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:
A STUDENT DEBT STRIKE!
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
From today's press release by the Debt Collective:
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."
The Corinthian College system was a for-profit entity that basically gave worthless degrees to those seeking to improve their lot in life. It lived off its ability to convince students to take out incredibly expensive loans, many from the Government, for courses that employers often found valueless. It went bankrupt last summer, and the Rolling Jubilee bought some $4M of its students' private-origin debt, forgiving it. But Corinthian had tens of thousands of students fall into its debt trap. More action was needed.
The Guardian is out this morning with a good story on the Debt Strike announcement.
Nathan Hornes didn’t think he'd still be working in fast food on his 25th birthday. He had a plan: he wanted to be a pop singer-songwriter...
He never thought he would first be getting national press coverage as part of what may be the first organized student debt strike. But he and 13 other students, with the support of ... The Debt Collective, are taking a stand and refusing to pay back the student loans they took out to attend the for-profit Corinthian colleges ...
Nathan ... got his bachelor's degree from Everest in 2014. He's still working at Smashburger, now with about $68,000 in student loans to pay off. It’s hard to push forward with a music career when he’s pulling double shifts.
...
Bowers, 54 ... still has a year to go in her degree, credits that won't transfer, and $40,000 in debt... She is approaching the limit of what she can borrow through the Department of Education - there is not enough left, she notes, for her to start over, so she's joining the strike...
"I want big changes in the whole education system, I don't think big business belongs in education," Bowers says. "At this point I don't even trust some of the nonprofits, I'm just leery of education in general. It's just sad, [education] is the one thing I was taught to believe in. They destroyed our trust, they destroyed our faith in education, what do we have?"
But, she concludes: "I'm not going to take it laying down and I don’t think anybody should."
If you owe the bank $10,000 the bank owns you. But if we owe the bank $1,000,000,000,000 dollars (and students, collectively, do) then we own the bank. Once we realize the power inherent in this relationship - and are willing to exercise it - the dominion of the 1% at the top of the scam-loan pyramid will stop. The Greek people are slowly realizing this and students, aided and abetted by the Debt Collective, and taking the first small yet bold steps towards that goal.
Some previous diaries on Strike Debt and student debt and information:
What Would You Do If You Owned (Not Owed!) $10,000,000 In Debt? Rolling Jubilee Will Burn It.
Strike Debt's Rolling Jubilee Erases $4,000,000 in Student Loan Debt - For $100,000!
Taking on 'Odious Debt' Everywhere: Strike Debt Goes on Television, Radio and The Big Screen.
How Far to Free? Colleges Can be Tuition-Free. We Did The Math.
If you have student join, consider joining the Debt Collective.
Strike Debt has a Bay Area chapter. Help us organize. Join us.
8:36 AM PT: The Atlantic now has an article on the Debt Collective and the student debt strike: The Guardian Angels of Student Debt
8:39 AM PT: An Al Jazeera as well: Activists launch 'debt strike' against college chain
8:53 AM PT: Another article: The ‘Corinthian 15′ Take A Stand By Not Paying Their Student Loans
9:56 AM PT: And the New Yorker!
A Student Debt Revolt Begins.
10:22 AM PT: The Nation: What Happens if you Refuse to Pay Your Student Debt?
11:52 AM PT: Waging Nonviolence: Strike Debt erases $13M of student debt, while former students launch debt strike
Tue Feb 24, 2015 at 10:21 AM PT: Newsweek: Student Debt Strike Targets For-Profit College
Tue Feb 24, 2015 at 1:26 PM PT: Democracy Now: http://www.democracynow.org/... (at the very end)
Tue Feb 24, 2015 at 1:29 PM PT: International Business times: Student Loan Strike Admirable but Unrealistic Protest Against For-Profit Colleges
Wed Feb 25, 2015 at 9:32 AM PT: Huffington Post: 'Corinthian 15' Challenge Education Department By Refusing To Repay Federal Student Loans
Wed Feb 25, 2015 at 9:33 AM PT: Longer segment on Democracy Now: http://www.democracynow.org/...
Wed Feb 25, 2015 at 1:39 PM PT: Black Agenda Report: Free the Corinthian15 – From Student Debt
Sat Feb 28, 2015 at 9:05 AM PT: The New York Times (op-ed): A Strike Against Student Debt
Sat Feb 28, 2015 at 10:07 AM PT: ThinkProgress: The Inside Story Of How A For-Profit College Hoodwinked Students And Got Away With It
Sun Mar 01, 2015 at 10:31 PM PT: Bloomberg: The People Who Are Willing to Destroy Their Credit on Principle
Tue Mar 03, 2015 at 7:13 AM PT: Salon: America’s student loan boycott: How 15 students took on the government — and just may win
Wed Mar 04, 2015 at 4:49 PM PT: TruthOut: Would You Like Some Crippling Debt With That Degree?
Thu Mar 05, 2015 at 7:46 AM PT: CBS San Francisco: Corinthian College Student With $30,000 In Loans Refuses To Pay, Takes Part In Debt Strike
Thu Mar 05, 2015 at 1:00 PM PT: 'Corinthian 15' Student Debt Strike Picks Up Congressional Endorsement
Fri Mar 06, 2015 at 3:01 PM PT: Disorderly Conduct: Interview with Two of the Corinthian 15