Can't Pay, Won't Pay

The Case for Economic Disobedience and Debt Abolition

By: The Debt Collective, Astra Taylor - foreword

Narrated by: Nancy Peterson

Length: 4 hrs and 33 mins

Publisher's summary

Debtors have been mocked, scolded, and lied to for decades. We have been told that it is perfectly normal to go into debt to get medical care, to go to school, or even to pay for our own incarceration. We’ve been told there is no way to change an economy that pushes the majority of people into debt while a small minority hoard wealth and power. The coronavirus pandemic has revealed that mass indebtedness and extreme inequality are a political choice.

In the early days of the crisis, elected officials drew up plans to spend trillions of dollars. The only question was: where would the money go and who would benefit from the bailout?

The truth is that there has never been a lack of money for things like housing, education, and health care. Millions of people never needed to be forced into debt for those things in the first place.

Armed with this knowledge, a militant debtors movement has the potential to rewrite the contract and assure that no one has to mortgage their future to survive.

Debtors of the world must unite. As isolated individuals, debtors have little influence. But as a bloc, we can leverage our debts and devise new tactics to challenge the corporate creditor class and help win reparative, universal public goods. Individually, our debts overwhelm us. But together, our debts can make us powerful.

©2020 The Debt Collective (P)2020 Blackstone Publishing

Recommended Readings

This book did a really good job at explaining the debt relationships that we have in not just the American economy but global economy. The book felt like it was an expansion of the book Debt: The First 5000 Years by the late David Graeber. By far one of the best reads on historical debt based systems. This book however focuses on the current systems in place. Which reading David’s book will help anyone better understand this book.

Must read for social change

Critical to our capacity as a society to stay afloat and thrive is a restructuring of how our society operates - no big changes, just restricting the preeminence of institutions who are involved in the world of finance as well as local, state & federal budgets. Audits of city finances will bring the clarity we need. Thank you!!

Fantastic

This wonderful little book punches well beyond its weight. Starts as a strategy for debt restructure and ends up as a tactical plan for revolution. Well done

far left bias book

praises every democrats and socialist country while blaming capitalism and right wing politicians nothing useful to help your debt

Disagree with these 'solutions'

Advocating for more government control? That's not American!
There are things that need to change to make America what our founders envisioned it to be,
Like making college affordable for all by guaranteeing low interest loans (1-2% for example) and having deferred payment options for hard times.
Not passing this generation's debt on to the next one.
And better, affordable health care, and more support for seniors and veterans. Yes, that and more, but that won't get better if the government controls it!
Seriously? That's how you get $50,000 toilets!!

America needs long term solutions, and these 'solutions' in this book are way off base.

Horrible idea

Omg this book is so bad
It’s full of leftist propaganda on how no one should pay there bills

Who’s will pay ?

Where will the money money come from

The rich?

Guess what they will move.
that what the luxury of having money is

Low quality writing, overly ideological, Dishonest

I know it's easy to disregard negative reviews, so I want to preface I am, and have always been, firmly on the left. I'm not a capitalist sycophant, I believe our institutions are flawed, and I know we need change.

But, this is the worst book I've ever listened to.

They occasionally stumble upon real problems, but rarely offer solutions. The few solutions they do offer are supported by nothing more than wishful thinking and drenched in virtue signals. It genuinely reads like a tantrum from a frustrated student struggling to get a high paying job with their critical theory degrees.

Don't waste your credit.