Chained Up

Photography courtesy of Sarah Mason

Sarah Mason emerges from a small tent pitched in downtown Los Angeles at 7 am. The early morning air is surprisingly crisp for a city known for its smoggy disposition, and while the city is far from silent, the relative early morning quiet is a departure from the cacophony of urban sounds that will soon develop as Los Angeles wakes up. A smattering of tents, varying domes of gray nylon, punctuated by royal blues, oranges and reds band together to form a village in the middle of Los Angeles. The tent that Sarah leaves looks like any other gray nylon camping tent from the outside, of a nondescript size and description; however a quick peek inside reveals a bohemian paradise, complete with tapestries, blankets and pillows in rich earthy tones, candles and picture frames. It’s a cozy haven where one can hide from the chaos of a bustling day in downtown Los Angeles.

But the day must begin. Mason tidies her tent and cleans her area. She pushes her inky dark hair and bluntly cut bangs off of her face as she helps her fellow tent-dwellers greet the day by cleaning the area they occupy. The hot, bright sun chases away the morning and begins to beat down on the pavement and the palm trees that characterize this west coast metropolis. A rack of free clothing in all colors and sizes stand under the shade of a leafy tree, while Mason eats a quick breakfast. By 10 am, she’s answering questions from inquisitive passers-by, offering lucid explanation and reasoning for the movement that’s sweeping the United States from coast to coast. These tent dwellers are on the forefront of a revolution, pitching their nylon tents in one of the most glossy, materialistic cities in the nation. They are a prominent facet of their generation’s defining protest. But for Mason, in this moment, the grandiose significance of the movement is out of her sight. Today is merely another day as an active participant of Occupy Los Angeles.

A nearby tent bears a bedraggled piece of white computer paper held tenuously by masking tape that reads: “Why can we afford wars and Wall Street bailouts but our education system is broken?” This aptly sums up Mason’s own involvement in the Occupy Los Angeles movement. Her passion for debt activism stems from her own personal struggle with debt, which incurred when she was attending Northern Arizona University.

“I think the Occupy Wall Street Movement has shown that a lot of attention has been going to the fact that students have made an investment in their educations, then they come to the real world and they realize that that investment is essentially worthless,” she stated emphatically.

Mason’s straightforward, frank attitude is apparent when she speaks, articulating strongly about student debt and debt in general, easily tossing in terms like “neo-liberal capitalism” and “restifying and disparifying wealth” while she waxes eloquently about private loans and public education.

Her strong belief in this cause is also what motivated her to move downtown to camp in solidarity with the Occupy Wall Street Movement, which she details with vim.

“I saw this as a unique opportunity to organize and collaborate with people who had a very broad sense of the activist work that needs to be done. People that recognize that it’s going to take more than nominating a particular candidate, it’s going to take more than just passing a law, it’s actually going to be a long term struggle against a system and an ideology and that’s what inspired me to go and move down to the front lines of Occupy LA,” she said. And for Mason, living on the front lines of Occupy Los Angeles is key to actively contributing to the movement.

“Living there and being able to stay up to date, on the ground is definitely part of securing your involvement or role in the movement,” she said. “I think that people have a harder time when they’re not actually staying day in or day out, establishing themselves as a core member by going to meetings, doing work that needs to be done, talking to people, educating them, planning workshops, doing outreach; I’m also trying to get university professors to come in and doing classes on economics.”

However, Mason’s debt experience differs from many of those that are occupying across the nation. While she is still paying her student loans, she adamantly refuses to pay her credit card debt.

“I still have debt and I’m not paying it back because I feel like at this point, I have an obligation to try and disrupt and upset the financial industry, the credit industry. This industry is built off of the belief that it is okay to exploit poor people in order to make a profit,” she said. “Just like any other service or product, that you disagree with or have an issue with, you have the right to boycott it or use your power or your capital to speak out or take action against such industries,” she included determinedly.

Her unabashed attitude falters slightly, however, when asked about how she incurred significant personal debt. What began as an overspending problem became more severe, beyond rationality and bordering on addiction.

“Each paycheck that I would get, I would overspend. I got a credit card because I had no money and I needed a credit card to buy things that were essential to my life during this time. I had already spent all this money on clothes, make-up, accessories, and I got the credit card because I needed to my electric bill. Bank of American offered it to me, so I was like, ‘Yeah, of course – I’ll pay my electric bill with it.’ And then of course, it turned into I just started using it recklessly, thinking initially I would be able to pay it back.”

Mason’s voice lowers and loses its emphatic quality as she considers the different factors in her life that may have contributed to her spending problem. Insecurity, social messages, an eating disorder – the various influences pour out of her mouth hesitantly at first, then gain momentum. She concedes that her problem stems from consumption, making sure to note that the capitalistic system in American society encouraged this perspective. As she speaks, her voice gains timber and shakes off the vulnerability of the previous statement. Focus is regained and her strong activist spirit is once more apparent.

