As described in the Book of Leviticus, when Jahweh was conversing with Moses at Mt. Sinai, he instructed him to establish a jubilee (a year of liberty) every fifty years in which certain norms would be broken. Primary among these was the freeing of all indentured servants and the compulsory return of all property to its original owners or their heirs. The forgiveness of debts was already a common if less predictable practice in the Middle East, often happening upon the coronation of a new king. After all, what better way to start a new reign with good will from the masses than to restore everyone suffering from financial ruin?

President Joe Biden understands this even if he hasn’t received his deserved gratitude. He’s unburdened millions of Americans of college debt through providing more favorable repayment terms or outright debt cancellation. Biden has also prevented medical debt from inclusion in credit reports, thereby improving the borrowing terms for those who’ve suffered from lack of sufficient health insurance (which is most people who been seriously ill at some point).

And now, in a policy speech on Friday, Vice-President Kamala Harris has announced her desire to cancel medical debt outright.

Harris also pledged to work with states to cancel medical debt for millions of Americans, building on one of her signature policy issues as vice president. That effort could involve using federal funds to buy and forgive outstanding medical debt from health providers. Harris’s office also recently worked with the state of North Carolina on a first-of-its-kind initiative to forgive the medical debt of 2 million state residents by creating financial incentives for hospitals to relieve medical debt or prevent it from accumulating in the first place. That initiative received federal approval last month, and all 99 eligible hospitals in North Carolina have since committed to participate — a potential model for other states.

Ideally, no one would be billed more than they can pay for health care, but we live in America so crushing people with medical debt and then forgiving that debt is the best we can do. It’s kind of idiotic, but dumb solutions are fine if they’re actually solutions. The jubilee system was also jury-rigged, after all, although doing it only twice a century made it a little less sub-mental.

Of course, nothing infuriates conservatives more than other people getting something for nothing. Their furious resistance to universal health care was well-expressed by Donald Trump at his Bedminster Golf Course press conference on Thursday. He accused Harris of advocating for a universal system, which she has done in the past but is not doing now:

She wants to take away your private health care. There are many people in this country who spend a lot of money on private health care. It’s the best health care in the world, by the way. But they want to do it. They worked hard to make money and they want to do it. Under her, you’re not going to have private health care plans anymore. And you can be a wealthy person or middle income person and you want to spend on a really good plan, better than a government plan. And you’re not gonna be allowed.

You’re all going to be thrown into a communist system. It’s a communist system. You’re going to be thrown into a system where everybody gets health care.

The last part is the important part. No one loves paying for private health care plans even if they’re happy with them. What conservatives hate is the idea of a system “where everybody gets health care.” They’d rather continue paying top dollar for a private plan than have a plan provided for them for free if a free plan means everyone gets a free plan.

The wealthy conservatives resent debt forgiveness for the same reason. They want a permanent underclass burdened by crushing debts, and they want no escape route provided, even if comes only twice a century.

And they’re usually powerful enough to get their way. But Biden hasn’t been afraid to engage in jubilee politics, and Harris is doubling down. If she wins, we can call it four years of liberty.