Socialism is alive and well in the United States of America, my friends.
It's a horrible thing to contemplate, but evil institutions calling themselves "credit unions" provide all the services of capitalist retail banks but are owned (GASP!) by their depositors.
Even more horrible, there are insurance companies calling themselves "mutuals" that provide all the services of capitalist insurers but are owned (GASP!) by their policyholders.
Follow me below the fold to put some numbers to this evil, undemocratic, freedom-hating socialist trend in America. Be afraid. Be very, very afraid.
The Evil of Socialized Banking
According to that liberal water closet known as Wikipedia,
[C]redit unions have 86 million members, which is 43.47% of the economically active population. U.S. credit unions are not-for-profit, cooperative, tax-exempt organizations.
Holy mother of God. This evil socialist attack on America has already perverted the minds and pocketbooks of nearly half the economically active population? AND THEY DON'T EVEN HAVE TO PAY TAXES? What is this country coming to.
The liberal crapopedia goes on to show us exactly why these so-called "credit unions" (well, if they're unions, you know they're up to no good) are squarely on the wrong side of this great culture war we must fight:
Tension has always existed between member-owned cooperative credit unions and for-profit banks in the US. When credit unions were first organizing in the United States in the early twentieth century, the banking industry was opposed, remaining so ever since. Despite the fact that credit unions continue to hold a very small share of the financial services market, banks and bank trade associations consistently put anti-credit union legislation at the top of their agendas.
Due to their status as not-for-profit, member-owned financial institutions with no source of secondary investment capital, credit unions in the United States are exempt from federal and state income taxes (but, not from employment or property taxes).
...
In 2007, the American Bankers Association barred credit union employees from attending ABA sponsored educational seminars. This includes online classes that require registration. Based upon the pretext that the ABA only wants to serve its members, the American Bankers Association continues to attempt to weaken credit unions and take back the 6% market share that credit unions currently hold.
Mutual, Shmutual
To quote the liberal crapola website yet again:
The global cooperative union for the industry, the International Cooperative and Mutual Insurance Federation, claims 142 members in 70 countries, in turn representing 400 insurers.
Fortunately, my friends, we may already have the un-American socialists and pinko commies on the run in the insurance sector.
As you probably know, the insurance business has long been infected with the perverted and freedom-hating concept of "member ownership", as though policyholders would know anything about running a big company. But now, there's a happy new trend towards demutualization, where some of these feel-good institutions have begun to come to grips with the simple fact that it is the upstanding gentlemen in suits that are the future of our nation, not the unwashed masses.
Giving these gentlemen equity in our insurers can only lead to their success. Success is the American way, and demutualization is the way out of the commie trap those mass populist mutual insurers had set for us.
The Outlook is Dire, My Friends
What will come of this horrible perversion of the American Way? Will we see automobile manufacturers that are employee-owned? Will somebody get the harebrained idea of starting a nationwide chain of discount megastores that is owned by its own employees, issuing bonds for liquidity instead of selling equity to upstanding gentlemen in suits who are guilty of nothing but the pursuit of the American Dream by making a buck without a lot of hard work?
Let's keep America American, my friends. Keep your money at a fine, capitalist banking institution of your choice and buy insurance from demutualized providers that keep America great through the magnanimous dispensations of their absentee shareholders.