On the show this week, Chris Hedges discuss economic disobedience and debt refusal with Thomas Gokey from The Debt Collective. Most people in the United States are burdened by staggering amounts of debt. They accrue mounting debt because they are forced to debt-finance healthcare, education, housing and even the cost of their own incarceration. When they fall behind on payments banks, credit card companies and collection agencies impose steep penalties, exorbitant interest rates and loan denials, along with decimating credit scores, forcing the destitute into the arms of payday lenders who charge as much as 800 percent on short term loans. Student debt is over $ 1.7 trillion. Personal debt is over $ 14 trillion. At least 87 million US residents lack adequate healthcare coverage, meaning a medical emergency plunges them further into debt, especially since 40 percent cannot afford an unexpected $ 400 expense. 62% of personal bankruptcies in the U.S. are linked to illness and healthcare costs. Over 40 million U.S. citizens live in poverty, including more than 40 percent of all children. Half of all workers live paycheck to paycheck. 12 percent experience food insecurity and hunger. Nearly one in five renters were unable to pay their landlords regular monthly installments in 2017, and with the pandemic an estimated 10 to 14 million households are so far behind on their rent payments they face the danger of being evicted. The debt peonage is not accidental. It is by design, an effective form of social control by a ruling elite that sees $8 out of every $10 we produce go into the pockets of the richest 1%, the result of wages that have been ruthlessly suppressed since the mid-1970s, the destruction of labor unions, de-industrialization and offshoring of jobs, a gig economy where workers do not have benefits or job protection and austerity programs that have decimated the social safety net. This is the bad news. The good news is that there is organized effort to fight back. The new book Can't Pay, Won't Pay - The Case for Economic Disobedience and Debt Abolition is written by Debt Collective. #QuestionMore #RTAmerica #OnContact #ChrisHedges Get exclusive content and watch full episodes now by downloading the Portable.TV app: https://bit.ly/DownloadPortable Telegram: https://t.me/RTAmerica Check out our other shows! NO show does it like this. It’s TIME TO DO NEWS AGAIN with Rick Sanchez News with Rick Sanchez: https://bit.ly/NRSSHOW It’s her take on all things political and she presents ALL the angles: News.Views.Hughes with Scottie Nell Hughes, NVH: https://bit.ly/NVHSHOW What’s your NEWS IQ? Give us 30 minutes, and we’ll take you across the globe! In Question with Manila Chan, IQ: https://bit.ly/IQ_SHOW Steve Malzberg sinks his teeth into the slander, hypocrisy, bias and lies of MSM. MMM…Delicious! Eat The Press: http://bit.ly/EatThePress Candid conversations with the most outspoken guy in Hollywood! Dennis Miller + One! Dennis Miller Plus One: http://bit.ly/DennisMillerPlusOne Let our TV time-machine bring you the week’s highlights and a closer look at the BIGGEST stories, Just Press Play: http://bit.ly/JustPressPlayShow Author and social critic Chris Hedges conducts fascinating in-depth interviews with the fiercest critics of the establishment. Watch all episodes at https://bit.ly/2QIkQZg Yep, it’s Gov. Jesse Ventura and you’re living in his WORLD! Come along for the ride. The World According To Jesse: http://bit.ly/WATJSHOW They’re watching you. Are you watching them? Are you WATCHING THE HAWKS? Watching The Hawks: http://bit.ly/WTHSHOW Follow the twists and turns of the global economy with Boom Bust, the one business show you can’t afford to miss. Boom Bust: http://bit.ly/BoomBustShow Do you keep missing the forest for the trees? Let Holland Cooke show you the Big Picture, The Big Picture: http://bit.ly/TheBigPictureShow
