“If you owe the bank $50k, the bank owns you. But if you owe the bank $100 million, you own the bank.”
Doug Rushkoff interviews Astra Taylor and Thomas Gokey, co-founders of Strike Debt, Rolling Jubilee and most recently the Debt Collective. The Debt Collective is a direct action campaign that leverages the collective power of debtors, united together, against exploitative for-profit education and lending institutions in the US. Astra and Thomas give Team Human listeners a template for hacking real world systems and tapping into the power of solidarity. Join the collective at debtcollective.org.
To hear the entire Doug Rushkoff interview with Astra and Thomas, click here.
On Your Radar:
Runaway debt is one of the global economy’s greatest challenges. In the United States alone, the average household owes around $16,000 in credit card debt, and a total debt of around $162,000 (including mortgage). Ordinary people are being crushed by debt and interest payments, and it has become more difficult than ever to get our heads above water. Fortunately, new and novel approaches to debt alleviation are beginning to emerge, such as the ambitious Debt Collective project, a membership organization that seeks to leverage our collective power as debtors by offering a shared platform for organization, advocacy, and direct action.
About Douglas Rushkoff
Douglas Rushkoff is a writer, documentarian, and lecturer whose work focuses on human autonomy in a digital age. He is the author of fifteen bestselling books on media, technology, and society, including Program or Be Programmed, Present Shock, and Throwing Rocks at the Google Bus. He has made such award-winning PBS Frontline documentaries as Generation Like, Merchants of Cool, and The Persuaders, and is the author of graphic novels including Testamentand Aleister & Adolf.
Comments
Thank you for your innovative and caring work to Heal our suffering as debtors in our society.
I joined the debt collective.