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Archive for November, 2011

Facebook post to abandon big banks takes off

Saturday, November 5th, 2011

It will be interesting to see what happens on Bank Transfer Day, an apparent national call to abandon big banks. There’s an article about the “woman who sparked a movement” in the Los Angles Times that describes how Kristen Christian, a 27-year-old Echo Park resident has become a media star after posting a suggestion on Facebook for her friends to move their money after Bank of America decided to start charging debit card fees. The article says she got more than 75,000 people to pledge that they will participate in “Bank Transfer Day” by moving their money from large U.S. banks to nonprofit credit unions by Saturday, November 5th.

The big banks have to be worried if this catches on.  The bizarre part about the whole thing is how this individual has been featured in the media…and the resulting exposure leading to a death threat as well as several proposals.  It demonstrates once again how the media can take a serious idea and turn it into a circus through the cult of personality. Of course, it’s the “human” angle that TV is looking for by inviting the woman onto talk news shows, so we can focus on the phenomenon, rather than the content of what she is saying.

Could a reality TV show or book be far behind?

Steps to move your money local

Saturday, November 5th, 2011

Tom Petruno, of the Los Angeles Times, has written a great article about how you can cut loose from our current financial system dominated by big banks.  He gives several steps you can take ranging from relatively easy to much harder.  It describes how you should move your money from the big banks to a local credit union.  And look at getting better rates on Money Market funds as well as investments in stocks and bonds.

It’s a sign that things are beginning to change as awareness grows, sparked in part by the Occupy Wall Street protests.