You Are Not a Loan
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- Опубликовано: 28 сен 2024
- Right before Covid-19 disrupted our lives, I assembled a group of activists and academics to discuss the crisis of higher education and what was next for the growing movement to cancel student debt and make college and university tuition free. The 45-minute film “You Are Not a Loan” is a record of this encounter, which took place on February 7, 2020.
After nearly a decade of grassroots organizing, the Debt Collective, a union for debtors that I helped found, succeeded in making student debt a central issue in the Democratic presidential primary. Sens. Bernie Sanders and Elizabeth Warren campaigned aggressively on canceling various amounts of student debt while expressing varying commitments to higher education as a right.
Our movement had entered a pivotal moment that seemed worth documenting. We needed to figure out how to advance and expand our agenda. Of course, we had no idea what was just around the corner. In many ways, “You Are Not a Loan” is more resonant now than when we shot it. The pandemic dealt this country’s fragile higher education system a potentially existential blow, making the issues and solutions raised in the film more urgent and mainstream. Meanwhile, the call to cancel debts - student loans and also medical debt, past-due mortgages, and back rent - can now be heard emanating from struggling communities and echoed by progressive representatives in Congress. Even President Joe Biden has embraced the necessity of student debt cancellation. Though his proposal is inadequate - he has promised $10,000 of “immediate” relief along with more substantial cancellation for students who attended certain schools and meet certain income thresholds - it is a notable development for a former senator of Delaware, the credit card capital of the world, and a man who played a key role in pushing legislation that rolled back bankruptcy protections for student borrowers.
The idea for this project emerged out of conversations with Paul Holdengräber and his team at Onassis Los Angeles, a newly opened center for dialogue around social change and justice. With their support, I was able to convene a group that included Debt Collective organizers, student debtors, and esteemed scholars, including political theorist Wendy Brown, historian Barbara Ransby, economist Stephanie Kelton, and others. The dialogue that ensued is personal and philosophical, historically grounded and engagingly hypothetical. The film offers an intimate view of the ongoing and growing grassroots struggle to transform our broken, profit-driven education system and also reveals some of the challenges facing the effort. There are insightful and humorous moments as participants attempt to speak and strategize across cultural and class divides.
As a documentary filmmaker, I’ve long been a fan of political cinema from the 1960s, especially fly-on-the-wall accounts of impassioned meetings and intimate conversations where people share grievances and plan next steps. I share this sensibility with my main collaborator on this project, the multitalented Erick Stoll, who shot and edited the project. We wanted to give viewers a sense of being immersed in an activist milieu while showing the ways that these milieus naturally create space to ask big questions, blurring the supposed divide between theory and practice. As the brilliant historian Robin D. G. Kelley once wrote: “Social movements generate new knowledge, new theories, new questions. The most radical ideas often grow out of a concrete intellectual engagement with the problems of aggrieved populations confronting systems of oppression.” That has certainly been my experience collaborating with the Debt Collective. -Astra Taylor
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Can't Pay, Won't Pay by the Debt Collective has transformed my perspective on debt in so many ways!!
Can pay wont pay periodt
OMG. WOW. Horror stories that I couldn’t even conceive of if someone asked me to imagine any of them. One major problem with us as a COUNTRY is that we, and our government, have no problem with saying, everything should be made into a for-profit business. EVERYTHING. I don’t think that other developed countries think this way. But our government and the corporate giants here always say, in essence, “nothing that works in those countries will work here in the United States.“ and there is never any follow up. I never hear another round of questions of “Why not? What is it about our country that is SO DIFFERENT from the rest of the world in these areas? Where billionaires are idolized and made even richer by government subsidies, but a family receiving a small subsidy to afford a lousy healthcare plan is seen as lazy, undeserving, not wanting to work? And a slow-motion explosion of low-income students, already burdened with debt for the rest of their lives, who are instantly stigmatized as freeloaders who just want their educations handed to them. Does our government think that ALL the students in other countries are freeloaders?
To your last sentence. Some of them do think that and when I hear "that´s socialism", in regards to this topic and medicare for all, I only can laugh at best. My country not only provides those "free things" to the public, also foreign students can study for free here. Education and social care are the biggest part of the government spending and rightly so. A healthy and good educated society, without any exception, is the yardstick of a modern society.
I worked at a public college. administration. really demoralizing how much time was spent on raising $ rather than the needs of the students. Since I've left, the administration has tripled.
Mao Tse-tung said, "Political power grows out of the barrel of a gun." From my perspective, the metaphorical weapon here is the peoples dollar. It is the unity of the collective students and the dollars they represent. Sis at the end was speaking to that truth.
