It's Time To Get Painfully Honest: Banks Are Evil

[Hydrogen]

Authored by Adam Taggart via PeakProsperity.com,

I don't talk to my classmates from business school anymore, many of whom went to work in the financial industry.
'
Why?

Because, through the lens we use here at PeakProsperity.com to look at the world, I've increasingly come to see the financial industry -- with the big banks at its core -- as the root cause of injustice in today's society. I can no longer separate any personal affections I might have for my fellow alumni from the evil that their companies perpetrate.

And I'm choosing that word deliberately: Evil.

In my opinion, it's long past time we be brutally honest about the banks. Their influence and reach has metastasized to the point where we now live under a captive system. From our retirement accounts, to our homes, to the laws we live under -- the banks control it all. And they run the system for their benefit, not ours.

While the banks spent much of the past century consolidating their power, the repeal of the Glass-Steagall Act in 1999 emboldened them to accelerate their efforts. Since then, the key trends in the financial industry have been to dismantle regulation and defang those responsible for enforcing it, to manipulate market prices (an ambition tremendously helped by the rise of high-frequency trading algorithms), and to push downside risk onto "muppets" and taxpayers.

Oh, and of course, this hasn't hurt either: having the ability to print up trillions in thin-air money and then get first-at-the-trough access to it. Don't forget, the Federal Reserve is made up of and run by -- drum roll, please -- the banks.

How much 'thin air' money are we talking about? The Fed and the rest of the world's central banking cartel has printed over $12 Trillion since the Great Recession. Between the ECB and the DOJ, nearly $200 Billion of additional liquidity has been -- and continues to be -- injected into world markets each month(!) since the beginning of 2016:

With their first-in-line access to this money tsunami, as well as their stranglehold on the financial system that it all runs through, the banks are like a parasite feasting from a gusher on the mother-lode artery.

It should come as little surprise that, with all this advantage they've amassed, the banks have enriched themselves and their cronies spectacularly. They have made themselves too big to fail, and too big to jail. Remember that their reckless greed caused the 2008 financial crisis, and yet, in 2009, not only did bankers avoid criminal prosecutions, not only did the banks receive hundreds of billions in government bailouts, but they paid themselves record bonuses?

And the bonanza continues unabated today. By being able to borrow capital for essentially free today from the Fed, the banks simply lever that money up and buy Treasurys. Voila! Risk-free profits. That giveaway has been going on for years.

Couple that with the banks' ability to push market prices around using their wide arsenal of unfair tactics -- frontrunning, HFT spoofing and quote stuffing, stop-running, insider knowledge, collusion, etc -- the list is long. James Howard Kunstler is dead on: we don't have a free market anymore. Instead, we have rackets, run by racketeers. The rest of us are simply suckers to be fleeced.

Nobel Prize-winning economist Angus Deaton recently agreed:

Income inequality is not killing capitalism in the United States, but rent-seekers like the banking and the health-care sectors just might, said Nobel-winning economist Angus Deaton on Monday.
 
If an entrepreneur invents something on the order of another Facebook, Deaton said he has no problem with that person becoming wealthy.
 
“What is not OK is for rent-seekers to get rich,” Deaton said in a luncheon speech to the National Association for Business Economics.
 
Rent seekers lobby and persuade governments to give them special favors.
 
Bankers during the financial crisis, and much of the health-care system, are two prime examples, Deaton said.
 
Rent-seeking not only does not generate new product, it actually slows down economic growth, Deaton said.
 
“All that talent is devoted to stealing things, instead of making things,” he said.

(Source: http://www.marketwatch.com/story/nobel-economist-takes-aim-at-rent-seeking-banking-and-healthcare-industries-2017-03-06?siteid=rss)

As further proof, let's look at this data recently obtained by Zero Hedge. In the past 4 years, JP Morgan's in-house trading group has had exactly 2 days of losses.

That's not trading. Trading involves uncertainty and risk. This situation has none. It's an extraction process -- siphoning value from the market day after day with ironclad dependability.

And it's not just a few dollars here and there. In 2016, JP Morgan's daily average trading revenues were $80 million. Per day! That's nearly $20 billion for the year.

So if not "trading", what should we call it when a bank can extract tens of billions of dollars a year from the markets, with no downside risk? "Sanctioned theft" sounds about right.

Because for every trade there is a buyer and a seller. If JP Morgan is the winner every day, who is losing? Turns out, it's the big pools of "dumb money" that don't have the cheat codes for the system the way the banks do. These are the pension funds, the index funds, the retirement accounts -- the aggregated money of all the 'little people' out there. Little people who don't have visibility into how they're being constantly fleeced; nor do they have agency to do anything about it even if they did.

So yeah, "theft" feels like a pretty accurate term.

And it's reached the point where the banks don't even care about hiding it anymore. If you had a nice inside racket going on, wouldn't you at least pretend to hide your advantage, to avoid drawing attention? Not the banks. They're either too proud or too obtuse to conceal it. Look at our string of perfect trading days! Look at our record bonuses!

These boasts fall on the ears of everyday American's as the modern version of Let them eat cake!

And just like the out-of-touch French monarchs, the banks have positioned themselves as the enemy of the public. For as I claimed at the beginning of this article, a tremendous amount of the injustice in this country can be laid at the feet of the banks directly, or indirectly via the Federal Reserve.

Are you a senior who can't afford to retire because you can't live off your fixed-income savings? Thank the Fed's 0% interest rates for that.

Are you a millennial who can't afford to buy a home? Again, thank the Fed's policy of suppressing interest rates and thereby blowing another housing bubble.

Are you struggling to get out of poverty? Are you finding it hard to remain in the middle class? Whatever your income, are you having to work harder and harder to just stay in the same place? See here how the Fed's money printing, and the banks' first-position access to it, has created the most concentrated imbalance of wealth in our country's history:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QPKKQnijnsM

Are you frustrated with how our lawmakers seem to serve corporations instead of the people? Listen to this mind-blowing podcast of how gobs of lobbyist money, much of it provided by Wall Street, dictates how our politicians legislate:

https://www.thisamericanlife.org/radio-archives/episode/461/take-the-money-and-run-for-office

Whether it's social equity, the security of your job or retirement, your day-to-day existence, or the fairness of the laws we live under -- our fate is currently in the hands of the banks. And, of course, should their behavior trigger another meltdown of the global economy -- something we warn about often here at PeakProsperity.com -- we'll have them to thank for that, too.

Yes, the banks are going to keep writing the rules in their favor; and yes, there's little agency any of us has individually to do much about it. But as a society, we need to start addressing the dire situation we're in honestly and openly. By whatever path, we have granted the banks far too much control over our lives, and they are taking gross advantage of that. Exactly like a parasite, the banking system is siphoning off our wealth and limiting our freedoms and future prospects -- all for the benefit of an elite few.

That's wrong. It's immoral. And it's Evil.

It's far beyond time to call a spade and spade. The path to change always begins with an accurate assessment of the problem. We need to start using accurate language  -- like "evil" -- when discussing the harm we're being subjected to. We need to make it clear to our elected officials and to our communities that we understand what the banks are doing and that we find it unacceptable.

We need to make the criticism specific and personal. To JP Morgan CEO Jamie Dimon. To Fed Chair Janet Yellen. We need to turn up the heat on the perpetrating decision-makers, so that the borg-like structure of the banking system no longer serves as a deflective shield to scrutiny and criticism. These people need to feel the disapproving stares when speaking to the public. They need to hear the disdainful boos, and see their faces on the protest signs and nightly media reports.

And if you yourself work in the financial system, I'll be blunt. You're part of the problem. Just like my former classmates, I'm sure you're a very nice person in many ways -- but you're complicit in the banks' rapaciousness.

I know it's not pleasant to hear, or admit. I worked for an investment bank for a few years early on my career. I was part of the problem, too.

