I agree @brbgoingforawalk it's tough and it's getting tougher.

The true beneficiaries of student loans in the US are the colleges. I don't know what it's like in Canada but in Australia where I grew up we fortunately didn't have the same system. There is a loan in the form of a HECS debt but you only pay it off as a percentage of your income. So if you don't earn you don't pay, if you earn a lot you pay it off more quickly. The interest rate is inflation. This applies a natural cap whereas in the US the universities just keep raising tuition because people just keep indenturing themselves further. It's hard at 18 or 20 to really conceive of what a $50k or $100k loan will be like to pay off.

But it does keep them captive - foxes in a cage ;)

Having said that, I do believe that even the poorest amongst us now live better than the royalty of centuries past. Better conditions, better health, longer lives, cleaner, easier access to food, safer from violence as well as in the work place. We may not be any happier now but comparatively speaking, for the animals that we humans are, life is better. IMHO.