Fighting Back Against The Banksters

IT’S NOT often that the Banksters find themselves on the wrong foot, but it does happen every so often! And the events of just over two months ago – in the US West Pacific state of California – just go to prove it. Here, according to one grassroots activist, the people “just went up against the most powerful corporate lobby in the country—and won.”

The victory came after a campaign by the California Public Banking Alliance (1) – a coalition of nearly 200 groups – and was signed into law by the Democratic Party’s Gavin Newsom who is the Governor of California (2).

The California Public Banking Alliance (CPBA) describes itself as a ‘coalition of grassroots activists representing 10 cities in California working towards creating socially and environmentally responsible municipal and regional banks. Our aim is to develop a network of public banks in California – local, ethical, and accountable to the people. Each public bank will follow socially responsible investment guidelines and support the economic development of their region.’

Speaking of the victory a CPBA spokesperson noted:

“These banks can invest in local projects like affordable housing, small businesses, resilient infrastructure, and clean energy, giving communities a voice in their own economic future.,”

Commenting on the decision to decision to sign the Public Banking Act (A.B. 857) (3), Trinity Tran, co-founder of Public Bank LA (4) also noted:

“Now is our moment in history to lead the nation by re-envisioning finance and recapturing our money to benefit our local communities by building a new system that works for the greater good.”

California’s Public Banking Act allows for the creation of public banks. These public banks use publc funds to let local jurisdictions provide capital at interest rates below those charged by commercial banks. The loans could be used for the likes of businesses, affordable housing, infrastructure, and municipal projects

Supporters of public banks say that they are more community-orientated and are not under pressure to obtain higher profits and shareholder returns faced by commercial banks.

The Banking Act signed by Governor Newsom initially allows for up to ten banks to be established over seven years. They can be set up in any California city or county. However, it’s anticipated that the first will established in the major cities of Los Angeles and San Francisco.

The creation of California’s public banks is far from ideal – they still charge interest – but the National Liberal Party broadly welcomes this move. This is particularly so given the power of the banksters. The fact that so many organisations and people have got off of their backsides to do something about the banksters is particularly encouraging. It shows the value of raising the consciousness of people combined with grassroots action.

With the above in mind, we intend to move up a gear when it comes to exposing the banksters and the banking system. We’ll look at various alternatives to the banks and give practical examples of monetary reform. Therefore, we’ll look at US Greenbacks and Bradbury Pounds. In particular, we’ll be looking at the Guernsey Experiment whereby the States of Guernsey issued its own paper money to finance government projects.

However, before we do all this we should set out the NLPs general social and economic vision. Simply put, unlike capitalists – both State and Corporate – we’re not obsessed with massive economic growth. We feel that the health of our people, nation and environment is of more importance. We do not measure or judge ourselves solely in terms of Gross domestic product – GDP. We much prefer organic and sustainable growth. In short, we say ‘No’ to the ecologically suicidal ideology of capitalism with its endless exploitation of both land and people in the pursuit of excessive profit.

• BANKSTER is a combination of the words Banker and Gangster (5). Judge Ferdinand Pecora (6) has been credited with coining the term. He used it to describe the finance “gangsters.” (However, the word, with the same meaning, had appeared in the U.S. press at least a year and a half previous to that.) It was popularlised by the economist Murray N. Rothbard (7) & used by him to attack what he held to be the inherently fraudulent nature of Fractional-Reserve banking (as opposed to 100% gold reserve banking, which he defended as the only honest form of banking).