What if everyone registered on DU pulled all their assets from the banks?

[Goathead]

60,000+ people all on the same day divesting themselves of this corrupt system. I think that would have quite an affect on our economic system. Would it trigger a crash?

[sw04ca]

1. Why would anyone want to do such a thing? /nt

[Goathead]

9. I'm not asking why, I'm asking "what if"

As in corporatists use their money against the masses why not reverse the situation.

[bryant69]

10. Good question

I wonder if it will be answered.

Its easy enough, I suppose, to forget that lots of regular people will be hurt in such a financial firestorm.

Bryant
Check it out --> http://politicalcomment.blogspot.com

[seabeyond]

31. lol lol i was thinking the same, and then what

do we do with our money

[sw04ca]

32. Invest it all in the stock market!

Probably not a good idea. :p

[mikelewis]

37. Buy gold with it and move to a country we can take over!

[7th_Sephiroth]

2. atleast half have been tombstoned freepers

about 20,000 lurkers, 5,000 uncaught freepers and 5,000 True DUers

[RebelOne]

3. And just what would you suggest we do with our money?

It's very difficult to pay bills without a checking account.

[HeeBGBz]

4. My share would hardly be a dent in the system

They hardly know I'm there anyway.

[Goathead]

11. Your share + my share + her share + his share

It adds up. That is how the corporatists have gained so much power. How does Kraft make a gazillion dollars when you alone may be buying only a 99 cent box of mac 'n cheese.

[dkofos]

5. I did it 20 years ago

I only deal with credit unions

[Modem Butterfly]

6. It isn't as simple as you might think

We would all have to cash out our IRAs, ESOPs, 401Ks, CDs, and any other financial instruments. We would also have to drop all credit cards and, presumably, any other debt like home mortgages, car loans, student loans (good luck there, Sally Mae is like a ravenous wolf who smells meat). It couldn't possibly be all on one day- maybe in one month, but probably more like a 60 to 90 day window.

[Goathead]

18. You may be right

However look at the L.A. riots after the Rodney King verdict. The catalyst behind that was a "routine" traffic stop. Los Angeles was on fire for days, people were barricading their neighborhoods and standing watch on top of there houses with shotguns.

[Modem Butterfly]

19. I'm not sure I understand your meaning

To me, it's not a question of motivation, but of sheer logistics. Though certainly motivation would become a factor once the logistical hurdles were overcome. As for Rodney King, that was an infinitely more complex issue.

[Goathead]

27. The market is so sensitive that the mere mention of a "run on the banks"

could be enough to trigger such an event. As for Rodney King, police brutality occurs everyday. That incident just happened to be caught on tape. One man video taping a group of men beating another man, a singular event. Would the L.A. riots have occurred if somebody had not video taped the incident? Probably not. In L.A. you had a huge disenfranchised segment of the population that was the proverbial powder keg, the videotape of the Rodney King beating was the match. I believe that you have a huge segment of the population that is disenfranchised by Bush and his policies. What will be the match that ignites this powder keg or will their be one? There is a lot of energy that those on the left are suppressing, a lot of anger and hatred for Bush.

[rinsd]

35. Okay, so is this situation better now?

Are those people less disenfranchised?

I would say no.

Do you think Bush would lose his job if the poor started rioting or would the poor simply get killed and destroy their own places(because you can be damn sure the police/army would protect the rich)?

If not, what is the purpose other than venting?

[eallen]

7. I'm more and more shifting my assets out of the dollar, because....

I expect the Bush dollar to keep dropping.

I might be wrong. But it looks to me that this nation is living high on the hog, while the mortgage coupons are going unpaid.

[KissMeKate]

8. I heart credit unions!

eom

[sandnsea]

12. I suggested this Nov 3

People to pull their investments, or at least put them in blue friendly businesses. People say they are outraged and want a change. But not enough to sacrifice their own cog in the corporate wheel. This is what the DLC responds to, the reality of what Democrats really do with their money which tells you they don't really want the kind of change they scream about. Not when it comes right down to it.

[Goathead]

14. I hear you

...and agree wholeheartedly. Per haps the mere mention of action like this may be the spark that triggers change. Though many would identify it as heresy or even treason.

