Strike Debt, an offshoot of Occupy Wall Street, attracted the world's attention two months ago when it announced the Rolling Jubilee. The Jubilee's original goal was to retire $1,000,000 in medical debt; astoundingly, as of today it has more than tenfold exceeded that goal by raising enough to retire over $11,000,000 in uncollected medical debt. (Diaries on the Rolling Jubilee here, here, and here.
Strike Debt chapters have formed across the country; one of them is Strike Debt Bay Area, which, since its inception in November, has been busily organizing the first Bay Area Debtor's Assembly. It will take place this coming Saturday, and everyone is very welcome. Details here.
Unbeknowst to the members of Strike Debt Bay Area, a group of performance artists and musicians in San Francisco were so entranced by the idea of Strike Debt and the Rolling Jubilee that they decided to put on a fundraiser; Strike Debt organizers in New York generously suggested "Why not do it for Strike Debt Bay Area?" and thus it was made so.
Tonight, at the Roxie Theatre in San Francisco's Mission District, beginning at 7:30 PM, a benefit for Strike Debt Bay Area featuring a multitude of local performers will be taking place. And, similar to the Rolling Jubilee's telethon, the world will be able to watch online and, if so inclined, donate a bit.
100% of every online donation will go to funding the projects of Strike Debt Bay Area.
To watch the live stream and donate: http://strikedebt.org/...
The Debtor's Assembly itself, Strike Debt Bay Area's first major event, will take place on Saturday from 2:00 PM - 4:30 PM at the EastSide Arts Alliance (high up there on the list of cool places on the planet), locasted at 2277 International Blvd, Oakland CA, 94606.
All are welcome at no charge.
At the Assembly we will be discussing debt, the burden of debt, the validity of debt, why debt has skyrocketed and what we can do to fight against the banks and their one percent owners, who continue to find new and more efficient ways to put us all in debt and then enslave us when we feel the need to repay it.
STRIKE DEBT - PRINCIPLES OF SOLIDARITY
Strike Debt is building a debt resistance movement. We believe that most individual debt is illegitimate and unjust. Most of us fall into debt because we are increasingly deprived of the means to acquire the basic necessities of life: health care, education, and housing. Because we are forced to go into debt simply in order to live, we think it is right and moral to resist it.
We also oppose debt because it is an instrument of exploitation and political domination. Debt is used to discipline us, deepen existing inequalities, and reinforce racial, gendered, and other social hierarchies. Every Strike Debt action is designed to weaken the institutions that seek to divide us and benefit from our division. As an alternative to this predatory system, Strike Debt advocates a just and sustainable economy, based on mutual aid, common goods, and public affluence.
Strike Debt is an offshoot of the Occupy movement. It respects many of the principles that were adopted by Occupy participants from other non-hierarchical movements. These include: political autonomy; direct democracy; direct action; creative openness, a culture of solidarity; and commitment to anti-oppressive language and conduct. We struggle for a world without racism, sexism, homophobia, transphobia, and all forms of oppression.
Strike Debt holds that we are all debtors, whether or not we have personal loan agreements. Through the manipulation of sovereign and municipal debt, the costs of speculator-driven crises are passed on to all of us. Though different kinds of debt can affect the same household, they are all interconnected, and so all household debtors have a common interest in resisting.
Strike Debt engages in public education about the debt-system to counteract the self-serving myth that finance is too complicated for laypersons to understand. In particular, it urges direct action as a way of stopping the damage caused by the creditor class and their enablers among elected government officials. Direct action empowers those who participate in challenging the debt-system.
Strike Debt holds that we owe the financial institutions nothing, whereas, to our friends, families and communities, we owe everything. In pursuing a long-term strategy for national organizing around this principle, we pledge international solidarity with the growing global movement against debt and austerity.