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Forum Post: Anybody got a credit card; rip 'em up.

Posted 13 years ago on Oct. 8, 2011, 1:09 a.m. EST by Shule (2638)
This content is user submitted and not an official statement

Not all of us can be physically with you occupying Wall Street, but we can all be there in spirit. As part of the movement, let us all rip up our credit cards. Every time a purchase is made with a credit card, something like 4% goes to some wall street bankster outfit ( not to mention interest fees.) Make your next purchase with cash, and ask the vendor if he may give a cash discount to support the movement. Stop supporting banksters, tell the banksters we don't need them, by ripping up all credit cards.

70 Comments

70 Comments


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[-] 2 points by Madhusudana (90) 13 years ago

Unfortunately your credit balance is going to exist whether or not your physical card does.

A better option is to pay off your cards then stop using them, that way there's no debt accruing interest in your name, adding to the vast pool the financial market plays with (while absolving yourself of liability, obviously).

[-] 1 points by lyn123 (123) 13 years ago

True but in my case, I pay as I go- no balance over 30days, and it will still make a difference if you pay in cash. Banks won't receive that transaction fee that accompanies every purchase and struggling merchants may get a well deserved break. Just make sure you cash your payroll checks at your bank- the ATM fees could be nasty.

[-] 1 points by Freebird (158) 13 years ago

Logic, rationality and personal responsibility will find few allies on this forum, I'm sad to say.

[-] 1 points by Madhusudana (90) 13 years ago

Yes, but how is that different than the vast majority of other forums on the internet? I totally agree man, but it seems that "here" is one of the more constructive places many of us can contribute our time in light of recent events. Wouldn't you agree?

[-] 1 points by Freebird (158) 13 years ago

Well, as a libertarian/anarchist I have been trolling around these forums trying to shake up the statist paradigm around here and am happy to report that I have not received one personal attack - definitely a refreshing change from most internet discourse!

[-] 1 points by Madhusudana (90) 13 years ago

Your efforts would be better spent shaking up those around you in real life than trying to rouse the anonomous patrons of the internet.

[-] 1 points by Freebird (158) 13 years ago

Mission already accomplished. Forging new frontiers!

[-] 1 points by Madhusudana (90) 13 years ago

Haha, freebird is an apt name then!

[-] 1 points by Freebird (158) 13 years ago

Nice talking to you.

[-] 1 points by knies (1) 13 years ago

you can close your card without having the balance paid. of course, you have to keep paying on it, but still - it sends a message to the cc company. i am no longer yours.

[-] 1 points by GinaLola (210) 13 years ago

Closing any credit card hurts your credit. So does having too many large maximums.

[-] 1 points by Madhusudana (90) 13 years ago

That's childish.

This is not an anarchist movement, nothing about our gist can entail the abdication of personal responsibility.

Cut up your credit card in protest and refuse to pay your balance and enjoy as creditors and bankers continue to hound you and the well being of your family, to make a point (one in which you're on the losing end of the legal spectrum)- OR, pay the debt that you have given your word to honor, THEN institute your rebellion by refusing to allow that corporation to make money charging you interest anymore- like an adult.

[-] 1 points by Slam1263 (196) 13 years ago

Keep Shouting Sanity, some will listen.

Own your debts and responsibilities, honor them, learn from them.

[-] 1 points by Madhusudana (90) 13 years ago

Hopefully!

[-] 1 points by Shule (2638) 13 years ago

Ripping up the card is the start... and think of the symbolism.

[-] 1 points by thebeast890 (6) 13 years ago

I shredded my cards back in 1999 when I saw an interest rate of 23%. I've told my girlfriend/fiance that we are not allowed to buy anything on credit. You guys need to catch up! lol

[-] 1 points by thebeast890 (6) 13 years ago

I shredded my cards back in 1999 when I saw an interest rate of 23%. I've told my girlfriend/fiance that we are not allowed to buy anything on credit. You guys need to catch up! lol

[-] 1 points by Idaltu (662) 13 years ago

Another approach would be to initiate a moratorium of credit cards one day a week. Maybe start with just internet purchases then spread out from there. Cutting them up is a good idea, but few would do that. However, people might be willing not to use their card one day a week.

[-] 1 points by TruePatriots (274) from San Diego, CA 13 years ago

That's not a bad idea since personal debt shouldn't be encouraged anyways.

