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Hey Vanna White, I’ll take Revolutionists for 1000, who is this ideological concept from, “?, argued that the political logic of the bosses of capitalism went something like this: If workers are taught to believe that they enter the labor market as free agents and that their benefit from [wage] slavery is a benefit bestowed by good societies and liberal governments, then they are more likely to blame themselves and not society for their misery.”
Or better yet? “False consciousness is a powerful idea that helps account for the astonishing fact that many people who suffer deprivation and abuse are taught, or otherwise seduced, to think falsely about their situation, even to conclude that their troubles result from their own failure to be a better worker or, even, a better person.” (Social Things, 2005, Charles Lemert, pg 18-19).
I searched on Forbes Richest People in America and what if we (all the small and large grassroots organizations), Occupy Wall Street, Anonymous, Occupy Student Loan Debt, boycotted certain industries on specific days; I mean how else are ‘we’ going to get our student loan debt point across, and not only that, but the real issues that created the student loan debacle in the first place [subprime-economics]; unless in aggregate we hurt their bottom-line?
According to Thomas Friedman, The World is Flat(2005) “…if you want to create productive jobs (the kind that lead to rising standards of living), and if you want to stimulate the growth of new business (the kind that innovate, compete, and create wealth), you need a regulatory environment that makes it easy to start a business, easy to adjust a business to changing market circumstances and opportunities, and easy to close a business that goes bankrupt, so that capital can be freed up for more productive uses” (pg.320).
Now, Mr. Friedman was speaking of countries abroad, but currently he very well could be speaking from an American framework. And doesn’t it make sense to eradicate the student-loan debt sub-prime catastrophe? Because, in essence that is exactly what the ‘student loan industry’ is, a purveyor of sub-prime, political, and unethical manipulations.
I want you to read the words from C.W. Mills in The Power Elite (1956) he was one of the founding fathers of Sociology in my opinion, and I remember this page from many years ago and it always stuck with me, even if I didn’t truly understand his words back then, I do now.
Within the financial and political boundaries of the corporation, the industrial revolution itself has been concentrated. Corporations command raw material, and the patents on invention with which to turn them to finished products. They command the most expensive, and therefore what must be the finest, legal minds of the world, to invent and to refine their defenses and strategies. They employ man as producer and they make that which he buys as a consumer. They clothe him and feed him and invest his money. They make that which he fights the wars and they finance the ballyhoo of advertisement and the obscurantist bunk of public relations that surround him during the wars and between them.
Their private decisions, responsibly made in the interest of the feudal-like world of private property and income, determine the size and shape of the national economy, the level of employment, the purchasing power of the consumer, the process that are advertised, the investment that are channeled. Not Wall Street financiers or bankers, but large owners and executives in their self-financing corporations hold the keys to economic power. Not the politicians of the visible government, but the chief executives who sit in the political directorate, by the fact and by proxy, hold the power and the means of defending the privilege of their corporate world” (pg. 124-25).
Does any of that ring a bell? The richest individuals in America are playing the politicians like marionettes all for the sake of cold hard cash and connections; like Dick Chaney’s pulling the strings of his commander in chief G.W. Bush; and how did that happen anyways, by the all mighty power of Halliburton.
In other words, we as ‘Americans’ do have power, ‘as a nation,’ we have a great deal of power; it’s called purchasing power. The news media outlets keep touting America as a consumer-based economy, well if that is the case, let us use our purchasing power or not utilize our purchasing power to make some valid points in this country: 1st issue the mortgage crisis, 2ndissue our educational system Kindergarten through PhD., 3rd issue our military not receiving the proper benefits home and abroad for their sacrifice and service, and lastly, and the price of energy. Those four issues would be nice to tackle, don’t you think? And you know if ‘we’ as a country stopped with the purchasing---things would change! Life would definitely change for the 99%ers.
My idea and what I will not buy on specific days, not that it will do much good, just me alone, but maybe it will catch on:
No Mars Candy on Mondays - John, Jacqueline, and Forrest Mars - Richest #20
No Nike Tuesdays - Phil Knight - Richest #24
No Wal-Mart Wednesdays - John, Alice and S. Robson - Richest #9, #10, #11
No to buying Microsoft software on Thursdays - Bill Gates, Steve Ballmer, Paul Allen - Richest #1, #19, #23
No to purchases on Amazon on Fridays - Jeff Bezos - Richest #13
No to renting a car from Enterprise on Saturdays - Jack Taylor - Richest #34
No to purchases on Ebay on Sundays - Pierre Oyidyar - Richest #50
(http://www.forbes.com/forbes-400/list/). Just a thought!
