I recently mentioned on a thread that 2024 was my first whole year without a bank account, I'm happy to admit that in 2023 I only used it for about 5 months, so next May will be 2 years in total. At first I never thought of this as a big accomplishment I just saw it as a necessary course of action towards a more private and independent life. The more time I spent without the bank the more I realized it was a great move forward towards financial and personal freedom. Am I now all of the sudden a great financial success with no worries in the world, with a safe full of gold and a wallet filled with #bitcoin? No, but at the very least I've patched a wound that was slowly, but surely bleeding me dry. I, like any recovering addict, have overcome a sociological and psychological dependency, and I will tell you how.
Bank Dependency
There is no doubt that yesterday's luxuries have become today's necessities and yesterday's blessings have become today's curse. In our great pursuit of happiness and survival as human beings we have created great and amazing things, at the same time, in our folly, we have become slaves to our own creations.
But how does something good and beneficial to mankind become a problem? I believe we suffer of collective amnesia and short-sightedness. When we see a problem we create a solution, in our great pride and joy of success we become blind to the future consequences of our creations, we become so enamored with the products of our intellect and creativity that we constantly fail to see its downside. Later down the road we become slaves, willing victims of our own devices, heavily dependent of our own creations. We find it hard to accept that that amazing thing has now brought for us more problems than solutions, yet we don't move away from it, instead we double down and give it more power. At some point we get used to this endless struggle to the point that future generations have forgotten what it was like to live without it.
Such thing is the banking system, at one point a marvel of socio-economic development at another point a necessary evil. We can trace back some of the first instances of banking to Babylon, around 2000 B.C. long after the agricultural revolution. We can imagine a farmer who had a late harvest or whose crop was obliterated by pests or drought. He must have made his case to a rich man or a king and borrowed money with a written document stating his promise to pay back the loan plus an extra as interest for the favor. What a great solution I say! The farmer didn't lose his farm or the ability to sow the fields next year, the lender received a fair return to his investment, and the people were not famished another year. Everybody happy!
How about we do this more often and invest in new ventures, new projects and developments? Well we did just that and a banking system was born. We saw this until the fall of Rome and by that time, excessive tax collection and high interest rates had really done a number on society and any socio-economic accomplishments died with the empire. It wasn't until the 12th century that we saw a comeback in banking in Italy and by 1694 a centralized banking system was established in England. Fast forward to our modern society and we have banks that loan more than they have, we have federal reserves that steal our money and other government institutions that tax it and waste it on fruitless ventures. We have businesses like Consolidated Credit to loan us money to pay off other loans, we have Pay-Day loan centers to help us spend money we don't have, we have credit card providers to help us buy things we don't need and an endless variety of financial products designed to remedy the troubles created by, yet, other financial products.
According to Forbes Advisor, the average credit card debt for American consumers was about $6,380 in the 3rd quarter of 2024, this was with an average 23.37% interest rate. Many people created a bank account in their late teens, got approved for credit in their 20s, are in debt in their 30s, and will be dependent of the bank their whole life. This is codependency in an abusive relationship and it must stop.
Overcoming Abuse and Addiction
Yes, the current banking and financial systems we live and die by today are abusive and very addictive. Like any other addiction, in order to overcome it, we must first acknowledge the problem.
For those who understand finance and economy it is a no-brainer, but for the average consumer, the problem may be out of sight. One may think -hey I need to have a bank account to receive payments from work, to purchase products online, and to pay my bills- one may even think the bank does us a great favor keeping our money safe and giving us the convenience of quick and seamless transactions, it helps us fund enterprises that otherwise we would not be able to do ourselves, and damn do our balances in green and red characters look good in our online banking app.
Now let me tell you it's not true, what may seem like pros are actually cons, the banking system is not a great convenience, it is a great problem and hinderance.
