Making Change by Moving Your Money

BTDBank Transfer Day was this past weekend. Even now, people around the world are looking at their bank account thinking, maybe I dont want my money with these guys. What are the alternatives? Many will say “all banks are the same” as a way of justifying not doing anything. But what a little investigation can easily reveal is that not all banks are the same.

In the US much of the focus is on community banks and credit unions. In Europe, in the Netherlands for example, we have two small banks that are known for their dedication to transparency and sustainability.  And now more then ever, as people flock to occupy more spaces to express their disgust and frustration with the global financial system, there is great interest in expressing your dissent by moving money from the big banks to the small sustainable banks.

My guest is James Vacarro, head of Investment Banking for Triodos UK.  If you’ve never heard of Triodos or perhaps you’ve only heard a few things about Triodos, give this program a listen. James and I talk about where we stand in this world when it comes to banks, the real impact if moving money, and how the occupy movement is actually very relevant when it comes to pressuring banks and creating initiatives like sustainable banks. For those who have been asking what impact the occupy movement could possibly have on the financial sector- this podcast will give you an answer.

The Battle of Athens

It is neither the first nor the last battle on the streets of Athens this year. But today is the day the public has surrounded parliament as the government tries to pass more measures to cut costs, jobs, services, etc, in order to address the mind-blowing debt the country has.  Surely there are more details and larger discussions to have around these issues, but right now it all pales in comparison to what is happening on the streets.

To get updates from Syntagma Square, journalists and frequent guests on citizenreporter, Max and Stacy are on the scene.  Of course Al Jazeera also has the streaming images and people in the crowds.

Syntagma
Syntagma Square today, photo by Stacy Herbert

A Good Snapshot of Mortgage Crimes

The latest edition of the This American Life podcast has one of the best portraits and break-downs of the so-called subprime mortgage crisis.  I say it is one of the best because, as TAL is good at doing, it puts the very human face on both who lends this money and who is the recepient of these loans.

There is nothing more disturbing and real then hearing the voices and feeling the emotion (or lack there of) when a mortgage broker explains that their office has 12 million accounts and therefore a piece of 12 million homes, 12 million lives.  Or when a father talks about how he expected to be able to pay the loan back in a few months and years later, found himself taking money out of what had long been preserved as his son’s college fund… that man breaks down crying.. and again there is nothing more real to me.  It is especially important to have such a program out there available for us to hear, when so often the commercial media outlets just play the numbers game or give it new titles like “the credit crunch” and shy away from the cold hard facts that lives have been destroyed, and that someone benefited from all this or even that banks allowed this to go on despite all the known consequences.

I highly recommend listening to this edition, entitled “A Pile of Money”. ( I even enjoy the fact that Ira Glass can barely speak throughout, a refreshing change of pace.)

China Given the Red Carpet

Anyone who is paying any attention knows a bit about how China is bankrolling the ballooning US debt, on a government and individual citizen level. If this somehow shocks you I can recommend a dose of Karmabanque Radio, who cleverly titled their recent program Mao-santo… hahah.

Then of course we hear about China’s role, bankrolling the genocide in Darfur in their mad rush to buy up enough oil for their newborn hyper consumer economy.

Yesterday I noticed the Chinese state’s latest push to control Europe’s money, buying a chunk of shares in Barclays Bank in order to get in on its acquisition of ABN-AMRO. (Stay with me here)

ABN is a huge bank in Europe, owning lots of little ones under different names in different countries. My money is in that dam bank, all be it probably the tiniest account they’ve got. And so now I see how the world works, my money is now funding a genocide in Darfur, the stealing of organs from prisoners in China, the murder of Falun Gong, the raping of the environment around the world. All with the help of my checking account. And soon.. yours too.

Obviously my money has gone to evil before. Things I’ve consumed and probably still consume, but this is one of those I hope to avoid… as long as possible. Though I know it would have no effect, I should write a letter to the European Trade Commissioner urging him, as my respresentative and a HUMAN that respects the rights of people to live a proper life and not be exterminated-en-masse, to NOT allow China to take control of European banks… and my little bank account.