Ok, let me see if you can grab this idea:The more wealth controlled by tiny amounts of people, the less wealth for the rest of the people. It's not a very hard concept to grasp.
It's easy to grasp, and it's also a fallacy as it applies to participants in the U.S. market. I responded to this already, you didn't really rebut my points.
Another short answer is that if the pie was fixed as you claim, how could the market grow, or shrink, as it does every second of every day? It's false propoganda.
needing to finance tens of thousands of dollars to go to college
Why spend tens of thousands on college if you can't capitalize on it? Sounds like bad choices or bad advice. Community college outside my window is like $80/course. Nothing wrong with at the least, 2 years there.
coming out with mountains of debt
Americans do have a problem with debt spending, it sure as hell isn't a problem with the system.
Then these people need to go out and buy a mortgage
Nonsense. I started my business while living in an apartment. There is not only no need to buy a house, there is no need to rent a house. That sort of mindset is what cripples americans into losers. We have vietnemese refuges, people raised in dirt villages who come here, get an education without all that debt, live with their parents until they can afford their own residence. What do literally dirt poor vietnemese people know that americans don't? Apparently how to work for a living and make smart financial choices?
And on top of that you want people to borrow $400,000 to start a business
Good lord, what are you starting? Most businesses can either be started with sweat equity (work) and maybe a few thousands bucks (like a cell phone subscription cost), or you would line up the first contract before you start, so all you need is cash-flow until you get paid. But either way, I'd rather see someone make a well researched investment in a $200K business, than buy a home on a whim for $200K because "they wanted more space and liked the house". I mean of course, if they are actually interested in gaining wealth.
You wrote it yourself. Wealth begets weatlh. Why are people grabbing up debt instead of wealth (savings?) It's an example of belief not coinciding with behavior (or reality).
What about when it happens again?
Best way to insulate against downturns is to save up during the up cycle. Not go in debt (see above)