But we have a choice, both as individuals and as a society, to align our actions with our values. It's not always easy. And likely not as profitable if you indeed end up leaving the financial industry (as I can tell you from personal experience). But it's the only way we'll ultimately gain back control of our destiny.

Look, the banks' dominion is going to end one day. Either due to collapsing under the weight of the stupendous amount of debt they've helped laden our economy with, or due to an uprising from the bottom 99% once it has become fully destitute. Neither path is appealing.

So our best choice here as individuals is to position ourselves where we can be least subjected to the game the banks want to force us to play.

The 3-part series we've just concluded: The Mother Of All Financial Bubbles, The Coming Great Wealth Transfer, and When This All Blows Up offers our best guidance for preserving wealth from the predation of the bankers. If you haven't read them yet, make that your weekend reading assignment.

Finally, as a society, we need to wake up and make some hard, courageous choices. Obviously, the banks will not relinquish their control willingly. But if we start speaking truthfully and openly about the evil we're dealing with, we'll start fearing it less. It's time for us all to speak up.

http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2017-03-18/its-time-get-painfully-honest-banks-are-evil

Article is a bit old but thought I'd throw this out there to add variety to the section.

Lots of interesting points here.

Its sad that sites like zerohedge don't get the credit they deserve for consistently being accurate over the years, wheras more official and accepted sources have not.

[1715019846]

1715019846

[1715019846]

1715019846

[btcbug]

Banking as it exists today has nothing to do with the free market and that's the heart of the problem. Yes, of course banks are evil in the same way as corporations are evil. They use the power of the state! Get rid of peoples superstitious belief in authority (governments) and the market would take care banking corruption, as they'd have to compete through providing value to their customers.

You can't blame anyone for trying to sway the gun of the state in their favor. This is simply what happens in ALL industries and always will when a state exists. Farmers lobby for protectionism, big pharma use patents and copyrights, manufacturers want tariffs on imports, etc. We can't expect everyone is going to be altruistic to the extent that they won't seek that power to give them the advantage, when that power is dangling in their face and is perceived as legitimate by the population at large!

Fractional reserves aren't a problem in a free market, neither are usurious interest rates. Monopoly (fiat) currencies wouldn't exist if it weren't for dumb people believing it necessary for the state to mandate and force them upon us.

To focus on banks as THE problem is just noise. Banks are necessary and would exist, however they wouldn't be writing the rules if they weren't granted the power to do so by the state.

This is what a lot of us understand about Cryptos and decentralized tech. People have a long ways to go before enough of them will open their eyes to the true reality of the state (coercion), but technology will simply remove that power, despite the public's understanding. In other words, this is the natural, peaceful way that Socialism dies without having to cannibalise itself, which would be the other inevitability. We starve the beast!

So to me the article, is speaking a lot of truth, but still completely fails to strike at the root.

[ImHash]

From the dawn of time humanity desired to master everything, in order for mastery to exist there needs to be slaves so slavery comes to existence.
In a world where God has no place in daily lives of people that's when everyone thinks they're entitled to do whatever they desire lets be painfully honest, if there is no fear of God's judgment and punishment or rewards life would be meaningless, ethics will no longer affect anything, then you think hey I'm gonna live what 80 years? and then die and pooof nothing else, so when I get a hard on I'll penetrate any female or male even if I desire who cares if she's married or under aged.
When I desire to have the best houses/penthouses best cars and essentially best of everything who cares if I help others to enslave 60% of the population and steal whatever the 37% remaining of population has and be one of the minority overlord of 3% mastering the entire world, who cares as long as I desire?
What do you think people want money for? if you can earn enough to provide a medium quality life for you and your family and even have some spare to help a few others but if every one only would've desired that then world would've been a much nicer place.
Most of the people want pu**y and want to make those pu**ies happy and giving, they want to eat and survive that 80-100 years. so the reason behind all the banking system and their operators is their desires.
That is what happens when you remove God from your life/mind/heart, while all He has asked people is to fight with that desire and care for others as much as you want others to care for you.

[HabBear]

Lots of interesting points here.

Its sad that sites like zerohedge don't get the credit they deserve for consistently being accurate over the years, wheras more official and accepted sources have not.

A lot of commentary you shared. I think the topic is compelling but would like to know what YOU think about the articles and comments you posted. Do you think the banks are evil? If so, how? why? What can we do to fix the system?

My take:
I don't think banks are evil. Some people are evil. And banks are run by people. It's not evil provide security to people's savings. It's not evil for banks to have the option to loan out our savings and pay us interest to do so.

What's bad about the banks is that they don't pay an interest rate that fairly corresponds to the prevailing Fed Funds rate. They don't compensate savers enough to borrow our money (and conversely they charge a ton of interest to loan that money out). For example, the Fed just raised rates and they are about to do so again. When they do the banks should raise savings rate an amount equal to the Fed rate adjustment...if they don't, they're stealing from their customers. They're getting to charge more to loan money but not have to pay more for the money (assets) we give them to loan (via our savings accounts). Banks also charge a ton of fees for stuff that should be free.

Here's what we can do to fix the problem - don't do business with banks that offer near zero interest rates on savings and that have multiple fees associated with activities that should be free.

There are several reliable and trust worthy online banks that allow checking and savings accounts with close to 1% interest without fees.

We all need to make better business decisions - if we're pissed at the banks...stop banking with them! They'll either change their offerings to be more fair to consumers or they'll go out of business.

We all have more power, we just need to engage it.

[zimmah]

no shit sherlock

it's why most of the early investors even invested in bitcoin in the first place.

It's why bitcoin was created in the first place.

And ironically, bitcoin is now controlled by AXA.

[nethan1btc]

Well banks is getting evil if you weren't able to comply you obligations on your debts to pay. Honestly we have no control on their penalties sanctioned for those creditors who commited dues to be charged as failure of completion, that's why we are not ready to feel the pain if these banks were really imposing rules that's not fair anyway.

[Idrisu]

Well banks is getting evil if you weren't able to comply you obligations on your debts to pay. Honestly we have no control on their penalties sanctioned for those creditors who commited dues to be charged as failure of completion, that's why we are not ready to feel the pain if these banks were really imposing rules that's not fair anyway.

Banks are evil from op point of view and he provided reasons for that. Bank never has the interest of creditors they only borrowed you money to make profit and ever keep you in continuous slavery. Most people I know collected loan facility from bank always become poorer than when they start. Bank financial evil politicians, war and criminality.

[Okurkabinladin]

Hydrogen,

thats rather immature post on your part. What is not alive, cannot be "evil"  when it comes down for it, banks are in the bussiness for the same reason you and me are. To make a profit. They have inherent advantage in capital and pool of well paid talent those institutions can fall back on, but its all to make a profit. For shareholders, you see.

[Okurkabinladin]

Well banks is getting evil if you weren't able to comply you obligations on your debts to pay. Honestly we have no control on their penalties sanctioned for those creditors who commited dues to be charged as failure of completion, that's why we are not ready to feel the pain if these banks were really imposing rules that's not fair anyway.

State authorities regulate penalties to debtors, not banks themselves. State authorities are ultimately responsible to voters (both debtors and creditors), thats the rulebook. It shouldnt be too suprising that banks go out of their way to bleed dry people, who tried to rob its shareholders of profit after signing voluntary deal with them.

From what I have seen among private bitcoin lenders operating on p2p lending websites, they are no better. Some going as far as hiring thugs to get their precious coins back.

[severaldetails]

After all it's money we are talking about.
And when it comes up to money, friendship ends according to an old saying in my country.
They want to earn money just like everybody else. And they use their strong position in order to do so like most of the people would do as well.
And besides, it's always up to us with who we do business.

[pinkflower]

Authored by Adam Taggart via PeakProsperity.com,

I don't talk to my classmates from business school anymore, many of whom went to work in the financial industry.
'
Why?

