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Can't Pay, Won't Pay: The Case for Economic Disobedience and Debt Abolition
With debt cancellation emerging as both a key area of debate in the Democratic primary and a catalyst of youth radicalization, an expanding readership is eager for a fuller left-wing perspective on the history and function of debt in our society, as well as a road map for how to challenge it. This concise, energetic manifesto from the Debt Collective is in equal parts informative and inspiring, and is sure to become a crucial reference point for activists and debt cancellation campaigners. Includes a foreword from Debt Collective co-founder and acclaimed activist-author, documentarian, and musician Astra Taylor.
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First published September 29, 2020
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September 17, 2025
I want to begin with my recommendation, which is to anyone and everyone! Can't Pay, Won't Pay: The Case for Economic Disobedience and Debt Abolition is a stunning interrogation of one of the core dynamics of our time: the debtor-creditor relationship.
Creepy levels of relevance
There is perhaps not better moment to have picked up this book. I came across it while looking through the free ebooks that Haymarket released after the election. A second Trump administration will undoubtedly be even more hostile towards student loan forgiveness, let alone debt abolition, and the expanding climate disaster he will preside over will surely expand all sorts of debt for people and municipalities within our country.
The topic also made me think of more local issues, including predatory lending at St. Augustine’s University in Raleigh. The loan in question is a thinly-veiled land grab, given the rising value of St. Aug’s property holdings, and the HBCU’s easily manipulated precarity. I learned about this issue from a local interfaith group, and I was struck by how they connected this debt to the sinful practice of usury. After reading this book, I get exactly why!
Finally, I’m in a very weird place in terms of my personal relationship to debt. I paid off my last student loan balance two weeks ago, and am currently interviewing for a role in the financial side of affordable housing (which of course involves debt.) I really appreciated this book’s compassion for the choices we make on an individual level, and its exploration of the collective actions we can still take towards debt abolition. At first, I felt guilty, like I had already betrayed this movement for debt abolition before I'd even learned about it. But now, I feel confident that this is a long fight, with plenty of areas for me to get involved. It reminds me of my experience with Everything for Everyone: An Oral History of the New York Commune, 2052–2072. Just like we sometimes have to plan for the world we live in, we can also develop skills and build relationships that help plan for the world we’d like to see. Can’t Pay, Won’t Pay is a really helpful roadmap from our current world to that desired one.
Ideas that struck me the most
The most important guiding principle I learned from the Debt Collective is that no one should become indebted to meet their basic needs. If you’d asked me before reading this, I would’ve said I agreed with that statement, but I hadn’t really wrestled with it much. Chapter 1 notes that “most people are not in debt because they live beyond their means; they are in debt because they have been denied the means to live.” (29). This is an important reframe, that helps push against our society’s allegations that debt is a personal failure. This comes from the specific function debt plays in our neoliberal society, where extreme focus on individual choices is designed to obscure structural conditions and government responsibility. Like with ableism, our society has these punitive connotations around debt, and we often shame people crippled by their loans as gluttons who mismanage their funds. While this book does criticize how corporations and billionaires do actually use debt to hoard wealth, it is incredibly compassionate towards the rest of us. I was particularly struck by the Debt Collective’s description of the “disciplinary function of debt”, described first in this memorable passage:
This is a book that is understanding towards the many of us who both struggle with our debts, and make decisions we wouldn’t make in a society where our lives wouldn’t be ruined by debt. This message reverberates throughout the book—we often don’t choose the paths we’d like, we choose the ones that make it easier to survive day to day. This is true on a personal level, and sometimes also on a structural one. Chapter 3 had a particularly interesting aside about Greece’s debt crisis, and how their Prime Minister Aléxis Tsípras didn’t actually want to launch an austerity regime, but felt left with no other choice because of the demands of the country’s creditors.
At the end of Chapter 1, they break this Faustian relationship down even further: if we weren’t hemmed in by the illegitimate debts to our creditors, we could focus on our legitimate debts to the people and world around us. The principle of solidarity even comes from this concept of just or legitimate debt—that groups whose fates are bound together have a shared debt to support each other. With this logic, debt abolition becomes an even more exciting prospect: it’s a cause that will get us closer to having just relationships with ourselves, our peers, and the world.
Other things I learned
In addition to making such incisive and sympathetic arguments, this book also has lots of new information to pass onto its readers. In the Twitter age, where we can learn all sorts of concepts and factoids via watered-down threads, I especially cherish books that have something to offer beyond the soundbites that have made it to social media. For instance, I didn’t realize how many public utility crises were intricately tied to the predatory terms creditors attached to municipal debts. While it makes sense that the cancellation of for-profit student loan debt only happened after a debtors’ strike, that was another piece of “buried history” that I’d never connected the dots about.
Chapter 2 was a particular treasure trove of new information, and I was immediately tuned in after reading the title (“How Did We Get Here? Financialization From Haiti to The Household.”) The authors show how predatory lending goes back even to Indigenous dispossession, such as in 1803, when “Thomas Jefferson told lenders to encourage indigenous people to borrow excessively and then lay claim to their property as collateral.” (57) Of course, there is also the reality that my ancestors WERE THE COLLATERAL for centuries. This does not mean our bodily debts disappeared with freedom, however. For instance, when Haiti freed itself, the country then had to pay what would now be billions to France for the “lost capital” of their lives!!! This is something I’d heard before, but never really connected to the “disciplinary function of debt” that is introduced in Chapter 1. Across the world, people are kept in line and punished for rebelling through our financial obligations to our creditors.
Chapter 3 dives even further into how the cities and countries in which we live are ALSO crippled by debt! It uses examples of from Ferguson to show how criminal legal debt is a key strategy that indebted cities use to try and squeeze a profit from their residents. This is debt inception, otherwise known as the end game of financialization!!! The authors also interrogate the IMF and World Bank as other international creditors that use the disciplinary function of debt to punish socialist and communist aims in the Global South. This chapter explores how countries have been forced into accepting foreign investment, privatizing utilities, and enforcing austerity in order to receive much-needed capital. The extractive details of these loans are stark: at one point, Ecuador was spending 40 percent of its national budget on debt servicing. Sixty-four countries (we can all guess where) spend more on servicing their debt than they do on public health care!!! And more recently, these sovereign debt crises are expanding to punish countries in the Global North, too: Greece, Spain, and Ireland are referenced examples. This whole issue of national debt also harkens back to the issue of the legitimate debts that have so far been unpaid by countries like mine—for imperialism, for environmental injustice and climate destruction, and also for the perverse profiteering made possible through these extractive loans.
