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John Oliver buys $15M in debt and forgives all of it on 'Last Week Tonight'

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Re: John Oliver buys $15M in debt and forgives all of it on 'Last Week Tonight'

#81

Post by MattSteelblade »

dannypgh wrote: post #64
dvcc wrote: post #4

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It's still debt, it's not as if the money is not owed it's just debt that has no legal repercussions for not paying. From my understanding at least. So really he saved them from harassing phone calls, not really the money itself.

Except you have the right to tell debt collectors to stop contacting you (sue or get off the pot, essentially) over any given debt, and they face statutory damages if they ignore that. See paragraph c of https://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/text/15/1692c or https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fair_Debt_Collection_Practic... IANAL.

My own personal experience with this is that they'll move the debt to another agency and the process begins anew.

Re: John Oliver buys $15M in debt and forgives all of it on 'Last Week Tonight'

#82

Post by Retric »

bko wrote: post #66
coderdude wrote: post #27

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It's a good show (he's funny and you learn stuff) but it's way too preachy. He gets just a little too excited about things that are basically impossible for anyone to get excited about. Clearly pandering to the young, left crowd. I'm sure it makes some people feel very warm at night but it gives me a bad taste in my mouth after binge watching.

My main problem with John Oliver is that he often chimes in on subjects he doesn't know anything about with folksy common sense logic that is often wrong. I remember him mocking some system for using tapes for storage on the belief that a technology that is so old cannot possibly be useful in modern technologies. In his latest clip, he mocks information being passed by Excel. How does he think things happen? Some mag…

Having important things being passed around using Excel is common, but so is stubbing your toe. Comedy makes fun of things close to home.

Re: John Oliver buys $15M in debt and forgives all of it on 'Last Week Tonight'

#83

Post by jerf »

bmh_ca wrote: post #58
bedhead wrote: post #37

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You took the words out of my mouth and I'm glad someone else feels the same. It's a difficult thing to articulate but I think he crosses a line into unbearable preachiness and pandering. It's a bummer because I think the guy is a riot, but I just can't take the lectures anymore, and yes, given that this is almost a Daily Show spinoff, it's not terribly surprising to see a heavy left-leaning slant to everything...that…

Often it seems that facts, evidence, and observation are derided as "left". I find John's commentaries to be suitably supported by substance, with constructive conclusions. I worry that characterization as "left" is a defence against cognitive acknowledgements that just happen to be dissonant with neurostatic precepts.

Ah, yes, the "reality has a distinct $IDEOLOGY bias" line.

No.

I've been on the opposite side of some of his rants. You do not get the best counter-arguments. It's just another media spin show where you get the weakest arguments, pre-digested and cued up with the best media management possible for you to laugh at them.

He can do a decent job of substantiating his points, but you are not getting anything like the whole story, and if you think you are, you're hardcore in a small filter bubble.

(And if you're about to start trying to explain to me that yes he does give the best counterarguments, you're pathologically in a small filter bubble. At the very least, I know better counterarguments than the one he prompts you to laugh at. And come on, pre-biasing you to laugh at the opposition may be fun but it's hardly the path to intellectual enlightenment.)

That said, I must give props to putting money where his mouth is in this case.

Re: John Oliver buys $15M in debt and forgives all of it on 'Last Week Tonight'

#84

Post by saint_fiasco »

coderdude wrote: post #27
sethbannon wrote: post #18

I'm not aware of any other show that so seamlessly combines rip-roaringly funny comedy with essential insight into the way our society and system of government is deeply flawed. And on top of that, he even manages to direct action to fix the issues he draws attention to -- taking down the FCC website being one example[1]. [1] https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2014/jun/03/john-oliv...

It's a good show (he's funny and you learn stuff) but it's way too preachy. He gets just a little too excited about things that are basically impossible for anyone to get excited about. Clearly pandering to the young, left crowd. I'm sure it makes some people feel very warm at night but it gives me a bad taste in my mouth after binge watching.

>He gets just a little too excited about things that are basically impossible for anyone to get excited about

That's what's so great about the show. He can make boring stuff like net neutrality, patents and fashion funny.

