There’s No Such Thing as a Good Debtor
In the US, consumer debt is presented as a crucial rung on the ladder to a better life, a pathway to homeownership, and a good job. But most people never dig themselves out of debt, and the myth of the “good” debtor only conceals the crime of treating health care, shelter, and education as profit centers.
We are told that debt offers an opportunity to get ahead when, in reality, most people spend their entire lives stuck on the debt treadmill. (Flickr)
Our economy is built on lies. We are told that debt offers an opportunity to get ahead when, in reality, most people spend their entire lives stuck on the debt treadmill. Take out student loans to go to college so you can graduate and get a good job; borrow money so you can build your credit score and buy more stuff; take out a mortgage so you can become a homeowner; become an entrepreneur with a small business loan. Debt is presented as a crucial rung on the ladder to a better life, a stepping-stone to the American dream. If we can’t dig our way out of these “good” debts, we are to blame. But the fact is that most people can’t dig themselves out — three-quarters of people take their debts to the grave. On average, Americans die holding $62,000 of debt.
The capitalist fable of upward mobility has always been an illusion. While leveraging debt has lifted some out of poverty (access to credit was a cornerstone of policies that helped create the white middle class), the majority has been left behind or pushed into predatory contracts they can never escape. Debt, however, is more than a trap. It’s a form of social control. To give just one example, in 2019 the US Army actually admitted that they exceed their recruiting goals by targeting students in debt. As Army recruiting Command Major General Frank Muth put it, “One of the national crises right now is student loans, so $31,000 is [about] the average. [. . .] You can get out [of the Army] after four years, 100 percent paid for state college anywhere in the United States.” To be indebted makes us vulnerable to predators of all kinds, including predatory lenders, predatory debt collectors, and predatory military recruiters.
In myriad ways, debt erodes our freedom and forces unbearable choices on us: Should I pay my mortgage or pay for my chemotherapy? Should I take out loans to pay for college or enlist in the army to get financial aid? Should I put the groceries on a credit card or be late with rent? Should I go to a payday lender or sleep in my car? We internalize the narrative that we have taken on debt freely and the burden is ours alone to bear when nothing could be further from the truth.
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