Let's Have A Jubilee Damnit!

Is that how it is done? Can I just call a Jubilee like that? Please advise.

Photo by Alice Pasqual on Unsplash

A Jubilee is a term that goes back millennia, as a religious tradition that occurred after a set number of years. Traditionally the practice involved freeing those who were enslaved due to a debt they had incurred (debt slaves). For some reason, non-debt slaves were out of luck and remained slaves. Rulers of the time realized it was bad for the economy and for business if debt burdens were too high, as excessive debt would stifle economic activity and make the peasants generally unhappy. They realized that if enough of the peasants were overextended in debt, that could ultimately be bad for the head that wore the crown.  

Like many things religious, monarchs borrowed the idea, and now the most known use of the term Jubilee as an anniversary of a monarch's reign.

There is also a Jubilee line on the London underground, and an X-man character in X-men comic books named Jubilee. I didn’t understand what the heck her powers were, so I looked it up.

Jubilee can generate pyrotechnic energy blasts from her hands.

Yeah, I don’t know what that means. It looks like small fireworks come from her hands. Maybe it’s just me, but this doesn’t look like a very useful superpower. I think Chris Claremont lost a bet in 1989 when he created the character but I digress.

My friend Bobby informed me that “Jubilee” is a term used for a natural phenomenon that occurs near the Mobile Alabama Bay. Crabs, shrimp, eels, and many species of fish will gather in the shallow coastal water of the bay. The causes appear to be times of rapid depletion of oxygen in other parts of the bay, driving much marine life to shallower, higher-oxygenated water. During these times, locals can wade into the water and pretty much take their pick of what they want to catch. Bobby is quite familiar with the phenomenon having spent many years living in Mobile. I offered to print his phone number and e-mail address here, but he politely deferred. Feel free to discuss this in the notes if you wish.

Another kind of Jubilee.

A Jubilee can also be a “debt Jubilee” in which debts are forgiven, often across a whole nation or set of nations.

Jubilee 2000 was a global campaign comprising over 170 organizations in 40 countries. It sought to “drop the debt” for countries in the Global South that were struggling under crippling debt. The movement ultimately led to the cancellation of more than $100 billion of debt in over 30 countries.

Now, it is 25 years later and as far as I can tell, there are no real plans for a similar Jubilee next year. (Jubilees are often celebrated every 25 years.) Maybe I missed something, but I couldn’t find any references to a Jubilee planned for next year. That’s a shame.

A 2023 paper from the Center for Economic and Policy Research, noted that external public debt in low- and middle-income countries stands at over $3 trillion — a doubling since 2010 — and private creditors hold nearly 60 percent of it. Three-fourths of the countries facing these debt challenges are also designated by environmental experts as highly climate-vulnerable. 

There is some help on the way. After years of inaction, The EU, UK, US, and others announced contributions totaling around $400m “loss and damage fund” for poor countries reeling from the impacts of climate change at COP 28 last year.

That will certainly help, but for debt forgiveness to make a dent in the trillions owed by countries in the Global South, more is needed.

Debt relief from the creditors in the Global North that caused the climate crisis can help countries in the Global South free up funds for development as well as climate mitigation and adaptation.

That seems fair right?

Just even.

If there is a petition out there, let us know. I haven’t seen one.