Because, through the lens we use here at PeakProsperity.com to look at the world,

I stopped reading there. This is an opinion piece that may or may not hold the same idea to the reader because of multiple reasons like the reader's financial status, social status, beliefs, etc. And the writer's definition of evil could be different with the reader's definition. Some people hold the idea that greed is good if youre immersed in the world of finance.

Can you give us the TLDR version and tell us why or why not you agree with this article? All you said is that it has interesting points. Please tell us more.

[genny2kuk]

Banks will certainly get more powerful and "evil" since they control the money supply. After reading Animal Farm a long time ago, I've come to believe that if the present crop of bank owners are done away with, a newer and more evil set will come on the scene.

Even bitcoin that enjoys decentralisation is slowly caving in to control by the miners. A typical example is the ongoing hard fork issue. It's a human thing, though not acceptable. We all owe it to God to be true to His Word, and to ourselves to live according to our values. Only then will we see men and women who are able and willing to use the vast resources available to them for the betterment of the less priviledged

[ASHLIUSZ]

Hydrogen,

thats rather immature post on your part. What is not alive, cannot be "evil"   when it comes down for it, banks are in the bussiness for the same reason you and me are. To make a profit. They have inherent advantage in capital and pool of well paid talent those institutions can fall back on, but its all to make a profit. For shareholders, you see.

Yeah something that doesn't have life will never be a evil. Only the usability at times make this a evil, such as the usage in illegal trades and for other terrorist activities. Banks cannot be said as useless, because till now they have provided service to the growth in all sectors.

[Xester]

Banks will certainly get more powerful and "evil" since they control the money supply. After reading Animal Farm a long time ago, I've come to believe that if the present crop of bank owners are done away with, a newer and more evil set will come on the scene.

Even bitcoin that enjoys decentralisation is slowly caving in to control by the miners. A typical example is the ongoing hard fork issue. It's a human thing, though not acceptable. We all owe it to God to be true to His Word, and to ourselves to live according to our values. Only then will we see men and women who are able and willing to use the vast resources available to them for the betterment of the less priviledged

As long as people remain greedy all of its system and activities will also be corrupt and evil. Human greed has set record in the course of human history and is the reason for the thousands of death and suffering of human population. Rest assured that bitcoin will have a high tendency to be also plac d under the control of the greedy and corrupt people.

[mindrust]

Banks rule the world because in a capitalistic world, there is nothing more important than money. And banks have the power to print the money, it means they have unlimited power. So whoever has the control of Central Banks, has the control of the world. They are not necessarily evil, they are just protecting their investments. It is just business in the end, nothing personal.

[olubams]

Banks are evil yes based on the analysis enumerated by OP above but they can not be totally bad as they have actually contributed not in a small way to the economic development of any country starting from the total number of workforce they have then to how they have been able to facilitate trades among parties that wouldn't have been possible if they are not there among other ways they have helped..

[DoublerHunter]

In my opinion, not all the banks are evil because they are one of the greatest foundation of our national economy. If there is no bank then there will no authority that will help us to secure our money. Bank is one of the most important branch of our economic tree because they secure and help the economy to continue flowing because if they have the money they will help other people to take loans or invest in the stock market which help the money continue flowing.

[bitart]

no shit sherlock

it's why most of the early investors even invested in bitcoin in the first place.

It's why bitcoin was created in the first place.

And ironically, bitcoin is now controlled by AXA.

Is it controlled, really? As far as I read it in the news, AXA and other groups (Deutche Bank, etc...) are only interested in the technology, and not already controlling bitcoin.
Or this is the Blockstream venture capital thing, sticking the system to the 1MB limit?
As I've read, banking industry don't want bitcoin at all, they only want the technology behind, and they want to create a similar but centralized one for their purposes. I don't think that bitcoin can be regulated or controlled, but everything is possible...
BU and the people behing wanted to rule bitcoin and fork it into a new coin, but it has still not happened, so I think bitcoin can be hardly regulated.

[andrew24p]

Banks are businesses that are going to make money anyway they can, if the government lets them get away with laundering money, loaning to cartels ect, then it is their fault.

[andrew24p]

no shit sherlock

it's why most of the early investors even invested in bitcoin in the first place.

It's why bitcoin was created in the first place.

And ironically, bitcoin is now controlled by AXA.

AXA is literally an insurance company lmfao you would be complaining if silicon valley funded them too.

[carlosmg]

It's easy to see that most of the profit comes through interest rates. But perhaps the problem lies in the fact that most people are very greedy, do not pay attention to the interest rate tables, and do not do a good analysis of the contracts before choosing a banking plan.

[Qartada]

It is no news that banks are evil.  They prey on innocent people and take advantage of their deposited money.  They have the freedom to use it anywhere and charges depositors for maintenance fee and even eats the balance when it does not meet the minimum requirement.  And when it is time to get our money, we have to undergo several verification procedure before we can get our own money.

That's the problem though.  Once you give your money to the bank, it's not your money anymore.  It's the bank's money and because everyone holds money in the bank people have started leading themselves to believe that it's acceptable for banks to hold everyone's money, when in fact you are at their mercy.

[cryp24x]

It is no news that banks are evil.  They prey on innocent people and take advantage of their deposited money.  They have the freedom to use it anywhere and charges depositors for maintenance fee and even eats the balance when it does not meet the minimum requirement.  And when it is time to get our money, we have to undergo several verification procedure before we can get our own money.

That's the problem though.  Once you give your money to the bank, it's not your money anymore.  It's the bank's money and because everyone holds money in the bank people have started leading themselves to believe that it's acceptable for banks to hold everyone's money, when in fact you are at their mercy.

That is the sad part of reality. People are being cheated right in front of their eyes and yet they agree with it and even bragged about it to their family and friends.  If only they knew that once they money is deposited in the bank, it is not their money anymore.  What they have is just a booklet of their transaction  that when banks wanted to forfeit it, they can do anytime.

[bamboylee]

Banks are evil, corporates are evil, governmennt is corrupt but there is nothing we can do about it. They control most of what we need.

[Mometaskers]

Unfortunately for us smallfolk, there's really not much we can do to fight them directly. If you have to deal with them, then at least try to work within what you have control. Make sure to pay your loans and credit card bills, etc. Provided bitcoin manage to stay free from complete gov't control, it should give them some pause and hopefully they might actually try to compete for people's money rather than just gouging them.

[BobK71]

It's not just the banks; it's the state-bank alliance.  They jointly profit from inflating the values of money and debt with their power -- this evil couldn't exist without either of them.

Ironically, if you buy and hold gold and Bitcoin for the long term, you can benefit.  (Just make sure you don't buy when the global empire is rising, like the 1950s or early 1990s.)  The reason is also due to the nature of the state-bank alliance.

Note that, in this alliance, the top politicians contribute state power, while the top bankers contribute financial know-how.  The politicians, being totally ignorant in this high-stakes and specialized game, are basically led around like children.  They just go along because they benefit from issuing huge amounts of public debt without being punished by the 'markets.'

So here's the problem with this alliance.  When financial asset values collapse (and this day will come, due to the incentives faced by the elites) and everyday people suffer, the politicians will put all the blame on the bankers.  The reasons are obvious (and there is no loyalty in that game,) and the politicians are going to win that argument.  The biggest such events in history include the Spanish Inquisition and the Nazi Holocaust.  In our day, politicians like Bernie Sanders and Elizabeth Warren have already gone after the bankers.

Knowing that, the bankers and central bankers must prepare a last-ditch rescue for a worst-case scenario, when all trust in the system is gone.  That rescue will be some non-state-issued asset, like gold, silver, and Bitcoin, that the elites can peg their money to (at a high price for the non-state asset,) stabilize their system, and ease the suffering.  Even if the bankers think there's only a small chance for such an occurrence, it will be so devastating to the bankers that they must prepare for it.

