FILMS FOR ACTION
Sep 1, 2015

Infographic: A History of Debt Forgiveness and Relief

As long as there has been lending, there have been times when the people’s debt becomes a crisis. Here’s a look at the policy solutions governments have been using, starting in ancient Sumer.
By Lindsey Weedston and Jennifer Luxton / yesmagazine.org

Lindsey Weedston wrote this article for YES! Magazine. Lindsey is a Seattle-based feminist blogger with a creative writing degree that everyone told her would be useless. She spends her time writing about various human rights and social justice issues on her blog Not Sorry Feminism and dabbles in video game reviews and commentary. Find her on Twitter at @NotSorryFem.

Jennifer Luxton is online graphics assistant at YES! Magazine.
Economics
Economics
A Letter to Conservatives: On Power, Principles, and the Path Forward
We're Making 'Tax the Rich' More Than a Slogan
How Corporate Democrats Made Trump Possible: A 10-Year Timeline
People Aren’t Being “Replaced” — They’re Being Distracted From Who Actually Robbed Them
What Is Libertarian Socialism?
The Real Ideology Behind Reason Magazine's Anti-Socialist Crusade
What the ‘Men in Crisis’ Narrative Hides About Power, Capital, and Discontent
The Crisis Is Real, but the Story Is Wrong: What Scott Galloway Misses About Men, Power, and Society
Public Grocery Stores Don't Lead to Monopolies — They’re a New Choice in a Rigged Market
American Decline in the Fossil Fuel Age
An Introduction to Integral: A Federated, Post-Monetary Cooperative Economy
Why Trump Tried Tariffs: The Turn to Nationalist Capitalism
Eugene V. Debs, Defender of American Liberty
The 86 House Democrats Who Condemned Socialism Weren’t Defending Democracy—They Were Defending Concentrated Private Power
What Is the Opposite of Fascism?
How to Defeat Concentrated Private Power: A Practical Guide to Chris Hedges’ Prescription for Change
Trump’s Greatest Ally Is the Democratic Party
Zohran Mamdani’s Proposals Are Surprisingly Affordable
FDR Warned Us about Organized Money. The Threat He Saw Now Dominates Both Political Parties in the US.
Start Building the World You Want to Live in After Trump's Dark Age
Digital Tools Are Fueling the Rise of New “Time Exchange” Solidarity Economies
Challenging Corporate Power and Rights Has Never Been So Important
Degrowth and Liberty: Being Free With Less
Your Socialist Grandfather Wants You to Fight for Economic Democracy
100 Ways a Green New Deal Would Make America Great
The Regenerative Revolution Is Now: 30 Documentaries About Regenerating Ecosystems, Local Economies, and Healthier, Joyful Lives
Profiting From Genocide
Universal Basic Income: Answering The Common Objections
Why We Need a Workers' Bill of Rights in the Age of Automation
Localization Action Guide: 137 Actions to Resist and Renew
The Corporate Veil
10 Ways to Fix America's Rigged Monopoly Game
The Phantom Menace of “Equality of Outcome”
Why Working People Need a Political Movement of Their Own
Playbook for Defeating the 1% - the Swedish and Norwegian Model
Why People Hate Socialism—and What It Actually Is
Deep Reads - Get Cozy and Dig in
Occupy Your Mind: On Power, Knowledge, and the Re-Occupation of Common Sense
The End of the Corporation?
How to Fix the World
Revolution without Upheaval: A Manual Of Change
Films For Action University: a Map for Navigating the Transition From Empire to Earth Community
The Iron Fist Behind the Invisible Hand: Capitalism As a State-Guaranteed System of Privilege
Have You Heard of The Great Forgetting? It Happened 10,000 Years Ago & Completely Affects Your Life
A Thousand Rivers: What the Modern World has Forgotten about Children and Learning
When We Judge a Person Harshly With a Label or Dismissal, We Kill the Human Being Inside of Them
Why Do so Many People Get Lost in Drugs Instead of Making a Life That You Don't Need to Escape From?
A Gentle Corrective for the Epidemic of Identity Politics Turning Us on Each Other and on Ourselves
The Compassionate Activist Toolkit: The Ultimate Guide to Activism That Doesn't Reproduce The Status Quo
Beyond Civilization: Humanity's Next Great Adventure
What If Everything You Knew About Disciplining Kids Was Wrong?
Dear White People. An Open Letter to White People on Becoming Indigenous
Can We Go to the Very Root of Violence and Be Free from It?
On the Wildness of Children: The Revolution Will Not Take Place In The Classroom
Wanted: Men Who Love
Seeing Wetiko: on Capitalism, Mind Viruses, and Antidotes for a World in Transition
