“The Payback” Highlights the Absurdity and Trauma of Massive Student Debt - Electric Literature

At the clip of this writing, my pupil indebtedness indebtedness from instrumentality schoolhouse sits good supra six figures. As distressing arsenic it tin sometimes feel, my concern is acold from uncommon. More than 43 cardinal Americans collectively ain $1.7 trillion successful pupil indebtedness debt. Currently, 5.3 cardinal borrowers are successful default, and astir 63 percent of borrowers person experienced trouble making their pupil indebtedness payments astatine immoderate point. 

In this context, The Payback doesn’t conscionable consciousness timely—it feels urgent. The caller follows  Jada Williams, a erstwhile Hollywood stylist present moving a minimum-wage occupation astatine a mall. Like galore Americans, Jada has a upland of pupil debt, and she faces a relentless pursuit by the alleged Debt Police to wage them back. After being fired from her occupation astatine the mall, Jada and 2 different debt-ridden coworkers articulation forces to instrumentality down the strategy that failed them. Together, they strategy to erase their loans and nonstop revenge connected the institutions that trapped them. The Payback is much than a revenge fantasy—it’s a profoundly felt meditation connected the crushing value of debt, the absurdities of capitalism, and the extremist imaginable of solidarity.

I spoke with Cauley astir absurdism, retail work, and the value of corporate action. 

Marisa Wright: In your debut novel, The Survivalists, your main character, Aretha, is burdened by important pupil indebtedness indebtedness from instrumentality school, and indebtedness of people plays a cardinal relation successful The Payback. As a lawyer with important pupil loans myself, I tin surely relate—but I’m curious: What draws you to research pupil indebtedness indebtedness successful your work? Why is it a taxable you instrumentality to?

Kashana Cauley: When I was successful instrumentality school, I hung retired with the not-rich kids—the kids who besides had debt—and we would speech astir it each the time. We were taking retired an magnitude successful indebtedness that was shaping our career. An magnitude that was deciding what we would bash successful the aboriginal and however overmuch wealth we wanted to make. I cognize a ton of radical who came into instrumentality schoolhouse with 1 acceptable of goals and past got those indebtedness numbers backmost and changed to a 2nd acceptable of goals. 

This was astatine Columbia, and New York is expensive, truthful we were each looking astatine possibly $250,000 successful loans erstwhile we graduated if we didn’t person immoderate benignant of fiscal aid. I besides graduated astatine a weird time, a mates of years earlier the 2008 fiscal crash. Being from a procreation of radical who were encouraged to instrumentality retired wealth for loans to get an acquisition and beryllium themselves and past were thrown into an system wherever the quality to wage it disconnected was not guaranteed astatine all, that was traumatic. It was traumatic to maine and traumatic to each those friends I’m talking about. And I’ve ne'er gotten implicit that astatine immoderate level. 

MW: This caller balances absurdity and wit with heavier topics similar decease and overwhelming debt, and successful a erstwhile interview, you said, “I see the modern American experiment…to beryllium absurdist.” Given that we’re already surviving successful absurd times (can’t disagree with you there!), what does dialing up that absurdity adjacent further let you to bash that realism does not? 

KC: Yes, pupil loans are a superior topic, but to beryllium honest, they’re besides absurd. Somebody conscionable makes up a fig somewhere, and past they saddle you with it, and past that’s 30 years of your life. Absurdism is conscionable different mode to archer the story. There are superior radical retired there, but I similar punch lines. I consciousness that sometimes radical perceive to maine much erstwhile I’m funny,  and I admit that. I deliberation this would beryllium a overmuch different, overmuch sadder, perchance harder publication to work if everybody was conscionable sitting determination depressed astir the amounts of their loans. Sometimes erstwhile you’re laughing, you wage much attention. And truthful I conjecture I would similar to instrumentality people. 

MW: Relatedly, 1 of the much absurdist elements successful this publication is the indebtedness police—an enactment whose unit feels disturbingly real, particularly against Black women, arsenic you constitute about, yet they’re besides oddly obsessed with horoscopes and crystals. What inspired that combination? 

KC: I volition astir apt ever beryllium inspired by the information that I grew up successful an anti-vax household. My member is autistic, and my ma and her friends each got unneurotic to work and walk backmost and distant “scientific” papers with immoderate perfectly insane alternate treatments. I’m truthful gladsome nary of them really utilized them connected their children, but I wanted to constitute astir it. 

MW: That’s interesting, you’re benignant of bringing some of those threads successful American beingness together. 

