The First Step

The first step in overcoming victimhood at the hands of the banks is to redefine how you think of your money and the role that it plays in your life. Most Americans feel they work hard for their money. Certainly that's subjective, as everyone's definition of hard work is personal. But how do you think of your money? If you think of it as simply a thing which gets you something else when you spend it, you may not be giving it, or yourself, enough respect.

Your money is your property. Whether it's the paper bills in your wallet or the dollar amount printed on your paycheck, or simply an electronic figure on your bank statement, it's your property (whether or not you actually see it or touch it). You worked for it. Someone gave it to you as a reward for your work. It became yours to do with as you please - to save it, or exchange it for a different kind of property... clothing, electronics, automobiles, real estate, etc. You can also exchange it for less tangible items such as a vacation, a service, entertainment, and so on. But, until you exchange your money for something else, it is real property, with a specific actual value, which you own. This is very important to understand, for you will continue to be at the mercy of the bank until you come to accept that your money is first and foremost your property.

The next thing that you need to remember is that money in the bank is your property on loan to the bank. There is no law that says you are obligated to give your money/property to a bank. Nor is there any law that says how much of your property you must loan to the bank, nor a legal time limit on how long you must lend your property to them (unless you have bought something with a maturation period, like a government savings bond, with your property). When you open a bank account YOU CHOOSE to lend your property to that bank. YOU are the one in control of deciding how long you will permit the bank to use your property, and you need not provide them with a reason to remove your property from their institution when you decide you want your property returned to you. And if the bank is in any way disrespectful to you while they are borrowing your property you have every right and reason to remove your property from their possession, without penalty.

Of course if you have used credit to spend a greater amount of property than you own, you do have to replace that credited property to the bank that issued you the credit loan. And as we all know, the bank will charge you interest on the property they loan you. But as it's all monetary property, and the property all has the same value (a dollar is a dollar is a dollar), it is rather disrespectful of the bank to charge you interest to borrow someone else's property without paying you a reasonably equivalent sum for borrowing your property.

The bottom line here is that the bank really has no money of its own, except that which they can acquire by using your property. Or that which they can extort by charging you for borrowing your property - which is completely inappropriate and disrespectful. When it comes right down to it, all of the service fees, NSF fees, late fees, etc. might be justifiable IF the bank were paying you a commensurate interest rate on the property you lend it. But they don't. It therefore adds insult to injury when they write all of the rules to benefit themselves while sticking it good to you. And it's nothing less than a slap in your face to charge you a "minimum balance" fee for not lending them enough of your property. In the end, you get punished for doing them the favor of allowing them the use of your property. And that is entirely, morally wrong.

It is time that we change that.

It is time we take our property away from the banks if they are only going to use it against us. It is time that WE write the rules, because without us the banks cannot exist. They need our property and they need our business but they sure don't act as if they do. In fact, they act as though they are doing us the favor when it is the other way around.

Remember: Your money is your property. You are the sole owner of your property and you choose to allow the bank the opportunity to use it for only as long as you want them to. YOU have the legal right to exercise control over your property, not the bank. And YOU have every right to demand respect and a show of gratitude for your kindness in lending the bank your property.

Once you accept these truths you will be able to help return the proper balance to the relationship between the banks and the public.

~JQA
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Here are two practices a bank performs against you which need to be discontinued:

• Charging you a minimum balance fee on the money you lend the bank
  
• Paying you anything less than the prime lending rate for the money it borrows from you