Eric Cantona (ex-soccer star) calls to withdraw money from banks on December 7

[Ellipse]

For my part I have heard the information on the radio here in France. I think it's a very interesting idea.

Dear media,

For a short time, the international press reported the call for a bankrun that we launched on Facebook to invite all those who wish to follow us to withdraw their money from their accounts on the 7th of December, 2010.


Since the publication of our call, people around the world mobilized to translate the text into their language to recreate the event in their country, to promote our initiative by all possible means and invite their contacts to do the same. Our call has met with a success that we did not dare to hope for. We are very happy about it and thanks to the personal investment of all those who, like us, want to enjoy a healthy banking system, equitable, affordable and accountable, we hope that over the weeks we can convince enough people in the world to finally be heard by our respective Governments.


For clarification purposes, we do not speak on behalf of any political party or from any labour union or religion. Our action is a civic involvement that keeps its distance from any form of hate or conspiracy theories that could be made on behalf of our movement, by others during their interventions on any areas of discussion, which is beyond our control. We only speak for ourselves and for no other organisations. We do not seek to harm anyone in particular. It's towards a corrupt, criminal and deadly system that we decided to oppose, as far as our ability our determination and respect for the law are concerned.



Why have we launched this action?

First of all, we wanted to raise public awareness on the functioning of the monetary system.

The overwhelming majority of holders of a bank accounts, savings accounts or even a pension plan, are unaware the way money is created or what the banks are doing with the money that 'they are given. They know nothing about the principle of money as debt. They do not know the reality behind words like "asset bubbles", "Treasury bills", "Hedge Funds" or "securitization". Hence the media in general make little effort to inform in an objective, transparent and accessible way to all. The only thing the public really understands is that most major financial crimes and insider trading remain mostly unpunished, but they are the first to pay the consequences.

Not only do we deplore how many questions posed by ordinary citizens on the economic situation remain without clear answers in your columns, but we also regret your lack of zeal in denouncing the measures that have allowed the global economic situation get to the point where it is today: a situation that has bought our heads of states and Governments to their knees before the rating agencies, trembling with fear at the idea that our currencies are deteriorating.


Our politicians can't meet both the interests of financial markets and those of its citizens. So, it is time to remind them who they were elected to serve.

Strikes and demonstrations are no longer useful because whatever we do, we are not heard. And whatever they do, we are not consulted. So we decided to hit the system at its core - THE BANKING SYSTEM
[...]

Here's the site : http://www.bankrun2010.com/

 

[Laura]

Re: Eric Cantonna (soccer star) call to withdraw money from bank on December 7

Hmmm... let's discuss this before we consider it as an option, interesting as it sounds.

 

[ec1968]

Re: Eric Cantonna (soccer star) call to withdraw money from bank on December 7


IMHO its unlikely to have the desired effect simply because of the rationale behind it. Its engineered as a protest in the short term. Depending on how many people took part, the banks might have to restrict the amount of cash individuals could withdraw. But there would be zero effect on the electronic banking system, meaning that all of your routine bills, which most people pay by standing order or direct debit, would still get paid on time. Because it would be widely known that this is a protest, none of the central banks would have difficulty in lending to the commercial banks and they would keep operating.

A real 'run' on the banks is caused by a lack of confidence. And this refers to confidence in the economic sense i.e. There is no confidence that high street bank A has enough reserves to repay the central bank at the end of the week. So all the people with cash on deposit at high street bank A try to get it out, causing the lack of confidence in their reserves to become a reality and the bank collapses.

In an engineered protest, it is hard to re-create the real lack of economic confidence that causes a real 'run' on a banks reserves. And because it is an known protest, any manufactured 'run' on the reserves would likely be covered by the central banking system because they know that its not being caused by an underlying issue of ecomomic confidence.

This is simply my view

 

[Niall]

It's a bit suspect how much airtime it's being given in the mainstream media:

All over French TV...

_http://www.dailymotion.com/video/xfwztu_stop-banque-au-13h-de-france2-2-decembre-2010_news#from=embed&start=78

...the British press...