Why Tribal Societies Work: An Introduction
Five Dangerous Thoughts about Capitalism
Deconstructing Workplace Hierarchies: On Contrived Leadership and Arbitrary Positions of Power
The Whiting of Euro-Americans: A Divide and Conquer Strategy
Understanding Patriarchy
Dear Trump Voters: To Attain Freedom, We Must Name The True Root of Our Problems
You Are Still Being Lied To: Columbus and the Myth of Human Progress
Positive Thinking in a Dark Age: A 12-Step Guide to Gracefully Responding to a Collapsing Dominant Culture
Humanity Is Being Held Hostage by an Economic and Cultural Death Cult
Our Way of Life Works AMAZING for Products, But It Works TERRIBLE for People
What Martin Luther King Jr. Can Teach Us about Nonviolence
The New Story Revolution: Over 75 Films & Articles About the Movement With Many Names
Patron Documentaries
Ancient Futures: Learning From Ladakh (1993)
Captive Audience: Advertising Invades the Classroom (2003)
Invisible Hand: Who Will Speak For Nature? (2020)
The Nature of Cities (2010)
Within Reach: Journey to Find Sustainable Community (2013)
Let Them Eat Dirt: The Hunt For Our Kids' Missing Microbes (2019)
Fly By Light: A Film about Discovering Your True Nature (2015)
Dancing With The Cannibal Giant: New Stories for the Great Transition (2019)
Abundant Land: Soil, Seeds and Sovereignty (2017)
Accidental Anarchist (2017)
A Bold Peace: Costa Rica's Path of Demilitarization (2016)
Freedom of Expression: Resistance & Repression in the Age of Intellectual Property (2007)
Biophilic Design: The Architecture of Life (2011)
Dysfunctional Societies: How Equality Makes Societies Stronger (2015)
We Are Many (2020)
The Staging Post: Courageous People Never Give Up! (2017)
Self-Taught: Life Stories From Self-Directed Learners (2019)
Overload: America's Toxic Love Story (2019)
The Wisdom To Survive (2014)
Oyler: Can a School Save a Community? (2015)
Paradise with Side Effects (2004)
Broken On All Sides: Race, Mass Incarceration and New Visions for Criminal Justice (2012)
The Next American Revolution: Beyond Corporate Capitalism & State Socialism (2013)
Advertising & The End of The World (1997)
Blood and Oil (2008)
The New Economics 101: True Wealth in the New Economy (2013)
The Occupation of the American Mind: Israel's Public Relations War in the United States (2016)
The Sequel: What Will Follow Our Troubled Civilisation? (2020)
Constructing Public Opinion: How Politicians & the Media Misrepresent the Public (2001)
Redefining Prosperity (2018)
Call Of Life: Facing The Mass Extinction (2010)
The Myth of the Liberal Media: The Propaganda Model of News (1997)
School Circles: Democratic Schools in the Netherlands (2018)
Capitalism Hits The Fan (2008)
GIFT: The Imagination Creates the Future (2018)
Inhabit: A Permaculture Perspective (2015)
The Village of Lovers: a Blueprint for Creating Cultures of Peace (2025)
A Convenient Truth: Urban Solutions from Curitiba, Brazil (2006)
Shift Change: True Stories of Dignified Jobs in Democratic Workplaces (2013)
Peace, Propaganda, & The Promised Land: US Media & the Israeli-Palestinian Conflict (2003)
A Quest For Meaning (2017)
Inhabitants: Indigenous Perspectives On Restoring Our World (2021)
The Great Disconnect (2020)
War Made Easy: How Presidents and Pundits Keep Spinning Us to Death (2007)
Walled Off: Banksy, Palestine and the Struggle for Freedom (2024)
Spiritually Incorrect (2020)
Freedom Ahead: Democracy Does Not Offer Freedom, Nature Does (2012)
The Third Harmony: Nonviolence and the New Story of Human Nature (2020)
Consuming Kids: The Commercialization of Childhood (2008)
Affluenza (1997)
To The Ends of the Earth (2016)
Hijacking Catastrophe: 9/11, Fear & the Selling of American Empire (2004)
Subscribe for $5/mo to watch over 50 patron-exclusive films
Trending Videos Explore All
Trending Articles Explore All
Featured Free Documentaries
Explore by Subject
Activism Animal Rights Big Ideas Cities Climate Community Consumerism Corporations Culture Economics Education Empire Environment Food Gender Globalization Health Human Rights Indigeneity Media Media Literacy Permaculture Philosophy Police & Prisons Politics Social Issues Solutions Sustainability Technology The Big Picture Transition Vision War & Peace
Our mission is to support the people and movements creating a more free, regenerative and democratic society. 



Subscribe for $5/mo to support us and watch over 50 patron-exclusive documentaries.

Art by Jessica Perlstein
Share this: