I hope that this discussion includes suggestions that we may or may not have heard of else where. I'm writing this not for people to tell other people what to do, but to create a form where we can help one another empower each other to bring about the political and economic shift that we are ready to embrace. Please post your ideas of how people can start taking small actions in their own lives, or read other people's posts for inspiration. If something feels right to you, follow through with it. If it doesn't resonate with you, let it go without a second thought and find something that does inspire you to action.

To start the ball rolling, here's a suggestion that I know of that I feel will make a tangible difference in our economy if enough of us individually take action: Stop feeding the beast. If money is power, then stop empowering banks by giving them your money. If money talks, let it speak loudly. How?

1) Close your savings and checking accounts at major banks. Find a local credit union and move your money there. Why? Credit unions are non-profits which means no one is playing monopoly with your money or charging you excessive fees to keep their stock holders happy. Additionally, credit unions are locally based and serve their communities which helps to prevent economic leakage in your town. If that's not enough for you, investigate their their fee schedules - or lack thereof. When I did this, my jaw dropped. My old bank charged me if I sneezed. My credit union doesn't charge me for almost everything, including ATM usage.

2) Close your revolving credit card accounts with major banks. Weening ourselves from the teat of thinking we need credit is huge!! Living within our means will turn this economy upside down. For years we've been buying phones and cars and clothes because a new model has come out and we've felt a need to keep up with the Jones' long before we need to replace perfectly good products. We've created the monoliths of the banking industry because we've bought into this concept of buying things on credit because we want them. It's not only time to stand up for ourselves, it's time to stand up to ourselves and close those accounts. Even if it takes us five years to pay them off, closing those accounts will put the writing on the wall: Your revolving revenue stream has an expiration date.

3) Tell people you are doing this and why. If they are inspired, they may just follow suit.

There's my two cents. Thanks for reading. What else can I do?