Closing Thoughts
If I’m being fair, I do think this book started a bit better than it ended. We come out of the gate swinging with these really sharp, laser-focused chapters with 1-3. By 4-5, I thought there were some important topics, but the precision of the book’s critique began to become a bit unwieldy.
Chapter 4 is about the advent of digital redlining, and how this enables creditors to more strategically oppress their debtors and violate their privacy. My next nonfiction buddy read will be Algorithms of Oppression by Safiya Noble, so I might come back to this chapter with new eyes afterward. Chapter 5 is surveying the entire debt system, and how it impacts the climate (amongst many other elements of life.) I did feel a bit disappointed in the final notes about how we actually can afford to fund debt abolition in America, despite claims to the contrary. I did feel like this section took on a bit of a disconnect from earlier points about imperialism, as it’s well known that the social welfare benefits Global North countries provide are often only possible because of exploitation elsewhere. I wish the authors had thought through this in alignment with their claims that the U.S. has enough money to cancel all our citizens’ debts—like would this actually be true if we also paid the “climate debt” to countries in the Global South, and stopped profiting from their exploitation?!? Or, does the whole taxation system fall apart then, because the companies we could tax to fund public good programs wouldn’t exist, either? To be fair, I think this is a rare complaint in such an otherwise helpful book.
Like I said at the beginning, I really cannot recommend this one enough! Most of the arguments are executed extremely well, and I know I will be reminded of many of these principles every time I turn my head! I can’t think of a better primer about the centrality of debt in our lives, and the necessity of debt abolition for any struggle against capitalism.
Creepy levels of relevance
There is perhaps not better moment to have picked up this book. I came across it while looking through the free ebooks that Haymarket released after the election. A second Trump administration will undoubtedly be even more hostile towards student loan forgiveness, let alone debt abolition, and the expanding climate disaster he will preside over will surely expand all sorts of debt for people and municipalities within our country.
The topic also made me think of more local issues, including predatory lending at St. Augustine’s University in Raleigh. The loan in question is a thinly-veiled land grab, given the rising value of St. Aug’s property holdings, and the HBCU’s easily manipulated precarity. I learned about this issue from a local interfaith group, and I was struck by how they connected this debt to the sinful practice of usury. After reading this book, I get exactly why!
Finally, I’m in a very weird place in terms of my personal relationship to debt. I paid off my last student loan balance two weeks ago, and am currently interviewing for a role in the financial side of affordable housing (which of course involves debt.) I really appreciated this book’s compassion for the choices we make on an individual level, and its exploration of the collective actions we can still take towards debt abolition. At first, I felt guilty, like I had already betrayed this movement for debt abolition before I'd even learned about it. But now, I feel confident that this is a long fight, with plenty of areas for me to get involved. It reminds me of my experience with Everything for Everyone: An Oral History of the New York Commune, 2052–2072. Just like we sometimes have to plan for the world we live in, we can also develop skills and build relationships that help plan for the world we’d like to see. Can’t Pay, Won’t Pay is a really helpful roadmap from our current world to that desired one.
Ideas that struck me the most
The most important guiding principle I learned from the Debt Collective is that no one should become indebted to meet their basic needs. If you’d asked me before reading this, I would’ve said I agreed with that statement, but I hadn’t really wrestled with it much. Chapter 1 notes that “most people are not in debt because they live beyond their means; they are in debt because they have been denied the means to live.” (29). This is an important reframe, that helps push against our society’s allegations that debt is a personal failure. This comes from the specific function debt plays in our neoliberal society, where extreme focus on individual choices is designed to obscure structural conditions and government responsibility. Like with ableism, our society has these punitive connotations around debt, and we often shame people crippled by their loans as gluttons who mismanage their funds. While this book does criticize how corporations and billionaires do actually use debt to hoard wealth, it is incredibly compassionate towards the rest of us. I was particularly struck by the Debt Collective’s description of the “disciplinary function of debt”, described first in this memorable passage:
”Eighty percent of Harvard Law School students, to use just one example, enter law school saying they want to practice public interest law. Yet, upon graduation, 80 percent of them go on to practice corporate law…This isn’t just the brainwashing of the Ivy League…this is the disciplinary function of debt. Most of us want to be better people than we are allowed to be. We are forced to do things we are ethically opposed to, just to survive. We have to service our loans instead of serving the greater good.”(36)
This is a book that is understanding towards the many of us who both struggle with our debts, and make decisions we wouldn’t make in a society where our lives wouldn’t be ruined by debt. This message reverberates throughout the book—we often don’t choose the paths we’d like, we choose the ones that make it easier to survive day to day. This is true on a personal level, and sometimes also on a structural one. Chapter 3 had a particularly interesting aside about Greece’s debt crisis, and how their Prime Minister Aléxis Tsípras didn’t actually want to launch an austerity regime, but felt left with no other choice because of the demands of the country’s creditors.
At the end of Chapter 1, they break this Faustian relationship down even further: if we weren’t hemmed in by the illegitimate debts to our creditors, we could focus on our legitimate debts to the people and world around us. The principle of solidarity even comes from this concept of just or legitimate debt—that groups whose fates are bound together have a shared debt to support each other. With this logic, debt abolition becomes an even more exciting prospect: it’s a cause that will get us closer to having just relationships with ourselves, our peers, and the world.
Other things I learned
In addition to making such incisive and sympathetic arguments, this book also has lots of new information to pass onto its readers. In the Twitter age, where we can learn all sorts of concepts and factoids via watered-down threads, I especially cherish books that have something to offer beyond the soundbites that have made it to social media. For instance, I didn’t realize how many public utility crises were intricately tied to the predatory terms creditors attached to municipal debts. While it makes sense that the cancellation of for-profit student loan debt only happened after a debtors’ strike, that was another piece of “buried history” that I’d never connected the dots about.
