The Jubilee Campaign
A Campaign for A Fair Economy
A Decree of the Illinois and Indiana Regional Organizing Network (IIRON) and Religious Leaders
“And you shall hallow the fiftieth year and you shall proclaim liberty throughout the land to all the inhabitants. It shall be a jubilee for you; you shall return, every one of you, to your property and every one of you to your family.” Leviticus 25:10
The Levitical Jubilee called for the liberation of every Israelite who had fallen into bondage and for each Israelite to regain possession of ancestral land that had been lost due to indebtedness or slavery. We remember that the Jubilee year announced the Day of Atonement (Leviticus 25:9) as a time of social reform, intended to restore dignity and economic solvency to poor families alienated from their homes by mortgages and torn apart by the debt of slavery. Every fiftieth year, every Israelite was set free and was returned to the land that was their birthright. (Leviticus 25:10)
This Jubilee Declaration invokes a new vision of Jubilee that speaks to the plight of America’s working families, professionals, under-employed and unemployed families, all afflicted by corporate greed and unaccountable power, oppressed by growing inequalities in income and wealth, crippled by unabated outsourcing of good paying jobs, subjugated and suffering from cuts in social services caused by loss of tax revenue to corporate giveaways, and enslaved by fraudulent mortgages, foreclosures and unfair debt. Today, more than any time since the Great Depression, America and the world need a Jubilee. The gap between rich and poor is larger than ever and growing. Powerful corporations consolidate and force out smaller competitors. Money drives our elections and increasingly government serves the interest of the wealthy and corporate profits at the expense of workers, consumers, communities and the environment.
We resist those values that shape our economy to favor the wealthy over working people. Too many government and corporate policies fail to recognize the labor of people who work for a living and produce the very goods and provide the very services that increase the wealth of the wealthy. We resist and refute the efforts to scapegoat poor and working people, instead of recognizing that responsibility for the economic crisis lies with greedy corporations. We resist the shame associated with foreclosures, unemployment, and loss of economic viability and hold corporations responsible for the economic insecurity plaguing American families.
We reject cuts to government budgets on the federal, state and municipal levels while corporations are evading paying their taxes. Government budgets are needed to pay for teachers, firefighters, police officers and other important services. The average citizen is asked to pay taxes, while corporations take in billions of dollars in profit into their coffers, instead of creating jobs. We do not have a budget problem. We have a revenue problem.
We are called to break down barriers to fairness, equality and liberation, and to pursue equity for all. We are called to fight for social, economic, racial and environmental justice to assure that our democracy works for everyone. Since no one is an island, our well-being and our destinies are inextricable intertwined. We seek to organize voices of all faith traditions to join us as we declare our values and God’s values for a just and fair economy.
We affirm that a Fair Economy should not bail out and protect corporations on one hand, exploit families with fraudulent mortgages and foreclosures on the other hand, and then kick people to the curb when they cannot meet the unfair debt. We affirm that corporate giveaways should not bleed government revenue and increase profits on the backs of the poor and “least among us.”
We proclaim that the Jubilee Declaration is the time for a Fair Economy in America and to achieve equity for all Americans of all backgrounds. We call for an economy with full employment at living wages able to sustain a family. We call for government to create jobs that put people to work repairing and rebuilding America’s crumbling infrastructure,
public transportation and creating a clean and sustainable energy system. We call for government to provide quality education, public safety, healthcare and environmental protections. Economic security for all our people is vital to our national security.
Therefore,
We boldly call for:
- Relief at the expense of the banking industry for every homeowner who has suffered from the scandalous and fraudulent practices of the industry;
- Write downs for every mortgage to current appraised value at interest rates 3 points above the rate enjoyed by banks borrowing from the Federal Reserve;
- Cancellation of mortgage debt for the poorest families facing foreclosure;
- Creation of public works and jobs initiatives that put people to work repairing and rebuilding America’s crumbling infrastructure and public transportation systems;
- Creation of a clean and sustainable energy system including investment in green jobs; and
- Taxes on big banks and other corporations to bail out working families hurt by the economic crisis, to provide fiscal relief to municipal, state and federal governments and protect jobs and the safety net, and to protect jobs and the social safety net. These taxes must include 1) taxes on corporations that outsource jobs outside of the U.S., 2) removal of tax loopholes that allow corporations to avoid paying taxes, and 3) increases in taxes for the wealthiest Americans.
As people of God, we commit our hands, our hearts and our lives to organize a movement that breaks down barriers to create a just and fair economy in society. We stand in solidarity and declare that this is the time for Jubilee!