So, the elites will try to suppress non-state assets, but won't kill them, even when given a chance.  In the long run, this presents something like a one-way bet for these assets, at current prices.

[Silberman]

I suppose you mean bankers are evil, banks are nothing but an institution made for the bankers to profit from it, banks have a reason to be but like always the power they have has corrupted them and they have changed sights of giving a service and instead they try to dominate every single industry.

[ekoice]

Banks are created for the benefit of bankers and all governments support banking sectors irrespective of any country.Thats why,satoshi created bitcoin as a decentralized currency uncontrolled by any one.People show more interest in buying bitcoins and it shows their loss of interest in banks.Thats why bankers fear bitcoins that it would make loss of their revenue.

[Hydrogen]

When financial asset values collapse (and this day will come, due to the incentives faced by the elites) and everyday people suffer, the politicians will put all the blame on the bankers.  

I know students enrolled in economics courses in colleges/universities, right now.

They tell me professors routinely teach the 2008 economic crisis was caused by capitalism.

And that the answer to preventing those types of crisis in the future is to embrace socialism & increase regulation, etc.

If you noticed a disproportionate number of americans being pro socialist, like Colin Kaepernick wearing his pro Fidel Castro/Socialist Cuba, t-shirt at press conferences.

Its likely because many are being indoctrinated into anti-capitalist sentiment: "capitalism caused the 2008 economic crisis" while being fed pro socialist propaganda in schools by teachers, celebrities & other pop culture mainstream sources.

There's a widespread campaign to indoctrinate youth into hating God, guns, capitalism, bitcoin and the Constitution.

We have an entire generation that would believe any financial collapse was caused by capitalism, & that socialism/totalitarianism is the solution.

They've been raised to hate the Constitution/capitalism and would applaud us being universally stripped of our rights and freedom.

The hurricane katrina disaster was caused by the state cutting infrastructure funding to new orleans levees, in order to fund war in the middle east.

If the state wasn't held accountable for that, or for the 2008 economic crisis I don't know if its possible for them to be held accountable for anything.

The other day I was scrolling through twitter & someone posted this image of the world trade center post 9/11.



I don't know if the 2nd image is from the 9/11 aftermath. If its real & the foundation supports were diagonally cut.

There could be no limit to what politicians and bankers could get away with.

[silversmith]

I actually like my local bank.

[BobK71]

I know students enrolled in economics courses in colleges/universities, right now.

They tell me professors routinely teach the 2008 economic crisis was caused by capitalism.

And that the answer to preventing those types of crisis in the future is to embrace socialism & increase regulation, etc.

If you noticed a disproportionate number of americans being pro socialist, like Colin Kaepernick wearing his pro Fidel Castro/Socialist Cuba, t-shirt at press conferences.

Its likely because many are being indoctrinated into anti-capitalist sentiment: "capitalism caused the 2008 economic crisis" while being fed pro socialist propaganda in schools by teachers, celebrities & other pop culture mainstream sources.

There's a widespread campaign to indoctrinate youth into hating God, guns, capitalism, bitcoin and the Constitution.

We have an entire generation that would believe any financial collapse was caused by capitalism, & that socialism/totalitarianism is the solution.

Thank you for a really refreshing and informative angle.

If you went to college when I did (before the Soviet collapse,) the unspoken foundation of world view was represented by readings like Adam Smith's 'Wealth of Nations' and Orwell's '1984' and 'Animal Farm.'

I guess you could theorize that Communist regimes were a real threat (or at least a serious constraint) to the 'capitalist' state-bank alliance back then, whereas socialism today serves only to dissipate youthful idealism and potential opposition to their system, since it will probably never get anywhere, for a number of reasons.

One thing I'll bet won't be allowed to flourish on campus is the combo of Austrian economics and libertarianism.  I'm not totally sure about these, but since taking government out of money and finance will be the key to a healthy system, it's the truth the elites can't handle.

What I personally see everyday is from the opposite angle.  There is plenty of commentary from mainstream, respectable, intellectual quarters these days, constantly whining politely how our modern, 'liberal,' 'free-market' order is being threatened by the wave of 'populism' represented by Trump, Brexit, Le Pen, etc.

If only the dummies knew what's best for them...

It's hard to understand how 'intellectuals' like David Brooks and Tom Friedman, to this day, still don't seem to understand that these 'populist' forces are precisely due to the Western elites having painted themselves into a corner.  They tried to keep alive a basically deceptive system for a while longer ('globalization' being one such act,) and now the system's contradictions are appearing on the surface, in the form of economic hopelessness for previously well-off Western voters.

So, their next big idea might be to put on another band-aid in the form of redistributing some wealth to keep more voters happy.  That socialism talk might be just in time!

[BobK71]

After all it's money we are talking about.
And when it comes up to money, friendship ends according to an old saying in my country.
They want to earn money just like everybody else. And they use their strong position in order to do so like most of the people would do as well.
And besides, it's always up to us with who we do business.

Sorry, I wish we really had choice, but no.  See Dissecting the Parasitocracy.

[Slark]

The really sad part is when people are asking when we will have a Bitcoin Bank. The correct and the best anwer would be - hopefully never.
Bitcoin was created to battle banks, as they are economic parasites. Average Joe is not even able to imagine how much he is being exploited by big corporations and banks.
Banks are not here to help you, they are here to give you a calendar with a big sign 'Sucker" written on it, because you will be paying banks interest for your whole life.

[milewilda]

In my opinion, not all the banks are evil because they are one of the greatest foundation of our national economy. If there is no bank then there will no authority that will help us to secure our money. Bank is one of the most important branch of our economic tree because they secure and help the economy to continue flowing because if they have the money they will help other people to take loans or invest in the stock market which help the money continue flowing.

Agree, Banks do have major roles on our economic activity and its not evil all the times because there are lots of benefits we can get from it instead of bashing it on its some services but still a lot way better to secure our money than doing alternative stuffs.Its your own choice to use banks or not but most people do really prefer to use banks.

[iamTom123]

Banks have a role to play in the economy. Now, if Bitcoin can replace that role so be it. If you have the money, no one is forcing you to deposit your money into any bank. There are many ways to safeguard your own money...like you can invest it in real estate and gain some rewards in the process. I am not saying that banks are angels no banks can indeed be evil because banks are owned and managed by people who are like us can be made of human nature...evil human nature. In fact, right now, we are witnessing the same evil human nature in Bitcoin. One thing I realized is that many times it is not just the system but the people behind the system and the nature of these people.

My question is this: Is there a system of government or a program that can rid of human nature with its selfishness and greed? You know the answer to that...peace!

[Silberman]

The really sad part is when people are asking when we will have a Bitcoin Bank. The correct and the best anwer would be - hopefully never.
Bitcoin was created to battle banks, as they are economic parasites. Average Joe is not even able to imagine how much he is being exploited by big corporations and banks.
Banks are not here to help you, they are here to give you a calendar with a big sign 'Sucker" written on it, because you will be paying banks interest for your whole life.

The problem is that if bitcoin ever reaches major adoption and there has not been an event that teach the average person what it is really happening then we run the risk that the same happens to bitcoin since banks only care about getting profits by exploiting people.

[dmamigo]

Banks are generally not evil, but yeah there policies might become painfully evil sometimes. But atleast they are taking care of our saved money from real evils of the world. Some banks supported by Government are really nice, but some private Banks though providing awesome service, charges heavy fees/service charge.

[jorneyflair]

Banks aren't evil by themselves.
What is really the root of evil here isn't money. It is fractional reserve.