[-] 1 points by atki4564 (1259) from Lake Placid, FL 13 years ago

Better yet, form our own banks. In that regard, we need a comprehensive strategy, and related candidate, that implements all our demands at the same time, and although I'm all in favor of taking down today's ineffective and inefficient Top 10% Management System of Business & Government, there's only one way to do it – by fighting bankers as bankers ourselves. Consequently, I have posted a 1-page Summary of the Strategic Legal Policies, Organizational Operating Structures, and Tactical Investment Procedures necessary to do this at:

http://getsatisfaction.com/americanselect/topics/on_strategic_legal_policy_organizational_operational_structures_tactical_investment_procedures

Join

http://finance.groups.yahoo.com/group/StrategicInternationalSystems/

if you want to be 1 of 100,000 people needed to support a Presidential Candidate – such as myself – at AmericansElect.org in support of the above bank-focused platform.

[-] 1 points by GinaLola (210) 13 years ago

Absolutely. But actually closing them hurts your credit. So just don't use them.

[-] 1 points by Shule (2638) 13 years ago

' Not talking about closing accounts, just about burning the card.

[-] 1 points by GinaLola (210) 13 years ago

And not using it. So smart.Good idea. Has this idea caught on yet?

[-] 1 points by Mariannka (63) 13 years ago

I am amased at how Occupy works. Would like to have your input on the movement to understaqnd it better. I am asking you to answer 10 questions and I am happy to share results if you are interested. Please, take some time for it: Thank you! http://www.surveymonkey.com/s/Q3NF7QB

[-] 1 points by MadCat (160) 13 years ago

I haven't had a credit card in over ten years. Weening yourself off them is a fantastic idea. Good post.

[-] 1 points by Slam1263 (196) 13 years ago

OWS takes credit cards to fund itself.

What are you, a Unionista? You'd love it if we, those whose eyes are open, would close them and latch onto your teats, wouldn't you.

[-] 1 points by GinaLola (210) 13 years ago

Sexy.Where are you located?

[-] 1 points by GinaLola (210) 13 years ago

Every major banking and business commentator was suggesting that we pull our money out of the major banks 3 years ago and opt for smaller local banks,as a measure of safety and the balance of banking power. Did we all forget that? Don't also forget that they are playing the market thousands of times per minute with every dollar they have in their accounts. Pulling all of our money away from them, will pose a big damper on their play money and bring about a whole new respect for the American public's ability to bring any company to its knees overnight, if they so choose to.

[-] 1 points by Shule (2638) 13 years ago

That is the idea; boycott all major banks and finance institutions. We might have 1% of the money, but there is a multiplier, and symbolic effect, and which is powerful. (Makes good personal finance sense to do so too.)

[-] 1 points by MattLHolck (16833) from San Diego, CA 13 years ago

have not had a credit card for 15 years

[-] 1 points by Justakid (40) from Villa Rica, GA 13 years ago

Agreed. I don't have a credit card, but I do have a savings/checking account. I'm switching to a credit union next week, actually. :D

[-] 2 points by Slam1263 (196) 13 years ago

CU is the only way too go. By the people, for the people.

[-] 1 points by MiMi1026 (937) from Springfield, VA 13 years ago

Cut the last of mine in Aug.No more banks in my pocket. I suggest credit unions.

[-] 1 points by GeoffH (214) from Jacksonville, FL 13 years ago

Don't pay it. Run it up and then refuse to acknowledge the debt. In the immortal words of the worst President ever. "Spend Spend Spend". Let them eat the debt. This coupled with us collectively refusing to pay our Mortgages, Student Loans, Insurance, Car Loans, Medical Bills, etc. will bring the Banks to their knees. But, only if we do it together. It has to be unified and it has to be open.

[-] 1 points by GinaLola (210) 13 years ago

Nice.When do we begin?

[-] 1 points by GeoffH (214) from Jacksonville, FL 13 years ago

Spread the message... I would start now. But, it won't work until enough people do it together. Nov. 1 sounds like a great date to me.

[-] 1 points by Freebird (158) 13 years ago

Yes certainly! Steal from business to get back at banks! Free stuff for everyone! All the benefits of looting without the fresh air & exercise of smash & grabs! Biggest benefit is you don't have to look your victims in the eye. Go for it - those suckers call taxpayers will pick up the tab. Cause we all know the government will see to it that the bankers pay the price for giving you assholes loans that you can't pay and credit cards you'll abuse - right?

