Resolve to Be “Curious, Doubtful” in 2012
‘Tis the time for making New Year’s Resolutions, and I’d like to offer a sweeping suggestion for these transitional times: Be curious, entertain doubts, get angry!
That’s roughly the sequence I’ve followed this past year, and it is nicely summed up by journalist William Greider.
“Curiosity and doubt are the first steps toward action, especially when accompanied by well-earned anger at the way things are,” Greider writes in The Soul of Capitalism: Opening Paths to a Moral Economy. I just finished reading this book, and although it was published in 2003, it is one of the best overviews I’ve read of the wrongs of capitalism and how they can be righted.
It’s an especially cheering read because Greider predicts the Occupy Wall Street movement and presents a hopeful story for how society can alter capitalism’s distorted value system and how Americans can collectively acquire decision-making power that is now wielded by a limited number of powerful institutions.
“[A] more contentious time is approaching, when big questions about American economic life are back on the table again for serious reconsideration,” he writes. Economic inequality and ecological destruction will gradually persuade more and more citizens that “something in our system is seriously out of whack and ought to be changed (even if they cannot identify exactly what is wrong or how it might be corrected).” Sounds like OWS to me!
So once you’ve stoked your curiosity, percolated doubts about the current economic system, and stashed away some justifiable anger to unleash at just the right moment, what concrete actions might you take in the coming year? Here are some ideas.
Shift at least one of your bank accounts from a mega-bank to a community bank.
(A community bank, a.k.a. local financial institution, is typically defined as having less than $1 billion in assets). Moving your money is one of the simplest things you can do to support your community and its independent businesses.
We started this process in 2002 when we built our house and took out our mortgage at a savings and loan that operates only on the Olympic Peninsula and is a generous philanthropist in our hometown. In successive waves, we have shifted all of our personal and business accounts to First Federal. We are really pleased to be a part of their community giving, and two immediate benefits of banking with this small, truly customer-friendly bank is that we are not charged a fee to use other banks’ ATMs, and using our debit card in Canada is cheaper than using our (ahem) Bank of America credit card.
(I’m still seeking advice on a more sustainable credit card option. Please leave a comment if you have a recommendation.)
Shift at least one of your significant, ongoing purchases from a mega-retailer to a local merchant.
Examples: office supplies, books, wine. If you spend a dollar locally, it circulates locally, positively impacting 3-7 different local businesses before it leaves the area. That same dollar spent at a national or multi-national chain has very little positive impact on the local economy.
If you live where I do—a 45-minute drive from big-box stores—try weaning yourself from the weekly or monthly “trip to town.” When I did this shortly after my son was born, I found I saved money by shopping locally because I was less tempted to buy items that I didn’t really need from the dizzying array of options on the big-box shelves. Before long, I didn’t miss the trips at all. To the contrary, I love walking on my errands and popping into local shops where I have a relationship with the owners and employees.
Downscale your cash spending by trading or sharing a service you currently pay for.
Examples: childcare, haircuts, yard maintenance. Take back your money by not spending it at all!
I decided a year ago that my preferred bob hairstyle was simple enough to cut at home. While I’ve never tried cutting my hair myself, I’ve had it trimmed by a friend, my mother, my husband, and—this past Christmas day—by my visiting sister.
One of my 2012 resolutions is to become active in the Fourth Corner Exchange barter network that I joined last year, but have yet to use. I’m thinking of requesting help with housecleaning and yard weeding, and offering to help others with photo editing and photo gift projects for their friends and family, and delivering an extra loaf of the bread I bake each week.
Speaking of bread-baking…
Develop or practice a skill that makes you and your family more self-sufficient.
Americans have come to internalize the label of “consumer.” But I’d rather be identified as a “conserver” and a “creator.” Examples: Bake, sew, repair, build, grow, preserve food. Attend a “reskilling fair.” Take a class. Mentor with someone more skilled than you.
Another 2012 resolution is to bake most of my family’s bread and pizza dough. I’ve been practicing for the last couple of months, experimenting with no-knead recipes that can sit in the fridge all week as well as food-processor kneading, and to that end, my Christmas gift requests were a dough whisk, a new bread pan and a big package of yeast. My friend and bread mentor Luke surprised me with a present of a lidded, clear, 1.5-gallon “bread bucket.” I’m set!
Read. Learn. Be inspired by new perspectives.
Read YES! Magazine or The Nation or Mother Jones, or any other publication that stretches your worldview. We have to learn to think about the economy and society in an altogether new way, says Greider, and we should seek out compelling stories that are “more promising for society than the reigning narratives of self-centered capitalism.”
Tip: Share a subscription with a friend or two, and pass the issues along as soon as you read them. You’ll have conversation starters galore. I just subscribed to YES!, taking advantage of a special introductory offer of 5 quarterly issues (one year’s subscription plus one bonus issue) for only $15. Who wants to be my YES! reading partner in 2012?
Change your mindset from one of rugged independence to mutual interdependence.
This is the big action item, and it’s not concrete at all but very conceptual. Greider says: “[T]he paradox of American life [is that] collective action is required to achieve individual self-realization. People open paths for each one’s individual pursuit of potential only by working together to liberate life’s possibilities for all.”
Here’s to “Going Sustainable Together” in 2012! Please leave a comment and share your New Year’s Resolution.
For more inspiration to activism in 2012...
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Moving your money is very satisfying. Credit union credit cards are a great way to go. We belong to two credit unions and also use a local bank. I closed my long-unused Citi credit card (they’d acquired it from AT&T), despite the dire warnings never to close old accounts. I just didn’t want any Citi connection!
Great NY ideas. I LOVE my First Federal accounts. Buy from a local business who will ship products to your door – on USPS trucks that are already coming to you. The avid “Martha Stewart” in me is always looking for ways to re-use packages and products. I’ll gladly swap you my “Success” magazines for your “Yes.” And finally, my business is all about collective action for the greater good of humanity!
Hi Shelly, Richard and I will share your Yes subscription with you if it’s still available. I did not renew ours because I was cutting back on expenses.
Thanks for offering!
Shelly,
Debbi and i just got a message from Quimper Federal Credit Union that stated they are now offering a low interest credit card. We have not checked into this yet, but will be calling them soon. I am hoping it is not somehow attached to a larger bank. You might also call them.
Wow, lots of good food for thought. A couple of credit card options:
1. I’ve had a “salmon nation” card through Shorebank Pacific, now One PacificCoast Bank, for a couple of years. The rates and services are pretty much identical to my prior national bank cards, but I feel better about the logo on it. If you’re not familiar with them, here’s an intro: http://www.onepacificcoastbank.com/about-us.aspx
2. I’ve been told that Kitsap Bank is a more local option for credit cards. I’ve been meaning to check it out, but have to admit that I haven’t yet.
Glad this post struck a chord!
Thanks for the local credit card suggestions, and I’ll report back on my research into these options. As long as there is no annual fee, rates and fees don’t really matter to us, since we don’t carry a balance on our credit cards.
Because of this, I made the casual comment that the mega-banks aren’t making money off of us with our credit cards, but it was pointed out to me that the banks make money off the merchants we swipe the credit cards with. So true.