Chapter 2 was a particular treasure trove of new information, and I was immediately tuned in after reading the title (“How Did We Get Here? Financialization From Haiti to The Household.”) The authors show how predatory lending goes back even to Indigenous dispossession, such as in 1803, when “Thomas Jefferson told lenders to encourage indigenous people to borrow excessively and then lay claim to their property as collateral.” (57) Of course, there is also the reality that my ancestors WERE THE COLLATERAL for centuries. This does not mean our bodily debts disappeared with freedom, however. For instance, when Haiti freed itself, the country then had to pay what would now be billions to France for the “lost capital” of their lives!!! This is something I’d heard before, but never really connected to the “disciplinary function of debt” that is introduced in Chapter 1. Across the world, people are kept in line and punished for rebelling through our financial obligations to our creditors.
Chapter 3 dives even further into how the cities and countries in which we live are ALSO crippled by debt! It uses examples of from Ferguson to show how criminal legal debt is a key strategy that indebted cities use to try and squeeze a profit from their residents. This is debt inception, otherwise known as the end game of financialization!!! The authors also interrogate the IMF and World Bank as other international creditors that use the disciplinary function of debt to punish socialist and communist aims in the Global South. This chapter explores how countries have been forced into accepting foreign investment, privatizing utilities, and enforcing austerity in order to receive much-needed capital. The extractive details of these loans are stark: at one point, Ecuador was spending 40 percent of its national budget on debt servicing. Sixty-four countries (we can all guess where) spend more on servicing their debt than they do on public health care!!! And more recently, these sovereign debt crises are expanding to punish countries in the Global North, too: Greece, Spain, and Ireland are referenced examples. This whole issue of national debt also harkens back to the issue of the legitimate debts that have so far been unpaid by countries like mine—for imperialism, for environmental injustice and climate destruction, and also for the perverse profiteering made possible through these extractive loans.
Closing Thoughts
If I’m being fair, I do think this book started a bit better than it ended. We come out of the gate swinging with these really sharp, laser-focused chapters with 1-3. By 4-5, I thought there were some important topics, but the precision of the book’s critique began to become a bit unwieldy.
Chapter 4 is about the advent of digital redlining, and how this enables creditors to more strategically oppress their debtors and violate their privacy. My next nonfiction buddy read will be Algorithms of Oppression by Safiya Noble, so I might come back to this chapter with new eyes afterward. Chapter 5 is surveying the entire debt system, and how it impacts the climate (amongst many other elements of life.) I did feel a bit disappointed in the final notes about how we actually can afford to fund debt abolition in America, despite claims to the contrary. I did feel like this section took on a bit of a disconnect from earlier points about imperialism, as it’s well known that the social welfare benefits Global North countries provide are often only possible because of exploitation elsewhere. I wish the authors had thought through this in alignment with their claims that the U.S. has enough money to cancel all our citizens’ debts—like would this actually be true if we also paid the “climate debt” to countries in the Global South, and stopped profiting from their exploitation?!? Or, does the whole taxation system fall apart then, because the companies we could tax to fund public good programs wouldn’t exist, either? To be fair, I think this is a rare complaint in such an otherwise helpful book.
Like I said at the beginning, I really cannot recommend this one enough! Most of the arguments are executed extremely well, and I know I will be reminded of many of these principles every time I turn my head! I can’t think of a better primer about the centrality of debt in our lives, and the necessity of debt abolition for any struggle against capitalism.
December 30, 2020
Note: At the time of this review, Haymarket, the publisher of this book, is providing afree ebook downloadof the book. If you can afford to pay for it, definitely purchase it to support the publishing.
Whether or not you’re in debt, you should read this seriously important book. In the era of financialisation (or what Marx called the finance stage of capitalism), debt plays a huge impact on entire economies, individuals and families.
This book explains the role of debt and how it has historically been used, but also more importantly it explains why ordinary people should come together and force governments to cancel debts, and ultimately demand a political economy that doesn’t put people in debt.
“Can’t Pay, Won’t Pay” is very current and timely book, covering what has taken place in the era of COVID. The book makes even sense to me, because I read Stephanie Kelton’s book, The Deficit Myth: Modern Monetary Theory and the Birth of the People's Economy in which she explains how because the U.S. has a sovereign currency, it can’t really have a deficit—as long as it’s producing enough goods and services for cash flow. The US could forgive all student loans and free up money for important spending, such as housing, raising children, and transitioning to a green economy. (The US government through the treasury and banks issues digital and paper currency into the economy. It can create and issue as much as money it wants and needs. It does not depend upon the taxes. Taxes are the money that government reigns back in.)
Because we’re in the era of fascism, the working class is going to have to find ways to undermine the economy of the ruling class which keeps most people in debt and struggling. Protests in the streets are important, but we need to also learn and use the power of economic boycotts, debtors’ unions, job strikes, and other forms of resistance to force the government to make changes.
The book says it best:
“Can’t Pay, Won’t Pay” is easy to read, but it’s packed with a lot of information. It’s a book that should be widely read and studied in groups and classrooms. It’s a manifesto for a debt jubilee.
Whether or not you’re in debt, you should read this seriously important book. In the era of financialisation (or what Marx called the finance stage of capitalism), debt plays a huge impact on entire economies, individuals and families.
This book explains the role of debt and how it has historically been used, but also more importantly it explains why ordinary people should come together and force governments to cancel debts, and ultimately demand a political economy that doesn’t put people in debt.
“Can’t Pay, Won’t Pay” is very current and timely book, covering what has taken place in the era of COVID. The book makes even sense to me, because I read Stephanie Kelton’s book, The Deficit Myth: Modern Monetary Theory and the Birth of the People's Economy in which she explains how because the U.S. has a sovereign currency, it can’t really have a deficit—as long as it’s producing enough goods and services for cash flow. The US could forgive all student loans and free up money for important spending, such as housing, raising children, and transitioning to a green economy. (The US government through the treasury and banks issues digital and paper currency into the economy. It can create and issue as much as money it wants and needs. It does not depend upon the taxes. Taxes are the money that government reigns back in.)
Because we’re in the era of fascism, the working class is going to have to find ways to undermine the economy of the ruling class which keeps most people in debt and struggling. Protests in the streets are important, but we need to also learn and use the power of economic boycotts, debtors’ unions, job strikes, and other forms of resistance to force the government to make changes.
