Reset the System

Those who are well-served (or who believe they are well-served) by the current broken political, social and economic system are particularly threatened by the civil unease and unrest manifesting around the world in response to the global economic crisis and its perpetrators. Their anxiety is voiced through dismissive, disdainful pronouncements about how protesters and resistors are lazy, smug, stupid idiots, uneducated and potentially violent, unemployable, clueless socialists, crazies and hate-mongers, parasites, communists and nazis who have no idea why they’re protesting, don’t know what they want or who don’t really want what they say they want and have only themselves to blame.

This is how you know that resistance is working. Even though international, national and local news media are trying to minimize these actions, reduce them to a bottom-third crawl or a quarter-column on page seven or ignore them entirely, citizens everywhere are becoming aware of gatherings in churchyards and public parks, of masses churning in streets and squares under vibrant neon signs and alongside glittering towers.

But not everyone who feels the disquiet is comfortable taking part in the protests and demonstrations and workshops and camp-outs, especially when they hear of police violence, confrontations, provocations and arrests taking place at these events. Public assembly and public protest are essential rights that must be asserted and must be protected—but there are additional ways to ensure your voice is heard.

1) Connect with your local, regional and national representatives. Whether by e-mail, snail mail, community meeting or face-to-face one-on-one (or ideally all of the above), make sure they hear that your frustration with the current economic situation and its impact on you and your family, friends and neighbours. Ask what reforms they foresee and propose to current financial sector regulation and legislation, what additional relief their government plans for struggling citizens, and what adjustments to the current individual and corporate tax system could be implemented to create real tangible change for those most affected by the ongoing economic crisis. 

2) Contact your local and national news media. Let them know that you are reading, watching and listening, and that you want them to better reflect your interests and concerns regarding the current state of the economy, its effects on your neighbourhood, your city and your nation, and the actions that everyday people can take to better equip themselves to weather the storm. Tell them you expect them to ask hard questions of government leaders, officials and members of the financial community about how they will ensure the most imperilled members of your community will cared for, and that you are looking for the media to hold them accountable every step of the way.

3) Meet with your own community. Check online, in the local paper or with your local representative about town halls or neighbourhood gatherings or grassroots organizations dealing with these issues. If there aren’t any—call one.  Find a recreational centre or church basement or other accessible public space, put up notices on bulletin boards in various public locations, advise your local representative, invite your friends and neighbours and start a conversation about how each of us can make positive constructive changes in our choices and our interactions to strengthen our mutual support and lessen our economic vulnerability.

4) Take it online. You’re reading this on the web—you could be tweeting it, linking to it, commenting on it, arguing against it, passing it to friends and family, your community and political and spiritual leaders. You could create your own blog, your own website, your own online petition or call to action. The tools are all here and many are free.

5) Go public. Find ways to engage with other concerned citizens elsewhere in your city or region—even in other parts of your country—at large public events and celebrations, conferences, conventions and rallies (and yes, protests and demonstrations) where you can stand up and be counted. Join a political party if that makes sense for you, and take part in the selection and promotion of leaders within that party. Support the people who best represent you, and perhaps one day become a leader who represents the needs of others like yourself. 

There are some basic things you can do to change your role in a fundamentally unfair economic, political and corporate system—and, in doing so, force change within that system. Some are small simple steps, some require careful thought and research, and some are significant and potentially painful. Many are things you can start doing today. Some are things you may already be doing. And some are things that, sooner or later, you may have no choice but to do.

1. Live with someone. It is a bittersweet truth, it is frequently cheaper to live with someone and share resources and expenses than it is to live by yourself. Find a roommate, a commune, a collective, a shared house. (Or, if you’re so inclined, find a partner or partners.) If you would much rather live alone, consider a housing co-operative or some form of community-based community-run housing—particularly if your housing charge can in some way subsidize that of another person or family in need.

2. Kill your TV. Television commercials (and now numerous product-placed programs) are designed to create and foster consumer cravings—and your surrender to those cravings further sustains our broken economic system. Just stop watching TV. Or at the very least stop watching TV ads. Watch only rented/purchased/streamed movies and shows. Or record your shows and watch them later, skipping the commercials. Or take a big step and disconnect your cable, then download/stream your shows from various online sources. Or wait and watch them on DVD or via Netflix. 

