Occupy Wall Street campaigners buy-up debt to abolish it. Occupy's New Offshoot Set to Cancel Millions in Medical Debts. Click here to support news free of corporate influence by donating to Truthout.
Help us reach our fundraising goal so we can continue doing this work! (Photo: Steve Rhodes / Flickr)Medical debt is the cause of 62 percent of bankruptcies, say organizers of Strike Debt, which threw last night's offbeat fundraiser for their new “Rolling Jubilee.” Ordinary people donated enough money to collectively buy an estimated $5.9 million in bad debt in order to cancel it. On the first anniversary of Occupy Wall Street's eviction from Zuccotti Park, celebrity and local performers donated their time for a "post-modern variety show" last night at Manhattan's Le Poisson Rouge nightclub. They were there to raise money for what may be the most far-reaching project to grow out of the Occupy movement so far: a "bailout for the 99 percent" called Rolling Jubilee. The event had been planned as a launch party for Rolling Jubilee, which opened its bank account on Friday, November 9.
Rolling Jubilee. Strike Debt and Rolling Jubilee: The Debate. Strike Debt and Rolling Jubilee: The Debate Of the organizing strategies emerging from Occupy, few have the momentum of Strike Debt.
Organizers believe that debt is what Americans hold in common; debtors must be the class that unites and fights for a fair economy beginning with the elimination of medical, housing, education, and credit card debt. It reflects the widespread attitude that made David Graeber’s Debt: The First 5000 Years so popular and the conditions that made the 99 percent Tumblr a catalog of loans and unpaid mortgages. But is debt the most powerful category around which to organize? Why organize around debt, rather than class, occupation, grievance? As we speak, Wal-Mart workers are organizing warehouse strikes and teachers unions in Chicago, Wisconsin, and beyond are engaged in labor struggles to fight back austerity. As post-Occupy activists strategize and build, these questions will be paramount. -Editors Dear Seth, Andrew. How Rolling Jubilee Works. Occupy Wall Street has been out of the headline for a while now, but the group has launched a new plan that could gain them traction again.
Rolling Jubilee is a plan to use money pooled from donations to buy distressed consumer debt at marked down prices. Then, instead of collecting it like a debt agency would, the group would forgive the debt. Here's how the group describe it: One of the organizers of the project, David Rees, offers more explanation on his blog: OWS is going to start buying distressed debt (medical bills, student loans, etc.) in order to forgive it.
This is a simple, powerful way to help folks in need — to free them from heavy debt loads so they can focus on being productive, happy and healthy. That test run does sound impressive, and the idea of helping people in dire financial straits through unfortunate circumstances (for example, medical bills) is a noble one. Could it work? Here Salmon explains why that plan didn't work: Strike Debt! Debt Resistance for the 99%