OUR NEXT BRAINSTORM: WHAT ACTIONS CAN WE TAKE TO BAIL OUT OF WALL STREET?
The time has come to purge these people from our lives. How do we do it? Since our readers had such great ideas on the bumper stickers brainstorm, we thought we would invite ideas on what to do now that Congress has given Wall Street another trillion dollars and a get out of jail free card.
By Catherine Austin Fitts and Carolyn Betts, Esq.
Here are ten ideas that we wrote up to get us started. Sound off with actions you think we can take!
(1) Vote with your feet and our money in your personal banking affairs. Take all the money you control out of big money-center, banks and financial institutions and put it in local credit unions, thrift institutions, savings banks and state chartered banks.
(2) Take control over your retirement savings. Look for more ways to use your investments to increase self-sufficiency for you, your family and your community. Look into the requirements for self-directed IRAs, which will allow you to invest in such things as precious metals, commodities, real estate, local small businesses and offshore investments that are not publicly traded or otherwise on the usual lists available to small investors. If you are limited in your investment options because your retirement funds are in your employer’s 401K, research the list of permitted investments and purge your portfolio as much as possible of the large banks and companies that you know to be doing harm. While you’re at it, talk to the investment folks at your company and urge them to adopt more responsible investment strategies.
(3) Support state legislative efforts to amend state securities and tax laws to facilitate investing in loans and equity in community businesses by middle-class investors. Remember that safeguards to protect investors from unscrupulous snake-oil, penny stock and chinchilla salesmen are good, but in the name of protecting “unsophisticated” investors without substantial holdings ($200K annual income and $1MM net worth excluding residence), federal and state securities laws have effectively forced the “little guys” to invest in Wall Street. Why is it easy for people of moderate means to lose money in the lottery, but almost impossible to invest in each other’s businesses? (The answer is Wall Street does not want us to be able to invest in each other – they want us to go through them.)
(4) Use your influence to urge institutions and governments you deal with to vote with their feet and the money they control. Urge others to do the same. Make a list of these institutions and governmental and quasi-governmental units and write letters, go to meetings and otherwise get involved in the processes by which they make decisions about where they deposit and invest their cash. Here’s a list to get your creativity flowing:
a. Everyone who asks you to contribute money: charities, college and private school endowments and churches
b. State, local and union pension funds
c. City and county governments and government-related entities (e.g., water company, school board, county general fund, bond reserves)
For more ideas on pools of capital in your community, see this..
Another thing to keep in mind is that big pools of money like huge charities or charitable pools (e.g., United Way, Red Cross, etc.) and college endowments (e.g., Harvard, with its $30 billion endowment) are usually controlled by members of the tapeworm. This money generally is deposited and invested in the tapeworm. Boards of directors of these institutions are loaded with the good ole boys who may be put in their places to bolster the prestige of their employers and garner social acceptance for institutions whose activities you and I might not approve of (e.g., consider the motives of large agriculture companies in sponsoring public television shows). Reconsider your options so that you invest in causes where you know your contributions are not used this way.
(4) Spend money locally and reduce dependence on big box stores. Make a list of family expenditures over the last year and categorize them in terms of whether they are local or corporate oriented and whether they are discretionary or non-discretionary. Look at the discretionary category and the money you spent at corporate restaurants, big box stores, chain stores and similar outfits. Then identify a local or entreprenurial alternative for each one, keeping in mind that some big names are franchises owned by local small businesspeople who need our support. If you don’t know, go to your local stores and ask who owns them. Also remember that while local grocery stores may be preferable to chains, even at chains you may have the option to choose locally-grown and organic foodstuffs, which both support local and regional farmers and contribute to your family’s health and well-being.
When you make out your Christmas list or school shopping list, see how many items you can identify that can be purchased through more decentralized sources. Of course, while you’re at it, remember that you’ll get a “two-fer” in heaven, or more bang for your buck, if your spending decisions favor goods that are produced (a) in this country or at least a country that supports fair labor standards, (b) using green technologies or packaged in recyclable materials, (c) by companies whose employment policies, community contributions, garbage, trash and toxic waste disposition policies, business dealings, production methods and other policies are “net energy plus” and have a positive return on investment to the community.