The book says it best:
Through strategic campaigns of economic disobedience and debt refusal, we can help repair past damage, rescue our planet, and repossess our lives. By resisting together, we reclaim all that has been stolen. Alone, our debts are a burden; together they can make us powerful. We owe it to one another to fight back.
“Can’t Pay, Won’t Pay” is easy to read, but it’s packed with a lot of information. It’s a book that should be widely read and studied in groups and classrooms. It’s a manifesto for a debt jubilee.
July 19, 2023
3.5
The best chapter was chapter 4. I'd give that one five stars.
The best chapter was chapter 4. I'd give that one five stars.
November 30, 2024
No citations!
April 10, 2025
Piccolo testo che ho trovato davvero interessante! 👀 Questo collettivo, che promuove la cancellazione dei debiti, racconta come si è formato e perché, spiega come funziona il debito negli USA e come essenzialmente viene utilizzato per sottomettere, controllare e sfruttare certe fasce della popolazione (soprattutto quella povera). Parla del razzismo verso non solo le minoranze statunitensi ma anche verso il sud globale che si ritrova con debiti assurdi, imposti dai paesi ricchi. Accenna anche alla situazione della Grecia, di Haiti, di Porto Rico e altri... Mostra come siamo interconness* nell'essere vessat* dai debiti imposti dalla fascia ricca che, in un modo o nell'altro, anche nei momenti di crisi economica peggiore, casca sempre in piedi 💀 l'ho trovato davvero illuminante e fa davvero riflettere sulla situazione globale attuale.
December 22, 2020
This book is essentially a manifesto for debt abolition and debtor organizing. The Debt Collective makes a convincing case for debtors unions--organized around a collective refusal to pay debts and grease the wheels of financial capitalism. The books makes a strong case for refusing to pay debts that are "unjust" (i.e., debts that people are forced to incur in order to satisfy basic needs because the neoliberal economic order has privatized and commodified such needs). Instead, the Debt Collective argues that we (debtors around the world) should only focus on "just debt," the type of debts that repair systemic oppression.
The Debt Collective identifies debt as a form of social control, and situates debt as the underlying instrument in virtually every single oppressive system over the last few centuries (enslavement, land dispossession / settler colonialism, neo-colonialism, austerity, predatory inclusion, etc.). The book makes a compelling case for debtors in America and around the world (especially in the Global South) to band together and collectively refuse to satisfy debts to multi-national corporate entities only concerned with extreme extraction and profit maximization. The goal of "debt abolition" is to weaken and dismantle global capitalism and usher in a more egalitarian form of socioeconomic governance.
While this books is extremely clear on its desired path, it could have added a bit more on the consequences for such collective resistance to debt repayment, as well as ways in which such consequences can be mitigated. Nevertheless, debt abolition is a noble goal and must be prioritized along with the other forms of abolition that radicals identify as necessary to dismantling this white supremacist, capitalist, patriarchal social order.
The Debt Collective identifies debt as a form of social control, and situates debt as the underlying instrument in virtually every single oppressive system over the last few centuries (enslavement, land dispossession / settler colonialism, neo-colonialism, austerity, predatory inclusion, etc.). The book makes a compelling case for debtors in America and around the world (especially in the Global South) to band together and collectively refuse to satisfy debts to multi-national corporate entities only concerned with extreme extraction and profit maximization. The goal of "debt abolition" is to weaken and dismantle global capitalism and usher in a more egalitarian form of socioeconomic governance.
While this books is extremely clear on its desired path, it could have added a bit more on the consequences for such collective resistance to debt repayment, as well as ways in which such consequences can be mitigated. Nevertheless, debt abolition is a noble goal and must be prioritized along with the other forms of abolition that radicals identify as necessary to dismantling this white supremacist, capitalist, patriarchal social order.
July 27, 2021
“Most people are not in debt because they live beyond their means; they are in debt because they have been denied the means to live.”
March 20, 2023
Fantastic primer on predatory lending, and the collective power that debtors have if they organize. I’m very interested in the work that The Debt Collective is doing to create a more equitable world for future generations.
April 19, 2021
Great short primer on debt resistance.
"No one should have to go into debt to meet their basic needs."
"Most people are not in debt because they live beyond their means; they are in debt because they have been denied the means to live."
"No one should have to go into debt to meet their basic needs."
"Most people are not in debt because they live beyond their means; they are in debt because they have been denied the means to live."
February 11, 2021
An excellent short book that is great to read as a follow up to David Graeber’s ‘Debt: The First 5,000 Years’.
It is almost impossible to avoid debt for a lot of people (and even a lot of countries) in today’s world. In many cases this is not because the debtor has done something wrong or irresponsible, it is often because they have pursued a higher education or gotten sick or (in the case of countries) dared to seek independence from their imperial masters. With less regulation and the rich becoming richer as a result, the odds are being stacked higher and higher in favour of the creditors. Now even data harvesting from social media is being used to trap people in debt cycles.
The Debt Collective propose debt unions which allow debtors to come together and use their collective debt as leverage against the system which is stacked against them by refusing to pay. As the J. Paul Getty quotes goes “If you owe the bank $100,000, the bank owns you. If you owe the bank $100 million, you own the bank”. Using this logic, debtors as a collective can own the bank, they just need to realise their power and organise.
The book gives detailed explanations of where we stand, what we can do about it and how we can do it.
It is almost impossible to avoid debt for a lot of people (and even a lot of countries) in today’s world. In many cases this is not because the debtor has done something wrong or irresponsible, it is often because they have pursued a higher education or gotten sick or (in the case of countries) dared to seek independence from their imperial masters. With less regulation and the rich becoming richer as a result, the odds are being stacked higher and higher in favour of the creditors. Now even data harvesting from social media is being used to trap people in debt cycles.
The Debt Collective propose debt unions which allow debtors to come together and use their collective debt as leverage against the system which is stacked against them by refusing to pay. As the J. Paul Getty quotes goes “If you owe the bank $100,000, the bank owns you. If you owe the bank $100 million, you own the bank”. Using this logic, debtors as a collective can own the bank, they just need to realise their power and organise.
The book gives detailed explanations of where we stand, what we can do about it and how we can do it.
