Can't Pay, Won't Pay: The Case for Economic Disobedience and Debt Abolition
Debtors have been mocked, scolded and lied to for decades. We have been told that it is perfectly normal to go into debt to get medical care, to go to school, or even to pay for our own incarceration. We 've been told there is no way to change an economy that pushes the majority of people into debt while a small minority hoard wealth and power.

The coronavirus pandemic has revealed that mass indebtedness and extreme inequality are a political choice. In the early days of the crisis, elected officials drew up plans to spend trillions of dollars. The only question was: where would the money go and who would benefit from the bailout?

The truth is that there has never been a lack of money for things like housing, education and health care. Millions of people never needed to be forced into debt for those things in the first place.

Armed with this knowledge, a militant debtors movement has the potential to rewrite the contract and assure that no one has to mortgage their future to survive.

Debtors of the World Must Unite.

As isolated individuals, debtors have little influence. But as a bloc, we can leverage our debts and devise new tactics to challenge the corporate creditor class and help win reparative, universal public goods.

Individually, our debts overwhelm us. But together, our debts can make us powerful.

1138542613
Can't Pay, Won't Pay: The Case for Economic Disobedience and Debt Abolition
Debtors have been mocked, scolded and lied to for decades. We have been told that it is perfectly normal to go into debt to get medical care, to go to school, or even to pay for our own incarceration. We 've been told there is no way to change an economy that pushes the majority of people into debt while a small minority hoard wealth and power.

The coronavirus pandemic has revealed that mass indebtedness and extreme inequality are a political choice. In the early days of the crisis, elected officials drew up plans to spend trillions of dollars. The only question was: where would the money go and who would benefit from the bailout?

The truth is that there has never been a lack of money for things like housing, education and health care. Millions of people never needed to be forced into debt for those things in the first place.

Armed with this knowledge, a militant debtors movement has the potential to rewrite the contract and assure that no one has to mortgage their future to survive.

Debtors of the World Must Unite.

As isolated individuals, debtors have little influence. But as a bloc, we can leverage our debts and devise new tactics to challenge the corporate creditor class and help win reparative, universal public goods.

Individually, our debts overwhelm us. But together, our debts can make us powerful.

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Can't Pay, Won't Pay: The Case for Economic Disobedience and Debt Abolition

Can't Pay, Won't Pay: The Case for Economic Disobedience and Debt Abolition

Can't Pay, Won't Pay: The Case for Economic Disobedience and Debt Abolition

Can't Pay, Won't Pay: The Case for Economic Disobedience and Debt Abolition

Overview

Debtors have been mocked, scolded and lied to for decades. We have been told that it is perfectly normal to go into debt to get medical care, to go to school, or even to pay for our own incarceration. We 've been told there is no way to change an economy that pushes the majority of people into debt while a small minority hoard wealth and power.

The coronavirus pandemic has revealed that mass indebtedness and extreme inequality are a political choice. In the early days of the crisis, elected officials drew up plans to spend trillions of dollars. The only question was: where would the money go and who would benefit from the bailout?

The truth is that there has never been a lack of money for things like housing, education and health care. Millions of people never needed to be forced into debt for those things in the first place.

Armed with this knowledge, a militant debtors movement has the potential to rewrite the contract and assure that no one has to mortgage their future to survive.

Debtors of the World Must Unite.

As isolated individuals, debtors have little influence. But as a bloc, we can leverage our debts and devise new tactics to challenge the corporate creditor class and help win reparative, universal public goods.

Individually, our debts overwhelm us. But together, our debts can make us powerful.

Product Details

ISBN-13: 9781642592627
Publisher: Haymarket Books
Publication date: 10/20/2020
Pages: 170
Sales rank: 1,013,407
Product dimensions: 5.20(w) x 7.40(h) x 0.70(d)

About the Author

THE DEBT COLLECTIVE is a new kind of union—a debtors ' union—that transforms individual financial struggles into a source of collective power by enabling its members to dispute debts and engage in strategic campaigns of economic noncooperation. The Debt Collective 's writers' bloc includes Ann Larson, Astra Taylor, Hannah Appel, Thomas Gokey, and Laura Hanna.

ASTRA TAYLOR is a filmmaker, author, and activist. She is the author of The People 's Platform: Taking Back Power and Culture in the Digital Age and Democracy May Not Exist, But We 'll Miss It When It 's Gone.

Table of Contents

Chapter 1 You are Not a Loan: Recognizing our Power in the Age of Debt
Chapter 2 How Did We Get Here? Different Histories for Different Futures
Chapter 3 Debt Strike! Households, Cities, Empires
Chapter 4 Disrupting Dystopia: Algorithmic Extraction and Digital Redlining
Chapter 5 The Future of Finance: Economic Disobedience and Reparative Public Goods

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