Can you imagine what the back lash would be for Congress and the Senate if this boycott really worked? Many politicians would lose millions of dollars for their PACS and all their other fund contributions that the Supreme Court thought was just. Maybe by not passing the ‘rate freeze’ on student loans, the Senate and Congress did everyone a favor and now it has become a hidden blessing. The lack of a rate freeze on student loan interest seems to have awakened many people who were not involved in the student loan conversation. Now, it seems that the NET is abuzz with student loan debt discussions! How nice for the Senate and Congress to grant us this magnanimous gift?
Want to know more about the Draconian implications of The Great Student Loan Debacle?
An excerpt from Counterpunch How the US Government is Profiteering Off of Struggling Students,
On no our government and the treasury department can't be ripping us off? Really?
“Inflation, according to the government’s own statistics, is running at 2.7%. In other words, the government, which is the lender in the case of Stafford Loans, is already making 0.7% on its “subsidized” loans to undergraduates. And the inflation rate has been considerably lower in prior years, so the government has actually been making out like a bandit longer term. If it were to start earning 6.8% on these loans, the Treasury would be raking in huge profits on a loan program which is supposed to be helping make college affordable for lower income and middle-income students.
Given that tertiary educational institutions have been using the availability of student loans as a free pass to just keep jacking up their tuition and fees charged to struggling students (in 2010, for instance, the average public college tuition rate rose by 7.9%, or more than five times the 2010 inflation rate of 1.5%!), Congress and the White House might also consider the idea of withholding loan funds and grants in aid or other forms of federal support from all colleges and universities that raise their tuition and fees in excess of the annual inflation rate.” (http://www.counterpunch.org/2012/05/10/the-subsidized-student-loan-scam/).
You’re a debt slave and don’t even know it! A YouTube Video: http://youtu.be/dQHvQbeV4Oo
Brought to you by http://www.FinancialSurvivalNetwork.com
Parabolic to you; more like Paralyzing for us! According to The Wall Street Journal, “… [I am sure all the major financial institutions have looked] at the role of student loans in consumer credit. “Student loans have gone parabolic thanks to a 2009 government mandated cut in student loan interest rates that expire July 1st. How important are student loans to overall consumer credit growth? The next chart below shows total consumer credit in the top panel (the series that gets reported and analyzed), student loans in the middle panel (same series as in the chart above) and consumer credit less student loans in the bottom panel. Take out government-owned student loans and there has been virtually no rebound in consumer credit since the Great Recession ended. (http://blogs.wsj.com/economics/2012/05/09/secondary-sources-spending-tax-cuts-leave-bernanke-alone-parabolic-student-loans/).
Chart above http://www.ritholtz.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2012/05/c1.gif
Bottom Panel http://www.ritholtz.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2012/05/c2.gif
Taken from (http://www.ritholtz.com/blog/2012/05/consumer-credit-worse-than-you-think/)
According to Reuter.com, “Compared to the 675,000 students on the income-based repayment plan, the effort in Congress to keep some Stafford loan interest rates at 3.4 percent is estimated to affect 7.4 million borrowers.Some lawmakers also are pushing a House plan to expand loan forgiveness and interest rate caps. The Student Loan Forgiveness Act, sponsored by U.S. Representative Hansen Clarke, a Michigan Democrat, would also allow students to roll private bank student loans into more flexible, federal ones.”
(http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/05/08/us-usa-education-loans-idUSBRE84719Z20120508?feedType=RSS&feedName=everything&virtualBrandChannel=11563).
According to The Hill, “What Republicans never seem to understand is that keeping college affordable for students and families is vital not just to the growth of our economy, but to the continued existence of the middle class. In this tough economy, people are turning to colleges and job training because they know that is the future for them, their families and the country.” (http://thehill.com/blogs/congress-blog/education/226193-to-fix-student-loans-respect-education).
Kudos to Truthout.org, “In the cases of Senator Snowe and Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-California), their husbands have operated under the cover of their wives as they directly benefited, and continue to benefit from, their positions as shareholders in for-profit college companies. Snowe and Feinstein are accomplices in the ongoing evisceration and defrauding of citizen taxpayers and students, which explains the pair's complete silence on this matter.The so-called ruling class of government officials and elected politicians, to which Feinstein and Snowe clearly belong, is little more than a gaggle of white-collar criminals which facilitates and benefits from the diversion of taxpayer money into private coffers. It all takes on the appearance of legitimacy. Unfortunately, this is not a victimless crime. Like Washington, thousands of students who attend these subprime institutions are left with tens of thousands of dollars of nondischargeable debt which ends up ruining their lives.
