[Appropriately enough, it's a David Graeber demand, based on his book]
http://politics.salon.com/2011/10/05/a_proposed_demand_for_occupy_wall_street/?source=newsletter
A proposed demand for Occupy Wall Street Let's tackle the debt that actually matters
By Alex Pareene
<snip>
The solution, if I may take a page from the official Washington
Grown-Ups' Handbook, is tackling the national debt. Not the federal
debt, though. The people's debt.
<snip>
So my immodest proposal is simply this: Individuals and households in
the bottom 99 percent who owe debt to any large financial institution
that received federal government support during and after the 2008
crisis should see their debt forgiven. That would certainly stimulate
the economy, as most people would suddenly find themselves with a great
deal more money to spend on iPads (and food, and clothing, and housing,
and healthcare). The debt can be forgiven by decree or if the
government really wants to it can step in to pay it itself; I don't
much care either way. (Though it'd be nice to see it just wiped off the
books, to enrage the banks.)
Let's wipe the debt of the 99 percent off the books, tell the financial
sector to eat it, and get on with our lives.
I'm by no means the first person to come up with this demand. David
Graeber, author of "Debt: The First 5,000 Years," proposed the idea on
"Democracy Now" last month.
<end excerpt>
Michael