[-] 1 points by GinaLola (210) 13 years ago

Probably you and I are on two different programs. I'm not using credit anymore. But I am boycotting anything imported and I know many people who are. It works. If I have to absolutely buy something that only comes as an imported item, I do so very reluctantly and write to complain. We have stopped buying imported clothes, housewares, shoes and anything else we can accomplish. If everyone would do this and avalanche email the every retailers they can think of daily, the economy and security of this nation would return. I don't think anyone wants more of the credit crisis at their door. Time for a new plan.

[-] 1 points by Freebird (158) 13 years ago

Credit. I like having credit. I have diligently protected my rating by never buying what I couldn't pay back. It's about personal integrity. Without it, I can't make a reservation, buy online, rent a vehicle etc.

Boycotts. I don't think that peaceful trading with other nations for goods and services that can't be produced where I live is a bad thing. I like rice, bananas, sugar ... the people who produce these goods are not my enemy.

The US government sets the corporate tax rates so high in America that companies have to go looking for better rates in other countries in order to be able to compete with other producers/manufacturers who are also looking for the lowest tax rates. This circle-jerk is created by the government, and a bunch of useful idiots chanting "tax the rich" is not helping.

[-] 1 points by GinaLola (210) 13 years ago

Sorry I took so long to answer...If corporate tax rates are the problem, why do they insist on importing their products right back in here after they are manufactured elsewhere? Why don't they go manufacture elsewhere and just stay there and not come back? Corporations in this country pay little to no taxes by way of loopholes, grants and bailouts. If they paid what they are supposed to at the 30 something tax bracket, there wouldn't be a problem. But since they write the tax laws themselves through ALEC, they pay little or no taxes, which I wouldn't care about, if they would stop insisting on bringing their products back here and forcing them through the door of Customs, insisting again on a duty-free import tariff laws. If they like workers in other countries better than USA Americans, more power to them because we don't need them here or their cheap crappy slave labor products. The difference between the average blue jean manufactured in China and their slave labor sub-contracting countries and those manufactured here with American labor, is $5.00. And it is only that much because china manipulates their currency to draft US dollars into their economy in order to stabilize their own economy and add value to it. By the way, I wasn't referring to bananas or coffee, items that grow here but that farmers choose not to grow for whatever reasons. Actually bananas, mangoes, avocados etc. do grow here but few people bother to plant them. I diligently protected my credit until a different bank took over the store credit card I was using and rated me up to 30% interest for no reason, since then, I have stopped using it. You can use a bank checking card as a credit card if the funds are there. I do it all the time, and of course it's interest free. Taxing the corporations at their correct income tax rate is a necessity and it is what is done world wide. No where else on the planet do they get away with as little corporate taxes as they do here. and most other countries do not practice this theoretical free trade crap either. EU protects all of its markets because of their strong unions and respect for workers. America is founded on slavery. Before the black slaves, there were hundreds of years of white slavery factoring into the picture in England and here. The powers that be will always be holding onto that as the norm in their thinking.

[-] 1 points by Freebird (158) 13 years ago

Well, I take the Libertarian perspective on the evils of Gov interfering with the economy; firstly, that it is immoral to impose income taxes - on people or companies. Sales taxes, okay, but the income tax is basically slavery, in that the Gov owns your income and decides what you can keep. (The US didn’t have an income tax until 1913 - the same year the Federal Reserve was created – which tells you something.)

The US economy is in shambles because of the Fed and Gov interference. They allow the Fed to set interest rates & tax & regulate us out of business. So, as countries today compete globally for businesses to come & operate/manufacture in their country, those with the most favourable taxes/regulations attract the most business. Companies are not evil for seeking the best conditions to make a profit, just as you can decide to move to a different state if you think it’s to your benefit. We all want basic regulations to protect the environment & workers, but the US just stinks here. The regulations, licences etc., are onerous, & are usually designed to keep Gov bureaucracies/unions happy & are not about safety etc. While it’s true that the legal depts. of many Corp’s write the regulations & get the Gov to pass them, they are usually designed to regulate their competitors out of business and favour themselves. IMO, the Gov is to blame, because this is crony capitalism, and it can only happen if Gov is corrupt. No Corp. can create laws on their own; they must have crony politicians enact them. Also, do remember when the Gov kept saying “the US is a consumer/service economy”? Like that was a good thing? Well, this is what we get when they are allowed to dictate economic policy. They focused on low priced consumer goods and taxed and regulated us out of jobs.

Check out this website: http://www.doingbusiness.org/rankings

The US COULD compete globally to bring back US companies & attract international companies – why don’t they? Raising taxes on the wealthy and/or US businesses isn’t the answer – the Gov is just plain corrupt, too big, warmongering and completely incompetent.

