Operations Manual

Via Nathaniel Mahlberg's site with Fellowship Of Reconciliation, the download for the newly released Debt Resister's Operation Manual, a 132 page book from Strike Debt/Occupy Wall Street.  He attended the launch of the book with his church, Judson Memorial, the

"culmination of a day of public education, discussion, and tabling in Washington Square Park, this event unveiled an emerging focus for Occupy’s economic justice efforts: debt.  Debt is a way to connect the struggles of many different types of people, from homeowners and renters, to students, to people without adequate health insurance, to farmers, small business owners, and municipalities. “The Debt Resistors’ Operations Manual” is a collaborative effort to share research on the diverse types of debt, their interconnections, and the ways people can work together to come out from under the veil of shame and resist the debt system."  

As a night-shift jail support chaplain, he provides a personal account of the S17 arrests and imprisonment of religious and spiritual leadership, veterans working in the peace movement, and transforming Madison Square Park into Free University with free classes and workshops (you can see photos of activites at the linked website). He also writes:

A debt resistance movement calling for widespread debt forgiveness should prove to be a powerful development for Occupy and its relationship with other economic justice efforts. For Judeo-Christian communities, such a call echoes the wisdom of the old biblical demand for a time of jubilee, which erases the exploitation of inequality through debt, indenture, and enslavement.  I am particularly excited for multiplying energy in this direction because of my work nonviolently supporting and defending homeowners suffering foreclosure (with last year’s FOR Communications Intern, Matthew Arlyck).  This housing rights movement is calling for a moratorium on foreclosures and mortgage debt forgiveness.  As the chant goes, “Banks got bailed out. We got sold out.”

Below is an older video from Free University in association with the prior NYC May Day activities, and a video prominently figuring the emerging debt resistance movement.   

Happy Reading and Distributing!