Forum Post: A good way to peacefully protest: withdraw your money from the banks.
Posted 12 years ago on Feb. 3, 2012, 3:16 p.m. EST by TomTommorow
(78)
from Hardyston, NJ
This content is user submitted and not an official statement
So the occupy protest are a good idea and was a brainstorm to protest the greed and corruption throughout big banking, big business and big government. However they are not quite enough to get our point across. They have been largely shut down and villified by the media. There are other things people wanting to protest the coruption through all the levers of power in our society can do. One is to boycott the print media that is often controlled by the corporations and often owned by just a few super rich families giving them a virtual monopoly on the news and entertainment business in our society. If we boycott them they will watch their subscription and sales wither away. We should seek alternative sources of information and news etc, especially on the internet....independent media etc.
One other good idea for protest would be to withdraw our savings account from the banks. Not just certain ones all of them. Some people are switching to credit unions instead, which maybe a good idea but I say people can get by without a banking account at all. In order to pay bills it isn't necessary to have checking acount, one can simply ay local bills in cash and others by sending money orders through the mail. You don't need a checking account to do that. They may crack down on people protesting but withdrawing your money and send a strong message we aren't going to let graft and coruption through all the higher levels of society go without demanding justice.
I did pull my money out of my bank- mostly. Right before I pay bills, I make a deposit and only deposit what I need to pay my bills. I would not recommend this if anyone is being charged for not maintaining a minimum balance. I don't have to worry about that. Credit unions are the best choice for banking. I agree about media. In fact, I'm willing to do without it altogether. What ever happened to spending time outdoors hiking, biking, walking or reading a good book? People have become so addicted to entertainment and it's really not even an addiction! It's all in everyone's head that they ' need' this junk. It's like giving up a microwave oven. I gave mine up in 05 and was all worried that I might not be able to live without it. I haven't missed it at all. It was all in my head...a belief about myself that was created and fueled by industry.
Always remember that we vote every day with our dollars. The choices we make send a very clear message about what we want and expect and need.
I pulled 95% of my money out of the bank, and left some in to cover the minimum balance plus the amount that I need to cash from my credit union checing account.. I do this so I can take advantage of the convenience of the location,. Many times when I go there I bring up the subject of corrupt banks with customers or bank-tellers and I wear my shirt which says, 'I Left my Bank For a Credit Union' but I do not do so intimidatingly as I am a gentleman.
hahahha you mean a ' passive-aggressive' gentleman?
Apparently, a lot of customers at my bank pulled their money out because this typical small town bank has decided to implement all sorts of service charges now whereas before they did not. There are charges for ACH, debits, min balances, etc... it's pretty crappy to say the least. I received an entire page of the new charges. I am moving all my business elsewhere this week. SO TIRED of constantly fighting these outer world forces and all my zen training goes completely out the window when I do. :(
Just remember that while the tactics may appear negative, our goal of making this a country that lives up to its ideals is not. Read the lyrics to From a Distance to help maintain what you have learned in your zen training.
Gilian you have the right idea about doing without things we really don't need such as entertainment from the media. I say that we should boycott cable and satelite pay tv. Drop it. Like you say read a good book or go camping and hiking or swimming instead. I say boycot renting movies, movie theaters and new cd's /music. It's all more of the controlled media. I say boycott mainstream media newspapers and magazines. Hit them in their pocket books with boycotts where it hurts. If enough of us did these things we could make a huge difference.
How is a book "less the media" than a movie?
Besides that people could publish books back in the past before there was such a monopoly by a few families of the media. Shakspere.....Voltaire........you won't find anything that worthwhile in todays new movies. Some people are still able to self publish today...apart from the big publishing companies so to answer you books are less of the controlled biased media than todays movie industry...you just aren't discerning enough to realize it.
Now that's all the time I have for your attempts at provaction...there is an old saying where I come from,.... don't feed the trolls.
The point is a lot books are far more worthwhile and have something important and educational to say. Have you seen most movies these days? Maybe you have and that's all you do it would explain a whole lot. Most movies these days are about sleaze and silly meaningless things often about murder, violence and gore...sexual perversion...in short brain dead and senseless.....I can see why you perfer it.....on the other hand a good book can educate people, uplift the mind and actually cause them to think. It is a shame I really have to explain that to anyone. But the educational system these days.......
You can see how I pefer (sic) it? - did I say I perfer (sic) it? I asked how a movie is less "the media" than a book. I've seen educational books and trashy movies and educational movies and trashy books.