_http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2010/nov/20/eric-cantona-bank-protest-campaign?showallcomments=true&msg=a#end-of-comments

[The Guardian opened this article for comments - something I've noticed it invariably does when it wants a story to grow legs or the content is deemed 'safe']

...as far as Australia:

_http://www.heraldsun.com.au/ipad-application/cantonas-bank-run-plan-questioned/story-fn6bn4mv-1225965497374

The two creators of the bankrun2010.com website are Geraldine Feuillien, a Belgian screenwriter and Yann Sarfati, a French comedian. Cantona himself is now an actor.

Could the idea have been scripted towards certain ends? It began, after all, with an interview Cantona gave to the French press.

Another thing, on Feuillien's fb page, she has 'liked' just one fb page which is dedicated to Jean-Pierre Petit. That mightn't mean anything though; he's a minor celebrity in France.

 

[MichaelM]

In my part of the world, northern California, banks have a set limited amount of cash each day. If you want to withdraw more than $2000, you'd have to call in a cash withdrawal of that amount (and specify the breakdown of the amount in bills if, say for example, you prefer it all in $100 or $20 bills). Otherwise the people at the counter would probably just tell you that there is not enough cash in the bank that day and will either cut you a check or help you schedule a big cash withdrawal on some other day.

If you didn't schedule a cash withdrawal in advance, you'd probably be cut a check. Which doesn't do much for the movement since the check is not the same as "cash in hand"; the amount on the check is "floated" by the bank. And it won't be drawn from the bank's reserves until the check clears which usually is a least 2-3 days and can even last up to a week in some cases.

If you did manage to get a hold of all your holdings in cash, some unscrupulous people who also know about the event can easily just hang out outside the bank that day and relieve you of your cash.

If you manage to get home with all that cash, the pedestrian psychology is probably not prepared for such a situation. I can imagine a normal person would be quite worried about having that much cash at home, unprotected. The person hanging outside the bank can easily follow you home. Most people would probably not have a fireproof safe at home.

Getting the cash (physical or electronically) and then following up with Max Keiser's movement of buying precious metals could be an alternative.
(http://www.sott.net/articles/show/218074-Crash-JPMorgan-Buy-Silver-Campaign-Goes-Global)
There however would still be the problem of safe storage of the precious metal.

Maybe the Fellowship can start to look into precious metal storage for it's members? But this would probably be more of a headache in terms of the legal and administrative aspects... and could probably leave a wide opening for attack of the Fellowship.

 

[thevenusian]

Re: Eric Cantonna (soccer star) call to withdraw money from bank on December 7

IMHO its unlikely to have the desired effect simply because of the rationale behind it. Its engineered as a protest in the short term. Depending on how many people took part, the banks might have to restrict the amount of cash individuals could withdraw. But there would be zero effect on the electronic banking system, meaning that all of your routine bills, which most people pay by standing order or direct debit, would still get paid on time. Because it would be widely known that this is a protest, none of the central banks would have difficulty in lending to the commercial banks and they would keep operating.

A real 'run' on the banks is caused by a lack of confidence. And this refers to confidence in the economic sense i.e. There is no confidence that high street bank A has enough reserves to repay the central bank at the end of the week. So all the people with cash on deposit at high street bank A try to get it out, causing the lack of confidence in their reserves to become a reality and the bank collapses.

In an engineered protest, it is hard to re-create the real lack of economic confidence that causes a real 'run' on a banks reserves. And because it is an known protest, any manufactured 'run' on the reserves would likely be covered by the central banking system because they know that its not being caused by an underlying issue of ecomomic confidence.

This is simply my view

I tend to agree. This protest is certainly indicative of the rising frustration many people have, but it seems alot like organizing a street protest, which at this point is largely ineffective at changing anything. It is like a burst of uncontrolled emotional energy rather than a rationally calculated strategy. Given that the entire banking system is endemic with fraud, making any actual inconvenience from this protest disappear would seem a simple matter. These folks have centuries of experience. I don't think any of these problems can be changed unless those at the very top are held accountable to a system of law which is then actually enforceable and enforced, and I'm not holding my breath on that one.

Then there is also the question of what one does with their money. Hold it in cash? If that is really a feasible idea, because all your cash fits into a small bag, then your withdrawal probably won't make much difference anyway. It would take a huge, concerted effort of small people to equal even one wealthy elite.

A better way would be to pour this energy into a viable alternative, like local currencies, small community-based banks, etc, but again, the system of laws and controls in place favor the existing elites and the lack of organization and consensus among the ordinary folk presents quite a challenge.