(4) Prepare for more power outages, cash shortfalls and other emergency situations. More central controls leads to more unstable systems. We need to protect ourselves from the risk of relying on unstable systems. Since inflation in the costs of real goods are here to stay, at least for the foreseeable future, and who knows what kind of shortages we may be subject to for whatever reason (market manipulations, weather-related catastrophes, break-downs in neglected infrastructure, etc.), investment in the following makes both economic and strategic sense:
(a) household systems that contribute to lower energy costs and better health (geothermal, solar and wind systems, water storage tanks and wells, electronic air and water cleaners and filters),
(b) staples like toilet paper, non-perishable ingredients and foodstuffs,
(c) canned goods and bottled water,
(c) propane generators and other back-up systems,
(d) community or personal vegetable and herb gardens or local CSAs
(e) locally-slaughtered and packed sides of beef, port and lamb (preferably combine with back-up generating capacity, although homeowners’ policy riders for food spoilage are available for as little as $10/year).
(5) Find or Establish a Local Barter Network. Maybe you can’t get the credit you need to operate your small business, or take out an equity line of credit to make improvements to your home. But remember, you aren’t in this alone. Your neighbors are in the same position. Maybe your local home improvement contractor or lumber yard owner or small business supplier would like to find a way to afford piano lessons or math tutoring for his child, a professionally drafted contract or will or a new website that you could provide. Take a stand in proving that Wall Street cannot bring down our local economy and local businesses if we do not channel our money through Wall Street and the Fed and if we support each other. Used in conjunction with the local currency (see below), this is a powerful way to (a) reduce your exposure to losses from the falling dollar and the forces of inflation, (b) get new customers for your small business, (c) earn extra value in addition to your stagnating salary to help make ends meet and (d) support the local economy so that your customers and neighbors can pay their mortgages and other bills.
(6) Consider a Local Currency. Local currencies aren’t subject to devaluation when the Fed makes bad monetary decisions or Treasury invests taxpayer dollars in useless derivatives, and you don’t have to worry about FDIC insurance coverage. One way to start is to use precious metals within trusted networks. To help you get started, see our silver and gold exchange calculator, www.silverandgoldaremoney.com.
(7) Start a Solari Circle for group education, action and investing in local small businesses. Get together with friends and family to decide on what the actions are that can best serve you and take them together. Turn off your TVs, simplify, start a food purchasing club, study options for sustainability and help each other with money management and savings. Many established and stable local businesses are having trouble maintaining their working capital lines of credit to keep their operations going. At the same time, there are many local people who want to take their money out of the control of Wall Street, but don’t know where to put it. Look for local leaders who are knowledgeable at angel, venture and local investment. Perhaps there is a way for you to participate with them.
(8) Let your congressperson know you won’t take this any more. Find out how your congressman/senators voted on the bail-out legislation. If they voted “no,” thank them and send a campaign contribution. For those who voted ”yes,” check out the opponent and let them know why you are doing that (see 10 Reasons Not to Bail Out Wall Street).
(9) Educate yourself and your children about what you really need to know in the future. Urge local public and private schools, community colleges, technical schools and sources of adult education (e.g., community centers, churches and retirement homes and centers) to adopt curricula to teach both children and adults about:
(a) Community self sufficiency and community organizing.
(b) Economics and how the money REALLY works,
(c) What the US Constitution stands for and civic values,
(d) How to fix things: cars, washing machines, plumbing systems, etc. and
(e) The history of our currency (the Federal Reserve, fiat currency, abandoning the gold standard, etc.), NAFTA, the Great Depression and American stock market crashes, financial scandals and crises and what were the causes and solutions.
(10) Start a local solar energy panel franchise, geothermal drilling company or other business that can create more energy resiliency around you. Retire from your corporate job or take the opportunity after a job loss or cut-back to get into more entreprenurial activities. Do business with people you know you can trust. Contribute to a positive return on investment in your community.
