Jubilee (or "jubile," in the King James Bible) deals largely with land, property, and property rights. As with most cultures, the property rights regarding land, slaves and indentured servants was less absolute than for other property rights such as for tools and personal artifacts. As examples, in Leviticus, God is speaking to Moses:
Leviticus 25:10
Consecrate the fiftieth year and proclaim liberty throughout the land unto all the inhabitants thereof: it shall be a jubilee unto you - and you shall return every man unto his own clan, you shall return every man to his family.
Leviticus 25:23
The land must not be sold permanently, for the land belongs to me. You are only foreigners, my tenant farmers.
Leviticus 27:21
When the field reverts in the Jubilee year it shall become holy unto the LORD, as a field set apart; and it shall become owned by the priests."Jubilee (Google blog just changed my margin. I hate you Google...)
the long and short of it is you forgive your own tribe debts every 7 years, but foreigners only every 7x7 years - 49 years.
Why do I mention this? Presently, Canada student loans can be defaulted upon after 7 years. In other words, our nation recognizes students as members of the tribe.
BUT.
It was 10 years before that. The implication of this in a Xn nation is significant. The message was sent loud and clear - students weren't worth considering as members of the tribe. They're outsiders, renegades - failed citizens who failed membership requirements. Therefore treating them as outsiders was acceptable.
You know, I was 'that guy' in high school. The guy who stood earnestly at attention for the national anthem at school. The guy who volunteered for the local army reserve. I was quite the patriot.
I got over it. Being raked over the coals for most of your adult life can do that.
Canada indicated I am not a member of the tribe. Good for them - I no longer consider myself one. I am not a tribe member. I am no longer a patriot.
When the rule changed to 10 years, I wondered if it would get hiked to 25, or life. Sound a bit like a prison sentence? Exactly. The terms of repayment were changed after the time I assumed the debt. Eventually I realized the gov't was bargaining in bad faith. I was so concerned that I looked into Lithuanian citizenship as a back-up option. It seemed eminently reasonable to consider.
So I'm not a tribe member any more - and don't identify as one either.
Congrats. That took a lot of doing. But I finally got the message.
Paying some income tax even below the LICO poverty line- thereby ensuring I could not repay my debt - was icing on the cake. It is safe to say I am no longer emotionally engaged.
ReplyDeleteThere we were, students, doing what we were told - but strung up and crucified with killers and thieves. In the Bankruptcy Act, the group sharing the '10 year provision' included criminals who had been subject to civil suits. That's right - the cross in the middle. We were forsaken.
ReplyDeleteWhy did they go to 7 years? Some provinces have a 6 year statue of limitations on taking you to court. It was not compassion that led 10 to be 7 (5 with exceptions) years on student loans. They were constrained by the laws. Or it quite likely would have changed to LIFE! Screw them. https://globalnews.ca/news/3477636/debt-limits-death/
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