Why do you pay off your student loans if the government will do it for you?

Some people take a romantic, idealistic, and moralistic view of student loan debt, and other commitments.

For example, when I promise to do something, I believe that it is a personal commitment, and I take such things very seriously. If I promised to pay back my student loans, then I hold the view that I will do so, or I will die while still trying to pay back that debt.

It matters not to me that the government may have been essentially a sort of legal “co-signer” on such loans, and will pay if I do not.

This point of view is actually quite common among the good people of this earth. Accordingly there are many, many folks who don’t care if the government (which is just a name for all people, every citizen) would be taxed to pay if they personally fail— the romantic point of view is that “a promise made is a debt unpaid”, and many (perhaps even most) people strive to personally meet such commitments.