It might not have been before, though. Maybe two people graduated at the same time. One person lived it up, making the minimum loan payment so they could afford to eat out, go on vacations, etc. The other person was "responsible" and paid off the loans early. Now the government is effectively rewarding less responsible behavior.

This is a very American thing though, unfortunately... various demographic groups have been easily persuaded over the years that they are "special" because they "pulled themselves up by their bootstraps" and that if they could do it then others should as well. It's a very specific kind of gaslighting such that it's a miracle we have any degree of social services, even if the ones we do have are shit.

The significant part of the affront is asking people who paid for their own tuition to then pay for someone else's in addition.

It costs money to forgive loans, which either could have been spent elsewhere or must be raised in new taxes.

The analogy is if you build a house with plumbing, and your neighbor builds without, then the city uses tax money from you to pay for their upgrade.

There is no point in comparing apples to bananas.