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Sunday, February 22, 2009
That Shit Will Never Work
Students protest at UVM and the Irish protest in Dublin, all over austerity measures:
The demonstration came a day after the global economic crisis led to another political casualty elsewhere in Europe, with Latvia's prime minister quitting as his country grapples with deepening recession.
Organised by the Irish Congress of Trade Unions (ICTU) and featuring teachers, police, civil servants and others, the Irish protest was the "first step in a rolling campaign of action," ICTU general secretary David Begg said.
Police put the number of protesters at up to 120,000.
Marchers are particularly opposed to a pension levy on some 350,000 public servants which is designed to save about 1.4 billion euros (1.8 billion dollars) this year.
A few things leap out at me about this:
- People are protesting government action they see as helping the rich and screwing the not-so-rich. Sound familiar?
- 120k is 3% of Ireland's population, equivalent to about 9,000,000 Americans. Perhaps we should shoot for 120k in DC first.
- This was a first step, as noted by the ICTU. Perfect: you lodge a loud complaint, seeing no action in response, you escalate. Strikes? Other forms of economic and civil noncooperation?
We could learn a lot from Ireland. We do need to mobilize, whether it be something in DC or perhaps distributed, localized, coordinated actions.
I'm also becoming more and more enamored of the idea I mentioned on PaxLive a while back--and have really been mulling over since the mortgage meltdown started in earnest--of ultimately having everybody stop paying back the banks for a month or two (accounting for various billing cycles). The credit card companies in particular charge usurious rates, cram our bills with bogus fees, create inflationary pressure and enable our consumerist society. They screw taxpayers who are now being asked to bail out the very people who caused this whole mess. Imagine if they didn't get monies from any of us (and imagine we have more cash on hand for that time).
But that's getting ahead of ourselves. First we need to organize and show resolve in the form of protest before we can escalate to interventions. Therein lies the rub...
ntodd
February 22, 2009 in Pax Americana | Permalink
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Comments
It seems to me that not paying credit card bills for a month or two will hurt the consumer with extra interest more than it will hurt the bank.
Posted by: Mahakal | Feb 22, 2009 11:54:31 AM
Uh, well, yes, all actions carry a certain amount of risk. But the point is to pressure the companies with specific demands and to harm their revenue stream if they fail to comply. It's an asymmetric threat, which is what revolutions, peaceful or otherwise are about.
Posted by: ntodd | Feb 22, 2009 12:42:36 PM
Did you read about the unemployment cards (work like a credit card) and the banks charging a fee for two withdrawals in one day? The banks are making a killing on people who cannot afford the little zaps. They even charge if you check your balance on the card.
Not paying your credit card is not an option that I see working. They raise your interest rate plus charge you a late fee. The only thing that will work is getting your credit cards paid off and then stop using them unless you can pay off the balance every month.
Posted by: Nancy | Feb 22, 2009 3:56:46 PM
Not paying your credit card is not an option that I see working. They raise your interest rate plus charge you a late fee. The only thing that will work is getting your credit cards paid off and then stop using them unless you can pay off the balance every month.
The latter is only possible for a lot of people after a few years. In the meantime, they still pay usurious rates (which of course make it harder to pay things off anyway).
Keep in mind that not paying wouldn't be an isolated event, if things went the way I see it. It would be collective action, first of all. We talk of Million Whatever Marches being impressive: what happens if 1,000,000 people refuse to pay debt over the course of 1 or 2 months? That probably would get somebody's attention, particularly if all these banks are teetering.
Second of all, this is action that would take place as part of an escalation. Why can't we march and protest the bullshit? Charging the unemployed to get access to their paltry benefits? Why should we stand for that?
No action is without risk. I don't understand why people act like there isn't supposed to be any when you're resisting injustice...
Posted by: NTodd | Feb 22, 2009 6:13:36 PM
You keep talking about "risk" when what you mean is certain loss. I don't agree with that. If you intend to take a certain loss then call it that.
Banks love people who don't pay their cards on time, as long as they are good for the interest and late fees eventually. The only way you're going to make a serious impact on them is to refuse to pay your debt -- not now -- not ever.
Of course that carries its own certain consequences for you, in terms of your access to future credit.
Posted by: Mahakal | Feb 23, 2009 11:08:56 AM
No, I'm talking about risk of collective action. It could involve loss if the banks and government do not in the short term submit to demands.
The point is that it is not an individual, tactical attempt to push the banks. If lots of people did it, the real impact on the banks would be revenue is gone. When you're already teetering, that can be an incentive for them, and for government that is concerned about the viability of our finance system, to act in pro-consumer ways.
All actions have consequences. The question is whether you act when inaction only preserves the status quo. Paying off your debt is all wonderful, 'cept that it retains the status quo of our system, including usurious interest and unfair fees, can't be realistically pulled off by people who have no money to speak of to pay it back anyway, etc.
So you start with something like a march to register dissent with the economic system and our government (lack of) regulation and to demand real support for people who are hurting (debt reduction, forgiveness, even easier bankruptcy). From there you can escalate to other forms of intervention that aren't just protest but have real impact--hitting them in their wallets. There are myriad approaches and more than 2 steps that would be involved, but it's not like I'm just going to stop paying back my debt today and expect success with no consequences.
Posted by: ntodd | Feb 23, 2009 11:36:05 AM
Buy me stuff off my 