There is a vast network of former and current government officials who actively participate in the for-profit college swindle. Some of the conspirators are well known, and include: Mitt Romney, Rep. Virginia Foxx (R-North Carolina), John Kline(R-Minnesota), Alcee Hastings (D-Florida), Trent Lott(R-Mississippi), Lamar Alexander (R-Tennessee), Steve Gunderson (R-Wisconsin), Virginia Democratic Party Chairman Brian Moran, Snowe, Feinstein, Nancy Pelosi (D-California), and John Boehner (R-Ohio). The group also includes Obama administration officials and supporters such as Lanny Davis, Anita Dunn, Hilary Rosen, Anthony Miller and Charles Rose.”
http://truth-out.org/opinion/item/8589-bipartisan-political-elite-implicated-in-for-profit-education-fraud).
And too add insult to injury according to Post-Gazette.com, “This is a massive and complex case," U.S. District Judge Terrence F. McVerry wrote at the end of a 50-page opinion. "It is certainly possible that EDMC has properly compensated its [recruiters] in compliance with all government requirements. Indeed, the Court has concluded that claims based on EDMC's Compensation Plan 'as written' must be dismissed.” I wonder who pulled whose strings to come up with that predication.
(http://www.post-gazette.com/stories/news/education/federal-judge-allows-recruiter-suit-against-edmc-to-continue-635510/).
It amazes me that individuals who are in positions of authority, and who are supposedly to be working for the people of the United States, manage to line their pockets with our tax dollars. Well, I guess that is why Nancy Pelosi is one the richest people in Congress, opps I am wrong, her wealth stems from insider trading & nepotistic endeavors; allegedly...
Again, with seniors – what type of society or governmental representation allow this to happen to the most fragile in our society, besides our children; but, hey our children are involved too aren't they, by osmosis?
According to Truthdig.org, “It seems that Congress has removed nearly every consumer protection from student loans, including not only standard bankruptcy protections, statutes of limitations, and truth in lending requirements, but protection from usury (excessive interest). Lenders can vary the interest rates, and some borrowers are reporting rates as high as 18-20%. At 20%, debt doubles in just 3-1/2 years; and in 7 years, it quadruples. Congress has also given lenders draconian collection powers to extort not just the original principal and interest on student loans but huge sums in penalties, fees, and collection costs.”
(http://www.truthdig.com/report/item/seniors_social_security_garnished_for_student_debts_20120511/?ln).
Here is a novel idea? A comment from one of my blog posts. Hey at least ideas are coming, not like the Senate and Congress is doing anything, at all! Thanks Brian Ransdell, an engaged and informed society is how we the 99%ers will win, and the how the 1%ers will lose! We all need more discourse on the topic of ‘student debt’ and the cause of it, and for the last several days ‘student loans’ and ‘student debt’ had been trending on Yahoo. Keep coming up with ideas people it adds to the conversation!
My name is Brian Ransdell, and I have an idea for student debt relief that will provide hope to millions of Americans and stimulate the economy.
I want Congress to provide an exemption to the current tax code which would allow for donations to student debt to be considered charitable contributions, and therefore be deductible from income. I have already started a petition on Change.org titled "Modify Tax Law for Student Debt Relief" that currently has 107 signatures in 3 weeks, and it has been featured in an article by Bill Conrad of the Plano Star Courier.
I envision large corporations buying the idea that if they designate a portion of their annual charitable donations towards student debt, then they could free up that equivalent amount of cash for student debtors (consumers) and immediately impact the US economy. But first, Congress must provide the incentives for these corporations to do so. Many people may believe that student debtors don't deserve money for getting themselves into this debt, but the fact of the matter is that the US has a crisis on its hands, and rather than make unproductive judgements and pointing fingers, the ethics should be left up for the donor to decide. At the very least, we should exhaust our efforts to find creative ways to provide relief. My idea does not place a burden on taxpayers and would be completely voluntary.
Please help me stir debate across the US about my idea by signing and passing my petition to everyone you know. I have copied links below both to my petition and the article by Bill Conrad. Thank you very much for your consideration, and please pass this on to anyone who may help.
http://www.change.org/petitions/modify-tax-law-for-student-debt-relief
http://www.scntx.com/articles/2012/05/03/news_update/7279.txt
Thank you, Brian Ransdell
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