Re: John Oliver buys $15M in debt and forgives all of it on 'Last Week Tonight'

#85

Post by pas »

dvcrn wrote: post #43

As a non-american guy that has never seen John Oliver before, I found it very hard to sit through the entire thing until the end, though the payoff was definitely worth it. This guys looks to me like he's been in TV for a little too long and tries very hard to find a audience with very simple jokes (that feel kind of forced) amplified by background laughter. He has the right idea and did the right thing but I persona…

America, a country where politics is a tragicomedy, comedy is about politics, and which is actually a continent.

Re: John Oliver buys $15M in debt and forgives all of it on 'Last Week Tonight'

#86

Post by lujim »

zymhan wrote: post #70
lujim wrote: post #56

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Not saying I do or don't agree with him, but you don't have to be wrong to be preachy. When you're a comedian you need to be at least 80% funny. If you're 50% funny 50% preachy I'm not going to bother. Southpark use to danced this line pretty successfully.

People used the "You're a comedian so just tell jokes" line against Jon Stewart for years. There's absolutely no reason someone has to adhere to some arbitrary ratio of comedy to seriousness (edit: or preachiness, etc).

John was smart, likable, and funny. Even my most vocal right wing buddy watched him because he was informative and entertaining. Stewart was quick on his feet and could out think anyone Fox news could pit against him. Colbert was Stewart on steroids in a verbal battle of wits and watching him repeatedly dismantle Bill O'Riley and President Bush made my jaw drop. No one has to adhere to an arbitrary ratio of anything but if you fail to at very least keep a broad audience entertained and just resort to political pandering you aren't playing in the same league as Stewart and Colbert.

Re: John Oliver buys $15M in debt and forgives all of it on 'Last Week Tonight'

#87

Post by bko »

KayEss wrote: post #76
bko wrote: post #66

Earlier quoted context omitted.

My main problem with John Oliver is that he often chimes in on subjects he doesn't know anything about with folksy common sense logic that is often wrong. I remember him mocking some system for using tapes for storage on the belief that a technology that is so old cannot possibly be useful in modern technologies. In his latest clip, he mocks information being passed by Excel. How does he think things happen? Some mag…

For trading debt I would certainly hope that the actual contracts under which the debt was agreed where included. Yes that would be difficult, but it ought to be a minimum requirement.

The problem is that this debt is for very small amounts, often a few hundred dollars/thousand dollars traded for pennies on the dollar. This is a risk the seller/buyer is willing to take since the cost is so low and it isn't even worth taking the time to review the contract in depth for such a small payout.

Re: John Oliver buys $15M in debt and forgives all of it on 'Last Week Tonight'

#88

Post by csours »

Siecje wrote: post #42
desigooner wrote: post #21

Earlier quoted context omitted.

IIRC, these accounts fall off the credit report in 7 years from the date that was deemed as last activity date on that account.

So why would anyone declare bankruptcy?

If you are sued and found liable for more money than you can reasonably pay, you are more or less forced into bankruptcy.

Declaring bankruptcy generally lets you keep your primary house and car; without bankruptcy those could be taken from you.

Re: John Oliver buys $15M in debt and forgives all of it on 'Last Week Tonight'

#89

Post by xseven »

vittore wrote: post #33

Why there is no non-profit here that gets donations and spent them to wipe out medical and general debt that is the cheapest available on the market right now? Or are there ?

bad idea, that's like validating the debt buying industry

Re: John Oliver buys $15M in debt and forgives all of it on 'Last Week Tonight'

#90

Post by wccrawford »

dvcrn wrote: post #43

As a non-american guy that has never seen John Oliver before, I found it very hard to sit through the entire thing until the end, though the payoff was definitely worth it. This guys looks to me like he's been in TV for a little too long and tries very hard to find a audience with very simple jokes (that feel kind of forced) amplified by background laughter. He has the right idea and did the right thing but I persona…

I like a lot of his jokes, but I think there are too many of them, and too many are just "hey, here's a meme I remembered!"

But without them, I think his show would fall flat with most of his audience, so I don't think he really has a choice about them at this point.

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