Rolling Jubilee - Buying Debt to Erase it.

[jennylives]

A spinoff of the Occupy Movement called Strike Debt has begun buying debt on the market through donations and abolishing it. The rich have been doing it for awhile, it's nice to see the working people catch a break. They have currently raised enough to abolish over $7 million in debt.

http://rollingjubilee.org/

From the link:

A bailout of the people by the people
Rolling Jubilee is a Strike Debt project that buys debt for pennies on the dollar, but instead of collecting it, abolishes it. Together we can liberate debtors at random through a campaign of mutual support, good will, and collective refusal. Debt resistance is just the beginning. Join us as we imagine and create a new world based on the common good, not Wall Street profits.

[Captain Awesome]

That is kinda neat.

The documentary linked one the page is quite informative too - http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline ... edit/view/

[normaM]

thanks for the info Jenny. guess they'll get my Xmas do-good coin.

[grammafreddy]

This is American, right? It doesn't benefit Canadians, does it?

I'll just continue to help locally, thanks. The family next door to me is of far more importance than some faceless Americans.

[theyeti]

what a nice gesture .. too bad some rich folks cant get on board . they could raise 7 million at one dinner gala if they get a few of the rite ppl behind them .

id like to see this take off . help the neighbor u dont even know its a good idea

[jennylives]

This is American, right? It doesn't benefit Canadians, does it?

I'll just continue to help locally, thanks. The family next door to me is of far more importance than some faceless Americans.

Yes, it is America but we can still appreciate and discuss the idea.

[theyeti]

says they raised 385 000 odd dollars and abolished 7 million in debt . i wish i got that deal when i was trying to pay my loans off ! not sure what to think about that thats roughly a nickel on the dollar !

[grammafreddy]

what a nice gesture .. too bad some rich folks cant get on board . they could raise 7 million at one dinner gala if they get a few of the rite ppl behind them .

Rich people donate plenty of bucks already. On top of what they already give away, there's a number of them - very, very rich people - who have pledged the majority of their fortunes to charity.

http://givingpledge.org/#enter

[Captain Awesome]

says they raised 385 000 odd dollars and abolished 7 million in debt . i wish i got that deal when i was trying to pay my loans off ! not sure what to think about that thats roughly a nickel on the dollar !

Well, they're being cheeky with numbers - while it's entirely possible to buy up debt on the open market for 5 cents on the dollar, usually it's what's called "noncollectable debt" - something that has been on books for decades and most likely has already been discharged from books, or they can't even find the person who owes them money - lesser the chance of collecting, the lesser is the amount you have to pay for it. Basically, it's garbage debt. Real current debt, that would actually make difference in people's lives if paid off cost more - 40-60 cents on the dollar, same with medical or educational (private loans) debt. Govt-funded education debt doesn't get discounted at all since it's not bankruptable - so there's no incentive to discount it.

I'm not saying what they do is pointless, I'm just saying there's fair share of publicity involved, numbers magic to present them in the best light possible by sacrificing actual point and usefulnesses of what they do.

[theyeti]

well said i came to the same conclusion

[normaM]

and pls feel free to send me your extra money, lord knows I can ring up debt!