Being poor itself is not yet a crime, but in at least a third of the states, being in debt can now land you in jail. If a creditor like a landlord or credit card company has a court summons issued for you and you fail to show up on your appointed court date, a warrant will be issued for your arrest. And it is easy enough to miss a court summons, which may have been delivered to the wrong address or, in the case of some bottom-feeding bill collectors, simply tossed in the garbage — a practice so common that the industry even has a term for it: “sewer service.” In a sequence that National Public Radio reports is “increasingly common,” a person is stopped for some minor traffic offense — having a noisy muffler, say, or broken brake light — at which point the officer discovers the warrant and the unwitting offender is whisked off to jail.

Tomgram: Barbara Ehrenreich, Looting the Lives of the Poor | TomDispatch (via nickturse)

Ah, a return to the values of the 19th Century! Lets also dismantle sewers and put children back in factories (outside of China and India I mean).

(via hiredgoons)

If it were still 2008, there’d be a fuckyeahbarbaraehrenreich Tumblr™.

Source: tomdispatch.com

Recent comments

Blog comments powered by Disqus

194 Notes

  1. hangama reblogged this from musaafer
  2. parergonal reblogged this from eatona
  3. thepersonalispolitic reblogged this from aragingquiet
  4. mx-fortune reblogged this from xwingsandpaperplanes
  5. eatona reblogged this from mochente
  6. revolther reblogged this from mochente
  7. mochente reblogged this from eibmorb
  8. lovelinguist reblogged this from muslim-unicorn
  9. eibmorb reblogged this from muslim-unicorn
  10. muslim-unicorn reblogged this from musaafer
  11. cephalopodqueen reblogged this from warcrimenancydrew
  12. darlenesunshine reblogged this from warcrimenancydrew
  13. jaraconnell reblogged this from warcrimenancydrew
  14. sonicscrewdrivers reblogged this from warcrimenancydrew
  15. warcrimenancydrew reblogged this from aragingquiet
  16. looneyngilo2 reblogged this from socio-logic
  17. brownielocs reblogged this from thethirddecade1121
  18. xwingsandpaperplanes reblogged this from socio-logic
  19. thethirddecade1121 reblogged this from socio-logic
  20. dynamicsymmetry reblogged this from socio-logic
  21. purogallopinto reblogged this from socio-logic
  22. fairyonacidbanging reblogged this from aragingquiet
  23. aragingquiet reblogged this from socio-logic
  24. socio-logic reblogged this from sociolab
  25. emocandycane reblogged this from nickturse
  26. lovely-panic reblogged this from prussian-blues
  27. prussian-blues reblogged this from 40h4error
  28. ungoodpirate reblogged this from sociolab
  29. vivelavapeur reblogged this from sociolab
  30. opakakaek reblogged this from end-the-republican-mafia
  31. dyenchudesny reblogged this from sociolab
  32. eatingwithears reblogged this from sociolab