Update and more info on the FORUM & BENEFIT for STRIKE DEBT: ROLLING JUBILEE, Sunday, June 30, 2013. 11:00 am- to 2:00 pm; Upstate Films in Rhinebeck, NY.
Andrew Ross, Professor of Social and Cultural Analysis at New York University, will be joined by Astra Taylor, filmmaker, and author, to discuss the purpose and activities of ROLLING JUBILEE initiative. Both are organizers with STRIKE DEBT.
Among the performers will be satirist, poet Mikhail Horowitz and musician Gilles Malkine.
STRIKE DEBT: ROLLING JUBILEE is a strategy originating with Occupy Wall Street to strike at the heart of the debilitating role of debt in today’s economic life.
“Jubilee” is the age-old practice of the forgiveness of debt. Again and again in history when debt has threatened the general well-being and normal functioning of society, the forgiveness of debt has been a way for society to regain stability and protect itself from falling into economic chaos. Today’s global corporate and financial elite, with the facilitation of politicians, have both manufactured and sought to exploit the debt crisis rather than turn to this time-honored practice. Our world is permeated by debt at every level. In the U.S., 62% of all bankruptcies are due to medical debt associated with a for-profit health care system with staggering medical and insurance costs; student debt reached the one trillion dollar mark over a year ago; rising costs and stagnant wages over decades have thrown millions into debt simply to maintain their livelihood; this in the context of record corporate profits and rising productivity. The housing crash, driven by predatory lending, led to millions of foreclosures and the concomitant loss of equity. For every $100 of income, there is $154 of debt in the average U.S. household.
Wall Street financial institutions “bundle” individual debt into “packages” which are then sold on an open market at a fraction of the value of the original loans. Buyers normally seek to collect on the debt or some profitable percentage of it. Rolling Jubilee purchases these packages and abolishes the debt! Nominal contributions from liberated debtors as well as donations from supporters of the initiative make it possible for more loan packages to be purchased and more debt abolished—hence “rolling” jubilee. Thousands of persons have already had their medical debt abolished in this way!
Suggested donation is $15 but any contribution will be welcomed. Proceeds will go toward the Occupy Wall Street STRIKE DEBT/ROLLING JUBILEE Initiative.
This event is being organized by Occupy Northern Dutchess and co-sponsored by Occupy New Paltz and Occupy Poughkeepsie.
For more information, visit wwwoccupynortherndutchess.blogspot.com, Rollingjubilee.org, Strikedebt.org, as well as Upstate Films.
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Andrew Ross, Professor of Social and Cultural Analysis at New York University, will be joined by Astra Taylor, filmmaker, and author, to discuss the purpose and activities of ROLLING JUBILEE initiative. Both are organizers with STRIKE DEBT.
Among the performers will be satirist, poet Mikhail Horowitz and musician Gilles Malkine.
STRIKE DEBT: ROLLING JUBILEE is a strategy originating with Occupy Wall Street to strike at the heart of the debilitating role of debt in today’s economic life.
“Jubilee” is the age-old practice of the forgiveness of debt. Again and again in history when debt has threatened the general well-being and normal functioning of society, the forgiveness of debt has been a way for society to regain stability and protect itself from falling into economic chaos. Today’s global corporate and financial elite, with the facilitation of politicians, have both manufactured and sought to exploit the debt crisis rather than turn to this time-honored practice. Our world is permeated by debt at every level. In the U.S., 62% of all bankruptcies are due to medical debt associated with a for-profit health care system with staggering medical and insurance costs; student debt reached the one trillion dollar mark over a year ago; rising costs and stagnant wages over decades have thrown millions into debt simply to maintain their livelihood; this in the context of record corporate profits and rising productivity. The housing crash, driven by predatory lending, led to millions of foreclosures and the concomitant loss of equity. For every $100 of income, there is $154 of debt in the average U.S. household.
Wall Street financial institutions “bundle” individual debt into “packages” which are then sold on an open market at a fraction of the value of the original loans. Buyers normally seek to collect on the debt or some profitable percentage of it. Rolling Jubilee purchases these packages and abolishes the debt! Nominal contributions from liberated debtors as well as donations from supporters of the initiative make it possible for more loan packages to be purchased and more debt abolished—hence “rolling” jubilee. Thousands of persons have already had their medical debt abolished in this way!
Suggested donation is $15 but any contribution will be welcomed. Proceeds will go toward the Occupy Wall Street STRIKE DEBT/ROLLING JUBILEE Initiative.
This event is being organized by Occupy Northern Dutchess and co-sponsored by Occupy New Paltz and Occupy Poughkeepsie.
For more information, visit wwwoccupynortherndutchess.blogspot.com, Rollingjubilee.org, Strikedebt.org, as well as Upstate Films.