We've seen the significant success of consumers moving their bank accounts out of major banks and into local banks and credit unions. I've seen estimates of as much as $60 billion in deposits being so moved in the last month, in particular on Bank Transfer day.
Yet, if you are a homeowner with a mortgage, you have the power to make a much more powerful statement. After all, most of us in the 99% probably have no more than a couple grand in our savings and checking accounts. The largest financial instrument that most middle-class and working-class Americans have is your mortgage. If you really want to have an impact, if a major bank or related mortgage company holds your mortgage, refinance with that credit union you just moved your savings account into.
It's more than just the size of the instrument too, it's the side of the balance sheet it appears on. After all, when a bank holds your savings account, that's a liability to them. They have to deliver your money up to you when you demand it. (Well, we know some of them have been reneging on that obligation lately, but as we nkow, laws are for the little people.) On the other hand, when they hold your mortgage, well, that's a debt/liability to you, but it's an asset to the financial institution. If they hold it, it produces revenue, in the form of your interest payments. Or they can sell it to another institution for cash value. And you can put some hurt on the banksters' balance sheets (and reward your local bank or credit union with a hefty asset.)
Actually, I'd like to see this strategy coordinated in the same manner that we saw with Bank Transfer Day, but I thought it was time to at least start the discussion of how you the average citizen can exercise real economic clout by using your debt as leverage for the 99%.