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Instead of wasting resources punishing arbitrary capitalists (the next Wells CEO is no doubt biding its time), the state should seize some portion of the bank's

Instead of wasting resources punishing arbitrary capitalists (the next Wells CEO is no doubt biding its time), the state should seize some portion of the bank's operations and use them for the creation of operationally resourced public banks [1]. Then use this as a basis for the creation of plan for responsible community re-investment. As Lenin observed: " It is absurd to control and regulate deliveries of grain, or the production and distribution of goods generally, without controlling and regulating bank operations. It is like trying to snatch at odd kopeks and closing one’s eyes to millions of rubles. Banks nowadays are so closely and intimately bound up with trade (in grain and everything else) and with industry that without "laying hands" on the banks nothing of any value, nothing “revolutionary-democratic”, can be accomplished. " [2] [1] https://www.marxists.org/archive/lenin/works/cw/volume25.htm#1917-ichtci-index https://www.marxists.org/archive/lenin/works/cw/volume25.htm... [2] Collected Works, Volume 25, https://www.marxists.org/archive/lenin/works/1917/ichtci/04.htm https://www.marxists.org/archive/lenin/works/1917/ichtci/04....

danuker 4y ago
Normally, I'm a capitalist. But when large companies get to control every aspect of one's life, and one is practically forced to use a bank, and banks are an oligopoly, I favor state intervention. The money supply, controlled mostly by commercial banks, dictates whether we are in a boom or a recession. Credit scores are instruments of surveillance. Banking policies against certain activities (legal ones) impose de-facto bans on those activities, ostensibly to reduce the risk of illegal activities. As long as banks have enormous power over individuals, and as long as there is little competition, the state must regulate them.
FredPret 4y ago
I've never understood why this ideology is deemed acceptable in polite conversation. If you quoted Hitler in glowing terms, you'd be rightly banished from society. But the much worse Lenin (& friends) is a-ok.

danuker 4y ago

Normally, I'm a capitalist. But when large companies get to control every aspect of one's life, and one is practically forced to use a bank, and banks are an oligopoly, I favor state intervention. The money supply, controlled mostly by commercial banks, dictates whether we are in a boom or a recession. Credit scores are instruments of surveillance. Banking policies against certain activities (legal ones) impose de-facto bans on those activities, ostensibly to reduce the risk of illegal activities. As long as banks have enormous power over individuals, and as long as there is little competition, the state must regulate them.

FredPret 4y ago

I've never understood why this ideology is deemed acceptable in polite conversation. If you quoted Hitler in glowing terms, you'd be rightly banished from society. But the much worse Lenin (& friends) is a-ok.