We Need: “The collective ownership and democratic management of the banking and currency system.”

[Better Believe It]

WEEK IN REVIEW
A Weekly Column by Bill Onasch
Webmaster of KCLabor.org
October 31, 2011


At yesterday’s Occupy KC rally in Davis Park local participation in National Bank Transfer Day this Saturday, November 5 was announced to great applause. With a theme of Invest in Main Street, Not Wall Street, representatives from area not-for-profit credit unions will be on hand to switch people’s money from capitalist banks to them.

I’ve been a member of the United Labor Credit Union for many years, using them for both savings and checking. They also offer credit and debit cards. I’ve never had to pay a fee for any service and even get micro-dividends on my dwindling accounts. I gave this endorsement to those handling my money in a 2008 article on The Toxic Dent Crisis,

“I have to admit I’ve never much liked banks. I keep all my inconsiderable funds in the United Labor Credit Union. The ULCU is owned by its members. We elect the management and decide basic policies. None of us expect to get rich from dividends. The main goal of the deposits is to provide sound loans to those who need them. This micro-example of the principle expressed in Debs’ platform could and should be a template adapted to replace the greed and waste that marks the present system.”

Switching to a credit union can be a good deal for most individuals. Their democratic structure is a role model worthy of emulation. But credit union services and investments are severely restricted by law. The ULCU mainly deals in car, home improvement, and small signature loans. They cannot substitute for banks to invest in “Main Street”–no matter how you define that amorphous term.

The Debs platform mentioned above clearly called for,

“The collective ownership and democratic management of the banking and currency system.”

That demand raised a century ago won significant popular support in a more class aware time. So long ignored during the “American Dream” it sounds brand new–and is even more relevant today. Over the past ten decades the “One Percent” have successfully pacified periodic outrage directed at their financial sector with various reforms and regulations. They do so today–but things keep getting worse. All dreams eventually yield to reality and the “Middle Class” can’t continue theirs by hitting the snooze button. They are joining the rest of the working class who never shared the more prosperous times.

The Occupy movement articulates deep, widespread sentiment against financial and corporate greed. But unlike personal avarice, this greed is not a character flaw that can be overcome by replacing characters. It is an indispensable attribute of the present social/economic system.

If the Occupy movement is to have a lasting, positive impact, in my opinion discussion needs to focus on such systemic changes as socializing the financial sector. We need to not only follow the money–but also take it back. That’s a prerequisite to building an acceptable alternative to the hardship spreading throughout the “99 percent.”

http://www.kclabor.org/wir10312011.htm

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