# Bring the jubilee. **URL:** \ **Category:** Great Debates\ **Created:** [June 11, 2015, 2:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bring-the-jubilee/722229 "2015-06-11T02:02:25Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![silenus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/silenus/32/166_2.png) [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)\ **Post date:** [June 11, 2015, 2:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bring-the-jubilee/722229/1 "2015-06-11T02:02:25Z")
[Interesting idea.](http://www.addictinginfo.org/2015/06/10/time-for-jubilee/) The basic plan would be a forgiveness of all debts, release of most prisoners, and a reset for society. It would totally freak the Powered Class, but I think that’s a _good thing._ If the 1% lost a ton, I’d smile all day long. Any way this could actually work in a modern society? ---
**Author:** ![Bricker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/977dab/32.png) [@Bricker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bricker)\ **Post date:** [June 11, 2015, 2:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bring-the-jubilee/722229/2 "2015-06-11T02:11:57Z")
> [@silenus](#): > > [Interesting idea.](http://www.addictinginfo.org/2015/06/10/time-for-jubilee/) > > The basic plan would be a forgiveness of all debts, release of most prisoners, and a reset for society. It would totally freak the Powered Class, but I think that’s a _good thing._ If the 1% lost a ton, I’d smile all day long. > > Any way this could actually work in a modern society? No. My money is in the bank. The bank pays me my deposit whenever I ask, because they have loaned money to people and made a profit doing so. If this happened, I would lose my money. And so would you. ---
**Author:** ![Trinopus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/2bfe46/32.png) [@Trinopus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Trinopus)\ **Post date:** [June 11, 2015, 2:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bring-the-jubilee/722229/3 "2015-06-11T02:14:08Z")
I smiled at this bit: “It is not as if the granting of a universal pardon is unheard of, as President Andrew Jackson did just that on December 25, 1868, pardoning any who took up arms against the United States in the Civil War.” Good work for someone who’d been dead for 23 years. More seriously, no, this is not a good idea. Lesser, more targeted group amnesties could make some sense, say for everyone in Federal Prison for a marijuana offense below a certain level. But a forgiveness of all debts? Wait a minute! I lent a few bucks to my brother-in-law: you’re proposing a deal where he doesn’t have to pay me back? I’m way against that! ---
**Author:** ![Bricker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/977dab/32.png) [@Bricker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bricker)\ **Post date:** [June 11, 2015, 2:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bring-the-jubilee/722229/4 "2015-06-11T02:15:24Z")
Unless… the money the bank owes you is a debt that gets forgiven? ---
**Author:** ![John\_Mace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_mace/32/185_2.png) [@John\_Mace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_Mace)\ **Post date:** [June 11, 2015, 3:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bring-the-jubilee/722229/5 "2015-06-11T03:15:00Z")
> [@Trinopus](#): > > I smiled at this bit: “It is not as if the granting of a universal pardon is unheard of, as President Andrew Jackson did just that on December 25, 1868, pardoning any who took up arms against the United States in the Civil War.” And completely irrelevant to the concept of forgiving financial debt. Not even in the same ballpark. I’ll ask the OP what he thinks will happen when he tries to write a check against the money he has deposited in a bank, when the bank suddenly has no way of collecting on its debts. I wonder if the OP even understands how a bank works. Hint: they don’t hold you money in a safe in the basement. ---
**Author:** ![silenus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/silenus/32/166_2.png) [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)\ **Post date:** [June 11, 2015, 3:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bring-the-jubilee/722229/6 "2015-06-11T03:53:27Z")
Don’t get saucy with me, Bernaise. 😉 I _teach_ economics. The idea was to foster a discussion of debt forgiveness, general amnesty of non-violent prisoners, and a general “New Deal.” ---
**Author:** ![Dr.Strangelove](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dr.strangelove/32/6613_2.png) [@Dr.Strangelove](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dr.Strangelove)\ **Post date:** [June 11, 2015, 3:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bring-the-jubilee/722229/7 "2015-06-11T03:57:58Z")
I guess anyone that depends on child support payments gets fucked over. ---
**Author:** ![boffking](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/858c86/32.png) [@boffking](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/boffking)\ **Post date:** [June 11, 2015, 4:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bring-the-jubilee/722229/8 "2015-06-11T04:07:01Z")
Under your proposal, what happens to property that is being financed? If I buy a car today, and the “jubilee” comes tomorrow, what happens? Do I get to keep it for free? Or do I have to give it back? ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [June 11, 2015, 4:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bring-the-jubilee/722229/9 "2015-06-11T04:15:53Z")
The United States government will happy that it can write off the national debt. Sucks for anyone who bought any treasury bonds though. Or anyone who lives off a pension that was funded by treasury bonds. Or anyone who lives near a site the Chinese nuke after we tell them about the Jubilee. ---
**Author:** ![Jackmannii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jackmannii/32/311_2.png) [@Jackmannii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jackmannii)\ **Post date:** [June 11, 2015, 12:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bring-the-jubilee/722229/10 "2015-06-11T12:15:54Z")
> [@Dr.Strangelove](#): > > I guess anyone that depends on child support payments gets fucked over. The first thing I thought of. Anyone depending on income from a legal settlement of any kind? Too bad. ---