KC: Yeah, immoderate of that is the nonaccomplishment of our healthcare system. I’m not saying I hold with these folks, but I’m saying erstwhile you spell to the doctor, and you’re not taken seriously, you spell to the internet, and the net volition cough up immoderate fig of solutions. We could nutrient a healthier state by encouraging doctors and nurses to truly perceive to folks, to speech to them astir medicine, and to walk clip with people’s questions. 

MW: Absolutely. On different note, I find that immoderate of the astir palmy novels crushed their characters successful precise circumstantial jobs that signifier the communicative successful meaningful ways. Here, your main characters enactment successful retail, and you seizure that situation with specificity and cautious attention. You’ve antecedently discussed moving astatine J.C. Penney—why did you take that setting, and however would you picture retail enactment informing the characters’ eventual paths successful the story? 

KC: Working successful retail is rather communal but besides underexplored successful novels. Adele Waldman had a large container retail caller past year, [Help Wanted], but it’s conscionable not that common. I worked astatine J.C. Penney for six years, and it was an unusual clip for me. I was attempting to usage that wealth to money my assemblage expenses that weren’t covered, truthful it was a existent love-hate thing. I loved the girls I worked with. We were successful the trenches together. It was terrible, but we were together. We dealt with each the quiescent indignities of moving astatine retail wages together. We were each other’s enactment systems, and truthful I knew I wanted to constitute from that affectional core. What if each these girls who enactment successful retail get along? And what if they find their mode to a friendship? How adjacent could they get? What would they beryllium consenting to bash for each other? 

MW: There are moments wherever the communicative subtly educates readers astir the realities of pupil indebtedness debt—for instance, highlighting however Black women transportation the highest indebtedness burdens with less resources to repay them, and however universities lend to pressuring students into taking connected debt. How intentional was it for you to see these insights, and however bash you spot the relation of fabrication successful challenging these systemic injustices?

KC: That really benignant of relates to your past question due to the fact that 1 of the things I talked astir with my retail girls was money. We each talked astir however overmuch we were making and however overmuch we made successful commission. We each talked astir however costly assemblage was oregon wasn’t. The conversations successful the publication are really reasonably realistic extrapolations of what those sorts of fiscal conversations, arsenic good arsenic the ones I had with my instrumentality schoolhouse classmates, were like. 

I deliberation determination are a batch of spaces successful American beingness wherever wealth is discussed rather openly and straightforwardly. It’s the affluent who don’t emotion talking astir wealth openly. In 1 sense, I deliberation it comes crossed arsenic educating the reader, but I deliberation successful different sense, it’s faithful to the mode that the moving people discusses money, which is upfront, successful large detail, and with adjuvant advice. 

MW: The heist to erase each pupil indebtedness indebtedness astatine the halfway of this publication is simply a benignant of fun, somewhat preposterous happening to imagine. At the aforesaid time, determination appears to beryllium thing deeper astatine play with the thought of corporate enactment oregon communal aid. Beyond the wit and spectacle, did you person ideas astir the power—or adjacent necessity—of corporate enactment connected your caput arsenic you were penning this book? 

KC: For a agelong time, I person been studying efforts to effort to code aesculapian indebtedness and pupil debt. Most of what’s happening is connected the corporate side. Right now, the Debt Collective, who bargain up and forgive people’s debt, comes to mind. To me, the existent question connected these problems has been successful corporate action, and I wanted to grant that by having the publication travel from that perspective. 

To Joe Biden’s credit, helium attempted to code pupil indebtedness and cancel definite borrowers’ pupil debts implicit and implicit again, but helium got rebuffed by the courts implicit and implicit again. It’s hard to get things done Congress. It’s really easier to assistance ourselves. We shouldn’t person to bash each this for each other, but we cognize what we need. We perceive to each different much truthful than Congress. 

The Black assemblage has a precise agelong contented of taking attraction of ourselves. It’s ever been corporate enactment with us—from helping each different get retired of slavery and flight lynchings successful the South to each the Civil Rights things radical work astir successful textbooks oregon perceive astir each February.

We talk, and we assistance each different out. People successful Montgomery conscionable wanted to beryllium capable to thrust the autobus and beryllium successful the aforesaid spot arsenic everybody else, truthful they got unneurotic with a radical of friends and did that. The publication is an grant and a tribute to those sorts of corporate enactment traditions that are uniquely American. 

The station “The Payback” Highlights the Absurdity and Trauma of Massive Student Debt appeared archetypal connected Electric Literature.