Want to read
May 14, 2021Note: I accessed a digital review copy of this book through Edelweiss.
September 24, 2020
The kids in the street have Unionized. Now they are throwing a tantrum: won't pay. They are still taking the carrots from McGregor's garden, but they won't pay.
January 17, 2025
This is the kind of book that is so far left, many centrists (hello......are there any of you left out there?) will find it disturbing. But it's the kind of book that needs to exist in order to bring the discussion (and hopefully the center itself) to the left.
I have always known that the debt (especially academic and medical) of the average American is pre-meditated, manipulated, and benefitted from by the privileged few who are winners in our late-stage capitalist economy. But this book crystalizes that knowledge and maps it out in a way that can't be denied. And imparts the importance of the power we hold as the poor and middle class, if we unite.
One star taken off for quite a few uncited contentions, but I must admit I read it in audiobook form, so there may have been footnotes or end notes I missed.
I have always known that the debt (especially academic and medical) of the average American is pre-meditated, manipulated, and benefitted from by the privileged few who are winners in our late-stage capitalist economy. But this book crystalizes that knowledge and maps it out in a way that can't be denied. And imparts the importance of the power we hold as the poor and middle class, if we unite.
One star taken off for quite a few uncited contentions, but I must admit I read it in audiobook form, so there may have been footnotes or end notes I missed.
April 11, 2024
like a mash up of klein's disaster capitalism, baradaran's how the other half banks, hickel's the divide, kelton's modern monetary theory, aronoff's a planet to win, and eubanks' automating inequality, but shorter and more accessible than any single one of them
also love a postal banking shout-out
also love a postal banking shout-out
June 3, 2024
Incredibly engaging and informative book on the connection of our individual, city and national debts. We are given the tools to demand the cancellation of immoral debts (those incurred because human rights and basic social services are not available) and to advocate for the payment of moral debts (the case for reparations and climate justice).
September 5, 2024
4.5 stars - would’ve wanted a bit more expansion on certain ideas, but that’s also not necessarily the point of this! For the treatise that it is, it is so great
June 1, 2025
this book is a much needed read
however, since it was published in 2020, a lot of what was said wasn't new (good work to organizers for spreading the word!) so I will seek the active piece of applying what was shared in the book
however, since it was published in 2020, a lot of what was said wasn't new (good work to organizers for spreading the word!) so I will seek the active piece of applying what was shared in the book
November 16, 2020
I didn't know much, if anything, about debt and debt abolition. This book changed that. Abolish debt now.
March 18, 2024
excellent, digestible read on the case for debtors’ unions and how it could transform our world & help us fight for the future we want
July 3, 2021
Great resource outlining how people can organize to form a debtor's union. Especially relevant for anybody that has student loans outstanding.
June 28, 2023
GOD DAMN, this goes hard. Debt can be such a useful tool, but the good kind of debt isn’t available to most people often enough. Investors, businesses, “entrepreneurs” and other capital owners can use debt to generate great wealth. For everyone else it is just a predatory aspect of the current uber-capitalist system we have. Nobody should be going into unwanted debt because of medical, educational, housing, or imprisonment reasons.
The creation of the credit score is one of the most harmful things American economics has created. The book explains exactly how greedy the Financial and Technology sectors really are. Some terrifying stuff. It’s arguably more important to ones well being to truly understand our current financial environment and how to not get fucked, than anything else discussed today in modern politics.
With the Supreme Courts ruling on Student Debt forgiveness coming within the next week, the Biden Administration resuming Student loan interest starting 60 days after that, and Student loan payments starting back in October, people with student loan debt have an opportunity to hold the economy hostage and force Congress to do something about so much of people’s predatory, unnecessary debt.
The creation of the credit score is one of the most harmful things American economics has created. The book explains exactly how greedy the Financial and Technology sectors really are. Some terrifying stuff. It’s arguably more important to ones well being to truly understand our current financial environment and how to not get fucked, than anything else discussed today in modern politics.
With the Supreme Courts ruling on Student Debt forgiveness coming within the next week, the Biden Administration resuming Student loan interest starting 60 days after that, and Student loan payments starting back in October, people with student loan debt have an opportunity to hold the economy hostage and force Congress to do something about so much of people’s predatory, unnecessary debt.
August 22, 2022
A very compelling case for collectivised household debt disobedience. Taking debt to be able to live and paying punitive interest rates and not accessing certain basic services when unable to make repayments is deplorable and continues to enable the state's divestment from public services to benefit private capital.
This is a call to push for the abolition of it all, formation of debt unions that refuse to pay unjust debt and a cry for investment in what humanity needs: free and quality healthcare, education, housing etc.
I have so many thoughts that I will write later (possibly, lol). I loved it!
This is a call to push for the abolition of it all, formation of debt unions that refuse to pay unjust debt and a cry for investment in what humanity needs: free and quality healthcare, education, housing etc.
I have so many thoughts that I will write later (possibly, lol). I loved it!
March 28, 2021
A couple of weeks ago, I got an email from the Democratic Socialists of America announcing some January events. One that caught my eye was a reading discussion about a recent book by The Debt Collective called Can’t Pay, Won’t Pay: The Case for Economic Disobedience and Debt Abolition. As a person with a mountain of student loan debt, this is a topic I very much care about, so I decided to read the book right away. I got the audiobook version, and at only four hours in length, it was a quick listen.
Summary
Can’t Pay, Won’t Pay dives into the various kinds of debt we have in our society, not just as individuals, but also as nations. The Debt Collective outlines where debt comes from and why it’s so hard to climb out of. They also examine the morality of debt, how it’s used to control people, and how it impacts generation after generation. Beyond the crippling effects of debt on individuals and families, we also see how debt is a pervasive issue that affects entire countries that owe money to other nations. However, the book doesn’t just look backwards; it also looks forward, identifying different tactics we can use to eliminate debt and regain our own power. It’s a short but dense book, offering numerous examples of financial exploitation and initiative, both on the micro and macro levels.