When you deposit $1 into the bank, guess what happens to the money?
1. The bank takes out 90% of that money.
2. The bank lends it to someone else that you don't even know about.
3. The bank charges them like 4% interest for that loan, and only gives you 1 or 2%.
4. That person goes and buys a house, driving the house bubble even more upwards.
5. You decide that you want to own a house as well.
6. You go to the auction and win. Guess what, you have successfully purchased a house that was purchased with the money you loaned to the bank in the first place!!!

And this is why houses are so damn expensive these days.
But all bubbles will burst, and when it bursts all people who have invested their life savings into housing will be crying.

That's why you don't have fractional reserve, and switch to bitcoin.

[HabBear]

And what responsibility to do people have to make sure they aren't using money foolishly? Borrowing too much money? Spending beyond their means.

By your logic any company that sells something could potentially be misused or abused is evil.

I know students enrolled in economics courses in colleges/universities, right now. They tell me professors routinely teach the 2008 economic crisis was caused by capitalism.

Which colleges/universities? Trump University?

[HarringtonStark]

I know how they try to make money. They milk as much money as possible from their customers by introducing not-really necessary services and life insurance. They try to attract you with their promos. I just opened my account last week.  To be safe, I only open an account on top banks renowned worldwide.

[Xester]

I know how they try to make money. They milk as much money as possible from their customers by introducing not-really necessary services and life insurance. They try to attract you with their promos. I just opened my account last week.  To be safe, I only open an account on top banks renowned worldwide.

I just finished some reading materials last month and I realized that banking system is not really focused in giving services but rather making profit. As long as it guarantees them huge income they need to create more services and offer it to the public. That is why that banks are called evil since their intention is no longer customer oriented but profit oriented.

[chaser15]

Regardless of the quoted article* in the first post, all I can say is don't generalize bank as evil one. Believe me, it would be a downfall to the economy if all banks will be gone. What do you think of the solution? It's a shit if you think bitcoin or any other cryptocurrency can replaced what banks can do. People are just unlucky that they goes to the banks that turns into the shit.

I have been in the banking industry for years that's why I've witnessed how helpful banks is. Compare to their past performance, today have been upgraded and giving much comfortable ways to it's clients and merchants. Not just that, banking industry is so big here that makes employment rate blooms for up to 70%. Imagine that numbers? Aside from that, employees are getting a quarterly decent bonus + benefits + allowances + holiday pays for up to 300% + Sunday works aside from their decent monthly income.

About services, there are banks here that offers a low interest (don't expect for no interest as any services, even a bitcoin related company will have a interest) and electronic banking (just like bitcoin) that works anytime. With thousands of ATM's stationed here, it can save us even when there is no internet connection.

Don't just be blinded that banks are evil just because some of their branches turned into fraud. Open for wild comments.

[joshy23]

Regardless of the quoted article* in the first post, all I can say is don't generalize bank as evil one. Believe me, it would be a downfall to the economy if all banks will be gone. What do you think of the solution? It's a shit if you think bitcoin or any other cryptocurrency can replaced what banks can do. People are just unlucky that they goes to the banks that turns into the shit.

I have been in the banking industry for years that's why I've witnessed how helpful banks is. Compare to their past performance, today have been upgraded and giving much comfortable ways to it's clients and merchants. Not just that, banking industry is so big here that makes employment rate blooms for up to 70%. Imagine that numbers? Aside from that, employees are getting a quarterly decent bonus + benefits + allowances + holiday pays for up to 300% + Sunday works aside from their decent monthly income.

About services, there are banks here that offers a low interest (don't expect for no interest as any services, even a bitcoin related company will have a interest) and electronic banking (just like bitcoin) that works anytime. With thousands of ATM's stationed here, it can save us even when there is no internet connection.

Don't just be blinded that banks are evil just because some of their branches turned into fraud. Open for wild comments.

I guess there's always two side on a story. But me personally, I don't have any negative experience with the banking system. I have deal with multiple banks and its always smooth. From credit cards to personal loans, banks have always been a positive thing for me. Of course, sometimes you wonder for the fees and interest you have incurred and pay to the them. But for me, its your duty and obligation to settle it and have a good financial record in the banking industry.

[BobK71]

The really sad part is when people are asking when we will have a Bitcoin Bank. The correct and the best anwer would be - hopefully never.
Bitcoin was created to battle banks, as they are economic parasites. Average Joe is not even able to imagine how much he is being exploited by big corporations and banks.
Banks are not here to help you, they are here to give you a calendar with a big sign 'Sucker" written on it, because you will be paying banks interest for your whole life.

This is very true.  What is the fundamental purpose of banking, and how did banks get started?

One major purpose was to protect you from theft.  Thieves could steal your gold and silver, but they could never change the information that you had this much money in an account.  Goldsmith banks were born because goldsmiths knew how to protect precious metals, and used that expertise to offer to safeguard people's money.

Of course, once banks got hold of your money, they had the incentives to commit a wholly different kind of theft, in the next few centuries!

Since Bitcoin runs a distributed software protocol to maintain account information, it replaces this major function of banks.

(Although, we have to admit, Bitcoin doesn't address another key function of banks, i.e. to match savers with investments, although it does help make capital markets fundamentally healthier, if it ever manages to take the power of money creation from central banks and governments.)

[Chikito]

The really sad part is when people are asking when we will have a Bitcoin Bank. The correct and the best anwer would be - hopefully never.
Bitcoin was created to battle banks, as they are economic parasites. Average Joe is not even able to imagine how much he is being exploited by big corporations and banks.
Banks are not here to help you, they are here to give you a calendar with a big sign 'Sucker" written on it, because you will be paying banks interest for your whole life.

This is very true.  What is the fundamental purpose of banking, and how did banks get started?

One major purpose was to protect you from theft.  Thieves could steal your gold and silver, but they could never change the information that you had this much money in an account.  Goldsmith banks were born because goldsmiths knew how to protect precious metals, and used that expertise to offer to safeguard people's money.

Of course, once banks got hold of your money, they had the incentives to commit a wholly different kind of theft, in the next few centuries!

Since Bitcoin runs a distributed software protocol to maintain account information, it replaces this major function of banks.

(Although, we have to admit, Bitcoin doesn't address another key function of banks, i.e. to match savers with investments, although it does help make capital markets fundamentally healthier, if it ever manages to take the power of money creation from central banks and governments.)

true root of understanding of the bank, but the bank began to shift into a means of financial  the transaction, bank converted into a commercial and take payments market,example, house payments, loans, electricity and payments balances telephone with a fee. Bank bookkeeping system is a example for technology blockchain this applied in bitcoin . fee for payment at a bank is profits bank, while the fee transaction bitcoin, used to pay miners working bitcoin for mining block, nakamato satoshi apply decentralization economy for proyek bitcoin, users may have access blockchain , management self and get a fee if the conduct of mining blocks.

[pitham1]

The really sad part is when people are asking when we will have a Bitcoin Bank. The correct and the best anwer would be - hopefully never.
Bitcoin was created to battle banks, as they are economic parasites. Average Joe is not even able to imagine how much he is being exploited by big corporations and banks.
Banks are not here to help you, they are here to give you a calendar with a big sign 'Sucker" written on it, because you will be paying banks interest for your whole life.

This is very true.  What is the fundamental purpose of banking, and how did banks get started?

One major purpose was to protect you from theft.  Thieves could steal your gold and silver, but they could never change the information that you had this much money in an account.  Goldsmith banks were born because goldsmiths knew how to protect precious metals, and used that expertise to offer to safeguard people's money.

Of course, once banks got hold of your money, they had the incentives to commit a wholly different kind of theft, in the next few centuries!

Since Bitcoin runs a distributed software protocol to maintain account information, it replaces this major function of banks.

(Although, we have to admit, Bitcoin doesn't address another key function of banks, i.e. to match savers with investments, although it does help make capital markets fundamentally healthier, if it ever manages to take the power of money creation from central banks and governments.)

