Effective Direct Action against Barclays
Mr Countrymouse | 14.04.2011 19:39 | Tar Sands | Climate Chaos | Globalisation | Public sector cuts
A true story. A brief reminder for all anarchists with Barclays Bank accounts ("I would change it but it's all too difficult").
_Scene_
A sunny morning. A Barclays Bank in a minor university town somewhere in England.
_Characters_
Franchessica - a Barclays Bank cashier
Countrymouse - a Barclays Bank customer for the past 15 years
F - Good morning. How can I help you?
C - Hi, I'd like to transfer all my money out and close all my Barclays accounts.
F - All your Barclays accounts?
C - That's right. I have three of them. I'd like to transfer all the money from those into this account (shows piece of paper) and close all my Barclays accounts?
F - Okay sir, I need to confirm some details...
[dull bit containing personal details, edited for reasons of security and boringness, followed by much keyboard-tapping, then Franchesicca tries some small talk]
F - So, Mr Countrymouse, why are you closing the account?
C - (at a volume slightly louder than strictly necessary) - I read some stuff about Barclays, and about its wider social and environmental impact. It didn't seem very good. I thought about it for a while, and it just didn't seem very ethical for me to carry on being a customer here. It's not one thing in particular, Barclays just seem to have a fairly dodgy record on lots of things, so I don't want to be a part of it any more...
F (trying to change subject) - So why did you choose this other bank?
C - Because they don't fund arms manufacturers and weapons development businesses, they haven't invested in that Tar Sands extraction thing in Canada, they don't avoid paying tax, and don't pay multi-million-pound bonuses to their top-management. They don't support corrupt African dictators, they haven't helped build random dams all over the world, and they don't seem to behave like a bunch of bastards.
F - Okay. That's the transfer finished - you can review on the screen.
C - Thankyou Franchessica. I've been meaning to do that for ages, but never quite got round to it. It seems stupid for me to get so angry about all this stuff, but not take this really basic step to stop myself supporting it. I'm going to tell my friends and family to do the same.
F - (Smiles, says nothing)
C - I will take some of these free pens on my way out though. I'll use them to take notes at the next anti-cuts meeting.
A sunny morning. A Barclays Bank in a minor university town somewhere in England.
_Characters_
Franchessica - a Barclays Bank cashier
Countrymouse - a Barclays Bank customer for the past 15 years
F - Good morning. How can I help you?
C - Hi, I'd like to transfer all my money out and close all my Barclays accounts.
F - All your Barclays accounts?
C - That's right. I have three of them. I'd like to transfer all the money from those into this account (shows piece of paper) and close all my Barclays accounts?
F - Okay sir, I need to confirm some details...
[dull bit containing personal details, edited for reasons of security and boringness, followed by much keyboard-tapping, then Franchesicca tries some small talk]
F - So, Mr Countrymouse, why are you closing the account?
C - (at a volume slightly louder than strictly necessary) - I read some stuff about Barclays, and about its wider social and environmental impact. It didn't seem very good. I thought about it for a while, and it just didn't seem very ethical for me to carry on being a customer here. It's not one thing in particular, Barclays just seem to have a fairly dodgy record on lots of things, so I don't want to be a part of it any more...
F (trying to change subject) - So why did you choose this other bank?
C - Because they don't fund arms manufacturers and weapons development businesses, they haven't invested in that Tar Sands extraction thing in Canada, they don't avoid paying tax, and don't pay multi-million-pound bonuses to their top-management. They don't support corrupt African dictators, they haven't helped build random dams all over the world, and they don't seem to behave like a bunch of bastards.
F - Okay. That's the transfer finished - you can review on the screen.
C - Thankyou Franchessica. I've been meaning to do that for ages, but never quite got round to it. It seems stupid for me to get so angry about all this stuff, but not take this really basic step to stop myself supporting it. I'm going to tell my friends and family to do the same.
F - (Smiles, says nothing)
C - I will take some of these free pens on my way out though. I'll use them to take notes at the next anti-cuts meeting.
Mr Countrymouse
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