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Civil Disobedience I know at times things seem helpless- so many bad people doing making bad decisions and outside of a vote every couple years, its as if there's nothing an ordinary person can do to fight back.  This is not completely true.  There are ways a person can take some individual control and peacefully rebel against the system in a completely legal and non-violent way. 1)  Take all $ not designated for bills out of the bank.-  Let's say you have $10k in the bank. Currently you you will receive around 0.02% (two one hundredths of 1 percent) interest on savings and money markets.  Now, the bank takes that $10k and lends it at 5.99%.  This means in 1 month, you will receive 17cents interest on your $10k;  the bank will receive $49.92 from the borrower by loaning your money out.   Why help the banks? 2)  Avoid debt-  Every financial policy, trick and scheme of the government for the last few years has been with the goal to get you further into debt.  Think 'Cash for Clunkers' which convinced people with perfectly workable cars to turn them in exchange for a brand new vehicle that required 48-72 months of payments at interest.   Also, think the $8000 First-Time buyer rebate for home ownership.  The $ goes to the banks in the form of closing costs or towards the down payment on the home and now a person or couple is straddled with hundreds of thousands in debt on a home that is depreciating in value by the month.  Now its another Fed stimulus injection in November.

The best way to rebel against this push into debt slavery is to be very conscientious of your finances.  Avoid impulse buying.  Hunt for bargains, closeouts and sincere deals.  And most importantly, when making big ticket purchases,  try to save as much as humanly possible, even if it means putting off a purchase for the near term to minimize the amount of debt you will be taking on. 3)  Avoid credit cards to make purchases whenever possible-  Even if you're one who pays your bill off in full each month, leaving a zero balance, Visa, MasterCard, AMEX and Discover make money each time you use your card.  The store pays them between 1.5%- 3% of the balance of each transaction.   These are the same entities that charge you a yearly fee, interest rates between 15-30% on purchases and exceedingly high penalties for late payments.  Why help the credit cards make any more money than what is unavoidable? 4)  Don't contribute to economy any more than you have to.-  Govt doesn't care that you are unemployed or working extremely hard at your current job in fear you'll be let go.    Govt also doesn't care if you're in debt or struggling.  It just wants you to spend.   So-  Don't.  Avoid eating out whenever possible.  If you want a book, CD or DVD, check out the library- its free.  Holidays coming up- don't buy a gift.  Make one.  Or offer your time to someone..  Need a new shirt or shoes?- Avoid the horsey or the swoosh.  Avoid paying $75 for something not even made here.  And if you must buy something, learn to hunt for the best price- don't impulse buy.   Don't buy something at BestBuy for $65 if you can get the same thing on Amazon for $25.

Learn to fight back in a non-violent, completely legal way-  Be civilly disobedient.