First of all: it is expensive! People will pay anywhere from $15 - $26 monthly fees for a basic checking account with unlimited transactions. This translates to over $300 dollars a year plus any other charges you might have incurred due to low balance or a bounced check. Some accounts will waive the monthly fee so long as you allow them to keep a minimum of your money hostage, usually $1,500 -$5,000 depending on the type of account. All this so that you can use some of your money while they use all of it on their own investments. This seems like a problem to me, a liability not an asset.
Secondly: it does not keep our money safe. The bank would have you believe that your money is safe and sound and available to you whenever you may need it, you can even earn interest on you savings that they are holding, or so they say. The problem is that every year the Federal Reserve allows our governments to steal right out of our pockets. According to The Bank Of Canada from 2019-2024 the Canadian Dollar has lost 18.62% of its purchasing power, in other words, the government has quietly taken almost $200 for every $1,000 CAD that people had saved in their bank accounts, and yes they did this without consent and they'll never get those dollars back. So what does it matter if you're earning a miserable 2.50% interest on your savings when you're losing more than that in purchasing power? Again this is a problem not a solution.
Thirdly: Any convenience that a bank can provide we can live without; online purchases you say, well just go to the store, online bill payments, just go to their office and pay there, you need a loan, no you don't! Don't buy things you cant afford and keep a safety fund for emergencies. You want to start a business or a new project, well start a fundraiser, save some money, start small and grow big etc. Access your money anytime anywhere? I think not! The bank can set spending and withdrawal limits on your own money just as they did during the "pandemic" and they can freeze your account if you supported the wrong political movement just like they did in Canada during the truckers' protests. The bank has become a problem not the solution, centralized banking has become a toll on economic growth and a hinderance to financial and personal freedom.
Adopting A Real Solution
Ok just talking about the problems doesn't really provide a realistic solution, after all, in spite of all its flaws, centralized banking is a necessary evil. I mean how else are we to go about our lives without our online banking, our quick transactions, and a relatively safe place for our money? Even if you close your bank account you will still be subject to government bank notes and at the mercy of the Federal Reserve.
Well we have to be willing to make changes, to take risks and to move on. I myself still use fiat, while I've left the bank behind, I am still at the mercy of the dollar and the people who mismanage it. I salute those warriors that have been living without #fiat and without bank accounts all together, now that's impressive!
A true solution is to move away from fiat and adopt the use of #cryptocurrency. #crypto offers freedom and endless possibilities with a decentralized system. It has come a long way from what it was 10 years ago, you can now make easy online purchases, pay almost any bill, buy groceries and all sorts of essential and non essential products, wire money across the globe in seconds. With crypto you are the owner of your own money and you decide how to invest it, how to save it, and how, when, and where to use it. No one will freeze your money because you donated here or there, you won't have to ask a banker for permission to use your own funds and you wont fear the government taking from your accounts without your permission. It's truly simple.
I myself have set a goal to move away from fiat and have at least 40% of my income next year be crypto, it is what seems realistic for myself. I may start by paying a few bills with crypto every other month or as I can afford to. I can do more things that pay in crypto and use more services that accept it as a form of payment. Only you know your ability to make change, so set goals that are realistic to your own unique situation. Start small so that you are not overwhelmed and take some time to learn more about crypto as currency. As long as you are headed in the right direction you will get there on your own time, think of it as a path towards freedom and recovery from a failing system that will soon be part of the past.
If you've read this far I extend my deepest gratitude. I will continue to document my journey towards crypto adoption for those out there who want to be free, but don't yet know where to start, or for all the curious minds. I also encourage that you share of your own experience with this change as we can all learn something new from each other.
This is a very simplistic presentation of ideas and sharing of my journey, but these subjects are more complicated than they seem. There is a whole lot of social and psychological evolution surrounding our financial habits and behaviors. We can go deeper in to the how and why, but that will have to be on another occasion.
Please feel free to comment and leave your opinions or questions on this thread. If you have any advice or just want to share your own experience write it below or link to your blog.
Remember to stay safe, stay strong, and stay free!
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