Could we really pay off each others' debt?

TikTokers are certainly trying.

The “new GoFundMe” is how Business Insider describes one of TikTok’s latest trends, where millions of people are watching thousands of videos in an effort to pay off people’s debt. Users are making simple videos, often not trying to be creative or clever and instead choosing to be blunt and straightforward. All they’re asking is that you watch them for a few seconds, and maybe like and comment and interact, in order to help pay off their debt. The creators are hoping these videos get tens of millions or hundreds of millions of views, make them tens of thousands of dollars, and help them pay off some of their debts – or even allow them to pay off everything.

The Good:

People are really helping each other here. Millions of people are seeing others ask for help and are responding by providing their time, their attention. Videos are racking up the views needed to generate some real money – as the Insider article discusses, medical student Jake Heisenburg got 22 million views just by asking that TikTok users help him pay off his debts from medical school. And that is incredible. That number of views is truly exceptional, and Jake is just one of thousands. It’s a great use of the platform, of a tool that we have at our disposal, and the willingness of millions and millions of users to help out, to interact with and share these videos, and most crucially to give their time to help others pay off some debt is a beautiful sight.

The Bad:

Unfortunately Jake's story also shows us the the limits of what’s happening here. Despite his whopping 22 million views he earned just $4,200. It’s a substitantial amount of money without a doubt, but he was hoping for over 10x that amount, and his video went just about as viral as these are gonna go. Of course he, and others trying to use TikTok to pay off their debt, could try again and again and again, but the harsh reality is that most people aren’t going to hit nearly the mark Jake hit, no matter what they do. Some number of people who make these ‘cancel each other's debt’ videos will net thousands of dollars. Let’s say a couple hundred reach that mark. Thousands and thousands will miss out on getting a substantial amount of money from this trend, through no fault of their own. They’ll simply hop on the trend too late, or make a slightly less compelling video, or just get left out in the cold by the algorithm. However it goes, the harsh reality is that watching one another’s TikToks just can’t do what we want it to do. It can’t bring us mass debt cancellation.

And this is where it gets ugly. We’re at a point where millions and millions want to be activists, or do activism. At this point in history it’s impossible for people to not have a desire to take action, as rents skyrocket and food gets too expensive and millions drown in debt. The average debt in America is $104,215, between mortgages, car payments, student loans, credit cards, and medical debt. It makes sense that people want change, and even more sense that we’re all eager and willing to use every available tool to get debt paid off and canceled. But we have to be honest with ourselves, and with one another. Odds are that watching videos from our couch isn’t the tool we might want it to be, odds are that using social media apps alone isn’t going to get us out of a mountain of debt, odds are we’re going to have to work hard as hell to climb out of the hole capitalism has put so many people in.

Photo by rc.xyz NFT gallery on Unsplash

I know we’re tired. I know we’re overworked and underpaid. I know that’s how this system has been designed. People with less free time and less energy are more docile and less able to organize for liberation. We’re more likely to resort to tools like sitting and watching videos. And the impulse is beautiful, don’t get me wrong. In fact the impulse to spend our time helping others pay off their debt is inspiring. Seeing millions of people use their time to help others in this way has given me hope. But that doesn’t mean it’s enough. One of the hardest things in organizing towards a better future is acknowledging that just because something is good doesn’t mean it’s enough. We sometimes have to accept that fact. And this is one of those cases. I have nothing but respect for people making these videos, and the millions of people taking the time to turn those videos into money. At the very same time, we have to aim higher.

The thing is, people are organizing in powerful ways around debt as we speak. The Debt Collective has, over the last several years, changed the conversation and the material reality around student debt in this country. They’ve organized using a union model, and as they write, “As the first union of debtors our aim is to abolish debts and advocate for a transformation in the way public goods and services are distributed.” As a direct result of their efforts, Biden has canceled billions and billions in student debt. These thousands of organized debtors effectively normalized the mass cancellation of student debt and have relentlessly pushed the issue. Even when the Supreme Court halted Biden’s attempt at total cancellation, the collective kept pushing. And Biden has continued to take steps to cancel billions. As the Debt Collective says, he could still do more, and they’ll keep holding his feet to the fire and pushing him to do more. I’d bet they’ll keep getting results, because organizing works. It gets the goods.

At the same time RIP Medical Debt, recently rebranded as Undue Medical Debt as they seek to address root causes and not only cancel debts, has been successfully working to get billions canceled. The non-profit first worked with charities and local governments to get medical debt wiped out on a relatively small scale. But then people like the Governors of Connecticut, Arizona, and Pennsylvania started paying attention. Now billions in medical debt cancellation has become a reality, with states able to buy the debt and simply erase it for pennies on the dollar. What was once a pipe dream is now a reality, thanks to an organization dedicated to the cause. And that organization is now taking a powerful turn to go after the root causes of the problem. Which is exactly what truly addressing the problems of our era requires.

Truly addressing the issue of student loan debt, medical debt, and how difficult it is to escape these holes once people get in them means going to the source. It means knowing that we shouldn’t have to climb in these holes to begin with, and then organizing to alter our system so that no one “needs” to be thousands of dollars in debt to get ahead, or to survive, which is too often the reality of our health care system. I recoiled from the idea that racking up TikTok views is the “new GoFundMe” first and foremost because it shows us that millions have had to turn to crowdfunding to even have a chance of paying their debts. That’s not how we should be living, and that’s not how we have to live. We can cancel our debts, all of them. But it won’t come from video views, no matter how beautiful the collective impulse there is. It’ll come from building power. It’ll come from replacing existing systems and structures with ones that aren’t hellbent on extracting profit from our every move. It’ll come from organizing, unionizing, and struggling. Step one is being honest with ourselves about that, and step two is making this work a part of our day-to-day lives. We need you to help build this movement, this tidal wave of people power rushing towards a better world. We need you; we have a world to win. 

---

---

Read more about the Debt Collective: https://debtcollective.org/

Read more about Undue Medical Debt: https://unduemedicaldebt.org/