Surviving Capitalism (Not) : Creditocracy and the case for debt refusal

We’ve lived so long under the spell of hierarchy—from god-kings to feudal lords to party bosses—that only recently have we awakened to see not only that “regular” citizens have the capacity for self-governance, but that without their engagement our huge global crises cannot be addressed. The changes needed for human society simply to survive, let alone thrive, are so profound that the only way we will move toward them is if we ourselves, regular citizens, feel meaningful ownership of solutions through direct engagement. Our problems are too big, interrelated, and pervasive to yield to directives from on high.
—Frances Moore Lappé, excerpt from Time for Progressives to Grow Up

Sunday, June 29, 2014

Creditocracy and the case for debt refusal

Click here to access a review of a book by this title authored by Andrew Ross posted on CounterFire (Britain).

This debt fuelled economy, or ‘Creditocracy’ is the subject of Andrew Ross’s book. Ross is an academic and activist in the USA who has been involved in debt resistance initiatives arising out of the Occupy Wall Street movement. In Ross’s view the USA is currently a ‘full blown creditocracy’, which is his definition of ~~liberal~~ [capitalism's fake version of] democracy coupled with a heavily financialised economy, where the costs of social goods such as education, health and social care are debt financed. As more responsibility for welfare is privatized and falls to individuals, private debt financing becomes more significant. He also points out that debt, and the austerity measures associated with it, is not only part of the re-structuring of neoliberal capitalism but also exists as form of social control where people are afraid to risk their jobs or are ashamed to ask for help in repaying debt. [my emphasis]