The EU. The EU is a total basket case, hopelessly in debt and on the verge of collapse, so I would not use them as a model for anything. Socialist domestic and economic policies always end this way.

Unions. I'm in a union, we collectively bargain salary/benefits with the company I work for, and for the most part it's okay. My beef is they protect the lazy/incompetent SOB's, and everyone makes the same, regardless of experience/skill/work ethic. Most big unions are pretty corrupt & they love to bribe politicians with campaign donations. The biggest problem is Gov unions IMO. They are just evil, as the taxpayers are not at the bargaining table & they are a huge part of why the US is broke. When you talk about slavery, it’s important to remember that real slavery was endorsed and enforced by governments. The Chinese workers are not slaves. I know that in comparison to what it is here, the wages & working conditions seem pretty bad, but this is what it looks like when the 3rd world pulls itself out of poverty - they have a surplus of low skill workers. Still, their wages are an improvement from their previous employment (mostly hard labour in agriculture) or they wouldn’t be there. China is rapidly becoming a 1st world country & conditions will improve as the workforce becomes more skilled & educated. The US became the wealthiest country in the world because we had the smallest gov and the most economic freedom. We are now the exact opposite and going down the drain.

Yikes, this is long. I think OWS is in the wrong place – they should be in Washington DC, where all the problems and corruption starts.

[-] 1 points by GinaLola (210) 13 years ago

The tax benefits that you mention that companyies have a right to chase after are here. That is why they come back here to sell their crap.If it weren't that way, they would manufacture oversees and find another consumer market to sell to.But they don't. They come back here, petition Congress to take down the import duties so that they get out of paying taxes again and then sell their crap, where the consumer pays the sales tax. So we have a legal environment of 0% taxes for corporations. If it weren't true, they wouldn't be here at all. Many of their corporate offices are run off shore, so they can avoid income tax. Again, 0% taxes. And yes, the labor market in China and all its subsidiaries is that of slave labor, where workers work 20 hours a day, live on a tiny bowl of rice and have no sick days, benefits etc working for pennies an hour. As far as their former work force goes, their is nothing better than farming your own land and having control over your own destiny. That is where every industrialized nation fell apart, from England to France, throughout Europe, Asia, India, USA and Mexico, etc. People made the mistake of believing the lies and promises of industrial recruiters in that that city life was an easier life, only to find out that they gave up all of their freedom and sovereignty for longer hours of harder work and a poverty hole that no one can crawl out of. This problem is the number one reason for poverty and hunger today on the world. If the farmers and stayed on their land as countries industrialized instead of believing fake promises that were told to them by industrialists, there would be no poverty or ghettos, therefore little crime and hunger. all the worlds poverty and hunger is man made by industrialists, corporatists and their hijacking of governments.And all of this in search of slave labor markets to maximize profits and nothing more. As far as corrupt unions go, they do exist but laws can be designed to curtail this just as well as they can de designed to make sure companies pay their income tax here like they are forced to in other countries. that is what governments are for. To regulate unseeming human behaviors just like the stop lights we encounter in traffic. There are reasons for them and they work better than the alternative. as far as income tax, I believe there shouldn't be one below a certain amount, perhaps one million dollars per year. The income tax was designed only to extend the poverty class there would always be an available cheap labor force to draw from and it has worked quite well at that. Without the income tax, people would crawl out of the hole that they were born in by their own industrialization and poverty would be eradicated, something no government wants because of business pressures to the contrary. If you could imagine what would happen th the middle class and the poor without government interference, you would quickly see the light of day in the overall plan to create poverty that has existed since millenia and is a direct tie back to feudalism and its creation of slavery. Unions, government policy anre not the reasons government is broke and that statement makes no sence because unions do not work for the government and have no direct effect over the government's wealth. Government is broke because they did not collect the corporate taxes that every other country does, then funded the United Nations and the IMF with all the dollars that they want, while trying to buy their friends across the world and pay their enemies to be nice to the tune of trillions of dollars leaving theis country per year that is unauditable, unnaccounted for and cannot be traced once it leaves here. Obviously, a lot of schemers were able to take advantage of that stupidity, and got wealthy, like all of the tyrants we were supporting in the mideast and Africa and Asia. Everybody, world wide is on our damned payroll. And the bull shit has to stop. We are way past the corporate greed problem here. We are supporting and policing the entire world, for nothing. And it hasn't bought us anything in return. All of this with a run away program in NASA and the Pentagon war profiteering all done for the benefits of business interests elsewhere, and yes we are broke. Thank God the money has finally run out. None of the unauditable Pentagon budget, foreign aid etc. are even quoted in the budget the government sings about on the nightly news. Neither are the tax loopholes for corporations, the untaxable, unaccounted grants and bail outs given to business for "research" bull shit like searching for cures endlessly, but never finding them, as in the case of big pharma. The corporate greed has been behind all of this and yes, it wouldn't have happened if politicians had done their job correctly but it is not like they went out on their own and dreamed all of this up for the hell of it. These problems had drivers steering the greed all along.

