International banking protests break out

[Jubal]

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-pacific-15319924

Protests at financial mismanagement and government cutbacks have been held in cities around the world.

Clashes erupted at the biggest rally, in Rome, when riot police intervened after a small group of masked militants attacked property.

Police used tear gas, water cannon and baton-charges, making several arrests.

Inspired by the Occupy Wall St movement and Spain's "Indignants", demonstrators turned out from Asia to Europe, but numbers were generally small.

Organisers expect rallies in 82 countries, with the protests due to come full circle when they reach New York.

Organisers said on their website that the aim was to "initiate the global change we want".

"United in one voice, we will let politicians, and the financial elites they serve, know it is up to us, the people, to decide our future," it said.

Are you in favour of these protests or against them? Are any happening in your country?

[comrade_general]

My reaction when I saw it on internetic news this morning: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A4VbOHvaPRc

[Jubal]

Many thousands of people worldwide, apparently. 

[comrade_general]

numbers were generally small.

They call themselves "99%", but even many thousands are like 0.1%

[Jubal]

The 99% is a reference, I believe, to the fact that a very, very high proportion of America's political and economic clout rests with about 1% of its citizens (and the statistics are very similar in other neocapitalist democracies in the West).

Do you just consider economic protesting to be a non-issue?

[comrade_general]

Still, I and everyone around me remain totally unaffected by any of this. We're out here splitting firewood for the winter and lazing around on a Saturday just worrying about our own lives.

[Jubal]

Well, I guess two parts of it affect you. Tax rates affect you presumably, and the availability of jobs is always a factor in just about everything.

[comrade_general]

I have a full time job, and honestly I haven't seen any changes in my taxes.

[Marcus]

It'll be interesting to see if it carries on in other countries like it has in the US, or if everyone just goes home.

[comrade_general]

Holy crap it's Marcus!

I think the media loves these things too much.

[Captain Carthage]

I'm not that sure what they're protesting for.

Do they have a solution in mind or have they all just gathered under the ambiguous banner of "corporate greed"?

[Marcus]

About the media, the Wall Street protests have hardly been featured in any British news agency, or had a mention at most. It's only since it went international that it's hit the headlines.

I'm sure a lot of them have just jumped on the bandwagon, and there will be a fair smattering of New World Order conspiracy nutters in there, but some of them have ideas about what should be done instead. Dismantling the banks as they are and rebuilding the system in a better way is popular, although what happens to people's money in the meantime would be an interesting point to consider. It's all very well saying to the people who ha money in Northern Rock and other banks that hit the wall and had to be saved, "well you shouldn't have put your money in there" then where? They all work the same way, just ones like NR were unlucky. It's how the world works.

In my opinion, what our government did in saving NR was fair enough, but I don't think they put firm enough conditions on them afterwards. All the worry about the 'best investment bankers in the world' leaving, well, they were so good they got us into this mess.

[Jubal]

I think that banks should simply be broken down to a certain maximum size, and that investment banks should have to be separate from retail banks.

Basically, banks need to be small enough that if one is in trouble, the government can bail its customers out and that's the end of the story. Banks "too big to fail" are a seriously worrying thing because they then hold way too much power compared to elected politicians.

[comrade_general]

We've got quite a few small local banks around here. In fact the one I'm associated with is centered in a tiny podunk town with a few small branch offices in the surrounding towns and that's it.

[Jubal]

Which is a far better system - here we only have huge ones like Barclays and Lloyds, which are investment & retail banks all in one.