For many reasons, the written word seems to be held to a higher standard than visual entertainment. We have more quality options in written media vs visual today. Even if the book's plot seems trashy or unsophisticated, reading it does introduce and reinforce skills in critical thinking, creativity, rhetoric and grammar whereas visual stimulation alone tends to have more cognitive limitations and why I prefer to watch a movie or TV when I don't want to think about anything. However, in some families where language skills and conversation are already impoverished, TV may be a child's only source of learning ( quite alarming to consider but it is true) and is actually better for them than nothing at all. Even so, how many of those kids are going to choose to watch a documentary about evolution, the Arctic tundra or quantum physics vs. a reality show? The written word educates us at a much deeper level than anything visual...even if it's a documentary. We see the relationships between roots and their meaning, we learn about history, geography and create much stronger associations with people, places and things when we create our own mental interplay between all the elements in a written story. How many kids know how to spell Transylvania or if it's a real place even if they watch movies about vampires all the time. But, if they read about it and see the written names they gain more intellectual confidence and are more inclined to look it up and learn more. So, books tend to provide infinitely more doors to worldly learning.
I have emailed the editor of my local paper, circ. 100,000 plus, and which I have had several letters to the editor in, including a pro OWS letter. Anyway, I told him that the coroporate owned news media is becoming irrelevant, as more and more people are realizing that the truth doesn't surface in it....and they are turning to other sources to understand what is really going on.
I don't understand why anyone patronizes the big banks. Charges upon charges upon inconvenience and fees. Why?
If you want to have your eyes opened to what the banks are really all about, check out my post here:
http://occupywallst.org/forum/ok-folks-prepare-to-have-your-minds-blown/
Hi Undie, I saw that video. Even though I already knew what banks were all about, the video explains in easy to understand concepts and helped validate and solidify my disgust with them :D Did you pull your money out?
No, but I keep a very small minimum balance after paying monthly bills each month. Haven't figured out how to pay the bills yet without writing checks (actually, I pay them online) due to distances involved in where they have to go to.
In the days of local economies, everything was usually close and a person could drive around town and pay their phone bill, water bill, electric bill, etc. in cash, in-person if they wanted to. Now, it would be hard to pay bills in cash in-person each month when most of them are not only out of town, but out of state across the country. But believe me, if I could I would.
hahaha yes, the days of paying Mr. Godsey at the county store are long over. If none of us had bills to pay in the first place, then then paying them wouldn't be an issue!!!! :D I think some folks who don't have a bank account pay most of their bills at a local depot in a grocery store. I've noticed the sign before that shows all the payments they accept. There is a small fee for this service. I think it's Western union pay? There are ways to pay without a checking account but of course, we prefer the convenience and ' they' all know it, so many charge for those online payments. I used to make my loan payments directly at the bank but some branch offices, like Wachovia/WF won't even accept them anymore....that's been my personal experience with them. Next loan I get ( if I need one) I'm going to make sure that I can pay at the branch. Seems like the establishment makes it more and more difficult for anyone to pay. I wonder why?
You have never heard of a money order? I have paid for lots of things through the mail with money orders without checks. You need to read up and study.
I am aware of money orders, but my personal situation (which I will not reveal on this forum) requires electronic access to funds that are also funded electronically. I can't/won't drive 50 miles on a monthly basis to obtain cash for money orders. It makes no sense from a time/gas expenditure perspective.
Where would you live that it would require driving 50 miles to get a money order? I live in a small town in the middle of the sticks and I can walk just down the road to a grocery store/supermarket and buy one and at other locations to like the post office. Don't get me wrong not trying to force anyone to do anything. These are just ideas thrown out there that if someone wants to try they can. I just don't understand why you would to drive 50 miles to get one.
50 miles to get the money, not the money order. 50 miles round trip for that.
80% of the people own approximately 7% of the wealth
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9r8jtC17cRA&feature=player_embedded
http://www.unitedboycott.org/
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CeeKs-R_r7A
Watch this important video
You should tell them why you are pulling your money out too. Sending all your credit card offers back with OWS written on junk mail is another good idea that I learned.
After all the taxpayer money spent by the obama administration to keep the banks from failing and now you want to cause them to fail?
seriously, where would/do you keep your money if you don't use a bank?
The tax payer money going to the banks went into the bankers pockets. That's what we are protesting and no it's not the falt of the citizens who say that was a crooked deal.
I made no comment to the fault much less said it was the citizens fault - but if in fact the obama administration gave the bankers money to go into their pockets, where would you put the fault? are you in support of bank failure?
where do you keep your money?
Well I made no comment as to wanting a bank to fail as you falsly accused me of to start this discussion. So don't put words in my mouth, that I never said.
now you're backpeddling once reminded the current administration's role wrt banks.
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The second paragraph of what I wrote is showing up as fine print at the bottom and running of page here on my screen. So here it is again.
One other good idea would be to withdraw our savings accounts from the banks. Not just certain ones but all of them. Some people are switching to credit unions which maybe a good idea. But I say you don't have to have any kind of banking acount. It's entirely possible to pay your local bills in cash and others in the mail by way of money orders. This will hurt them where it counts the most to them, their pocket books. And it will send a strong message that We, the people, will not let corruption and graft go on throughout the higher levels of society anymore without demanding accountibility and justice.
But what do you do with your savings? Keep it under the mattress?
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