[-] 1 points by GeoffH (214) from Jacksonville, FL 13 years ago

Go to the link of the post I made. It's just down there... It will explain why we should do this. It's not theft, it's the only weapon we have left.

[-] 1 points by Slam1263 (196) 13 years ago

No it is theft. You would be no different on a karmic scale than the Robber Barons of Wall Street.

[-] 1 points by GeoffH (214) from Jacksonville, FL 13 years ago

This is a Financial War. We have to use the weapons we have. If we have to be Robin Hood. Then so be it.

[-] 1 points by Slam1263 (196) 13 years ago

Thievery is always wrong. Once you start stealing, you become what this movement was meant to oppose.

[-] 1 points by rbe (687) 13 years ago

That would accomplish a lot more than marching onto the Brooklyn Bridge.

[-] 1 points by MiMi1026 (937) from Springfield, VA 13 years ago

Not a bad idea.

[-] 1 points by GeoffH (214) from Jacksonville, FL 13 years ago

http://occupywallst.org/forum/what-it-all-means-and-how-we-can-fight-from-where-/ I spelled it all out here. It is a little wordy but, the theology is all there.

[-] 1 points by OccupyDetroit (22) 13 years ago

Try renting a car with cash.

Most likely you won't get a discount if you pay cash, but if you use a balling card with reward points, you may get free flights sooner than you think! (and might be able to physically occupy wall street)

[-] 1 points by GinaLola (210) 13 years ago

Is renting a car with cash even possible? I don't think it is. If I have to fly,land and drive, I usually take a cab or bus but renting a car at your destination point is probably your own option in many situations.

[-] 1 points by MattLHolck (16833) from San Diego, CA 13 years ago

my friend plays the credit card point game

again I fail because I'm not motivated by greed

[-] 1 points by OccupyDetroit (22) 13 years ago

so do you have any motivation in life?

I don't care about money, I like to travel and snowboard. Money allows me to do that. (and credit card points)

[-] 1 points by MattLHolck (16833) from San Diego, CA 13 years ago

I think life is fascinating

money is boring

[-] 1 points by OccupyDetroit (22) 13 years ago

Money is boring when you can't use it.

Not having it is quite boring indeed!

[-] 1 points by MattLHolck (16833) from San Diego, CA 13 years ago

I've been trying to figure out

why those with money aren't taking advantage of the current supply of unused labor in the US

is it because they have no interest in improving the society they live in?

and than I thought maybe these aren't the sort to be driven by innovation

they can't come up with projects the for available labor to do

[-] 1 points by Freebird (158) 13 years ago

I think it's because of the high tax, high regulation, corrupt union environment in the US. Companies just find it onerous and prefer to do business in other countries that are more favorable to business. And yes, I'm aware that some countries have appalling lack of regulations (labor/environmental), but still, the US could eliminate all corporate taxes and I'm quite sure a lot these business would be happy to come back.

I personally don't think there should be any taxes on income - people's or corporation's and businesses. The gov just uses it as collateral on debt to pay for wars and all their other mischief.

[-] 1 points by MattLHolck (16833) from San Diego, CA 13 years ago

so money is the reason these people aren't working and have no stability

[-] 1 points by OccupyDetroit (22) 13 years ago

Excellent question. There isn't enough demand for that unskilled unused labor force. If people would buy more stuff, there would be more demand for workers to produce it.

[-] 1 points by MattLHolck (16833) from San Diego, CA 13 years ago

there isn't demand for skilled workers either

most of the jobs available are for unskilled labor

the human race would be better off it were working on projects

[-] 1 points by OccupyDetroit (22) 13 years ago

Idk bro, I'm skilled and I'm far from out of a job.

