Greed, corporate corruption and the rich taking advantage of the poor are being ushered out of America. Since Bank of America has disposed of its $5 per month fee to use a debit card, the Occupy Wall Street protesters can finally go home, right? One of the largest banks in the country, with more than $2 trillion in assets, has finally listened to its consumers. Specifically, co-chief operating officer David Darnell stated, “We have listened to our customers very closely over the last few weeks and recognize their concern.”

Meh. Aside from the fact that they probably won’t, if the news about the port at Oakland, Calif., is any indication, they probably shouldn’t stop caring just yet. One example of a bank getting rid of one fee because its customers were irate does not indicate a general trend. It does not mean the action can stop and that the people who care can go home again.

The same way political liberties are always in danger and must be exercised to be protected, social and economic freedom from control by others, including non-governmental actors, requires constant vigilance and action. Economics often informs political issues or serves as the basis for political action.

Consumer dissatisfaction and boycotts have even featured in America. They have even done so, tea party disdain for the Occupiers notwithstanding, in the context of the American Revolution. One response to the Townshend Acts of 1767, which taxed glass, paper, lead, paint and tea imports from Britain, was a non-consumption movement. Merchants in Boston voted to suspend its trade with Britain as well as other colonies that continued to trade with the British. Later, in 1774, the First Continental Congress passed a prohibition of trade with Britain.

Large-scale action by many individuals can have an effect. Movements led to beginning our own war to become our own country, and similar movements encouraged the adoption of civil rights legislation in the 1950s and 1960s. Peaceful protests over decades in India led to their independence in 1947. With enough people and the right message, groups of people can change the world even with all the odds stacked against them.

Politics doesn’t exist only on election day. There is a time and place to be political, especially in an extremely politicized world. But talking amongst yourselves about issues that affect us all, whether they be matters of government or society or economics, and making yourselves aware of those issues, is vital to securing any change.

Just don’t forget to eventually act on that discussion.