What would happen IF

[SmileyRose]

we all just cut up the cards and refused to pay the credit card bills?

we all just refused to pay the medical insurance company?

Every small business owner in the country refused to withhold federal taxes?

nobody showed up at the elections?

we all refused to shop in any big box store?

we all just refused to accept US currency and bartered instead?

What if we all, every damn one of us, defy the US government and their corporate overlords?

[Eric68601]

1. Easy

Those who are elderly and disabled would die for the simple fact that everyone can come to a consensus that people need helped, but when it comes down to helping, it will be a "NOPE, NOT ME, I HAVE MY OWN PROBLEMS."

[astral]

2. Think about people trying to live 'outside the system'

some can do it, but you know they are still dependent on the EXISTENCE of the system to even live outside of it. Really.

[Goldstein1984]

3. Or, what would happen if we all stopped being good little

corporate puppets and stopped consuming everything that isn't essential?

Or what if we all withdrew money from banks and transferred it to a credit union account?

Or what if someone with the nation's ear called a general strike?

What I think is that the majority of the nation, who are mostly sheople, would go on with business as usual.

[villager]

5. If everyone -- even on boards like this -- is too terrified to stop using credit cards, say

as a first initial step toward getting power back in their lives, then really, the other side doesn't need to lift a finger.

we are our own police. And we're doing a great job of keeping ourselves in line.

[Hannah Bell]

10. if non-essential spending stops, economic activity declines = deeper recession = more suffering.

under our present system of economic organization, the country in general can't "save" it's way out of a recession.

less spending = more people laid off/businesses bankrupt = less spending = more people laid off = vicious circle.

spend, don't spend, the people with the most money win either way.

[Goldstein1984]

21. I'm not being led to the slaughter that easily

We got thirty years of trickle-down bullshit because we let it happen.

I hope people watched the People Speak program on History Channel. Or read the book.

[cali]

15. I live a pretty non-consumer life, but I won't blast anyone who doesn't.

And I sure as fuck won't sneeringly call them all "good little corporate puppets".

[Goldstein1984]

19. Then we just go on enjoying life as it is

And I wasn't sneering

[FarLeftFist]

4. Anarchy in the U.S.

[EmeraldCityGrl]

6. As the economy unravels some of this will happen

as a consequence. People are already losing their ability to live on credit, tax revenue is lost due to unemployment
and the culture of corruption, bartering is gaining momentum on sites like Craigslist. The threads that hold the fabric
of a polite, law abiding society are unraveling.

[Louisiana1976]

9. +1

[galileoreloaded]

23. Understated by a factor of about 8. I do appreciate your upbeat phrasing! n/t

[Joe the Liberal]

7. Well then.....

the US government and their corporate overlords would just find some other way to control and suck everyone dry. They ALWAYS find a way, even in ways you never thought they could.

[BB1]

8. If, Then,

some corporate goose stepping cronies will shoot fifty people (and charge them with some bullshit like resisting arrest etc). The rest will pick up their CC's and start consuming like the good little puppies they're supposed to be.

Mind you, I don't own a CC. I don't own shit I don't need. Have no car, no tv, no expensive tools, no beach house, no Apple products. And I have no desire to own any of that. Like Buddha said: happiness is easy. You like the things you have, and you're happy not to have the things you cannot have.

Live up to your needs, don't let your needs dictate your wage.

[Cessna Invesco Palin]

11. Well...

we all just cut up the cards and refused to pay the credit card bills?

Then nobody would buy anything on credit even if they were responsible for it, and the credit card companies would come after you with bill collectors and they would win.

we all just refused to pay the medical insurance company?

Then they would all go bankrupt and nobody would have health care except for those on medicare and medicaid. And god help you if your child get's sick.

Every small business owner in the country refused to withhold federal taxes?

They'd have tax liens put on their businesses by the IRS and would be in very bad trouble.

nobody showed up at the elections?

Somebody will always show up at elections.

we all refused to shop in any big box store?

People would buy stuff on the internet like they do now.

we all just refused to accept US currency and bartered instead?

All trade would collapse and we could all go back to being serfs, like in the Good Old Days (TM)

What if we all, every damn one of us, defy the US government and their corporate overlords?

Then I would set up a business catering to those disillusioned by your failed utopia and become very rich indeed.

[fasttense]

12. That ain't going to work.

First, there are some serious repercussions to individuals who do what you describe.

Second, there is an easier way.

All you have to do is get out in the streets and protest bring your pitchforks and torches. Protest for a day, a month a year, whatever it takes. True the MSM will initially ignore you, but after awhile, they will not be able to resist a growing news story.

[cali]

13. what if dogs could speak Hungarian? What if lilacs smelled like skunks?

As my mother was given to say:

If ifs and ands were pots and pans and all the sea were ink, and all the trees were bread and cheese, what would there be to drink?

[zeemike]

14. Dangerous ideas like this must die.

Because it is a threat to the status quo and the power that wealth has in this country.
I am surprised that this is not >0.

But a general strike is what you want. and me too.

[cali]

16. this idea is about as dangerous as a fruit fly.

[zeemike]

18. unless you own an orchard.

And they do own the orchard.

[Echo In Light]

20. +1

[madokie]

17. I'd say most everyone of us would ultimately starve to death

[TwilightGardener]

22. I would barter, but I am without chickens and goats.

[Greyhound]

24. If only 15% of the sheeple did any of those things, except not voting,

the system would collapse. The parasites at the top of the pyramid are completely dependent on the cooperation of their victims to sustain them and their mechanism.

[zeemike]

25. Exactly n/t