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Comment by dalke | Hacker News Reader

Isn't it great how how those rich US states are opening their arms and pocketbooks to support the Syrian refugees, so that poor Sweden and Germany - to say nothing of impoverished Turkey, Italy, and Greece - don't have to bear it on their own.

And look at those US universities, all well-supported by the states so that students don't need to struggle with debt for a decade after they graduate.

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It sounds like you are trying to make a point about something.

Those refugees are crossing over land into Germany, Sweden, Denmark, and anywhere they can find. Don't assume that all Swedes are just happily opening their doors and pocketbooks to this influx.

And as for Swedish student debt, also please do not insinuate that they are not taking on debt of their own. I know plenty of people (event into their 50s) still making payments CSN (Student loan authority-thingy).

Now if you will excuse me -- I have to read the article :-)

I know plenty of people (event into their 50s) still making payments CSN (Student loan authority-thingy).

Sure, but are those people struggling with student debt? I took on just about as much student debt as it's possible to take on in Sweden, and while I'll be making payments well into my 50s the terms are rather reasonable and the monthly amounts are really quite small.

Well the fact that they are accepting them and their request means that yes they are opening their arms. Whether some part of their population is not happy or not is beyond the point.

Swedish student debt? For those that studied in a private university maybe. For the rest it is negligible in comparison to student debt in the US.

On the contrary, the US distributed $31B worth of foreign aid in 2013 whereas for Germany it was $14B [1].

1. http://www.oecd.org/dac/stats/documentupload/ODA%202013%20Ta...

The US GDP in 2014 was 17.42 Trillion USD while the German GDP in 2014 was 3.85 Trillion USD. So Germany spent more than double what the US did on foreign aid as a fraction of GDP.

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