Strike Debt!

You are not a loan.

Strike Debt is a nationwide movement of debt resisters fighting for economic justice and democratic freedom.

Debt is a tie that binds the 99%. With stagnant wages, systemic unemployment, and public service cuts, we are forced to go into debt for the basic things in life — and thus surrender our futures to the banks. Debt is major source of profit and power for Wall Street that works to keep us isolated, ashamed, and afraid. Using direct action, research, education, and the arts, we are coming together to challenge this illegitimate system while imagining and creating alternatives. We want an economy in which our debts are to our friends, families, and communities — and not to the 1%.

The Debt Resisters' Operations Manual

Available Now

The Debt Resisters’ Operations Manual
Available in print and on the web

Read our principles →

Get Involved

Visit a Strike Debt Event

  • Strike Debt Events July 29, 2014
    • July 29, 2014 · Ralph Nader Speaks at Berkeley Post Office

      2:30 pm – 3:30 pm

      Berkeley Post Office, 2000 Allston Way, Berkeley, CA, United States

      Add to gCal

      ABOUT THE POST OFFICE, PRIVATIZATION OF OUR PUBLIC GOODS AND SERVICES & THE FIGHT TO DISMANTLE THE CORPORATE STATE

      Music from 2:00 p.m. Talk at 2:30 p.m.

      “Postmaster General Donahoe has demonstrated that he lacks the political courage to stand up to Congress and tell them that they caused this mess and they need to fix it. Instead, time after time, he has chosen to take the easy road and dismantle the USPS piece by piece – whether it is by cutting post office hours, closing post offices, cutting service and delivery standards, increasing postage rates, or now ending Saturday delivery.”

      – Ralph Nader, February 6th, 2013.

  • Strike Debt Events July 31, 2014
  • Strike Debt Events August 16, 2014
  • Strike Debt Events September 20, 2014
  • Strike Debt Events September 25, 2014
    • September 25, 2014 · Third International Participatory Budgeting Conference

      12:00 am – 12:00 am

      Oakland, September 25-26; Vallejo, September 27 (details to follow)

      Add to gCal

      The conference will include over 25 sessions including presentations, panel discussions, and interactive workshops, as well as networking and social opportunities to maximize time for attendees to share, discuss, learn, and collaborate.

      The initial line up already includes the full range of players in participatory budgeting: local officials, PB participants, community organizers, policy experts, researchers, tech developers. On September 27, Vallejo will be holding its first fair to showcase this year's participatory budgeting proposals which we hope will include two from Strike Debt Bay Area.

Current Initiatives

The Rolling Jubilee

We buy debt for pennies on the dollar, but instead of collecting it, we abolish it. We cannot buy specific individuals' debt — instead, we help liberate debtors at random through a campaign of mutual support, good will, and collective refusal. All proceeds go directly to buying and canceling people's debt.

The Debt Resisters’ Operations Manual

Written by a network of activists, writers, and academics, The Debt Resisters’ Operations Manual reveals how the predatory debt system works to increase inequality, undermine democracy, and ruin lives. It provides detailed strategies for fighting common forms of debt and lays out an expansive vision for a societal movement of debt resistance. The full text of the manual is available for free.

The Strike Debt Organizing Kit

Want to build your own Strike Debt chapter? Here's how. The information and advice in this kit can be used by Strike Debt affiliates, or by existing groups who would like to affiliate because they have shared goals. It is a living document, which means it will be revised periodically to reflect the experience and input of new affiliates.

Blog

More Information