Review
Can’t Pay, Won’t Pay is an eye-opening book with a wealth of knowledge. (See what I did there? Pun intended.) Beyond student loan debt (which is an issue that directly affects my sister and me, and is a subject I’m passionate about), this book also examines other kinds of debt, such as medical debt and the debt nations owe to other nations. It goes over the parts many of us know so well: Why it’s so easy and, in many ways, necessary for people to go into debt in the first place; why loans are extremely predatory; why it’s so difficult to get out of debt; how the cycle of poverty entraps people; why we need to abolish debt. But then Can’t Pay, Won’t Pay dives into the history and impacts I wasn’t aware of.
A major takeaway for me is how debt is used to control people. It’s used as power over others, particularly poor people and minorities. This can occur on the small scale; for example, it’s something I’ve seen within my family when one person owes money to another person. Of course, it also occurs on the large scale, from punishment through seizure of commodities or imprisonment to the simple debt cycle that keeps people desperate. I’d never seen it explained like this, but it was a lightbulb moment for me. My debt does control me and is a form of power over me.
Another key takeaway is how the lenders want us to be in debt and dependent. One example is about Ford employees in the 1900s. Apparently, employees were required to have certain “lifestyles,” and if they didn’t, they were encouraged to adopt those lifestyles or risk termination. Ford employees were expected to take out a mortgage to buy a home (not rent), have a stay-at-home wife, and not have any other income (whether from the wife having a job or from subletters). Essentially, Ford wanted their employees financially dependent and thus more loyal to the company.
Can’t Pay, Won’t Pay also examines national debts, citing Greece as an example of a country that’s stuck in a cycle of debt. Or consider countries in Africa who are thought to owe money to the global north. These decades- and centuries-old debts play a large role in keeping some nations third-world countries and unable to rise up.
I appreciate the many examples Can’t Pay, Won’t Pay shares, and the depth of the information it provides. However, I do wish there was more attention on the solutions to these problems. The final chapter does cite what the movement has accomplished so far, and offers some tactics we can use to make further progress. But I felt it could have been more fully explained. As it stands, I feel that I’d still need more information about how I can take action. Debt strikes sounds good in theory, but it’s not something I’d feel secure in doing on my own or even as part of a small group. How can we finally get organized on a greater scale? How can we protect ourselves financially? I still have questions, but this book gets the ball rolling and is a great first step.
Final Thoughts
Overall, I found Can’t Pay, Won’t Pay: The Case for Economic Disobedience and Debt Abolition to be a very informational and impactful book. I wish it had gone a bit further, but it’s still something I would encourage anyone with debt (or with loved ones who carry debt) to read. If we all work together, we can see real solutions enacted.
* Please check out my full review on my blog, Amanda's Book Corner! *
Summary
Can’t Pay, Won’t Pay dives into the various kinds of debt we have in our society, not just as individuals, but also as nations. The Debt Collective outlines where debt comes from and why it’s so hard to climb out of. They also examine the morality of debt, how it’s used to control people, and how it impacts generation after generation. Beyond the crippling effects of debt on individuals and families, we also see how debt is a pervasive issue that affects entire countries that owe money to other nations. However, the book doesn’t just look backwards; it also looks forward, identifying different tactics we can use to eliminate debt and regain our own power. It’s a short but dense book, offering numerous examples of financial exploitation and initiative, both on the micro and macro levels.
Review
Can’t Pay, Won’t Pay is an eye-opening book with a wealth of knowledge. (See what I did there? Pun intended.) Beyond student loan debt (which is an issue that directly affects my sister and me, and is a subject I’m passionate about), this book also examines other kinds of debt, such as medical debt and the debt nations owe to other nations. It goes over the parts many of us know so well: Why it’s so easy and, in many ways, necessary for people to go into debt in the first place; why loans are extremely predatory; why it’s so difficult to get out of debt; how the cycle of poverty entraps people; why we need to abolish debt. But then Can’t Pay, Won’t Pay dives into the history and impacts I wasn’t aware of.
A major takeaway for me is how debt is used to control people. It’s used as power over others, particularly poor people and minorities. This can occur on the small scale; for example, it’s something I’ve seen within my family when one person owes money to another person. Of course, it also occurs on the large scale, from punishment through seizure of commodities or imprisonment to the simple debt cycle that keeps people desperate. I’d never seen it explained like this, but it was a lightbulb moment for me. My debt does control me and is a form of power over me.
Another key takeaway is how the lenders want us to be in debt and dependent. One example is about Ford employees in the 1900s. Apparently, employees were required to have certain “lifestyles,” and if they didn’t, they were encouraged to adopt those lifestyles or risk termination. Ford employees were expected to take out a mortgage to buy a home (not rent), have a stay-at-home wife, and not have any other income (whether from the wife having a job or from subletters). Essentially, Ford wanted their employees financially dependent and thus more loyal to the company.
Can’t Pay, Won’t Pay also examines national debts, citing Greece as an example of a country that’s stuck in a cycle of debt. Or consider countries in Africa who are thought to owe money to the global north. These decades- and centuries-old debts play a large role in keeping some nations third-world countries and unable to rise up.
I appreciate the many examples Can’t Pay, Won’t Pay shares, and the depth of the information it provides. However, I do wish there was more attention on the solutions to these problems. The final chapter does cite what the movement has accomplished so far, and offers some tactics we can use to make further progress. But I felt it could have been more fully explained. As it stands, I feel that I’d still need more information about how I can take action. Debt strikes sounds good in theory, but it’s not something I’d feel secure in doing on my own or even as part of a small group. How can we finally get organized on a greater scale? How can we protect ourselves financially? I still have questions, but this book gets the ball rolling and is a great first step.
Final Thoughts
Overall, I found Can’t Pay, Won’t Pay: The Case for Economic Disobedience and Debt Abolition to be a very informational and impactful book. I wish it had gone a bit further, but it’s still something I would encourage anyone with debt (or with loved ones who carry debt) to read. If we all work together, we can see real solutions enacted.
* Please check out my full review on my blog, Amanda's Book Corner! *
April 23, 2021
This tiny book presents a good overview of how governments and finance collaborated to create the debt crisis, and how it produces revolving-door debt circumstances for individuals and less-powerful governments. Chapter 2 is especially good.
