Anonymous Launches ‘Black October’ Campaign Against US Banking System
22:31 21.09.2015(updated 03:00 22.09.2015) Get
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Right on the heels of the Occupy Wall Street movement’s
four year anniversary, activist group Anonymous has launched a new campaign
which they say outlines an “easy” way for the 99% to demonstrate their strength
and overcome the richest 1%.
The statement was released on Anonymous’ website,
with a video inviting people to join the peaceful revolution,
under the name "Black October." The group calls on
"ordinary people" to demonstrate their strength and independence
from wealthy banks by simply using cash instead of debit and
credit cards.
"US branches of Germany’s Deutsche Bank and
Spain’s Banco Santander have failed US Fed stress tests, while America’s
largest bank, Bank of America, is put on 'warning,'" the statement
reads. "How far can the ordinary people shoulder responsibility of a
failed private bank?"
A stress test, officially known as the Comprehensive
Capital and Analysis Review, is an annual assessment conducted by the US
Federal Reserve of a bank’s ability to “lend to households and businesses
even in times of stress.” It was introduced in the wake
of the 2008 financial crisis.
This year’s review found that both Deutsche Bank and Banco
Santander would fail to deal with "doomsday" scenarios such
as rising unemployment and plummeting house prices, while Bank
of America also has "certain weaknesses."
With "Black October," Anonymous asks people
to demonstrate their independence from such big banks.
The month-long campaign is outlined in Anonymous’
video and statement, inviting people to take their money out of bank
accounts and not to use their debit or credit cards.
"Show the Big Bankers that we don’t need their debit
cards, we don’t need their credit cards, we don’t need their loans, and we
don’t need them," Anonymous said. "Let’s show them that we are the
99% and we can beat them. It is that easy."
Driven by social and economic inequality, the Occupy
movement began on September 17, 2011 in Zuccotti Park in New
York’s Wall Street financial district. The movement was inspired
by anti-austerity protests in Spain, and saw thousands
of activists in hundreds of US cities coming together and
calling for policy reforms favoring 99% of Americans over the
richest and most powerful 1%.
© AFP 2015/ STAN HONDA
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