In the wake of recent revelations of documents confirming Bank of America’s use of social media trolling teams to spy on activist groups, Anonymous Olympia has released an open letter (reposted below) stating that they will hold them accountable. Whether or not they follow through on their promise, they make good arguments for why we should not be giving our money to such banks. There’s plenty of alternatives more deserving of our trust and which make better investments, such as public banks, community banks, credit unions, community currencies, digital currencies (do careful research first) and safe deposit boxes for physical precious metals. Currently, only North Dakota has a state-owned bank, but it’s been such a success, at least 20 other states are considering proposals to create their own.

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Dear Bank of America,

Thank you for your interest in Anonymous Olympia. After careful review

of your actions, we have prepared the following open letter:

Your institution is like a large, festering carcass that smothers all

of the life beneath it as it wallows, decaying in its own gluttonous

vastness. Nobody pretends that you’re a decent banking institution

these days except you, and we all know you’re not. You’re swollen,

sallow with your own misdeeds.

It blows our minds how anyone could still bank with you, or why they

would want to. Your commercials smile and lie, but everyone can smell

the bullshit wafting from behind those carefully constructed scenes of

gentle middle-class life that you promote on television and in the

lobbies of your bank branches.

The way you nickel and dime your customers to financial death is

disgusting, and you should be ashamed. A fee to close an account, a

monthly fee to have an account, a thirty five dollar over-draft fee

for as little as a $0.01 over-draft, a fee for bill-pay, the five

dollar debit-usage fee.

You’re a vampire, Bank of America. You’re a parasite, bloated with the

blood that you suck from the financial life of your customers.

Shall we mention your colluding with Visa and MasterCard to keep ATM

fees outrageously high? Or all the times that you illegally and

wrongfully foreclosed on the homes of families that banked with you,

leaving those families homeless, their lives ruined? Or the miniscule

amount of taxes that you’re supposed to pay, but don’t?

What about the six former Bank of America employees who came forward

and revealed your despicable practices, including rewarding employees

who managed to place ten or more mortgage accounts into foreclosure in

one month with a $500.00 bonus?

We suppose a financial institution with your track record of being

evil could justify spying on a group of average citizens who were

attempting to exercise their right to air grievances through public

assembly, but that doesn’t make it right, and it doesn’t make what we

do any of your business, either.

In fact, your actions directly violate our constitutional right to

privacy. The fact that you worked with Washington State Patrol to

share information represents a terrifying fusion of financial and

state interest, one that I hope keeps your employees up at night.

Fascism is defined as a merging of state and corporate interest, so

make of that what you will, Bank of America.

We know that you were asked to comment on your spying, but declined to

do so- this leaves us with little hope that you will hold yourself

accountable for this and other actions, so we’re going to start

holding you accountable, instead, and we’re going to ask all of our

brothers and sisters to join us.

You may have been watching us, Bank of America, but we’ve been

watching you, too, and our memories are long.

We do not forgive, we do not forget.

Regards,
Anonymous Olympia