‘Hell No, We Won’t Go’ — 1967
‘No Way, We Won’t Pay’ — 2015
Fifty years ago students burned their draft cards to protest an immoral war against the people of Vietnam. Today it’s a different kind of war, immoral in another way, waged against young Americans of approximately the same age, and threatening them in a manner that endangers not their lives but their livelihoods.
There are at least four good reasons why America’s young adults— and their parents—should take up the fight against financial firms who are holding high-interest student loans that total more than the nation’s credit card debt, and more than the total income of the poorer half of America.
1. The Protest Has Already Begun
Fifteen former students of for-profit Corinthian Colleges recently announced a debt strike against the company and its predatory loan practices. The 15 students, members of the Debt Collective initiative of debt abolisher Rolling Jubilee, have refused to repay their loans. Corinthian, which has been accused of false marketing, grade tampering, and recruitment improprieties, and which has 60 percent of its studentsdefault on loans, was sued in 2013 for employing a “predatory scheme” to recruit students.
2. For-Profit Colleges Use Taxpayer Money for False Marketing to Get MORE Taxpayer Money