by Steve Horn

Like in Spain, the megaphone is loud within U.S. elite circles to ram through austerity measures.

Photo: Steve Rhodes

The strongest example of this is a corporate-funded front group by the name of “Fix the Debt”, run by hedge fund manager and former U.S. Secretary of the Treasury under Republican President Ronald Reagan, Peter Peterson. It’s staffed by a bipartisan cadre of politically-connected flacks who, to quote the late legendary comedian George Carlin, are “coming for your social security!”, as he exclaimed in his diatribe about the false promise of the “American Dream”.

The corporate-funded “Fix the Debt” maintains willing executioners of its agenda on both sides of the political aisle. President Barack Obama, the bulk of the Congressional members of the Democratic Party of which he is the de facto leader and the Republican Party are holding hands in agreement on cuts of Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid.

The Fight-Back

Under this tough set of circumstances and inspired by the work of anthropologist David Graeber, author of the book Debt: The First 5,000 Years, enter Occupy Wall Street’s offshoot, “Strike Debt”, and its sub-campaign, the “Rolling Jubilee”.

“Debt is a tie that binds the 99%...We want an economy where our debts are to our friends, families, and communities — and not to the 1%,” proclaims “Strike Debt”’s website.

Its grievances are listed in a document titled, “The Debt Resistors’ Operations Manual” and a follow-up for the Manual is on the way, according to campaign spokesperson, Laura Hanna.

Targeting the Corporate Health Care System

Strike Debt’s current efforts hone in on the uniquely corporate-controlled U.S. health care system. The campaign’s main message: health care should be a “given” in society, not something people should be coerced into debt to pay for. This has happened under ObamaCare, empowering the for-profit health care industry.

“The for-profit health care industry benefits a few at the expense of the rest of us.The truth is that insurance giants and investors are reaping the profit while the rest of us spend our lives hoping we don’t get sick,” Hanna told Periódico Diagonal.

Cutting to the Heart of How the System Works

More broadly, “Strike Debt” has taken the form of a “Rolling Jubilee.” The Jubilee, defined as “an event in which all debts are cancelled and all those in bondage are set free” - with origins in Christianity, Judaism, and Islam - currently is targeting health care debt, but is also set to target education debt, housing debt and myriad other forms of coercion by way of debt.

In short, Rolling Jubilee has radical demands, cutting to the heart of functionality of the global finance capital itself and screaming “Enough!” in defiance.

“Rolling Jubilee has opened a space for conversation and education, which is very inspiring.” Astra Taylor, a filmmaker and writer involved in Strike Debt and Rolling Jubilee told Periódico Diagonal. “People are now discussing these facts all over. But awareness is nothing without action. So Strike Debt, and everyone else concerned about these issues, must seize the opportunity Rolling Jubilee creates and transform awareness into aggressive political pressure.”

[This article was published also in Spanish on March 26th, 2013]