The root of this is fractional reserve lending. It caused goldsmiths to go bankrupt, and banks today can face the same fate too.
It is not the bank as an institution, but its practices which have made its business risky.

[Ayers]

I know how they try to make money. They milk as much money as possible from their customers by introducing not-really necessary services and life insurance. They try to attract you with their promos. I just opened my account last week.  To be safe, I only open an account on top banks renowned worldwide.

bank are worse than those scammers that make altcoin each day in altcoin section, at least those have these new altcoin that propose something which can be good or bad, but bank just scam you money and you don't even know that they are scamming you, on crypto you are perfectly aware of your money, i think this is why many people are choosing crypto over bank

[zimmah]

no shit sherlock

it's why most of the early investors even invested in bitcoin in the first place.

It's why bitcoin was created in the first place.

And ironically, bitcoin is now controlled by AXA.

Is it controlled, really? As far as I read it in the news, AXA and other groups (Deutche Bank, etc...) are only interested in the technology, and not already controlling bitcoin.
Or this is the Blockstream venture capital thing, sticking the system to the 1MB limit?
As I've read, banking industry don't want bitcoin at all, they only want the technology behind, and they want to create a similar but centralized one for their purposes. I don't think that bitcoin can be regulated or controlled, but everything is possible...
BU and the people behing wanted to rule bitcoin and fork it into a new coin, but it has still not happened, so I think bitcoin can be hardly regulated.

Yes, AXA has a big share in blockstream, and blockstream s actively stalling bitcoin development.   

You can see with your own eyes the result of blockstreams stalling tactics and how they tear the community apart.

[pearlmen]

I will agree that banks are evil in as much as they have serve as a tool to drive development, they are also the ones that have made sure businesses dont survive by even disrupting the social system with killing interest rates that will make the business continue to struggle whereas the bank will live fat and their owners. When it comes to individual they just make sure its too difficult to obtain loan. In short they have caused more harm than good.

[Silberman]

Banks are generally not evil, but yeah there policies might become painfully evil sometimes. But atleast they are taking care of our saved money from real evils of the world. Some banks supported by Government are really nice, but some private Banks though providing awesome service, charges heavy fees/service charge.

How can someone or something not be evil but been able to do evil things? If banks do evil things then by definition they are evil, it is not any surprise that most people hate banks since they keep taking decisions that benefit only themselves and no one else.

[jaysabi]

It is no news that banks are evil.  They prey on innocent people and take advantage of their deposited money.  They have the freedom to use it anywhere and charges depositors for maintenance fee and even eats the balance when it does not meet the minimum requirement.  And when it is time to get our money, we have to undergo several verification procedure before we can get our own money.

That's the problem though.  Once you give your money to the bank, it's not your money anymore.  It's the bank's money and because everyone holds money in the bank people have started leading themselves to believe that it's acceptable for banks to hold everyone's money, when in fact you are at their mercy.

When you deposit money in the bank, it does not become the bank's money. You retain ownership and the bank must return it to you on demand. Having custody of something is not the same as owning it. The bank has custody of your money, they do not own it.

[michkima]

It is no news that banks are evil.  They prey on innocent people and take advantage of their deposited money.  They have the freedom to use it anywhere and charges depositors for maintenance fee and even eats the balance when it does not meet the minimum requirement.  And when it is time to get our money, we have to undergo several verification procedure before we can get our own money.

That's the problem though.  Once you give your money to the bank, it's not your money anymore.  It's the bank's money and because everyone holds money in the bank people have started leading themselves to believe that it's acceptable for banks to hold everyone's money, when in fact you are at their mercy.

When you deposit money in the bank, it does not become the bank's money. You retain ownership and the bank must return it to you on demand. Having custody of something is not the same as owning it. The bank has custody of your money, they do not own it.

I partly agree with your statement. What really happens in a bank is that you don't actually deposit here. Your relationship with the bank is that of a lender and borrower. The bank being the borrower and you the lender. They owe you that money and they have the obligation to pay it back to you.

[gredisgold88]

banks are not really evil, the bank makes storage safe money, the bank also provides transaction services, fast course with a fee, this is almost the same with bitcoin, bitcoin has blockchain as general ledger transactions and finance that can be accessed, and the transaction fee with bitcoin for miner blok , this scheme is called desentrilisasi. I think banks are not really evil, but also many private banks that assist crime.

[Kemarit]

I think not all banks are evil. Only the top 10 or 12 banks because this banks don't care about ethics and doing financial tactics such credit default swaps, slapping high interest if you are late in your payment and other strategy to milk this customers. A few years ago, I read that a bank has allegedly used tactics to lead homeowners into foreclosures and denied eligible homeowners for loan modifications to even lied to them about the status of their payments.

[vapourminer]

When you deposit money in the bank, it does not become the bank's money. You retain ownership and the bank must return it to you on demand. Having custody of something is not the same as owning it. The bank has custody of your money, they do not own it.

tell that to the folks in cyprus.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2012%E2%80%9313_Cypriot_financial_crisis

[bamboylee]

It's easy to see that most of the profit comes through interest rates. But perhaps the problem lies in the fact that most people are very greedy, do not pay attention to the interest rate tables, and do not do a good analysis of the contracts before choosing a banking plan.

basically, its purely business. banks have their own standard operating procedures and internal control to follow. banks are established to earn profit not to.help people. with the current existing market interest rates, lenders dont have a choice but to.pay the interest to the banks.

[xypos]

I think not all banks are evil. Only the top 10 or 12 banks because this banks don't care about ethics and doing financial tactics such credit default swaps, slapping high interest if you are late in your payment and other strategy to milk this customers. A few years ago, I read that a bank has allegedly used tactics to lead homeowners into foreclosures and denied eligible homeowners for loan modifications to even lied to them about the status of their payments.

It is hard for me to agree with you, even if not impossible.

Banks all over the world are exploiting both their customers, and the financial law.
I never could grasp the idea of why banks can borrow the money to someone else if they dont own it?

It is not logical at all, giving credits should be allowed only if the bank really has the money, not only numbers right?

That is why we should never let the financial system to create companies where you can deposit the money, but in case of all customers would try to get their money, bank would simply go bankrupt.

We should stop government help for banks, it is not fair at all to the rest of the community.

[webtricks]

It is hard for me to agree with you, even if not impossible.

Banks all over the world are exploiting both their customers, and the financial law.
I never could grasp the idea of why banks can borrow the money to someone else if they dont own it?

It is not logical at all, giving credits should be allowed only if the bank really has the money, not only numbers right?

That is why we should never let the financial system to create companies where you can deposit the money, but in case of all customers would try to get their money, bank would simply go bankrupt.

We should stop government help for banks, it is not fair at all to the rest of the community.

Interesting. I am really catched by your statement, Banks don't have money but only numbers. Apparently you can say banks really don't hold that much funds but it is not true to assume the amounts are only numbers or imaginary. I am studying banking system from quite a long, the process you pointing is known as Credit Creation. This process involves keeping aside of reserve funds for people who might come to withdraw their amount and on Earth it is all not possible that everyone come on same day. Consider even if something like this happen, banks can go for short term financing known as Call Money. So this problem is ruled out.
Now coming to numbers, when Banks accept deposit or give loans, they dont actually generate money but just shift ownership. It is like creating chain where amount get compounded at every level. This process is very vital for growth of economy and one of the leading reason why some countries are developed while others are not.

[xypos]

It is hard for me to agree with you, even if not impossible.

Banks all over the world are exploiting both their customers, and the financial law.
I never could grasp the idea of why banks can borrow the money to someone else if they dont own it?

It is not logical at all, giving credits should be allowed only if the bank really has the money, not only numbers right?

That is why we should never let the financial system to create companies where you can deposit the money, but in case of all customers would try to get their money, bank would simply go bankrupt.

We should stop government help for banks, it is not fair at all to the rest of the community.

