How and Why To Be a Strategic Debtor

Shame and fear prevent many Americans who need debt relief from seeking it. Americans who struggle with debt should reject fear and shame and should instead feel empowered and entitled to seek relief in bankruptcy. Almost every American will need to take on debt at some point. We’re expected to use credit to acquire educations, homes, cars, and appliances—even medical care.

Americans do not incur debt strategically, but rather as a matter of survival. In Dignity Not Debt, I argued that human dignity, not profits, should guide policymakers, and that our collective goal should be to end both survival debt and what I call extractive debt—predatory debt that benefits lenders and collectors but not the borrower. Our institutions can’t save us, but they can sometimes serve us. Most of us will interact with formal systems in some way for the foreseeable future.

And to the extent that legal tools are available, we shouldn’t let the wealthy be the only ones to take advantage of them. I have two immediate goals. First, I want to help those with limited resources feel empowered and even excited to strategize around debt and debt relief. Second, I want to persuade people like me—particularly my fellow academics as well as judges and trustees—to think expansively about our obligations and opportunities to strategize—and help others strategize—around debt and debt relief.