David Graeber: The Debt of the American Poor Should Be Forgiven

[marmar]

from Democracy Now!:




......(snip)......

AMY GOODMAN: David Graeber, talk about debt cancellation.

DAVID GRAEBER: Well, one of the things that I discovered in researching my book is that the kind of debt crisis we’re experiencing now, being a real debt crisis, which is a debt crisis that affects ordinary people, debts between the very wealthy or between governments can always be renegotiated and always have been throughout world history. They’re not anything set in stone. It’s, generally speaking, when you have debts owed by the poor to the rich that suddenly debts become a sacred obligation, more important than anything else. The idea of renegotiating them becomes unthinkable. In the past, though, there have been mechanisms, when things get to a point of real social crisis, that have always existed. And they vary by the period of history. In the ancient Middle East, often new kings would simply declare a clean slate and cancel all debts, or all consumer debts, commercial debts, between merchants were often left alone. The Jubilee was a way of institutionalizing that. In the Middle Ages, there were bans on interest taking entirely. There have been many mechanisms.

But whenever you have what I call a period of virtual credit money, when money is recognized not to be a thing like gold and silver, but a social relation or promise that people make to each other, which has become increasingly clear since the '70s, when we went off the gold standard—and I think 2008 really brought that home—debts can be renegotiated. They're not set in stone. Trillions of dollars of debt was made to disappear. We understand now that this is a political arrangement, and it can always be readjusted. And I think what the people coming to the squares—and Wall Street now included—are saying is that, well, if that’s true, if democracy is going to mean anything now, we’re all going to have to be able to weigh in on what sort of promises are made and what sort of promises are adjusted when you enter into a crisis.

AMY GOODMAN: We hear about debt cancellation when we’re talking about developing nations. What about the United States?

DAVID GRAEBER: Well, the interesting thing is that most of the developing nations have actually pulled themselves out of the situation. Structural adjustment has come home to Europe and America. I think it would be a great idea. I think it would bring home that we really are in a different age, that money doesn’t mean the same thing as it used to. And there are people who have tried it. Saudi Arabia, actually most dramatically, that was their reaction to the Arab Spring: they declared a debt cancellation. So there are precedents. I mean, they kind of don’t want people to know that they did it, for obvious reasons, but they did. .............(more)

The complete piece (in audio, video and transcript formats) is at: http://www.democracynow.org/2011/9/19/david_graeber_the_debt_of_the

[demosincebirth]

1. I agree with the premise. It'll be a cold day in hell if this will ever be a talking

point in Washington.

[izquierdista]

2. Negotiate debt forgiveness for the big banks

and then when no one is looking, have the robosigner put in all the names of the foreclosed people as the ones forgiven. :evilgrin:

[JNelson6563]

3. What about the debt of the greedy/stupid?

[customerserviceguy]

4. The ancient notions Graeber is talking about

are embodied in bankruptcy law. It's part of our Constitution.

On the other hand, people who avail themselves of that law have to expect that they may not be trusted for quite some time. Went through it myself, and resolved to never, ever have to do it again.

[xchrom]

5. Recommend

[starroute]

6. If we don't deal with student debt, an entire generation will be crippled

This isn't just a matter of compassion. It's going to wreck our economy for decades to come if we don't find some way to let people get out from under and make a fresh start.