[Ezlivin]

13. What assets?

Hey, I'd pull 'em if I had 'em.

What if we all just bounced checks? At least that doesn't require me to go to the bank.

I'm a lazy anarchist.

[ProdigalJunkMail]

15. would do nothing at all

sorry to say...but 60,000 out of 200,000,000 is not even a blip on the radar...

theProdigal

[LARED]

16. Crash?

Of the economy? You must be kidding. Most of our assets are not liquid, and those that are, make up a tiny, tiny, tiny, tiny, tiny, fraction of the economy.

[Journeyman]

17. What is it, one percent of the people. . .

control 35 percent of the nation's wealth. . . the top 5 percent control some 60 percent . . . the top 20 control 80 . . .

All of us combined, along with every extended family member we could muster and all their friends thrown in for good measure probably wouldn't warrant a statistical blip on the nation's true wealth.

Sorry to put it so bluntly, but those are just some of the cruel facts of our world.

[Goathead]

20. It could trigger a "run on the banks" n/t

[rinsd]

24. So you want to cause a financial panic?

You do know who would get screwed on that don't you?

Here's a hint...it wouldn't be the rich.

As for the LA riots, what did they accomplish beyond destroying their own neighborhoods?

[Goathead]

28. They were actually marauding through the streets of several neighborhoods

and nearly made it to Beverly Hills. "The rich" were leaving L.A. in droves.

[rinsd]

34. Whose neighborhoods were destroyed?

The fact that the rich left town for a brief period is no reason to celebrate when the people most deeply hurt by that verdict had their neighborhoods destroyed. South Central suffered the brunt and the most damage even if eventually rioters/looters made their way downtown. How was this a positive (even as an end result) for African Americans?

And getting back to your original post - who would get screwed in the event of a panic run on the banks?

[theboss]

40. Are you serious?

It probably wouldn't even be statistically significant.

[sandnsea]

23. Yes that's true

But we did make a difference with Sinclair through the shareholders. That's the only time I think there has been any effect from activism on the left.

[ernstbass]

21. My meager assets wouldn't make any difference

[Tyler Durden]

22. What assets?

I live paycheck to paycheck, and besides, the Saudis aren't stupid (nasty, but not stupid): they're likely buying EUROS as fast as the bank transfers can clear.

Wait a while: the crash is coming on its own, fast enough.

[Career Prole]

25. How about if I pull all my assets out of Wild Bill's Pawn Shop?

Nah...probably won't have the same effect. :eyes:

[the_outsider]

26. That's probably impractical but something similar can be done

by diversifying assets (whatever little we have) into foreign stocks, bonds and currencies. Both Bill Gates and Warren Buffet have been short on dollar for a while and most of the really rich people are hedging themselves by reducing dollar-denominated assets for a while. They have been investing heavily in emerging markets like China and India.

[Goathead]

29. Yes I know

It is just hypothetical.

[ultraist]

30. While I appreciate the spirit behind the post

There is no way I would trash my investments, pay extra fees, and put my family in a precarious financial situation for a blip on the bank's radar screen. What would this accomplish? Not much. The BIG players control the economy.

There has got to be a better way to make an impact that doesn't adversly affect us. Cutting our noses off to spite our faces doesn't sound too appealing.

[leesa]

33. Would someone in the know please post credit unions that are honest

I really don't know where to start. I will transfer these funds as well as stock from unethical corporations.

[tralfaz]

36. Why?????? n/t

[theboss]

38. There might....MIGHT.... be $1 million in liquid assets here

The economy is $11 Trillion. I can't even do the math at how unbelievably small a number that is.

[ProdigalJunkMail]

43. well, there are 60,000 registered persons here

and if each one had only $500 that's $30M right there...but that is assuming you are dealing with all 60,000

theProdigal

[Peak_Oil]

39. There'd be about two empty ATMs that day. n/t

That was funny, big guy.

[shadowknows69]

41. I wouldn't be much of a help on that one lol

"the system" has already drained my family of any significant assets.

[Spirochete]

42. My bank would say

"MY GOD!!!! WE'VE LOST $8.37 OVERNIGHT!!!"