The Occupy movement (and the riots in the UK last summer) have demonstrated the power of social networking media to organise dissent; therefore I think it should be possible to organise crowd-sourced de-capitalisation of a well-chosen bank (such as Bankia in Spain): Civilisational collapse may be a long way off, but financial collapse would appear to be much closer; and civil disobedience might just be the final nail in its coffin.

In Requiem for a Species, Hamilton alludes to Sir Nicholas Stern’s description of climate change as “the greatest market failure in history”; and then adds his own judgement that it is also “a failure of modern politics”. However, I think our greatest problem as a species now, given these realities, is a failure of imagination: The Carbon Age is ending and with it too – in all probability – will go Capitalism also. What we need now is the faith to believe that we can do better; the belief that localism and sustainable societies need not necessitate a return to a feudalistic Dark Age. However, the longer we delay changing course, the more likely I think that unwanted destination becomes.

I share your belief that the “system cannot be reformed.” So, as someone once asked, “What is to be done?”

I have moved my account from the bank to a credit union. A small, almost insignificant act of rebellion. This will NOT block the Plutocrats because they still have too much money.

There are “barter systems” like “Ithaca Hours” that avoid the use of US money. Also insignificantly small.

There is the “occupy” movement. A good idea, but being successfully blocked across the country by local mayors and police forces. I don’t know what the future holds for them.

Any ideas would be appreciated.

The inflation target of the ECB is 2%, not 1%. And even that is indeed too low. Should be 4% (the de facto rate in the UK).

The juxtaposition of different concepts in succeeding sentences gave you an erroneous idea of what I said. I am sorry about that. You assumed I was still talking about inflation targets. Instead I was talking about the fact that throwing money at banks (“QE”), AS IT IS, does not insure that the money will get to the real economy to make real investments providing real jobs.

OK, maybe I will split in different paragraphs, and make clear that’s a different subject, related only by the same abject failure in providing money to the real economy.

Money supply thus provided does not have to cause inflation if, AS IT IS, it does not reach the real economy. And that is what we observe.

I will not add that an education in Basic Comprehension 101 is in order, because gratuitous insults do not a debate serve.
PA

“The inflation target of the European Central Bank, 1%, is way too low. The US Fed is just as bad, with its zero interest rate policy, which mostly serves its friends in the plutocracy. As it is, the zero interest rate policy does not provide money to the real economy, and other things need to be done.”

Near-zero interest rate is the target set by the Fed, however this is not to be confused with inflation. In fact, the argument should run counter, that a zero percent interest rate promotes higher inflation because in order to decrease the target interest rate, you increase money supply, which in turn increase prices (if you’re not producing more goods). An education in Economics 101 is in order

Why does the rest of Europe not copy Denmark? OK, let me rephrase this: Why did only Merkel copy, on an emergency basis, the Danish system? No se’. But that would be a crafty structural pan-European reform to do. Something Merkel would find hard to say nein about…
PA

I think the biggest impediment to widespread civil disobedience is people’s fears over job security (if that is they have one – it is likely to bring an end to my blogging if I am so lucky as to get a job). That is what is so insidious about Adrian Beecroft (a self-made plutocrat?) telling the UK government that they should make it easier for employers to dismiss employees: His subsequent assertion that anyone who objects must be a “socialist” merely confirms how warped his world view is.
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/politics/9283748/Socialist-Vince-Cable-not-fit-for-office-says-Adrian-Beecroft.html