[-] 1 points by MattLHolck (16833) from San Diego, CA 13 years ago

I have a masters degree in physics

I quit the military

and have no job

[-] 1 points by GinaLola (210) 13 years ago

If you have a Masters in Physics, we need to put you in charge of the country right now. Please have many, many smart children and go to sperm banks often to donate lots of sperm!! My parents were both government scientists and I can attest to the fact that it is never easy finding work when you are that skilled. Unfortunately, government work doesn't pay that well either. Industry usually pays better. But physics and chemistry are special fields, because you can always invent on your own, patent on your own, finance your invention on your own and control your own destiny and your own company. Just be careful about the patenting end. Consult the Library of Congress first concerning patents and do your research before you ever dare to share your ideas with anyone. When choosing patent attorneys, be very weary and trust no one. The better attorneys should be the ones who have had many ideas patented for clients so do the research. And stay the hell away from services for inventors. Most of them are scams. You have studied the lives of Bill Gates and Steve Jobbs, I hope. If you google Jobbs right now, you will find many accessible great speeches and historical essays about his ride to stardom. They have been great this week. I saved some of the good ones and emailed them to people.Search these out and make them your homework right now. Just keep reminding yourself that you already have the answers in your head. What you need now is fresh ideas. I have a few if you want them. The consumer market is always hungry for problems being fixed. And never fall into the thinking that you don't have a job. What you really don't have is a career plan, which is different. In this life and in this country, do not ever limit your thinking to having to work for someone else in order to find answers. The truth is that you can do anything you set your mind to with the knowledge that you have in your head and you are true testament to how essential education is to freedom. Working for the military and punching in at 8:00 am short circuited your creativity for awhile but now that you know better, you will do better. After you are done studying the lives of Steve Jobbs and Bill gates, study the life of Thomas Edison and his 4000 inventions. Then ask yourself, what can I do to improve any one of these and start a portfolio of re-invents. And let your mind wonder. It probably has been bottled up for years on the job.Once you get in the habit of not being dictated to by a boss, your mind will be free to invent and find a way to invent for yourself, a whole new life, one in which, you have the control.

[-] 1 points by OccupyDetroit (22) 13 years ago

That's pretty ballin! You are without a doubt a very intelligent person. The problem is that there is little need for more physicists.

Perhaps you could apply your skills to something else, like finance!

[-] 1 points by MattLHolck (16833) from San Diego, CA 13 years ago

I thought we where talking about skilled labor

ya

I should have gone into micro-biology

[-] 1 points by OccupyDetroit (22) 13 years ago

Just become an engineer or something applied, micro biology is research oriented as well. In research a very small % of scientist are the ballers doing everything.

[-] 1 points by MattLHolck (16833) from San Diego, CA 13 years ago

I would be happy to be involved in medical research

I can automate robotic systems

[-] 1 points by Shule (2638) 13 years ago

Don't rent a car either...

[-] 1 points by GinaLola (210) 13 years ago

I prefer to buy used cars, or other necessary items if they are only available as imports, so that it doesn't trigger a re-order of inventory of the same item at the cash register. When you buy used anything, resale or refurbished-but-new, it doesn't trigger an immediate vote from the cash register to corporate office, to re-order an exact replacement of that item from the same vendor overseas. That is what is beautiful about choice and all the power we actually have in bringing jobs back to the USA. They can not compel us to buy any imports with this system but we can force them to bring jobs back here or get ready to bankrupt. The second their sales slow at the cash register, their stocks slide on the stock market and stock holders flee. It's a great system because we ultimately have control over the bottom of the consumer end and at the top on the stockholder end. Corporations are actually stuck in the middle having to take commands from us either way. That is why they always control the majority of their shares of stock, try to sit on emergency money and panic with every change in consumer demand. The most important thing is to email/write every retailer daily with your demands that every product they have on the shelf, also have an USA made equivalent for purchase.And I do mean USA made, not some other country assembling for the USA. Mention that you are going to boycott their store and every import in it until they comply with your demands. And then do it as often as you can. Then buy resale or refurbished if you really need something that doesn't yet have an USA equivalent on the shelves.They will make the change because they are still relying on the USA consumer for their profit driven system. Don't forget, we control the selling price of their stock on a minute by minute basis from our own choices at the cash register.The more people that do this program and spread it along, the faster the USA will get back to manufacturing everything here again and we get back to a labor controlled environment where we decide how to use our own power. Other countries should follow suit if their own work force is being decimated by cheaper imports. Feel free to copy and paste this anywhere you want.

[-] 1 points by powertothepeople (1264) 13 years ago

It costs retailers money when you pay with a credit card as well. Giving them cash helps their bottom line and helps keep prices lower.

When I patronize small businesses I make sure I have enough cash with me so I don't have to impose on them with a debit card.