THRIVE - Why Bank Locally?

Dear Friends, One initiative that has come out of the Occupy Wall Street Movement is Bank Transfer Day - where they are calling for people to move their money from the large corporate banks to local community banks and credit unions. This is an example of proactive, non-violent non-participation - a strategy Gandhi used successfully in India and Martin Luther King relied on in the Civil Rights Movement. Our financial system is corrupt at its core, as were the salt laws in India and segregation in the US. Moving our money out of the big centralized banks sends a clear message that we will not support them with our deposits, or be a part of their corrupt practices. It does not demand anything of anyone other than ourselves, and gives us an opportunity to exercise the power we have. THRIVE - What on Earth Will it Take? also focuses on ways we can withdraw our support as a core solution strategy. We recognize that changing banks can feel like a big step, so we are offering some information on WHY this is such a powerful idea and WHAT you need to know to make it happen. If you would like to learn more about how our money system REALLY works, then please check out this link for a brief Fractional Reserve 101 video. In addition, we have also created a simple 3-Step Guide to help you make the best choices when looking to transfer your money. We personally used to put our money in Bank of America and Wells Fargo at the same time we were working to stop coal-fired power plants and nuclear energy, not realizing that banks use our deposits to make loans to corporations to fund their projects. Bank of America and Wells Fargo in particular were using our deposits to underwrite the loans to the same polluting companies we were otherwise trying to stop. Good intentions aren't sufficient if we are funding the problem at the same time. Environmental destruction and predatory loans are made possible by our bank deposits, and so is local community restoration. So please check out this link for a simple 3-Step Guide to move your money to a local bank or credit union. We can STOP funding the problem AND START funding the SOLUTION all in ONE move.   Find out what else we can do to reclaim our lives and our future on 11-11-11 at thrivemovement.com. Sincerely, - Foster and Kimberly PS - We encourage you to share this page via Facebook Recommends or simply forward this 3-step guide to help your friends get started.                   Please understand if we are unable to respond to individual emails at this time.