Preparing for War with the Bankocracy
July 3rd, 2009 | Sustainable, alternative, bankocracy, community, debt, food, garden, gateway, Green World, guerrilla, Harvest Campbell, howto, J.P. Morgan, security, strike, Sustainable, war
Published in Far West Almanac July, 2009. Follow-up to the article: For Generation X Eyes Only.
Any political, economic, theological, or philosophical system that in practice rewards production over life is illegitimate because, tautologically enough, it does not value the lives of its citizens over the needs of production. Such is sufficient to define illegitimacy. No other measure is needed.
Derrick Jenson — A Language Older Than Words
-p368-369
By now it will have sunk in good and deep that my previous proposal to stage a debt repayment strike for just one month in September (09/09) [see article Gen X mentioned above] is impractical unless enough people get involved so that we cannot be ignored. Otherwise simply not paying a debt for a month will result in late charges, bouncing checks and other never-before-heard-of fees. For the first people throwing off this yoke of debt and refusing to be suckered by the Currency Controlling Witch-Doctors of the Apocalyptic Future its gonna have to be all or nothing.
Anyone considering such a step needs to think long and hard about their options. This is not the easy way out of your debt. It is a much harder road to take and will demand much personal sacrifice. For those who owe J.P. Morgan Chase, for example, feel no guilt for refusing to pay this debt. Realize it may be necessary to stop paying the debt permanently, and that this will most likely result in garnished wages and a bad credit history.
When considering such a drastic step, be aware that there are many ways to deal with this issue. Many people are having success by negotiating lower payments for bills and debts. Such alternatives are better options for people with kids or health conditions. For those of us who understand that we are at war with these bankers and don’t want to give them another cent, it is time to consider more direct action.
This war is the ancient war on the poor that has been going on since man first said “mine”. Our country is in a stupid situation of having speedily growing tent cities while homes sit empty, owned by banks. To get out of this capitalist corporate reality what we have to do is much like how Harry Potter
gets to his train from Kings Cross–the Muggle train station. We need to run as fast as possible into the unknown if we want to end up on platform Nine and Three Quarters in time to catch the Hogwort Express.
Many of us have been waiting for an opportunity to drop out of this competitive world and create a new one based on co-operation. I recently read of a beautiful vision of the Green World in Harvest McCampbell’s very comprehensive and resourceful book Food Security & Sustainability: For The Times Ahead
, and it is good to know that there are many organizations, individuals and groups that have already laid the foundations for this alternative reality.
Something everyone seems to agree on is that it is morally necessary to repay your debts. It is interesting to examine this unquestioned assumption. After learning of the sneaky and devilish practices of the bankocracy down through the millennia, we no longer have time to buy into this notion that we will have committed the most heinous crime if we do not repay a debt that is foisted upon us through using the best directed advertising that money can buy, experimenting and exploiting us like we are rats in a maze. Google is right, individuals have no more privacy and the sooner we realize this the faster we can wake up and right the imbalance created when companies have more privacy than individuals.
If you are going to take on these vampires by refusing to pay your illegal debts, make sure you are well prepared and have a network of people to help you. Once you have made the transition, it will be easier for them if (or when) their time comes.
Train hopping and squatting are back in full effect. People have been forced by foreclosures and repossession out on the streets. There is an organization in Florida called Take Back the Land helping people to squat in their own homes. It is time to be pro-active.
There are as many ways as there are people in this world to drop off the radar of collection agencies. The most important thing is to have a supportive community as you make this stand. Here is a list of a few other preparation steps to consider:
- Change your phone number and only give your new number to friends, or get rid of your phone entirely.
- Either call your credit card companies and give them a different address, or move and don’t leave a forwarding address.
- Look into squatting or move in with friends or family.
- Find a job that pays under the table. The hospitality industry is a great place for this, but you may have to become a dishwasher, and take a salary cut. Alternatively, get involved with joining or creating a community currency and a network of people willing to barter.
- Find ways to help your community (handyman, music lessons, childcare, hair-cuts) in return for the support they provide for your marginalized condition.
- Think through exactly what you may need to survive living on the edge, if you need to move or need a computer, extra underwear use your credit card to set yourself up, before disappearing, and let the banks finance their own downfall.
- Grow your own food.
- Get a chicken :0)
- Get involved with supportive communities or co-ops.
- Follow Harvest Campbell’s advice and take classes in self-sufficiency practical skills (first aid, urban survival, gardening, canning, sewing and other DIY).
- Switch your computer to Ubuntu (it is easy and FREE) and support the open-source movement.
This list is by no means complete, it is just to get you started thinking about what you can do that is practical for you.
One of the most affordable things to do is to grow your own food. If you do not have land keep your eyes open for a patch of public or private land to plant food in, either in a community garden, a yard-share or through guerrilla gardening. Unfortunately Los Angeles has recently been wasting money and energy tearing out guerrilla gardens, so be sure to choose an inconspicuous plot.
If you see inability to repay your debts looming in the near future, it is worth considering taking pro-active steps to support yourself before you wake up one day and find yourself on the street.
Interesting Articles
On the Street and On Facebook the Homeless Stay Wired
Paycheck to Paycheck
The Challenges of Accepting Civilization as Unsustainable and Unhealthy
Re-Wilding the English Language
More Links and Resources
www.transitiontowns.org
www.takebacktheland.blogspot.com/
www.socalguerrillagardening.org
www.lahomelessblog.org
www.urbanedibles.org/
www.squattheplanet.com/
www.homelessnation.org/
www.appropriate-economics.org/
http://www.thetransitioner.org
www.beyondmoney.net/
www.systemsthinker.com
The Anthropik Network
When the local currency is pegged to the Time Standard of Money (how many dollars/hour child labor) Hours earned locally can be intertraded with other timebanks globally! In 1999, I paid for 39/40 nights in Europe with an IOU for a night back in Canada worth 5 Hours.
U.N. Millennium Declaration UNILETS Resolution C6 to governments is for a time-based currency to restructure the global financial architecture.
See my banking systems engineering analysis at http://youtube.com/kingofthepaupers
Thanks for the work you have done to get this thing to the UN KingofthePaupers. I just watched your video http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jnsKjudzAdU and I was very excited to hear that there is a real push to get interest abolished world wide! I don’t know much about LETS apart from what I have read but I am eager to find out more.
I was also very happy to hear someone say that we need to change this poverty-creating monetary system and not simply keep trying to find ways to prop it up with flimsy toothpicks, guaranteed to make the rich richer.