It's fascinating to watch the OWS protests roll out across the US. You can see the frustration and anger coalesce, you can see the realization dawning among politicians and corporate executives that this might have legs, you can see the attempt to deflate the momentum by dismissing the protesters as hippies. The street protests are a critical step in gaining public awareness that a tipping point has arrived, but in and of themselves, they are not the most potent form of power we have in our hands. Not by a long shot.
Parallels with the Arab spring are interesting, but we are not Egypt. We are not Tunisia. We are an advanced economic system that lends the masses overwhelming power if they only wake up to what's already in their hands.
Consumer banking in the US is only one part of the financial system, but it is a critical pillar. The system has evolved to rely on the aggregation of millions upon millions of small transactions every day that provide cash flow and profit to the banks. The banks rely on the fact that each individual is an isolated actor behaving in their own self-interest--we each are motivated, as much as possible, to maximize our credit rating and access to future capital, and more, we are motivated to maximize our own convenience. Those self-interested motivations ensure the banks retain hegemony over the masses of consumers.
But. When a common cause unites consumers to behave in concert (like Bank of America's recent fee increase moved consumers to cancel their accounts in such a groundswell that it crashed the bank's web site) onsumers suddenly have significant potential power. Power to cut off the oxygen to consumer banks in a way that just isn't possible in places like Egypt or Tunisia.
Think about it. In the best case scenario, what will OWS accomplish? Media attention? Great. A groundswell of support for Democratic candidates in the next election? That's what gained us Obama. A new commission to look at regulations for the financial industry? Ask Dick Durban about the effectiveness of banking regulations. New political movements or regulations are not going to make a dent in the problem. They will occupy our energy for months and years, and then wind up producing some watered-down regulation that continues ceding power to a handful of powerful interests.
On the other hand, imagine 1 million people inspired by the anger of OWS to close their national bank accounts and move to a local bank or credit union. Imagine 10 million people inspired to cut up their credit cards--or better yet, to join a Credit Card burning party at OWS protests. Imagine 20 million people inspired to commit to a Cash & Carry Christmas, in which they only use cash to buy presents this year from local brick and mortars (my god, what will the marketers do without your personal purchasing data to study?) Imagine if (for example only, I certainly wouldn't recommend this to anyone) 1 million people stopped paying their credit card bills to a major bank for 30 days. It would cut off the cash flow the banks rely on to stay liquid each month.
The structure of our economic system, the power of social media, and the anger that has finally reached a tipping point makes this possible, and far more potent than waiting for Obama to lead another compromising effort at consumer protection. If the 99% suddenly woke up to their power, they could literally bring consumer banks to their knees in 30, 60, 90 days. But it requires overcoming the inertia of self interest.
I spoke to a friend who is passionately following the OWS protests, but still banking with a major national bank. When I suggested he close his account, he responded with a mix of confusion and impatience. He didn't know about credit unions or local banks (no, they're not angels, but they ain't Too Big to Fail), and he rolled his eyes at the thought of having to re-establish all his automatic bill pay accounts. Really? That's too much of an inconvenience to try to turn the tide against financial power? Case in point why banks have so much power. We're sheep.
We need to corral some of the awareness and momentum of OWS to educate consumers that they have real power. We need to develop a web site that lists all the banking alternatives for local community banks and credit unions, and makes it easier for people to move. We need campaigns to motivate people to vote with their money and stop giving their economic power to a system that is screwing them. Get over the inconvenience. We need a central event to focus awareness on the cause--unite the masses to cut off the oxygen by cutting off the cash flow. Cash and Carry. Stop using credit cards. Stop using debit cards. Stop giving your power to the banks.
Update: Some useful links from the comments:
1. Resources:
Responsible Credit Cards
Social Investment Forum
Slow Money movement
Move Your Money
Common Good Bank
Green Money Journal
And for those of you in San Francisco, Slow the Money Down, coming up next week at Fort Mason.
--HT:citisven
2. November 5 "Bank Transfer Day"
Event page on Facebook.
--HT: dumars20
3. October 20th: International Credit Union Day
--HT: (HT: Bob B