Occupy Wall Street Folks Are Buying and Abolishing Millions of Dollars of Debt for the 99 Percent

The Occupy Wall Street movement, forever angry about government bail-outs for big banks, finally figured out a way to issue their own bail-outs — this time, for the little guy.

A group called Strike Debt launched a campaign last night, called Rolling Jubilee, that has already raised more than a quarter million dollars to buy up the debt owed by faceless Americans and cancel it, while paying just pennies on the dollar for the privilege.

They call it “a bailout by the people, for the people.”

For example, the $291,180 donated by citizens since last night will purchase debts worth $5.8 million dollars. The group is highlighting a shadowy practice on Wall Street whereby consumer debt, piled up following catastrophic illness, or foreclosure, or other unfortunate circumstance, is purchased from banks with the express purpose of making a profit once debt collectors chase down the funds.

Instead of trying to collect the debt once it’s purchased, the Rolling Jubilee Fund, a non profit organization, will simply forgive it. RIP.

”The Rolling Jubilee intervenes by buying debt, keeping it out of the hands of collectors, and then abolishing it,” says the group’s website. “We’re going into this market not to make a profit but to help each other out and highlight how the predatory debt system affects our families and communities. Think of it as a bailout of the 99% by the 99%.”

It is impossible in this speculative market for the Rolling Jubilee — or anyone — to buy the debt for a specific individual or business because each is anonymous and bundled together. The benefit is for the community overall.

The mailing address for the Rolling Jubilee Fund is: c/o Occupy Wall Street Radio WBAI, 10th floor 120 Wall St New York, NY 10005

You can contribute, spread the word, or learn more online at RollingJubillee.org