| | How do we confront the supra-human corporations, the faceless
principalities and powers that wage war on us while claiming no
"personal" responsibility because they are, in fact, not persons but transpersonal? How to engage an entity that is nowhere and everywhere?
As I continue to draw inspiration from Scripture and the theology of Walter Wink,
I will put into practice the idea of "exposing" and "unmasking" the
Powers with the purpose of reorienting them to their true calling--to
be servants of humanity and not our overlords. My unmasking today will
involve Wachovia, "my" bank.
I have had similar difficulties as I'm about to describe and have
seriously considered switching banks recently, but by the same token, I
don't want to "duck and run." And really, will other banks be any
different? (Please let me know of any in the Triangle NC area, if you
have absolutely stellar banking experience in the area I'm about to
describe) It seems that they're all based on usury and subterfuge,
maximizing profits for themselves without conscience.
Anyway, you might be getting bored. Perhaps I will begin with something I placed on Wachovia's Wikipedia entry--we'll
see how long the Powers allow this to remain up on the People's
Encyclopedia (if anyone else resonates with this description of
Wachovia, I'd encourage you to keep re-posting it if you notice it
edited out):
Customer Service Difficulties
"Though frequently touted as being "#1 in customer service" according
to the University of Michigan Business School's American Customer
Satisfaction Index (ACSI), Wachovia has in recent times been alleged to
practice dishonest and incomprehensible banking policies. Though
enticing students and lower-income customers to open accounts with
Wachovia through pledges of "free checking," reported difficulties
abound. Obliquely-worded contracts obscure how overdraft fees function
in actual practice, detractors assert. The difficulties center in
untimely delays between real-time banking transactions and the accuracy
of customer-accessed internet interfaces, leading to computation errors
adding up in the bank chain's favor. Complaints are being filed with
the Better Business Bureau."
And a complaint I filed indeed! I'll spare you the minutiae of our
personal finance life, but suffice to say, as a freelance editor,
sometimes times get tight. And when times get tight (and when you have
a child on the way, etc...), you like your income posted in your bank's
system with a high degree of correlation to reality.
When they instead lead through a labyrinth of shadows and doublespeak,
"timing" your transactions in a way (on their private interface, different
from what you, the customer, have access to) that they incur fees
rather than simply being available for your use...well, then, that is
frustrating.
Where is consumer justice? Perhaps we--those who proclaim that Christ
is Lord over empire at least--need to re-evaluate our banking practices
and explore a return to the communal financial practices that made the
church in the 2nd century the largest and most significant
"underground" financial reservoir, a "mobile bank" that efficiently and
wisely handled money across the Roman empire.
Thoughts?
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| | Posted 3/31/2007 1:39 PM - 119 Views - 0 eProps - 0 comments
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