What the book drives home for me was "...one's debt, is someone else's asset!" In, one part of Can't Pay, Won't Pay by the debt collective they quote someone...I can't remember who... "if you owe the bank 100,000 dollars the bank owns you...if you owe the bank a million dollars, you own the bank!" They talk about our collective debt as a weapon!! Really cool stuff!!
Very eye opening. If only Bernie Sanders won...
Beautiful inspirational documentary. I'm proud of these efforts, and there is hope that we are changing things for the better of all!
It is painful to watch a room full of people who see themselves as erudite discuss their inability to make sound financial decisions. Cringe AF! Education for its own sake can be a wonderful endeavor, but it’s not the same as education for the acquisition of skill and practical knowledge needed for career advancement. Those are two different things and should be approached with differently. The latter is an investment, the former is an expense.
but why do we have to have the duality be prominent? I think the root behind it is the lack of a guarantee of a living wage. much higher minimum wage, rent control, etc.
The two are not mutually exclusive. If you have to pay for college you should be able to do so with a full time in the summer. It worked before.
@@Acclamatar i agree but it's hard to turn the clock back to say the least
So the black lady is 200k plus in debt already and she thinks it's a good idea to go deeper in debt for a house? That's why she's a college grad
She's just detailing the consequences of taking debt out like that. Some doctors can't get loans.
There's no easy answer to this. Universities and colleges are charging way, way too much and not providing the equivalent value. But all out loan-forgiveness sends a horrible message to people who paid their loans back. To me, the best, most progressive approach is a fair, income-based repayment program and forcing schools to stop charging ridiculous tuitions.
24:00
Why do these people give me the impression I’m listening to the financial trap version of MAGA supporters?
"Why do these people give me the impression I’m listening to the financial trap version of MAGA supporters?"
Maybe because you are listening to them through glasses placed on your uncritical nose by corporate ideological propaganda of neoliberalism.
The U.S. needs 250 of these conversations taking place.
Hi I'm from Brazil, so what I understand is that, the captalism is not working.
its called corporatism or facism. freedom of choice, free markets are not the problem. we have no free markets. gov is the problem shielding and enabling corpoarte scumbaggery. its rigged bc gov. more gov, collectivism, means even less personal choice.
Capitalism is nearly always ruined by government intervention. Do they not teach that part in Brazil?
@@dudustickytricks Yeah, establish a capitalist utopia. Destroy people's lives in the process. When shit hits the fan, say "it wasn't capitalist enough".
@@alinepereira7014 meh... half a point for the somewhat clever spin on the meme/cliche. You can do better, I'm sure.
The context of my comment was higher education in the US, and it was in response to the original comment. College in the US is not an example of capitalism. It's corporatism. It is definitely a problem. The first step is to reduce (as much as possible) government's role and involvement.
Utopia? What are we children? Not possible. Not if differences in thought an opinion exist.
The take away from this video is that this the dumbest people in America sitting in one room. Education does not equal intelligence.
US tuition costs are absurd.
I really appreciate them being willing to educate others in the group. There are no dumb questions.
College for all AND excellent education starting with kindergarten... it's a no brainer. TAX the RICH. TAX the CORPORATIONS. Cut military by 1/4... 1/2. so many possibilities. THANK YOU FOR THIS CIRCLE OF college participants with compassion. THIS is where it begins. CIRCLE. ♥️
Or people can just pay their own fucking bills.
If the main argument is that no tuition makes education loose its value, the premise must be that you are at school to buy a paper (degree), not to learn anything. This again means universities are allowed to prioritize getting money in, not to teach knowledge. What then makes a person with a degree more attractive to an employer? The only thing I can think of is the enclosed network - which isn't really based on school alone, but on which families who attend that school. Do you see how the tuition system easy become a system where what on paper creates equal opportunity and virtual value, in reality helps conserving power? Maybe the capitalistic system have proven that no matter political ideology ('cause reality of socialism, communism and fascism is no better) the resources ends up on top, because we, the people, accept this. Maybe there is something wrong in our core values. Food for thought.
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About free college and admissions change: You are trying to fix a problem that starts a lot earlier for students.
Start with primary/secondary schools,make them equal and eventually you will have the potential in students to allow for free admissions everywhere.
This was an excellent insightful debate. Always solid stuff from the Intercept. I like that this was candid and sincere. A diverse group of people, intelligence levels, age, race, ethnicities, background. This was a great cast!
None of them brought up the 1965 higher ed bill that started national subsidization of college.
Nothing will fundamentally change until billionaires are taxed into millionaires and maximum wage is set to $12 million/year.
So the woman with 8 kids who had 200k holds no accountability? Why the hell did she have 8 kids if she doesn’t have a lucrative career? What kind of stupidity is that? Billionaires need to be taxed but that doesn’t solve the stupidity of others.
