There is something that people can do at a personal level, start an employee owned company. This allows you to make something like a firewall between you and the various predatory forces in the economy. Similar idea is a coop. but corporation gives you more flexibility. You can create company that has part of it's activity to provide services to members at reduced rates, by using buying power, bargaining power of bulk buying, &/or larger scale financing (lower rates). In other words, you can create company to do the things for your members that good government should be doing, but won't. If you have it together, you can start your own credit union or small bank, where legislation allows it. Think laterally.