Occupy Wall Street launches student debt refusal campaign

[tabatha]

The goal of the new campaign is to gather one million signatures from students who are willing to boycott payments on their student debt.

"It's a huge concern, because student loans are the biggest lucrative venture you can make in the financial industry right now," said Andrew Ross, an NYU professor and a member of the Education and Empowerment group. "The 1 percent have enriched themselves by generating this debt."

After the official launch and open forum in Zuccotti Park, members continued their campaign in Madison Square Park by marching with CUNY students, who were protesting the recently announced tuition hike. Students, alumni, supporters and faculty of New York City schools then marched to Baruch College.

Protesters believe that education is a right, not a commodity. The Occupy Student Debt Campaign focuses on four main principles: fiscal transparency within schools, zero interest on student debt, government-funded public higher education and the forgiveness of all existing debt.

http://www.nyunews.com/news/2011/11/28/28cuny/

[Zorra]

1. Recommend. "Imagination is more important than knowledge."

Albert Einstein

[girl gone mad]

2. Keynes got it right over 100 years ago.

Debts that can't be repaid won't be repaid.

[OffWithTheirHeads]

3. Education is a right, not a commodity.

sez I who could not afford to get edjucated.

[taught_me_patience]

4. Is this really part of the occupy movement?

This insane campaign will serve to destroy the movement more than help it.

[sam11111]

5. not insane effort- calif. colleges were FREE before reagan became Gov. of California

Most (all?) Colleges FREE in socialist areas of Europe..last I heard.

Till about 1912, u had to pay for hi school. Now its FREE. That is the trend.

[taught_me_patience]

7. The campaign to discharge student loan debt is the insane part n/t.

[grasswire]

6. your concern is noted n/t

[Jim Lane]

8. Please note my concern as well.

Public high schools are free, but anyone who borrows money to attend (or send their kids to) a private high school must repay that loan. That rule doesn't undercut the principle of free public secondary education.

As for post-secondary education, there's certainly a legitimate policy ask in saying that public colleges and universities should receive greater support, even to the point of being tuition-free, and/or that Pell grants and other forms of assistance (to students at public and private schools) should be increased. Calling for forgiveness of all past debts, however, is completely unrealistic. Forcing the lenders (banks) to take the hit would be unconstitutional. Making the lenders whole with government funds would require a huge diversion of money that could be much better spent in many other ways.

[glowing]

9. Its called a jubilee and we need one on a worldwide level in some fashion.

Countries are going completely under... We are going to see the developing nations struggle even harder to feed their people... Its got to happen in some form. Saying can't is fallacy... What is money, but paper marking an amount of wealth... What is wealth? Time to do things differently.