Interesting. I am really catched by your statement, Banks don't have money but only numbers. Apparently you can say banks really don't hold that much funds but it is not true to assume the amounts are only numbers or imaginary. I am studying banking system from quite a long, the process you pointing is known as Credit Creation. This process involves keeping aside of reserve funds for people who might come to withdraw their amount and on Earth it is all not possible that everyone come on same day. Consider even if something like this happen, banks can go for short term financing known as Call Money. So this problem is ruled out.
Now coming to numbers, when Banks accept deposit or give loans, they dont actually generate money but just shift ownership. It is like creating chain where amount get compounded at every level. This process is very vital for growth of economy and one of the leading reason why some countries are developed while others are not.

That made me laugh a little bit, they don't have money but numbers Sad, but also slightly true.
It is the same thing with the retirement pensions, in my country people who work now and pay taxes for that purpose, does not collect their money to have them withdrawn as a old age pension every month.
Instead of, they give their money to the goverment to be able to pay the people that are old right now.
So the conclusion is that it is like a giant ponzi, someday it will collapse.

I think that the same thing may happen with banks, but we need some smart replacement- and we are not ready yet.

[darkangel11]

That made me laugh a little bit, they don't have money but numbers Sad, but also slightly true.
It is the same thing with the retirement pensions, in my country people who work now and pay taxes for that purpose, does not collect their money to have them withdrawn as a old age pension every month.
Instead of, they give their money to the goverment to be able to pay the people that are old right now.
So the conclusion is that it is like a giant ponzi, someday it will collapse.

I think that the same thing may happen with banks, but we need some smart replacement- and we are not ready yet.

The pension system has been many times compared to a pyramid scheme. Sad part is, the system was designed to make money from what you're paying them during your life and after 30 or 40 years have enough to support you and itself. Somewhere something went wrong along the way and the system lost money left by its first "investors" and became indebted and forced to work like a pyramid, that's why now pension is obligatory and functions like a tax, while it should be voluntary.

[bitart]

It is hard for me to agree with you, even if not impossible.

Banks all over the world are exploiting both their customers, and the financial law.
I never could grasp the idea of why banks can borrow the money to someone else if they dont own it?

It is not logical at all, giving credits should be allowed only if the bank really has the money, not only numbers right?

That is why we should never let the financial system to create companies where you can deposit the money, but in case of all customers would try to get their money, bank would simply go bankrupt.

We should stop government help for banks, it is not fair at all to the rest of the community.

Interesting. I am really catched by your statement, Banks don't have money but only numbers. Apparently you can say banks really don't hold that much funds but it is not true to assume the amounts are only numbers or imaginary. I am studying banking system from quite a long, the process you pointing is known as Credit Creation. This process involves keeping aside of reserve funds for people who might come to withdraw their amount and on Earth it is all not possible that everyone come on same day. Consider even if something like this happen, banks can go for short term financing known as Call Money. So this problem is ruled out.
Now coming to numbers, when Banks accept deposit or give loans, they dont actually generate money but just shift ownership. It is like creating chain where amount get compounded at every level. This process is very vital for growth of economy and one of the leading reason why some countries are developed while others are not.

Banks do create money, not just shifting ownership. LDR or LTD ratio shows if the bank has more or less loans compared to the deposites. If the LTD ration is over 100% then the bank has given more loans compared to the amount of the deposited funds. In some countries, this LTD ratio is really strict, but if it's too strict, that can slow down the mentioned growth of the economy. Higher LTD ratio can speed up the growth, but too high LTD is risky, so it can be also bad for the growth.

[webtricks]

That made me laugh a little bit, they don't have money but numbers Sad, but also slightly true.
It is the same thing with the retirement pensions, in my country people who work now and pay taxes for that purpose, does not collect their money to have them withdrawn as a old age pension every month.
Instead of, they give their money to the goverment to be able to pay the people that are old right now.
So the conclusion is that it is like a giant ponzi, someday it will collapse.

I think that the same thing may happen with banks, but we need some smart replacement- and we are not ready yet.

The two are clearly distinct. The old age pension system in your country is a type of fix payment (liability) for your government. But when banks pay off loans to borrowers, they are generating asset not liability. In first case receiver is liability for party whereas in second case receiver is asset for party. You need to take out bad about banks from your mind, man!

[Silberman]

I know how they try to make money. They milk as much money as possible from their customers by introducing not-really necessary services and life insurance. They try to attract you with their promos. I just opened my account last week.  To be safe, I only open an account on top banks renowned worldwide.

I will probably prefer to open a bank account in a local bank than to keep feeding those transnationals banks that do nothing but harvest profits in your country and then take it away from your country so if you can support your local business even if those are banks since they are the lesser of two evils.

[Kevin77]

Banks will certainly get more powerful and "evil" since they control the money supply. After reading Animal Farm a long time ago, I've come to believe that if the present crop of bank owners are done away with, a newer and more evil set will come on the scene.

Even bitcoin that enjoys decentralisation is slowly caving in to control by the miners. A typical example is the ongoing hard fork issue. It's a human thing, though not acceptable. We all owe it to God to be true to His Word, and to ourselves to live according to our values. Only then will we see men and women who are able and willing to use the vast resources available to them for the betterment of the less priviledged

The banks don’t control the money supply. The Feds do. The banks owners can’t abuse their positions at least in America because of the Capital Requirement where they must have at least 7% of their own capital in the bank. But since Bitcoin doesn’t use a bank there is no reason to concern yourself with banks in the first. It is very hard for a bank owner to be able to abuse its position and get away with it.

[phr0stbyt3]

I didn't read the full post but my reply will be related to the topic. Yes it's true banks are actually evil as they basically control the amount of money we have and actually charge us when we want to withdraw our money. They even charge fees for not having the sufficient funds but there's literally nothing we can do as keeping funds at home is way more risky than keeping in bank.

[bluefirecorp]

Banks will certainly get more powerful and "evil" since they control the money supply. After reading Animal Farm a long time ago, I've come to believe that if the present crop of bank owners are done away with, a newer and more evil set will come on the scene.

Even bitcoin that enjoys decentralisation is slowly caving in to control by the miners. A typical example is the ongoing hard fork issue. It's a human thing, though not acceptable. We all owe it to God to be true to His Word, and to ourselves to live according to our values. Only then will we see men and women who are able and willing to use the vast resources available to them for the betterment of the less priviledged

The banks don’t control the money supply. The Feds do. The banks owners can’t abuse their positions at least in America because of the Capital Requirement where they must have at least 7% of their own capital in the bank. But since Bitcoin doesn’t use a bank there is no reason to concern yourself with banks in the first. It is very hard for a bank owner to be able to abuse its position and get away with it.

Yes, the banks are abusing the fact that the government are applying finical laws on us like taxes and like you said we need to have some of our capital in the bank, so they put monthly fees and charge us for using ATM and credit cards.

So, it is like governments and banks are controlling us that is why bitcoin is considered to be a free currency because we are our own bank and we don’t have to pay taxes.

[Rahar02]

We know banks systems has many disadvantages and disserve for who doesn't know about it, especially if someone has debts to bank. "Their influence and reach has metastasized to the point where we now live under a captive system. From our retirement accounts, to our homes, to the laws we live under -- the banks control it all. And they run the system for their benefit, not ours."
Banks were created to extract more money from customers for their own sake.
But, we still need it as the need to conduct transactions within some different cities will be easier. Moreover, govs and many companies were cooperate to distribute salaries. we can't easily evade from banks these days.

[hello_good_sir]

I know how they try to make money. They milk as much money as possible from their customers by introducing not-really necessary services and life insurance. They try to attract you with their promos. I just opened my account last week.  To be safe, I only open an account on top banks renowned worldwide.

