Sunday, October 23, 2011

Occupy Wall Street's First Potentially Effective Action Against the Banksters

http://abcnews.go.com/blogs/business/2011/10/bank-transfer-day-gains-momentum-on-facebook/

The OWS folks are pushing to get folks to pass their bucks into banks and credit unions that don't apply monthly fees to their accounts and debit cards (BoA being the most notorious present example).  It so happens that there's movement in this direction from hard right circles as well.  Just this morning before worship several folks were talking of moving their accounts out of BoA and Wells Fargo for similar reasons.
Now, of course I'm not against the right of any bank to make any contract with its customers that they agree to willingly.  However, I'm also strongly in favor of the right of their customers to tell them where they can go with their new fees and what they can do when they get there.

Also, the major banks, with the possible exception of BB&T, are our cultural enemies.  They provide vast amounts of money and prestige to the various foundations that are anathema to us.  So anything that hurts them is favored.  The time to boycott is when a target is already weakened and under assault from other sources as well.

4 comments:

AC said...

Not convinced that banks are enemies of reaction. They lend regardless of ideology, which is more than we'd get from outright members of the Cathedral.

Put it another way...what major institutions would you say ARE on our side? Statistically, half must be more friendly to us than average, and a shift of power to them would be helpful.

Jehu said...

AC
Major banks are enemies of reaction primarily because of who they fund, not so much who they lend to. As to major institutions that are on our side, there aren't many at the elite level, although a sizeable chunk of the population is on our side. At the less than elite level, lots of the churches are on our side, but most have traitors at the top. The military is the same way, quite reactionary at ranks below LTC or so, less so at the more political ranks. Most credit unions and small banks are much more on our side than banks, because what largess they distribute tends to fall pretty much exclusively on very local concerns.

Hail said...

Pardon my ignorance, but what is so good about BB&T?

Jehu said...

BB&T made headlines some time back by unilaterally imposing an anti-Kelo regulation of their own when that Supreme Court decision came down. They basically said that if anyone uses an eminent domain seizure for commercial purposes BB&T wants no part of it and won't loan to that company. I believe they're a Southern bank also rather than a NY one.