes, this is Twitter. And, yes, this is 2015. In 2015, Twitter is just as official as sending out a press release. How a campaign chooses to articulate its message matters -- this was an official bit of campaign communication.
4.) Interns don't tweet at large organizations. This was a tweet drafted by a staff member and approved by a fairly senior staff member, I would guess. Again, random interns aren't allowed to tweet at large organizations, including the campaign of a former first lady, senator and secretary of state.
1:46 PM PT: Yup.
7:06 PM PT: And this "shrug" just makes it worse. Student debt is not a joke when young people are literally committing suicide over their loans. This really bothers me.