Published: 12 November, 2012, 00:06
Edited: 12 November, 2012, 13:28
A Occupy Wall Street activist marches with demonstrators through the financial district on the one-year anniversary of the movement in New York, September 17, 2012.(Reuters / Lucas Jackson)
Straight from the pages of Fight Club, a group of Occupy Wall Street-linked activists plans to wipe the debt slate clean. Rather than go down the path of Project Mayhem, they have another plan: buy debt for pennies on the dollar and “abolish it.”
“Banks got bailed out, we got sold out” has long been a rallying cry of the Occupy Wall Street movement following the $700-billion Emergency Economic Stabilization Act of 2008 that kept financial firms afloat after their bad bets went south.
A coalition of OWS groups under the banner of “Strike Debt” has organized the Rolling Jubilee with one goal in mind: create an economy “where our debts are to our friends, families, and communities — and not to the 1%.”
To do this, to group hopes to buy up delinquent debt, like medical and student loans, in order to forgive it.
The activists announced via their official site that they are unable to buy specific individuals’ debt, and will instead “help liberate debtors through a campaign of mutual support, good will and collective refusal.”
David Rees, one of their organizers behind the project, announced a test run whereby $500 dollars allowed them to buy $14,000 in distressed debt. “We then erased that debt,” he continued.
The practice of buying up distressed debt at a fraction of the cost from creditors is a staple source of revenue for collection agencies. Once a third party buys up the debt, they are free to do with it what they want. But instead of jacking up interest rates and beginning a campaign of harassment to make good on their investment, OWS hopes to free the debtors and one day put an end to the predatory lending that has ensnared so many in the first place.
Their goal is to raise $50,000, which they hope will allow them to abolish more than $1,000,000 dollars worth of personal debt.
In order to raise publicity for the cause, “Strike Debt” has a telethon and variety show planned for Thursday which will bring together a who’s who from the world of alternative music and comedy in New York.
Apart from the debt relief action, the group also is helping to raise public awareness about predatory lending practices, debt resistance and mutual aid.
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Buying up debt will not take the system down.
Most of the debts were not honest debts to begin with such as a home mortgage. You walk in to a bank and say, “I want a $250,000.00 loan to buy a house.”
On your signature alone, the bank manufactures money out of thins air. They don’t take it out of their vault and then you pay and pay and pay and pay. YOU keep paying the interest, mostly, not the principle. It drags on for years. Then the market get manipulated so the value of your house is cut in half or more, they manipulate the economy by sending jobs overseas, etc. then when you can’t make payments anymore they take your house and resell it. Great systems – for the bankers – not the people.
“Buying up debt will not take the system down.” – That’s right, Roberto. This is a silly idea that is the same as giving treats to the dog that bites your hand!
Rightfully and lawfully getting ‘debt’ cancelled because of it’s illegal creation is the only way to go.
Why is it that house payments are 10 times the amount of interest to principle, that my friend is thievery because to buyer has no choice but to abide by the terms of those that hold the money at outrageous interest rates (The banks or lending institutions) That is in my book known as a rip off.
“…The practice of buying up distressed debt at a fraction of the cost from creditors is a staple source of revenue for collection agencies. Once a third party buys up the debt, they are free to do with it what they want. … ” – Er, not really.
Any debt, once paid, is PAID forever, and there is no more debt! So the foolish person (collection agent) who buys ANY debt is effectively freeing the original debtor from said debt. That’s it. But…
they (Collection Agent) go on to demand the original debtor (with whom they have NO CONTRACT) to pay them back. This is nothing more than bullying and fraud and these are nothing more than extortion tactics. This is a SCAM!
“A debt is an obligation owed by one party (the debtor) to a second party, the creditor;..” – Source: Wikipedia
“A debt is created when a creditor agrees to lend a sum of assets to a debtor…” – Source: Wikipedia
“Before a debt can be made, both the debtor and the creditor must agree on the manner in which the debt will be repaid, known as the standard of deferred payment. This payment is usually denominated as a sum of money in units of currency, but can sometimes be denominated in terms of goods or services. Payment can be made in increments over a period of time, or all at once at the end of the loan agreement.” – Source: Wikipedia
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Debt