Big banks are everywhere. The banking industry has designed ways to expand their services at a huge cost to local communities, taking money out of these communities to be used by large central banks located elsewhere. The bank's local branch may be community based but the shareholders and owners all are outside of local communities. Branches extract money and send it to the central headquarters where local money is invested in big international deals that don't affect the community.

ibanklocally is trying to stop this.

Cash mobs have been adopted by communities and occupiers alike. Participants organize independently of the store's knowledge and flood it randomly with customers. The businesses that benefit from cash mobs are often agreed on by all participants. They tend to be examples of businesses that do more than sell items; they give back to the community and are actively involved. Each customer typically commits to spending a certain minimum, say 10 or 20 dollars. These micro-purchases, when completed en masse add up to a lot for a local business.

History

Part two of a two-part story. Click here to read part one.

For two years, community activists in Salmon Arm led the fight against a gigantic Smart!Centres development planned for an environmentally sensitive floodplain. In October 2008, after five nights of emotional public hearings at which hundreds of community members spoke passionately against the plan, the council voted down the development by the narrowest of margins.

With a three-three tie vote, it was a TKO.