Make ‘em pay. Put ‘em in debt. They’ll quiet down.
Mar 21, 2021•1 hr 4 min
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Episode description
45 million Americans hold a total of $1.7 trillion in education debt. How did we get here?
Guido sits down with writer and filmmaker Astra Taylor to discuss the seeds of the current crisis. How did government-backed, private loans and an anti-civil rights, anti-peace movement backlash led by Ronald Reagan and neoliberal economists produce the historic debt crisis in higher education?
Also, there’s a small bit of good news for student debtors in the American Rescue Plan, and AOC says: the time is ripe to mobilize and win. But how? In the second half, Guido talks to Umme Hoque, the Organizing Director of the Debt Collective, about her decision to go on a debt strike and demand Joe Biden cancel all student debt.
Waleed stops by to contemplate President Biden canceling Senator Biden for supporting welfare work requirements in the 1990s, and wonders if Biden’s newfound, self-directed cancel culture could extend to federal student loan borrowers.
Readings & resources:
You Are Not A Loan, a film by Astra Taylor
Umme Hoque: I'm going on a debt strike. The Biden administration must cancel student debt:
Debt Collective
Anne Helen Petersen: The future of the middle class depends on student loan forgiveness
Most Black voters support eliminating student loan debt, new survey finds
Corinthian College Student With $30K In Loans Refuses To Pay, Takes Part In Debt Strike
Rep. Pressley on the Education Debt Crisis & A New Deal for Higher Ed
The Political Case For Student Debt Cancellation
The Great Mistake: How We Wrecked Public Universities and How We Can Fix Them, by Christopher Newfield
Guido sits down with writer and filmmaker Astra Taylor to discuss the seeds of the current crisis. How did government-backed, private loans and an anti-civil rights, anti-peace movement backlash led by Ronald Reagan and neoliberal economists produce the historic debt crisis in higher education?
Also, there’s a small bit of good news for student debtors in the American Rescue Plan, and AOC says: the time is ripe to mobilize and win. But how? In the second half, Guido talks to Umme Hoque, the Organizing Director of the Debt Collective, about her decision to go on a debt strike and demand Joe Biden cancel all student debt.
Waleed stops by to contemplate President Biden canceling Senator Biden for supporting welfare work requirements in the 1990s, and wonders if Biden’s newfound, self-directed cancel culture could extend to federal student loan borrowers.
Readings & resources:
You Are Not A Loan, a film by Astra Taylor
Umme Hoque: I'm going on a debt strike. The Biden administration must cancel student debt:
Debt Collective
Anne Helen Petersen: The future of the middle class depends on student loan forgiveness
Most Black voters support eliminating student loan debt, new survey finds
Corinthian College Student With $30K In Loans Refuses To Pay, Takes Part In Debt Strike
Rep. Pressley on the Education Debt Crisis & A New Deal for Higher Ed
The Political Case For Student Debt Cancellation
The Great Mistake: How We Wrecked Public Universities and How We Can Fix Them, by Christopher Newfield
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