He moved to a jungle in India to escape his student debt — and he's not alone

The first guy in this story got his bachelor's degree in philosophy and then when he couldn't find a job with sterling qualifications like that (hard to believe I know), he went back to school (thus piling up even more debt) and got a master's degree in comparative literature, for god's sake. Now THAT was an even more brilliant choice than philosophy in terms of expecting to get a good job, right? I'd say with degrees in those fields, your career path would basically be McDonald's. This guy's inability to get a job was self-inflicted.

So leach off the tax payers for free education then like a coward leave the country to avoid paying the loan back.

"Something has gone horribly awry with this lending system."

Yes because greedy fucks exist and are the ones lending the money and they have the money to lend because they are allowed to charge interest over and above the cost of inflation and bookkeeping and have been born into a family granted the right to print money.

It is the lender's responsibility to vet the borrower and it is the borrowers responsibility to pay the debt. These "students" are adults, they signed the loan agreement, they owe the money. So, if they cannot pay the unsecured debt, simply declare bankruptcy. It's not like we have debtors prison, there not going to jail. The lender made a bad loan, if enough people do this then the lenders will get stricter on loans and money supply will dry up. Morally though they should pay the loan, but its the lender who said this philosophy major is getting a masters in comparative literature, this is a good deal we should lend him more money.

Did he bring a toilet along or did he go native?