 

[Infiniteness]

Sott also had an article about this bank run.

Link: http://www.sott.net/articles/show/218673-Bank-Run-2010-aims-to-end-criminal-corrupt-financial-system

At the bottom of the article Andrew Clark made a interesting point, that if this bank run did succeed, that it could bring more bank bailouts and austerity measures. Basically it could be counterproductive, the banks would at the end of the day have more money in their pockets. I also agree with others about the risk of holding such large sums of money. To make such a thing work the majority of the population needs to do their part, thats the hard part! :/

[quote author=Andrew Clark at the Guardian]
Cantona's campaign will probably flop. Let's hope so, because it's not very wise. There are plenty of reasons to be angry at the way in which banks are run: they took reckless risks in the run-up to the financial crisis, developed ever more opaque derivatives, and senior executives paid themselves far too much. The people of Ireland went on the march yesterday to protest at an economic crisis sparked, to a large extent, by banks feasting on an unsustainable property binge.

But destroying these institutions in one fell swoop would serve nobody. It's impossible for everybody to withdraw their savings on the same day, because bank branches and cash machines would quickly run out of cash and close. Even if such a campaign were to succeed, it would simply prompt governments to spend billions more bailing out the banks, forcing them to implement even tighter austerity measures. If they didn't, then anybody who hadn't heeded Cantona's call to withdraw their savings would lose all their money.

The following video was broadcast by Presse Ocean.
[/quote]

Edit: clarity

 

[jordifs]

I will not participate in this action.
I believe it is non sense.

The actions toward destruction are easily identified.
But it is nothing wrong with the system.
It is clear to me that we have what we deserve.
We do have the system that we feed.
The amount of people that feeds the system is enough to support it for long time.

The interesting part is how to build a new system.
In my humble opinion the best option is to build a new one, before the previous collapses.
Not to force the collapse of the existing.
Never before thinking how the new one will work.

If the system stops, how many people will suffer the next week.
We need to eat, we need to work, the system cannot halt one day.

It is part of a long process working together, as a community, to build a new one.
It is working locally, breaking dependencies for international trading goods (just an example).
Even if this building process begins, most people will prefer the previous one and ... I do not want to fight with anyone. Free will! The others can stay as they are, ignorant, thinking that the system will readjust, and everything will return to normality sooner or later. I'm not here to convince them otherwise.

This 7th December initiative sounds to me as a psychological experiment.
To monitor and locate all these citizens that are a threat to the system.
I will never be a thread because I do not work towards destruction.
I'd prefer to work towards creation.
Creation of initiatives that compete with the existing system.
Eventually can be a thread, if people awake and decide to change.
But this is done through a progression, not a magic switch on 7th December, neither as depicted on the film V for Vendetta.


Sincerely,
Jordi

 

[Heaalih]

I find this idea interesting. For me, the money is now a weapon, when you look at all the injustice made with around the world. And that weapon in the hands of psychopaths

Creation of initiatives that compete with the existing system.
Eventually can be a thread, if people awake and decide to change.

I think it's inevitable to act "against" the "system", when constructing an alternative at the same time. Because the system does not let credible alternatives developping too far.

For example http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/W%C3%B6rgl#The_W.C3.B6rgl_Experiment :

Worgl was the site of the "Miracle of Worgl" during the Great Depression. It was started on the 31st of July 1932 with the issuing of "Certified Compensation Bills", a form of currency commonly known as Stamp Scrip, or Freigeld. This was an application of the monetary theories of the economist Silvio Gesell by the town's then mayor, Michael Unterguggenberger.

The experiment resulted in a growth in employment and meant that local government projects such as new houses, a reservoir, a ski jump and a bridge could all be completed, seeming to defy the depression in the rest of the country. Inflation and deflation are also reputed to have been non-existent for the duration of the experiment.[2]

Despite attracting great interest at the time, including from French Premier Edouard Daladier and the economist Irving Fisher[3], the "experiment" was terminated by the Austrian National Bank on the 1st September 1933 on the basis of the "Certified Compensation Bills" being a threat to the Bank's monopoly on printing money.[4][5][6][7]

So the "system" is interacting with alternatives, I think the alternatives have to interact with the "system", one way or another. This kind of action has the merit to challenge people's consciousness.