“The reality is that, of course, is what compelled me to buy clothes and make-up and all of these things was insecurity and a feeling of being inadequate. It was how wanted to present myself a certain way, while some of that was a part of having an eating disorder, it was ultimately about being insecure and I think at the bottom of that, I think that some of it – most of it was feeling inadequate and insecure and feeling pressure to look a certain way. What I also think it was that you’re just surrounded by these messages telling you to buy, buy, buy, consume, consume, consume.”

Mason is quick to assess that weakness though, noting that she still struggles now with spending. Her current job is at an art gallery in Santa Monica, where she’s felt the pressure to keep up appearances.

“Being in Southern California, being around people where image or being on the cutting edge is priority puts me in a situation where I feel more conscious of myself; now, I’m working at an art gallery where image is very important, and I struggle with it still,” she divulges matter-of-factly. “I frequently find myself walking around stores in the mall, ready to make big purchases, and buy impulsively just because I feel insecure. I make myself reflect, and then I’m like no.”

The issue of her deliberately unpaid debt, however, is not at rest. Her parents and her girlfriend both diagree with her unpaid credit card bills, though for different reasons.

“It’s my understanding that mom and dad think that it’s morally objectionable to not pay someone back, regardless of who that person is or how legitimate that person’s status is. Meagan’s concern is more practical; she’s more concerned about my ability to get an apartment and have utilities in my name.” Mason, however, is non-plussed by their reactions.

“I don’t think it’s really changed my relationships with them when you disagree with someone or the choices that somebody makes, you are obviously concerned about what the costs are going to be.  They will continually remind me that it’s important to pay my debt or that I’ll have trouble in the future. But it’s not something that you talk about all day and everyday.”

While her voice gains surety and clarity as she vehemently declares that she still won’t pay off her debt to credit card companies. Still, she maintains that refusing to pay her debt is the right decision.

“Why would I miss this opportunity to directly damage the people who are taking advantage of those of us in society who don’t have access to financial capital? Why would I miss this beautiful opportunity to say, ‘no, you don’t get your money back.’?”

And like that, she’s off, listing the reason after reason in a rapid-fire manner of why she can stay in debt.

With an incredulous laugh, Mason exclaims, “it’s easy not to pay your debt! Nothing can happen; I really don’t know what the system is because if you accumulate billions of dollars in debt like Washington Mutual or the Greek or Irish government, apparently you just get a clean break; it’s like, we’ll just lend you our tax revenues so you can turn this mess around. Apparently, if you’re someone like me who’s made a bad investment using credit cards, then that gives people the ability to call and harass you 24/7. If you have assets, people can seize them, but if you don’t have assets, what are they going to take? Your college degree? If you take out a loan to buy a car, they can take your car and sell it for money. to pay your debt. But really, what are they going to take?”

Her voice builds in intensity as she considers the possible ramifications of ignoring her debt.

“There’s no such thing as debtor’s prison; when these private credit cards lend you money, they are taking a risk. They make money off this bad shit, so why am I going to walk around and feel like this moral obligation to pay them back? I refuse to participate in that. If [my sister] lent me money, I would pay it back in a heartbeat, but Visa, Master card, even the private student loan that I had, was fraudulently bundled up and sold to someone as the triple A rated asset. They sold it and they made money off of it and they knew exactly what they were doing, I don’t feel that I have to pay it back especially because I don’t have a job that would allow me to pay that back,” she says. “I can’t get more credit cards, because I have bad credit and I’m very happy about that. I don’t want credit cards and I don’t want in a moment of weakness, the liberty to get a credit card. Some people say that’s really scary because you might have an emergency – that’s true. What if I did have an emergency or need the money? But the reality is that there are people in this country live like that everyday, whether it’s because they haven’t had a stable address or they’re undocumented, they are millions of people in this country without access to liquid capital. It’s really the last thing that I should be concerned about, there are far bigger issues to worry about than access to money.”

However, for better or for worse, Mason lives in American society, which is – for now, at least, a capitalistic one. Her dreams for the future, which include getting her graduate degree and working as a college professor will only be possible, debt-free, with the help of a fellowship or scholarship. She realizes that this may not be possible, going so far as to say, “I don’t want to have any more student loan debt at all, so if I can’t get those things, I will not go to graduate school. I don’t want to pretend like I’m 100% confident in my decision, but these are the things that I’ve been thinking about while I’ve been faced with the decision to pay off these debts.”

Mason has made her decision. Today, she will attend the general assembly meeting for Occupy Los Angeles, after she returns from a long day of working at the art gallery. She’ll continue to live in Los Angeles as long as the Occupy movement is going strong. She’ll continue this routine, working and educating others about debt and the Occupy movement. She’ll continue to refuse to pay her credit card debt, a personal decision that she has made and continues to stand by.

“Whether it’s refusing to pay back debt or going out an lobbying congress, people need to make a personal decision themselves about this and they need to make it thoughtfully because people like me and you and other students are literally chained to their debt.”