Time to withdraw?
Time to withdraw my support from the banking system?
It is said that in a free market people vote with their money. The result is some businesses fail and some succeed according to how many votes they receive. I agree, and would add that it is a much more powerful way of voting than punching out a chad. Is it time for us to individually cast our vote on the question of our monetary system and the recent bailouts?
In September 08 there was a groundswell of public interest as the US government contemplated what came to be the 700 billion dollar bank bailout TARP program. The congress was inundated with phone calls that ran better than 90% against its passage. Soothing promises and apocalyptic consequences were communicated to the public in an effort to win support. The public refused its support and the TARP was enacted. The bankers did not feel obliged to keep the promises and to add insult to injury they won’t tell us where our funds went. Its obvious neither congress nor the bankers are much concerned about what the public has to say.
Talk must be followed by action. A much different outcome may have resulted if those people who had called their congressmen explained their opposition to the bailout, and then added that if congress passed the bailout they would permanently withdraw their bank deposits, perhaps adding that while the measure was under consideration they would bleed their accounts. That would have been a genuine popular revolt that could not have been ignored.
One of the basic ideas of the Campaign for Liberty is the corruption and unconstitutional nature of our banking system. Yet while we revile it with our words we support it where it counts, with our deposits. The dissonance is glaring; we say we want the monetary system changed but we still want the convenience it gives us. We complain about government intrusion into our financial privacy then voluntarily give government the keys by using a system that tracks our transactions. Can we declare we are part of a revolution, yet continue to support the funding source of the current systems evil? Obviously our deeds speak louder than our words and we can safely be ignored.
The banking system is in a weakened state. The TARP program is being used to bolster bank reserves to make it appear banks are solvent. The FDIC now insures up to $250,000 per account in an effort to assure Americans their money is safe and thus dissuade them from withdrawing their funds. The banking system now needs the publics support more than ever. It seems to me my withdrawal of support from the banking system will have more impact now than ever and voting in such a way has a much better chance at abolishing the Federal Reserve System than Ron Paul introducing another bill to do the same.
We are now faced with another 700 – 1000 billion dollar bailout. Like the last one, we are told it must be passed immediately or else dire consequences will result. We are also told it will inevitably pass and that it probably won’t be the last one. So be it. Perhaps it is time to make that phone call to my congressmen explaining my opposition to this bill, this time communicating my willingness to revolt with a statement that I will be withdrawing my funds from the banking system. Sometimes such actions can become contagious. If enough people act in such a manner, we will truly have their attention.
Sam R.
February 26th, 2009 at 6:11 am
Forgive me if I’m slow, I think I’m following you but…
Your suggestion is to withdraw all funds from banking institutions but continue to use those reserve notes for everyday transactions? If this were to catch on… what might the short term, intermediate, and then end, results be?
I love the idea of putting our money where our mouth is, so I’m excited about the possibilities for this suggestion. Thanks for any further explanation of your theory.
L.S.
Response
The short term consequences of mass individual participation would be a draw down of the deposit base of the banking system and the governments’ response which might include more bailouts, withdrawal limits, currency and exchange controls, bank holidays, bank nationalizations, etc The intermediate consequences would be the publics’ response to the governments’ response, which I would expect to include a severe reduction in confidence in the monetary system. When a system fails to retain the confidence, support and participation of enough of the people it supposedly serves then the system itself will fail and need to be replaced. I would consider that to be a long term consequence.
As far as what to do with the withdrawn currencies? The same thing as I do when those currencies are in electronic debit form. I pay my bills and everyday expenses, and with constant replenishment from my labors, those debits are kept from being bank reserves. When one deals in cash, it encourages others to deal in cash and withhold deposits from the banking system. Keeping more than what a person considers short or medium term cash needs on hand may be counter productive. Cash reserves above short or medium term needs may best be used to build ones personal wealth.
Sam
January 11th, 2010 at 3:40 am
Forgive me if I’m slow, I think I’m following you but…
Your suggestion is to withdraw all funds from banking institutions but continue to use those reserve notes for everyday transactions? If this were to catch on… what might the short term, intermediate, and then end, results be?
I love the idea of putting our money where our mouth is, so I’m excited about the possibilities for this suggestion. Thanks for any further explanation of your theory.
L.S.
Response
The short term consequences of mass individual participation would be a draw down of the deposit base of the banking system and the governments’ response which might include more bailouts, withdrawal limits, currency and exchange controls, bank holidays, bank nationalizations, etc The intermediate consequences would be the publics’ response to the governments’ response, which I would expect to include a severe reduction in confidence in the monetary system. When a system fails to retain the confidence, support and participation of enough of the people it supposedly serves then the system itself will fail and need to be replaced. I would consider that to be a long term consequence.
As far as what to do with the withdrawn currencies? The same thing as I do when those currencies are in electronic debit form. I pay my bills and everyday expenses, and with constant replenishment from my labors, those debits are kept from being bank reserves. When one deals in cash, it encourages others to deal in cash and withhold deposits from the banking system. Keeping more than what a person considers short or medium term cash needs on hand may be counter productive. Cash reserves above short or medium term needs may best be used to build ones personal wealth.
Sam
January 11th, 2010 at 3:56 am
There are 689 unrelated tweets after the article… and then one comment related to the article at the end…. what is that about????