Jake Halpern Quotes

#1. Deities can actually own property in India, though the law treats them as minors, and they must be represented by an official guardian.

Jake Halpern

#2. My mother was being hounded by a debt collector over a debt that she didn't owe, and she eventually just paid it because she wanted the calls to stop. I was very surprised. It sounded so strange. I started poking around on the Internet and found this was extremely common.

Jake Halpern

#3. That was my concept from the beginning - a crazy caper that's a parable for what happens in the absence of regulation.

Jake Halpern

#4. Imagine having no chain of titles for cars, no VIN numbers, and no DMV. There'd be total chaos! But that's basically the system for debt.

Jake Halpern

#5. I was interested in this relationship between the armed robber and the banker who were from different worlds but had similar goals. It was kind of a metaphor for this larger marriage of the banks selling off their debt and these street guys scrapping over it.

Jake Halpern

#6. Most of us, myself included, have forgotten what real darkness is like. We live in a world where light is inescapable. It comes from street lamps, headlights, security floodlights, and even the faint glow of our alarm clocks.

Jake Halpern

#7. It's difficult to write about poverty in a way that doesn't feel cliched.

Jake Halpern

#8. Every time that I'm in the dark, I imagine what might be lurking in the shadows. It's kind of like a drug in that way - darkness seems to change the way I think - making me way more prone to fear.

Jake Halpern