“Forgive Us Our Student Loan Debt?” No Thanks! by Cryn Johannsen

"The language of loan forgiveness is archaic, and why it’s being sloughed off. Those who have promoted this must deal with the fact that we live in very different times now, and that means bolder language is necessary."

"Currently, there is an Occupy Student Debt group calling upon people to sign a pledge to refuse paying their loans. [Full disclosure: Although I am a freelance journalist, I am also an advocate for student loan debtors, and I am currently calling for a debtors' strike. Contrary to the misinformation and lies being circulated about these efforts, there are well-known authors, activists, union organizers, etc. on board with this next move. As an activist, I believe fully in collaboration and do not stick to one particular idea for personal gain. That's not how this works, especially when you are part of OWS]."

"The Washington Post piece also inaccurately pits the call for loan forgiveness against the Occupy Student Debt campaign. If read carefully, it is clear that the groups seek similar things. However, using the terms “loan forgiveness” is poor. As I have stated before, it presumes that the borrower is a sinner and they are to blame for this catastrophe. It does not illustrate the problem in an accurate way, and it is easily dismissed or denigrated. On the other hand, Occupy Student Debt is reasserting the power of borrowers, and insisting that something must be done in a more direct action way. Asking policymakers to forgive of us our sins is not needed. Did borrowers who sought higher education do anything wrong? Absolutely not. So why do they need to ask for any sort of forgiveness?"

"As Mitchel Cohen aptly pointed out:"

"Thank you for this article. There is no contradiction [my emphasis] in principle between seeking legislation that provides ‘debt forgiveness’ and organizing one million student debtors to sign a pledge that they will refuse to pay their debt. In fact, a million student refuseniks can serve as a very strong base from which to accomplish that legislation. On the other hand, putting one’s faith in Congressional reps ‘morality’ (you’re kidding, right?) alone is, I would argue, delusional."

"Do both!"

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