Debt - a global scam

A note from the editor

Dinyar Godrej

Another day older and deeper in debt

I know it makes some people tremendously uncomfortable, but I can’t say it has bothered me much. Often, contrarily, it makes me feel appreciated, gives me a warm glow.

I’m talking about being socially indebted, being on the receiving end of acts of kindness from friends or strangers. Funnily enough, the overriding feelings I get are of being valued and connected, rather than any immediate obligation to repay. I believe these things even out in the end anyway and if it costs me little to help, then I certainly don’t keep score! The reward of helping out is in the doing.

My feelings about my mortgage debt are, sadly, entirely different – not only will the wretched thing haunt me until I am old and grey, it has turned me old and grey already. Such contractual, monetized debts are of a different order, of course; there is no trace of the social about them. And they can hang heavy indeed, especially when one feels tricked or forced into having taken on something unmanageable.

Fifteen years ago, a New Internationalist edition on debt would have been almost entirely on ‘Third World’ debt. Today, debt of all kinds is much more global, but it can be just as extractive and unjust. That still needs to change.

We also carry a report this month on the plight of the Kashmiri Pandit minority, many of whom were driven from their homes when the conflict in the region first began to escalate. In India, rightwingers exploit their example to spout anti-Muslim hatred, while progressive media often remain uneasily silent.

A warm welcome to Eduardo Galeano, the treasured Uruguayan author, whose books have permanent residence in our library. He answers our questions with his usual wit and concision – and, I for one, will greedily devour his views, even on football.

Dinyar Godrej for the New Internationalist co-operative.
www.newint.org

The big story

Speaking the naked truth to power, this Greek protester brings his anti-austerity message to parliament in Syntagma Square Athens.

John Kolesidis/Reuters

Debt – a global scam

The standard response to the current financial crisis has been to punish the presumed debtors. Are the creditors blameless, then? asks Dinyar Godrej.

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Features

Let us prey

Let us prey

Vulture funds buy up ‘bad’ debt owed by countries in distress and aggressively sue for full payment, plus compound interest.

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Debt – The Facts

At any given time countries both owe debts and have them owing to them. Who owes what and what's the bigger crisis – foreign or domestic debt.

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Merkel the puppeteer: a mural in Lisbon, Portugal, depicts the Portuguese Prime Minister and Foreign Minister as the German Chancellor’s playthings.Rafael Marchante/Reuters

Debt, austerity, devastation: it’s Europe’s turn

The austerity prescription fattens the creditors and punishes the innocent. Susan George laments a leadership subservient to the desires of finance.

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Faces of dissent: revolutionary graffiti in Cairo.Jubilee Debt Campaign

Fight debt: altogether now!

Debt is used to break nations. But resistance is fertile – and the North could learn a few lessons from the South, argues Nick Dearden.

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Rise up! Action and resources on debt ICAN

Rise up! Action and resources on debt

Fired up? Here’s were to get more info and tool up to fight the global debt scam.

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‘We all played together, Hindus and Muslims alike’ – sitting in his childhood home, Sanjay Tickoo recalls happier times.Sofi Lundin

In the valley of conflict

Sofi Lundin reports on the story of the Kashmiri Pandits, a minority group driven from their homes in the beautiful but strife-torn Kashmir Valley.

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Blogs

VIDEO: the power of participation

VIDEO: the power of participation

Chris Lunch believes we are only just scratching the surface of video technology’s potential.

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Opinion

YES: STEPHANIE SCHNEIDER teaches three- to six-year-olds at a public Montessori school in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, US. She is also an active member of the Educators Network for Social Justice, a teacher activist group, and serves on the Executive Board of her local trade union, the Milwaukee Teacher Education Association.

Argument: Are exams bad for children?

Teachers Stephanie Schneider and Matt Christison go head-to-head.

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Obama’s ‘free trade’ voyages are another big mistake labornotes

Obama’s ‘free trade’ voyages are another big mistake

New agreements that enhance corporate power are bad news, writes Mark Engler.

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Forget One Direction – we need a new direction

Forget One Direction – we need a new direction

Chris Coltrane imagines a world where everyone is equal.

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Agenda

Bats: not just pests

Bats: not just pests

As the British parliament debates the damage they cause in churches, Dawn Starin argues that it’s time to revise the ‘creepy’ animal’s reputation – before it’s too late.

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Regulars

Reconnecting with his roots: Paul Wimbush at Tir-y-gael in Wales.Hoppi Wimbush

Hermit Principle: an interview with Paul Wimbush:

The co-founder of an eco-village is creating the future he wants to see, as Rin Simpson discovers.

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Eduardo Galeano Julio Etchart

Eduardo Galeano

He talks to Vanessa Baird about dreams, football, justice – and the legs of his very first teacher.

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Letter from Botswana – For a place where speech is free Sarah John

Letter from Botswana – For a place where speech is free

Botswana’s tradition of community meetings could invigorate democracy, says Wame Molefhe – if done right.

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Letters - July 2013

Letters - July 2013

Armenia, land grabs, maximum wage, West Papua, party pooping, bickering and the ‘Global South.’

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Film, Book & Music Reviews

Narco Cultura: a heavy mix of music, guns and drugs in Mexico’s Ciudad Juárez

Film: Hotdocs special

Documentary film is taking its rightful place on commercial screens beside the usual fictional offerings. Richard Swift views some of this year’s entrants at the Toronto Hotdocs festival.

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Music reviews

Music reviews

Droit dans la Gueule du Loup and Stand Up People: Gypsy Pop Songs from Tito’s Yugoslavia.

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