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![So what can the United States do to break the debt cycle? “[T]here seems to be a lack of appreciation for the enormity of the crisis at hand.” -Michelle Alexander](https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/mQz9JsHM6HEhuR3dYskF04VZqHg=/0x0:1520x1549/1200x0/filters:focal(0x0:1520x1549):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/22388754/debtors_working_6_01.jpg)
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Sources:
A Pound of Flesh: The Criminalization of Private Debt, ACLU
The New Jim Crow: Mass Incarceration in the Age of Colorblindness, Michelle Alexander
Debt: The First 5,000 Years, David Graeber
Usual Cruelty: The Complicity of Lawyers in the Criminal Injustice System, Alec Karakatsanis
“In jail for being in debt,” Star Tribune
“When Falling Behind on Rent Leads to Jail Time,” ProPublica
“Debtors’ Prisons, Then and Now: FAQ,” The Marshall Project
Joyce Rice is a cartoonist, news designer, and professor making comics about history, technology, and the future. Her work has appeared in Vox, The Nib, PBS and other outlets.
Kevin Moore is a writer, programmer, and progressive activist. He has worked in the debt field for years, first as a federal bankruptcy court law clerk and later as the founding CTO of Upsolve.