3. Buy less, recycle more. Just as some people overpack for trips, some people over-purchase and then let things go to waste. Buy less than you normally would, reduce your consumption, and reduce waste. Whenever possible, of course, recycle what you do throw out instead of letting it turn into landfill.

4. Live with less. Sell your things, or give them away. Don’t hang onto things you’ll never use (or never use again) and don’t throw them away. Offer them to second-hand stores, hold a garage sale, sell them on craigslist or through your local weekly’s classified ads, or donate them to a charity-run shop. Or leave them in a well-travelled spot for someone else to take with your blessing. (Exception: please dispose of dangerous or hazardous or bug-ridden items properly—do not leave them for others to find.)

5. Buy local, buy independent, buy ethically. Whenever possible, buy from independent owner-operated stores, co-ops and collectives, direct from the people who make and grow and craft whatever you’re purchasing. Buy as locally as possible, and buy as ethically as possible—supporting independent or collectively organized workers at home or in developing countries. This is not always easy, and in some places you have very limited choices, but doing your best is better than not even trying.

6. Buy last year’s products. We are all familiar with the notion of ‘shopping as therapy’, where you feel richer and more connected to our consumer culture by purchasing something new and temporarily exciting, where you feel like you’re voting with your wallet or pocketbook. Your thing may be shoes, or smart phones, or video games. This is a dangerous cycle, and it’s one that is easily broken by doing one simple thing: Wait. Just wait. In fact, wait one full year. Things that are a year old are no longer part of the big consumer push—they are frequently discounted, in some cases are inventory already written off by manufacturers or retailers. They’re cheaper for you, and they slow the momentum of a system determined to make you buy buy buy now now now. If you don’t like how a certain manufacturer delivers a new version of a product to market every 9 to 12 months, then reduce the frequency with which you replace or upgrade that product.

7. Buy second-hand. This is, and always has been, a significant challenge to an economic system that urges you to buy now and buy new. Second-hand products have left the first-tier marketplace, and their original manufacturers and retailers will not see any revenue from your purchase. (The exception: second-hand goods like used games from large chains like Futureshop/Best Buy and Gamestop. Whenever possible, do not buy from large chains—buy from independent owner-operated stores.)

8. Close your bank account. Move your money, your loans, your retirement savings, your credit cards to a credit union or a cooperative financial organization. This is not always easy, particularly as we are now accustomed to having ‘our’ bank and ‘our’ ATM on every corner. There are fewer credit unions and some offer fewer or slightly more expensive services than your regular bank. However, they are member-owned and managed and exist as far off the financial grid as you’re going to get without putting your cash in your mattress. (An option itself, but not one I’d recommend.)

9. Reduce or eliminate your credit cards. Credit cards and credit card debt are enormous contributors to your personal financial instability and to the financial instability of our economy in general. Consumer debt is a cancer. While many may find it unimaginable to live without at least one credit card, it can be done. Pay off your cards one by one and destroy them until you have only one low-interest card left.

10. Go bankrupt. If you don’t own any significant assets (a house, a car, etc.), if paying off your credit cards and loans looks to be out of the question, if you’re struggling financially and have been for some time, if you can look ahead and see that it will take longer than five years to pay off the balances you’ve accrued today, then look into bankruptcy or (if your territory allows) a consumer proposal. With either option, you’ll have no choice but to surrender your credit cards and live without credit for anywhere from three to seven years. This is heavily stigmatized and has significant long term effects, but it does break the worst possible consumer financial cycle and completely changes your participation in the financial system. Fortunately there are more ways then ever before to purchase items in person and online without credit cards, and I would encourage you to continue to use them instead of credit even after you are eligible to rebuild your credit profile once again.

Ø. Resist. 

This tumblr theme is not the most forthcoming, so I’ll introduce myself. I’m David Demchuk, I live in Toronto, I’m a writer and activist with an affinity for social media, and I can be found most easily on twitter. Be sure to check out (either here or in the menu above) the list of Additional Resources.