Saturday, December 3, 2011

Seriously Subversive: Why We Desperately Need a Debtors' Strike

This piece was published over at Hypervocal.com on November 22nd, and discusses the Occupy Student Loan Debt Campaign as well as my call for a debtors' strike.

Here's a snippet:

As a political activist for the indentured educated class, I frequently send out updates to congressional leaders, colleagues, fellow activists/authors, and friends. Last night I wrote something that has received a great deal of praise from individuals on that list. At the same time, I am also drawing criticism about my calls for a debtors’ strike. Again, I think the call from so-called activists opportunists who are asking for loan forgiveness is beyond problematic. This is a tepid response to a devastating systemic problem.

 

As I’ve said repeatedly, we don’t need to get down on our knees to beg for anything. We did NOTHING wrong. We were all told over and over again that we needed to go to school, for a number of reasons. A debtors’ strike is highly relevant at this juncture, and to assume students should not be part of that group is wrong. I should also note that I have been paying back my own loans for years. I pay them on time. I have never been at risk of defaulting. I have never once had a late payment. Unlike a lot of my readers, my debt is actually going down. For many, however, that is not the case. They will pay for years, and the damned balance will go up! How is that possible?!? How is that fair?!? When you buy a car and pay it off, do you notice your balance going up? Probably not. So why is that the case with student loans?

Read the entire piece here.

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