Armed banks

These days, in many cities around the world, people are taking to the streets to demand peace. For Gaza, for Ukraine, and for all those places where war continues to destroy innocent lives.
Placards, flags, candles, clasping hands: a humanity calling for the silencing of weapons and a return to life. I looked at those squares and asked myself: "But what can I, in my own small way, really do?"

Because not everyone can participate in a demonstration, but that doesn't mean we can't do our part. Peace, like war, always arises from individual choices.
Years ago, I asked myself the same question. And the answer came from reading a book by Alessandro Sella, Dipende da noi. A book that also addressed a topic that was almost unknown to me at the time: armed banks. I read it in one sitting, and from that moment on, nothing was the same. I discovered that some banks—perfectly legal, but morally questionable—finance or manage operations related to arms exports. In practice, the money each of us keeps in the bank can end up, even if only indirectly, supporting the trade in weapons of war. A huge paradox: ordinary people who, unknowingly, contribute to the very thing they seek to stop.

In the book, Sella pointed to a website, banchearmate.org, where anyone can check if their bank is among those involved. I went there immediately. I typed in the name of my bank and found it in the list.
I remained silent, with a feeling of unease I couldn't ignore. I couldn't continue to speak about justice and respect knowing that, even in the smallest part, my money was fueling a system that was completely unfair.

So I decided to change. And I discovered that, in reality, doing so is much simpler than you think. Today, the law allows you to transfer your entire account, automatically and free of charge: balance, bills, transfers, salary, everything. You don't need to visit the branch ten times or sign countless pieces of paper. Just choose your new bank, and it will take care of everything in a few days.

And if the old bank were to obstruct—and it sometimes happens—the law also provides compensation for the customer. In practice, no one can stop you from moving your money where you think is best. It's a right, simple and clear. I chose Banca Etica, the only certified "unarmed" bank in Italy, which finances only social, cultural, and environmental projects. It's not an advertisement: it's a consistent choice.
Because since that day, I've felt I'm living a little more fairly, more in line with what I believe in.

And today, seeing the squares filled with people calling for peace, I felt the need to tell this story. Because peace isn't built with words or marches alone. It's built in everyday gestures, in silent choices, in those decisions that perhaps don't change the world on their own, but change us.

We can continue to demand an end to wars, and we must. But we can also begin to look inside our lives, to understand if, perhaps unwittingly, we're financing them.
Peace isn't bought, it's practiced. Every day, with choices that define who we are. And perhaps, among those choices, there's also this one: deciding that our money will never again be used to build weapons, but to build hope.

Max Laudadio
NP November 2025