I will probably prefer to open a bank account in a local bank than to keep feeding those transnationals banks that do nothing but harvest profits in your country and then take it away from your country so if you can support your local business even if those are banks since they are the lesser of two evils.

I agree with you, opening the bank account in some smaller ones is indeed supporting the local entrepreneurs and also your government, because small, local banks are surely paying all the taxes only in your country, and as you have already said, big banks that are spread worldwide are transfering the profits earned out of the country, usually paying lesser taxes.

On the other hand, I think that every bank is evil, because they are actually harvesting the society from money, by loans, life insurance or services that are basically useless.
If I would have any other option, my bank account could be never created- but i have to buy bitcoins somehow

[Silberman]

I know how they try to make money. They milk as much money as possible from their customers by introducing not-really necessary services and life insurance. They try to attract you with their promos. I just opened my account last week.  To be safe, I only open an account on top banks renowned worldwide.

I will probably prefer to open a bank account in a local bank than to keep feeding those transnationals banks that do nothing but harvest profits in your country and then take it away from your country so if you can support your local business even if those are banks since they are the lesser of two evils.

I agree with you, opening the bank account in some smaller ones is indeed supporting the local entrepreneurs and also your government, because small, local banks are surely paying all the taxes only in your country, and as you have already said, big banks that are spread worldwide are transfering the profits earned out of the country, usually paying lesser taxes.

On the other hand, I think that every bank is evil, because they are actually harvesting the society from money, by loans, life insurance or services that are basically useless.
If I would have any other option, my bank account could be never created- but i have to buy bitcoins somehow

I know it is a difficult choice but if you really need to use banking services, and at the moment we all need to do it then choosing a bank that operates in your country is a better bet, that is what I do, there is only one bank that is still owned by nationals every other single bank in my country were bought by international banks and it is in that bank that I keep my only bank account.

[grermezter]

Banks are the greediest institution ever on this earth, at first, Banks gave interest rate to the money saved for a period of time even though these profits aint much to begin with, now they are barely giving profits and rather they are charging us for useless services.

[BobK71]

The root of this is fractional reserve lending. It caused goldsmiths to go bankrupt, and banks today can face the same fate too.
It is not the bank as an institution, but its practices which have made its business risky.

There would be no problem with fractional reserve banking if the state didn't get involved.  (The bank lending out deposits is necessary for economic growth.)  If depositors had to absorb any losses by the bank explicitly, the system would be honest, risk would be properly priced, and the system would be stable, since depositors would be careful putting money in the bank, and would demand proper compensation via interest.

The 'problem' with an honest system is that deposits would be smaller and bankers wouldn't benefit as much.  So, in the modern world, the bankers join forces with the state to use the central bank, deposit insurance, etc. to create the illusion that deposits are safer than they deserve to be.  Of course, this creates all the problems we have today.

Politicians don't really understand banking or economics.  They ally with bankers because they receive the benefits of issuing public debt at low interest and of a propped-up economy.  The driver of the process is the bank -- once banks had our money, they started thinking how they could take even more of our money into themselves.

[xFiber]

Banks are the greediest institution ever on this earth, at first, Banks gave interest rate to the money saved for a period of time even though these profits aint much to begin with, now they are barely giving profits and rather they are charging us for useless services.

Yep, that pretty much sums it up. But they are so lucky they have been normalized over het year. This resulted in people to still store their capital in banks even though the interest rates are so low. Nowadays it actually costs you more money to maintain your savings account instead of gaining some profit. But I believe they will suffer really hard in the upcoming generation when the blockchain networks becomes global.

[n0ne]

Banks are the greediest institution ever on this earth, at first, Banks gave interest rate to the money saved for a period of time even though these profits aint much to begin with, now they are barely giving profits and rather they are charging us for useless services.

At the early days they're​ in need of users to support, for which they gave increased rate of interest. During the same the users is low, the employees were low, but now situation is exactly opposite to that. People need more but they cannot be fulfilled by banks. So some describe it as an evil. Personally I don't think so, because it has given a structured way to use their fiat.

[kryptqnick]

I know how they try to make money. They milk as much money as possible from their customers by introducing not-really necessary services and life insurance. They try to attract you with their promos. I just opened my account last week.  To be safe, I only open an account on top banks renowned worldwide.

I will probably prefer to open a bank account in a local bank than to keep feeding those transnationals banks that do nothing but harvest profits in your country and then take it away from your country so if you can support your local business even if those are banks since they are the lesser of two evils.

Well, I am also a user of local banks but I don't think they are better than international ones. It is just more convenient to have local currency. And sustaining a card with dollars or euros from some international bank is quite expensive in my country.
Nevertheless, I think banks not onlky rob people by offering them some insurances and services. They also make economy possible. At least, for know our society can't leave without them. Perhaps one day cryptos will be able to replace them but for know we should appreciate what we have.

[lionheart78]

I know how they try to make money. They milk as much money as possible from their customers by introducing not-really necessary services and life insurance. They try to attract you with their promos. I just opened my account last week.  To be safe, I only open an account on top banks renowned worldwide.

I will probably prefer to open a bank account in a local bank than to keep feeding those transnationals banks that do nothing but harvest profits in your country and then take it away from your country so if you can support your local business even if those are banks since they are the lesser of two evils.

Well, I am also a user of local banks but I don't think they are better than international ones. It is just more convenient to have local currency. And sustaining a card with dollars or euros from some international bank is quite expensive in my country.
Nevertheless, I think banks not onlky rob people by offering them some insurances and services. They also make economy possible. At least, for know our society can't leave without them. Perhaps one day cryptos will be able to replace them but for know we should appreciate what we have.

Banks maybe a great help to move the economy but this is at the expense of its users.  Bank is a blessing in an ever growing economy but a curse to its client.  They charge you lots of fees and we need to pay every movement of money we have to make.  The worst part is, you need the consent of the bank to be able to access your fund with all the needed requirements, without them you can bid good bye to your bank savings.

[Silberman]

I know how they try to make money. They milk as much money as possible from their customers by introducing not-really necessary services and life insurance. They try to attract you with their promos. I just opened my account last week.  To be safe, I only open an account on top banks renowned worldwide.

I will probably prefer to open a bank account in a local bank than to keep feeding those transnationals banks that do nothing but harvest profits in your country and then take it away from your country so if you can support your local business even if those are banks since they are the lesser of two evils.

Well, I am also a user of local banks but I don't think they are better than international ones. It is just more convenient to have local currency. And sustaining a card with dollars or euros from some international bank is quite expensive in my country.
Nevertheless, I think banks not onlky rob people by offering them some insurances and services. They also make economy possible. At least, for know our society can't leave without them. Perhaps one day cryptos will be able to replace them but for know we should appreciate what we have.

Banks in the way the economy works at this time are needed but instead of being a provider of services, they are the ones doing a service to themselves and stealing money out of the people by doing shady maneuvers on the markets, losing and then wait for the taxpayer to pay the bill.

[BobK71]

The pension system has been many times compared to a pyramid scheme. Sad part is, the system was designed to make money from what you're paying them during your life and after 30 or 40 years have enough to support you and itself. Somewhere something went wrong along the way and the system lost money left by its first "investors" and became indebted and forced to work like a pyramid, that's why now pension is obligatory and functions like a tax, while it should be voluntary.

Everything is a pyramid scheme.  The pension system is just one form of promises.  In modern times, the state and banks don't steal money outright, but set up a system where state power is used to inflate the value of promises artificially.  Money, debt, stocks, and everything else built on top of them are just promises.

If you don't believe in the promises, you're fighting the power of the entire system.  If you believe in them, you will lose big when the promises turn out to be empty.  It might take a long time, but the promises are always broken eventually, because the elites have the incentives to destabilize the promises by issuing more, or by using deceptive means to support them.

Promise breaking is the core nature of the modern world, because promises are the vehicle of choice by the elites to enrich or empower themselves.