**Author:** ![davida03801](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b5e925/32.png) [@davida03801](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/davida03801)\ **Post date:** [June 11, 2015, 12:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bring-the-jubilee/722229/11 "2015-06-11T12:37:45Z")
I would not be opposed to a mass pardon and release of all folks in the federal prison system for nonviolent crimes. However a forgiveness of all debts is one of these stupid ideas that keeps popping up from time to time. Totally opposed to that. Go and look up the autoworkers at GM who invested in the GM bonds only to see them thrown under the bus in the Obama bailout of GM. Ask them how they feel about debt forgiveness. ---
**Author:** ![Ethilrist](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ethilrist/32/4604_2.png) [@Ethilrist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ethilrist)\ **Post date:** [June 11, 2015, 12:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bring-the-jubilee/722229/12 "2015-06-11T12:48:08Z")
It’s not so much “debt forgiveness” as “lender annihilation.” This would cripple, if not destroy, an entire, multi-billion-dollar industry. ---
**Author:** ![Shodan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9f8e36/32.png) [@Shodan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shodan)\ **Post date:** [June 11, 2015, 12:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bring-the-jubilee/722229/13 "2015-06-11T12:51:51Z")
> [@silenus](#): > > [Interesting idea.](http://www.addictinginfo.org/2015/06/10/time-for-jubilee/) “Interesting” in the sense that worldwide economic collapse is “interesting”. Let’s see - [ul][li]All US debt instruments become worthless. So no Social Security for anyone.[/li][li]Businesses lose all their accounts payable, so they can’t pay their employees and go out of business. So unemployment goes to 90+% for everyone who isn’t self-employed, and most of those who are go under because they can’t get paid for what they do.[/li][li]All privately issued bonds become worthless. So private investors are wiped out.[/li][li]Nobody pays their mortgages, so banks collapse. So no start-up loans, all deposits disappear, no one can finance a purchase of a house or car, and all transactions have to be cash-only, which you don’t have because there are no banks to withdraw from.[/li][/ul]It is in direct violation of the Constitution, so any government official who suggests it should be impeached. Apart from that, great idea. Regards, Shodan ---
**Author:** ![Jackmannii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jackmannii/32/311_2.png) [@Jackmannii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jackmannii)\ **Post date:** [June 11, 2015, 12:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bring-the-jubilee/722229/14 "2015-06-11T12:56:04Z")
I guess Bernie Madoff and other criminals caught running non-violent financial scams will be delighted at being released from jail. ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [June 11, 2015, 12:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bring-the-jubilee/722229/15 "2015-06-11T12:59:52Z")
> [@Jackmannii](#): > > I guess Bernie Madoff and other criminals caught running non-violent financial scams will be delighted at being released from jail. The debt forgiveness would be a bonus: they wouldn’t have to pay restitution. ---
**Author:** ![Shodan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9f8e36/32.png) [@Shodan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shodan)\ **Post date:** [June 11, 2015, 1:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bring-the-jubilee/722229/16 "2015-06-11T13:14:21Z")
And one could be sure they wouldn’t repeat their crimes - there wouldn’t be any financial industry left. Regards, Shodan ---
**Author:** ![Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e8c25b/32.png) [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Really_Not_All_That_Bright)\ **Post date:** [June 11, 2015, 3:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bring-the-jubilee/722229/17 "2015-06-11T15:07:03Z")
This is a really stupid idea. > [@Dr.Strangelove](#): > > I guess anyone that depends on child support payments gets fucked over. Well, not exactly. Child support accrues on a month-to-month basis, so presumably it would just be the people who are owed _back_ child support who get fucked over. ---
**Author:** ![Shodan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9f8e36/32.png) [@Shodan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shodan)\ **Post date:** [June 11, 2015, 4:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bring-the-jubilee/722229/18 "2015-06-11T16:25:31Z")
If it is a one-time deal, where all currently held debt is cancelled , then you wouldn’t have to pay this month’s CS either. Regards, Shodan ---
**Author:** ![Procrustus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/procrustus/32/2994_2.png) [@Procrustus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Procrustus)\ **Post date:** [June 11, 2015, 4:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bring-the-jubilee/722229/19 "2015-06-11T16:31:06Z")
> [@Shodan](#): > > [/list]It is in direct violation of the Constitution, so any government official who suggests it should be impeached. Apart from that, great idea. > > Regards, > Shodan Slight tangent, but I don’t believe we impeach people who merely _suggest_ unconstitutional proposals. If we did, we’d lose a lot of members of Congress. ---
**Author:** ![Bryan\_Ekers](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bryan_ekers/32/183_2.png) [@Bryan\_Ekers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bryan_Ekers)\ **Post date:** [June 11, 2015, 4:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bring-the-jubilee/722229/20 "2015-06-11T16:41:31Z")
Perhaps the closest thing that might work is tighter regulation on credit cards and payday loans, limiting interest rates and such. Maybe prime rate plus 5 or something like that. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bring-the-jubilee/722229.md?page=2)