@@heels4lifxYes, I couldn’t agree with you more. Afterall, Malthus was right. His predictions were just 200 years ahead of his time.
What a powerful discussion!
A LOAN / ALONE
Defaulters Unite!
stop reminding me about David Graeber ಡ ̯ ಡ
my heart
I miss him so much
@@Acclamatar we needed him for much longer. rest in power to him
Absolutely, 2020 was a horrible year we lost so many stars.
I lost my trust to Intercept after Glen Greenwald left. This is sad because i admired them before (i wonder what Jeremy Scahill thinks today)
Tenure originally comes into place I believe in the 1970s 1960s which gives professors immunity to speak out against the Vietnam war without the risk of getting fired for their political views. Faculty are often at odds with their administrators who are usually more lock step with the government on big issues.
Elimination of student debt will be an enormous boost to the economy, especially for local businesses which desperately need the help right now.
and those who just paid off 6 figure loans? fair to them?
@@complyvoluntarily Fairness does not apply to the fortunate, duh! For their exercise in responsibility, they shall pay twice: once for their own education, and once for everyone else's. (sarcasm)
@@complyvoluntarily Better not give out covid vaccines either. Unfair to those who already got it.
And of course they’re woke lol smh. Stop blaming white people for your issues. And yes I’m black.
Its funny how US had good things that they gave up in the name of ...
Capitalism?Consumerism?Neoliberalism?(austerity is good!according to the german ex-finmin/nazi Schoible.) ..something like that..
Pity though that you threw away all the 60s and 70s achievements of the social movements.
Liberals. Give me give me give me
I love these people and wish I could see them meet up more.
Thank you x100. This is excellent information that needs to be out there. Here's an idea. To make a point (not to be ugly or morbid and only with permission), I'd like to see the amount of debt with have at our passing engraved on a tombstone. I can see an excellent graphic showing how much debt and debtors are out there. Just a thought. I'd like to get paid for this idea ;) Student debt is a huge reality and not the misconceptions portrayed in the main media outlets. Many thanks.
I hate the us education system overall
This conversation was shockingly devoid of Debt slavery as a tool used on this grab bag of debt slaves.
How about I don't stop hitting you in the head until you give me your money, how is that any different than what these people are wanting to do, nothing is free. Nor should it be
A lot of this video talks about what has happened as a "clash of ideologies," or the product of shear greed, but it should be seen as a systematic destruction of the education system for all but the elites of society. They don't want their children to compete on a level playing field. They don't want the children of the masses to realize their own self-worth, they want to keep the masses subjugated and more easily managed. Massive student debt is a punishment for thinking you deserve more, and a deterrent for others who might be thinking the same way. When some is arrested and charged with a crime, they can plead guilty and get a lessor sentence, or they can fight it and be punished with a massively long sentence, and that is a similar deterrent. Fight the system and you will suffer for it. Members of congress must be forced to face the truth of what is going on, so if they elect to continue with the same policies, they have to acknowledge the immorality of their decisions.
Living in delulu, fk ando pay your debt
EXACTLY. 🌺
Loan? Yes, cancel it but the problem is much deeper.
I agree. Where I live universities are free, which just means the student doesn't pay tuition. The Tax payer does. That means it won't be in the university's interest to increase administrative staff, limit beaurocracy and create accountability in the face of an abuse of power at the hands of faculty because the longer the student languishes in university the longer the faculty can claim tax money from their being there which they can use for research. I met people who were students at free universities since i was 8 who graduated when i was a graduate student. So, the perfect university does not exist. All you can do is pick your poison: debt (which you theoretically can pay back) or decades (which cannot be reclaimed). In my experience, I learned more on my own than in university. So a wiser and easier solution to combat elitism in academia would be to stop telling people university is the only way to succeed just because Bill Gates went there because believing that myth gets people into debt.
20:50 Stephanie Kelton here?! Haha
yea, she's great. have her book on my reading list
No one forces you to get a loan. And when you say you repay a debt you do. I’ve been in deep debt and I repaid it. Other people can do it too
this appeared on my watch list ?
no way am i watching this lot - they pushed out a real truth teller in Glen Greenwald
lol, yeah i will leave a few comments but im not wasting my data watchig this🤣.
You should ask what am I going to get out of this? You should ask is this worth it?
Seems like The Intercept is dying, as it should. Good news.
Remove Capitalism, Removes the Problem.
So if you have graduated high school with bad grades do u think u should go to college free? Reality check....not every kid gets a trophy folks. The ones that suck get no free ride....you have to earn it.
You understand that repeal of college admission standards ARE NOT apart of the conversation of advancing to a universal, free college system and that you're arguing against a strawman, right?
Land grant colleges were created as free public education. Period.
Also, if you don't qualify, you can't go.
FIRST!