Take Away the Firewood

When exactly did a whole nation go under the ether? It had to have been sometime between the late fifties and now. I think I remember back there somewhere about the time I approached manhood when the consumer pretty much ran the commerce and retail world. The sellers sought out the customers and plied them with good deals and would even negotiate with someone to just get the sell. Sellers would advertise and invite you to visit them and buy and even after you bought they would give you a hand full of green stamps for good measure. If the consumer got a bad deal or felt abused in any way wo-be-it for the vendor. That one mistreated customer would tell everyone he knew about the abuse and in many cases put the vendor out of business. Prices were super competitive and many a price war was started because aggressive marketing. A special on hamburger meat at the Piggly Wiggly would deal a serious blow to the traffic at the Big Star.

The buyer was in charge, they dictated the success of any venture and as a result kept everyone honest. Even the vendors of goods and services were conscious of appearing to be too successful. Once a vendor began to appear to be making too much the first assumption was that the new car or boat was a result of getting to the customers and it hurt the vendors business. Somehow we lost the clout we enjoyed as customers. Maybe it is because there is just so many of us now. Maybe we don’t have super clubs or bridge nights where six or eight couples sit around and compare notes anymore. Whatever we have lost our power or so it seems.

The most notable evidence of this is what we accept from our banks and financial institutions. Because we went under the ether back there somewhere in the 60’s or 70’s we never question anything they do and never abandon them as ‘our’ bank. Now it is hard as hell for me to understand why every one of these banks charge the same $35 dollars for a fee on an overdraft check. If bank ‘A’ wanted to attract some business why don’t they run specials on overdraft fees or start giving toasters for everyone opening an account with them. Any other industry charging such uniform fees would be investigated for price fixing. If we the consumers decided $6 billion was too much to pay in bonuses and some of that money should be lent to business in the community why don’t we move our accounts to some of these local banks that still recognize you when you walk into their lobbies.

We need to understand the opportunities for these abuses are only possible because these too big to fail institutions have our accounts and money at their disposal. If the American people simply took away the firewood then these Ivy League educated buttholes would not have the fuel to start their fires.

We do not need the government to regulate these bums. We have the internet, websites and every other means of communications to coordinate a gigantic move that would put our money back in our communities from which it came. We can send these blue bloods on out to the Hamptons to nurse the money they have taken out of the economy but cut them off from future pillages of our national treasure.