After the top 0.01% acquire most of the money, their businesses loan it back to the rest of us to make an even greater profit. Those loans are necessary for most people to participate in society, particularly when starting out. Some never get out of debt--particularly in this stagnant economy. Many of us struggle to pay our bills on time, fearful of falling behind on payments and being punished with a bad credit rating. Many more lack significant savings, and are economically handcuffed to their jobs, and forced to tolerate abusive employers. Fears about economic survival take our attention away from where it is really needed: specifically, finding creative new solutions to the huge problems of bad government, war, overpopulation, our supplies of food and water, and global warming.
In contrast to the very rich, who often come from wealthy families, the rest of us use credit to create a life for ourselves. We borrow for a car, for an education, for a house. We borrow to start a business, and sometimes to pay our medical (and dental) bills. If we fail to make timely payments on those loans, the penalties are severe. They begin with being given a "bad credit rating", and continue on to worse punishments like having our possessions and future earnings confiscated.
The use of credit is promoted by the banks and businesses owned by the rich. The lending is very profitable; it is secured by the laws of the U.S. and the consciences of the debtors. It helps to maintain economic growth by encouraging people to buy products they could not otherwise acquire. And finally, the debt gives those at the top greater control of the debtor through the threat of being given a "bad credit rating".
Bad credit is the leprosy of our time; it excludes the debtor from full social and economic participation in society.
People with "bad credit" have difficulty obtaining goods and services on credit, and often have to pay more for them. The effect of bad credit on one's life is profound and far-reaching--like having bad teeth. A person who can't afford dentistry to fix some decayed or missing front teeth will have difficulty finding anything but menial work. In general, they won't be able to borrow money to start a business, pay for education, or to fix their teeth. Even worse, the U.S. bankruptcy laws were recently changed by those at the very top in order to protect their capital and make it harder to escape from the slavery of debt.
Our social revolution, of which OWS is the vanguard, must push to reorganize the debt-slavery that keeps us in fear. A major step toward increased freedom and security for the 99% would be to provide public funding for some of our largest and most worrisome expenses: Education, Health Care, and Retirement.
Debt Forgiveness: The massive financial fraud created by the banksters could best be addressed by investigating and prosecuting the worst among them. Their ill-gotten profits could be used for a massive debt write-off on the same scale as the bubble they created.