It began with a crazy idea more than two years ago. A bunch of Occupy Wall Streeter’s decided to try to raise $50K and then try to buy some defaulted-on medical debt at pennies on the dollar on the shady debt-trading exchanges, then forgive it. They called the scheme the Rolling Jubilee. They failed miserably. So badly, in fact, that they ended up raising more than $700K, got worldwide attention and, over the next two years had to buy up and forgive over $14,000,000 in both medical and student loan debt.
Now a spinoff group called the Debt Collective, an offshoot of the Rolling Jubilee (which is itself an offshoot of Strike Debt, which is an offshoot of Occupy Wall Street) has come up with another hairbrained scheme:
TO THE DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION,
TO THE LOAN SERVICERS,
TO THE GENESIS LENDING COMPANY,
TO CORINTHIAN AND ECMC,
WE HAVE ONE THING TO SAY
WE OWE YOU NOTHING
Today, Rolling Jubilee erased oveer $13 million ($13,384,642.14) of student debt owed by 9,438 people across the United States, while former students of Corinthian Colleges Inc. declared a debt strike by refusing to pay their federal loans.
These former students – who call themselves the Corinthian 15 – are the first ever to take such an unprecedented stand against the current student debt crisis. With nearly 40 million student loan borrowers carrying outstanding balances today, and with default rates rising, the strike by the Corinthian 15 is a manifestation of a deeply flawed system.
…
The Corinthian strike is the first act of the Debt Collective, a pilot debtor’s union that evolved out of the Rolling Jubilee campaign. The Debt Collective is a platform for organization, advocacy, and resistance by debtors. “Just as the labor movement demands jobs, higher pay, a safe work environment, and time off, the Debt Collective will challenge the 1% creditor class by empowering members to renegotiate, resist, and refuse unfair debts while advocating for real solutions including free education and universal health care,” said Thomas Gokey, a Debt Collective organizer. “Alone, our debts overwhelm us. Together, they make us powerful,” says member Laura Hanna. “We invite everyone to join us at debtcollective.org and become a part of this unprecedented effort to unite debtors. You are not a loan.”
Read the full article on Daily Kos.
If you have student join, consider joining the Debt Collective.
Strike Debt has a Bay Area chapter. Help us organize. Join us.
Comments are closed.