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Thread: Occupy Wall Street activists buy $15m of Americans' personal debt

  1. #1

    Occupy Wall Street activists buy $15m of Americans' personal debt

    http://www.theguardian.com/world/201...-personal-debt

    A group of Occupy Wall Street activists has bought almost $15m of Americans' personal debt over the last year as part of the Rolling Jubilee project to help people pay off their outstanding credit.

    Rolling Jubilee, set up by Occupy's Strike Debt group following the street protests that swept the world in 2011, launched on 15 November 2012. The group purchases personal debt cheaply from banks before "abolishing" it, freeing individuals from their bills.

    By purchasing the debt at knockdown prices the group has managed to free $14,734,569.87 of personal debt, mainly medical debt, spending only $400,000.

    Interesting. Thoughts?
    Last edited by unklejman; 11-13-2013 at 11:35 AM.



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  3. #2
    Its funny. I wonder what Occupy would say about the national debt?

    Personal debt = bad

    National debt = ?

  4. #3

  5. #4
    I dont see the point. If they got it that cheap it had to be debt that was very unlikely to ever be repaid anyway. So I guess maybe they are helping improve a few people's credit scores. In the case of medical debt then I guess thats a nice thing to do. If it was consumer debt than they are just giving handouts to irresponsible people.
    Last edited by brandon; 11-13-2013 at 12:03 PM.

  6. #5
    They just bailed out the Corporations they were so against.

    Most of that debt was likely interest outstanding,,, and if they were like me a few years back,, had already paid more on the debt than they had borrowed.
    So the "loss" was only in extra profits,, and the pay off (even at a reduced amount) was pure profit.

    Backwards logic at work again.
    Liberty is lost through complacency and a subservient mindset. When we accept or even welcome automobile checkpoints, random searches, mandatory identification cards, and paramilitary police in our streets, we have lost a vital part of our American heritage. America was born of protest, revolution, and mistrust of government. Subservient societies neither maintain nor deserve freedom for long.
    Ron Paul 2004

    Registered Ron Paul supporter # 2202
    It's all about Freedom

  7. #6
    Quote Originally Posted by pcosmar View Post
    They just bailed out the Corporations they were so against.
    Honestly, Great point. To buy this debt they had to outbid all the other collectors. If they didn't buy it someone else would have for less.

  8. #7
    So- no good deed goes unpunished or unappreciated on the Liberty forums........
    There is no spoon.

  9. #8
    Quote Originally Posted by Ender View Post
    So- no good deed goes unpunished or unappreciated on the Liberty forums........
    OR UNOBSERVED. Nothing goes unquestioned.

    http://strikedebt.org/

    It is a nice Idea on the surface,,, but does leave a lot of questions.
    Liberty is lost through complacency and a subservient mindset. When we accept or even welcome automobile checkpoints, random searches, mandatory identification cards, and paramilitary police in our streets, we have lost a vital part of our American heritage. America was born of protest, revolution, and mistrust of government. Subservient societies neither maintain nor deserve freedom for long.
    Ron Paul 2004

    Registered Ron Paul supporter # 2202
    It's all about Freedom



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  11. #9
    Quote Originally Posted by brandon View Post
    I dont see the point. If they got it that cheap it had to be debt that was very unlikely to ever be repaid anyway. So I guess maybe they are helping improve a few people's credit scores. In the case of medical debt then I guess thats a nice thing to do. If it was consumer debt than they are just giving handouts to irresponsible people.
    We talked about this earlier. I don't hate the idea at all, but they're likely creating an income tax obligation with the debt forgiveness.

    If they really wanted to muck up the system, they would start reporting the debt as being paid on time, every month.
    Last edited by angelatc; 11-13-2013 at 12:27 PM.

  12. #10
    If it isn't tax payer money then I don't really care what they do with their money but good on them for trying though. The world would be a much better place if people helped each other rather than depending on the government to do it.



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