The burden of student loan debt, especially that due to Private Loans, is destroying millions of people's lives. Most people want to repay their students loans. However, socioeconomic factors, corporate and institutional  greed, and a government in bed with the educational institutions and lenders, has created a population of indentured servants.

The majority of those in bondage to Sallie Mae have no hope of ever repaying loans that have ballooned [up to five times the original amount in some cases] due to usurious interest policies, a "rigged game" which actually makes Sallie Mae much richer if students default, and a lack of consumer protections. As a result, there are no incentives for Sallie Mae to work with borrowers to make affordable payment arrangements or to limit the growth of their loans to soul-destroying amounts.

To put it bluntly, Sallie Mae has become a corporate monster, greedily devouring the lives of those whose only crime was to try and create a better life for themselves and their families. The severity of the current situation is creating the potential for untold misery.

The level of hopelessness and despair rising among those with debt that is horrendously inflated and that will never go away, is not unlike the despair that has contributed to the mass suicides of farmers in India. Since 1997, approximately 200,000 farmers have killed themselves, due primarily to un-payable debts and corporate and governmental policies that, in essence, leave them with no options that they can see but death.

At this very moment, there are millions of people who find themselves with no options when it comes to managing their Private Loans from Sallie Mae. The utter desolation these individuals feel, the shame, the rage, the helplessness, is destroying a generation...ruining whole families and strangling an already struggling economy.

Is America really the "land of the free" anymore when Sallie Mae or any company is allowed to use its power to destroy millions of people's lives on its way to improving its corporate bottom line?

I think not.  It is time for Albert Lord, CEO of Sallie Mae, to pay attention and to personally take the lead in reforming Sallie Mae's handling of Private Student Loans.

My goal is to get at least 5,000 signatures and then be able to gather as many people as possible to to show up at Sallie Mae Headquarters, deliver the petition in person to Mr. Lord, and respectfully demand reasonable, affordable, repayment plans for Private Student Loans. Ideally, this would happen by the end of 2012.

If Albert Lord won't make immediate changes that benefit borrowers, then he needs to step down.  The fact that Mr. Lord can deny that there is a student loan "bubble" shows just how out of touch he is with the reality of millions of Americans, or that he is willing to "play dumb" to protect his own kingdom, i.e: Sallie Mae.

While this petition specifically addresses the financial ruin and anguish caused by Sallie Mae's greed, it is also part of a larger movement to bring social justice for all those downtrodden by individuals and/or corporations who would wield power for their own gain, and destroy others in the process.

Please consider adding your signature to this worthy cause. After all, our country was founded by those who were not afraid to confront those in power, and the desperation of our times calls once again for that level of courage. Please stand with us.

'Vive la révolution'!!!!