That said, I find this book a little light on the details when it comes to organizing around debt abolition. It's a thorny practical problem on an individual level. Refusing to pay debt can absolutely rip up your life in the short term; your unwillingness to pay can lead to garnished wages, denial of housing, and so on. So many folks still have a lot to lose in the short term. And, as the book stresses, debt abolition without a radical restructuring of multiple social systems--water and power, work, housing, education, incarceration, medicine--will be incomplete, and debt would begin to accumulate again immediately. So comprehensive debt relief won't happen overnight, meaning that debt abolitionists will be in riskier positions for a longer period of time.
Across the battlefield, debt holders are negotiating from a significant position of power. They already have a lot of money and a government willing to bail them out, so they can afford to be patient. They influence and write local, state, and federal legislation around debt. They have nothing to gain from giving in to debtors' demands for *blanket* forgiveness: if they forgive debt, they lose money, but if they do not forgive debt, they lose less money.
It's also difficult to organize around debt abolition on an individual level in terms of finding others with the same obligations, something the book recognizes, but does not address. This is not a how-to guide, in part because the Debt Collective wants you to join their pre-existing efforts. But an explanation of how they organize would make the book more persuasive that they can get the goods.
Second, the book doesn't have much to offer in terms of absolute, concrete success stories. Greece and Bolivia fought against the debt crunch, but Greece capitulated (for reasons the book understands, to protect its elderly population from death), and Bolivia has struggled to get itself out from under the thumb of the United States. Now, the situation would be different in the United States, because if the debtors won, there wouldn't be a second United States around to overthrow their government. But it would still be helpful to see a political plan built around gaming your opponents' likely actions.
Elsewhere, the book highlights some of the temporary debt relief efforts during the pandemic, suggesting that it would be simple to make them permanent. But that partial view neglects the political and economic calculation of that relief, where creditors accept some money later in place of no money forever. Where the book is able to offer concrete victories is around so-called half-measures: forgiveness of some portion of debt, reduced interest rates: the same kinds of gains you might see in labor organizing, where a company is forced to choose between reduced profits and no profits at all. It's hard to piece together how those bargains, which keep people on the debt treadmill, will lead to a necessary restructuring of society. These problems may be surmountable, but the Debt Collective does not address the nuts and bolts of them in this book. That may be asking too much of it, I'm not sure.
That said, I find this book a little light on the details when it comes to organizing around debt abolition. It's a thorny practical problem on an individual level. Refusing to pay debt can absolutely rip up your life in the short term; your unwillingness to pay can lead to garnished wages, denial of housing, and so on. So many folks still have a lot to lose in the short term. And, as the book stresses, debt abolition without a radical restructuring of multiple social systems--water and power, work, housing, education, incarceration, medicine--will be incomplete, and debt would begin to accumulate again immediately. So comprehensive debt relief won't happen overnight, meaning that debt abolitionists will be in riskier positions for a longer period of time.
Across the battlefield, debt holders are negotiating from a significant position of power. They already have a lot of money and a government willing to bail them out, so they can afford to be patient. They influence and write local, state, and federal legislation around debt. They have nothing to gain from giving in to debtors' demands for *blanket* forgiveness: if they forgive debt, they lose money, but if they do not forgive debt, they lose less money.
It's also difficult to organize around debt abolition on an individual level in terms of finding others with the same obligations, something the book recognizes, but does not address. This is not a how-to guide, in part because the Debt Collective wants you to join their pre-existing efforts. But an explanation of how they organize would make the book more persuasive that they can get the goods.
Second, the book doesn't have much to offer in terms of absolute, concrete success stories. Greece and Bolivia fought against the debt crunch, but Greece capitulated (for reasons the book understands, to protect its elderly population from death), and Bolivia has struggled to get itself out from under the thumb of the United States. Now, the situation would be different in the United States, because if the debtors won, there wouldn't be a second United States around to overthrow their government. But it would still be helpful to see a political plan built around gaming your opponents' likely actions.
Elsewhere, the book highlights some of the temporary debt relief efforts during the pandemic, suggesting that it would be simple to make them permanent. But that partial view neglects the political and economic calculation of that relief, where creditors accept some money later in place of no money forever. Where the book is able to offer concrete victories is around so-called half-measures: forgiveness of some portion of debt, reduced interest rates: the same kinds of gains you might see in labor organizing, where a company is forced to choose between reduced profits and no profits at all. It's hard to piece together how those bargains, which keep people on the debt treadmill, will lead to a necessary restructuring of society. These problems may be surmountable, but the Debt Collective does not address the nuts and bolts of them in this book. That may be asking too much of it, I'm not sure.
April 19, 2025
I didn’t expect a book about debt to feel like a balm, but Can’t Pay, Won’t Pay held me in a way few books ever have. As someone currently crushed under various kinds of debt, I’ve spent years believing that weight was mine alone to bear—a private shame I just had to endure. This book shattered that illusion and offered something I didn’t know I needed: permission to fight back.
What moved me most was its central argument—that debt is not just a personal hardship, but a political condition. The idea of organizing around indebtedness felt revolutionary. I'd never considered my debt as something I could leverage for collective power, only something to quietly suffer. But the authors argue that debt connects us—not in failure, but in shared exploitation under capitalism.
The book’s analysis is both sharp and expansive. It clearly shows how debt compounds other crises—housing insecurity, unemployment, mental illness—not by accident, but by design. I was stunned to learn that student loans can't be discharged through bankruptcy in the U.S., and that even COVID stimulus checks were seizable to pay debts. That cruelty is staggering, and yet, it’s the logical outcome of a system that treats poverty as a moral failing.
What really lingered with me was the way the book broke down concepts like financialization, neoliberalism, and municipal debt without losing clarity or urgency. From the racialized roots of credit scoring to the brutal aftermath of the Flint and Detroit water crises, the authors reveal how debt is used to punish the already marginalized. And still—they insist that resistance is possible. That defaulting can be an act of revolt. That redistribution is not only necessary, but achievable.
I closed this book feeling cracked open and galvanized. If we want liberation, we must be willing to reject the debts that were never ours to begin with. This book isn’t just theory—it’s a blueprint for the solidarity we desperately need.
📖 Read this if you love: anti-capitalist manifestos, accessible radical theory, and the works of adrienne maree brown or Ruth Wilson Gilmore.
🔑 Key Themes: Debt and Social Control, Neoliberalism and Austerity, Racial Capitalism and Carceral Economies, Collective Power and Debtor Organizing.
What moved me most was its central argument—that debt is not just a personal hardship, but a political condition. The idea of organizing around indebtedness felt revolutionary. I'd never considered my debt as something I could leverage for collective power, only something to quietly suffer. But the authors argue that debt connects us—not in failure, but in shared exploitation under capitalism.
The book’s analysis is both sharp and expansive. It clearly shows how debt compounds other crises—housing insecurity, unemployment, mental illness—not by accident, but by design. I was stunned to learn that student loans can't be discharged through bankruptcy in the U.S., and that even COVID stimulus checks were seizable to pay debts. That cruelty is staggering, and yet, it’s the logical outcome of a system that treats poverty as a moral failing.
What really lingered with me was the way the book broke down concepts like financialization, neoliberalism, and municipal debt without losing clarity or urgency. From the racialized roots of credit scoring to the brutal aftermath of the Flint and Detroit water crises, the authors reveal how debt is used to punish the already marginalized. And still—they insist that resistance is possible. That defaulting can be an act of revolt. That redistribution is not only necessary, but achievable.
I closed this book feeling cracked open and galvanized. If we want liberation, we must be willing to reject the debts that were never ours to begin with. This book isn’t just theory—it’s a blueprint for the solidarity we desperately need.
📖 Read this if you love: anti-capitalist manifestos, accessible radical theory, and the works of adrienne maree brown or Ruth Wilson Gilmore.
🔑 Key Themes: Debt and Social Control, Neoliberalism and Austerity, Racial Capitalism and Carceral Economies, Collective Power and Debtor Organizing.
June 6, 2022
This was such a fantastic book because it hits you with one of those, “Oh my God. You’re right,” moments as soon as you realize what Taylor is talking about. I honestly haven’t had a moment like that since I first discovered Bernie Sanders and his policy ideas and said, “Yeah. Why is healthcare directly tied to our employment?”. Astra Taylor and her organization argue that we should abolish debt and lays out a multitude of reasons why that is. The current system is set up for debt to accumulate while the rich get richer and wealth inequality gets even worse in our country.
Whenever I hear the word “abolish”, I instantly think the opinions are going to be way too extreme, but Astra Taylor makes an extremely strong argument. She explains how all of these rich corporations have their debt forgiven regularly, but for some reason, we common folk are seen as “irresponsible”. Meanwhile Wall Street is recklessly gambling with the economy, and Taylor even explains how the lack of accountability for these companies has led to contaminated water and health issues for communities.
I still don’t know if I’m on board with eliminating all debt, but I’m a firm believer in fighting for the extreme so we can maybe compromise by getting something reasonable. At the very least, the average American should get the same perks and benefits as these multi-millionaires and multi-billionaires who regularly have their debt forgiven while the rest of us struggle to get by.
Whenever I hear the word “abolish”, I instantly think the opinions are going to be way too extreme, but Astra Taylor makes an extremely strong argument. She explains how all of these rich corporations have their debt forgiven regularly, but for some reason, we common folk are seen as “irresponsible”. Meanwhile Wall Street is recklessly gambling with the economy, and Taylor even explains how the lack of accountability for these companies has led to contaminated water and health issues for communities.
I still don’t know if I’m on board with eliminating all debt, but I’m a firm believer in fighting for the extreme so we can maybe compromise by getting something reasonable. At the very least, the average American should get the same perks and benefits as these multi-millionaires and multi-billionaires who regularly have their debt forgiven while the rest of us struggle to get by.
June 21, 2022
Shrill, histrionic, and at times, patently absurd. It's not enough that college should be free; land-grant universities should compensate the Native Americans whose land they occupy. There is a case to be made for debt forgiveness, but not by these clowns. Much of the opening chapters appears to be a gloss of David Graeber's Debt: The First 5,000 Years. (https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/6...). The last part of the book is a state-of-the-union-esque laundry list of liberal causes. This is a trait shared, to a lesser-extent by two like-minded books: Money From Nothing: Or, Why We Should Stop Worrying About Debt and Learn to Love the Federal Reserve (https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/5...) by Robert Hockett and Aaron James, and The Deficit Myth, by Stephanie Kelton. While those two books are erudite and well-argued, "Can't Pay, Won't Pay," is a screed high on petulance, but low on reason.
June 5, 2022
I largely agree with the goals of this book. We need to build socialism if we want to survive the coming crises. However, a question is raised by Astra Taylor in the forward that goes unanswered and lingers in the background for the entire book, namely how do we build debtors unions when people who have the same lender are often separated by great distances? This is central to their project and is seemingly insurmountable if the strategy is to build a new type of union based solely on debt. What allows labor unions and tenant unions to organize is that the members live and work in close proximity to each other; they see each other and talk all the time and locals can meet in person to socialize and strategize. This leads me to believe that unless debtors unions are reworked to be caucuses in existing labor and tenant unions that campaign to participate in debt strikes, then the idea of a debtors union is doomed to fail.
November 9, 2020
Decent introduction to debt abolition, and the idea that shared debt can be used as leverage against creditors (student loans, major banks, etc). This is a new way of thinking about things, and that's valuable. The authors, a group that's been involved in these campaigns, has had some successes, so that's also inspiring. It contains an overview on concepts like financialization, and a decent introduction to the history of neoliberalism, and examples from the global struggle. I found the focus was more on brainstorming, in a way, about what's possible, versus what's practically doable, and the tone almost seemed kind of utopian at times. Maybe I just don't know enough about the subject, and/or am too cynical to see this working on a large scale. Still, it's a starting point for me to start learning about these subjects.
September 3, 2023
It's propaganda. Red manifesto. At least they somehow notice how f*cked up system they created. How much trillions USA is in dept to their own banks, or China? But of course you would need to find other book that explores the subject, certainly you won't find nothing about in this one. Those f*ckers love racial divide, divide and conquer, but make no mistake it's a class war, always was. Those idiots just couldn't help themselves throwing Trump in there. I didn't know he went bankrupt over casino business, they called him an idiot as casino never loses. But in reality, I got new respect for a guy, maybe casino doesn't always win if it's not run by a mafia. You will like this book if you don't know how PR and agents of change work. The problems are there, but absolutely not even one inch is directed towards and is relevant to the clowns that are culprits.
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