A Message From Occupied Wall Street (Day Four)
Posted 13 years ago on Sept. 21, 2011, 11:08 a.m. EST by easilydistr
This is the fourth communiqué from the 99 percent. We are occupying Wall Street.
On September 20th, 2011, we were awoken by police bullhorns around seven in the morning, they objected to us protecting ourselves from the rain. They told us that the tarps suspended above us had to be taken down. We held a General Assembly to determine how to respond. We decided that we would hold the tarps over ourselves and our possessions. The police ripped the plastic away from us. We then scrambled to protect our possessions, primarily the media equipment streaming our occupation to the world. The police were also mostly interested in our cameras, it seems like they don't want you watching us.
Before we say more about what happened to us it seems important to point this out: we do not think the police are our enemy. They have jobs, how could we fault them for that, when one sixth of America lives in poverty? when one sixth of America can't find work? The police are part of the 99 per cent.
The police informed us that the tarps over our equipment counted as a tent, and were therefore illegal. We objected to this interpretation of the law. One of us sat on top of the tarp to keep the police from extralegally removing our possessions. This is what happened next - it is graphic:
In the first video you can clearly see a senior police officer hurling a protester face first toward the ground. Luckily the protester's blow was cushioned, but that didn't keep him from cutting his mouth, jaw, and arms.
In the second video police drag a protester across the ground, cutting his hands. You can clearly hear a police officer say that the young man will receive medical attention – in spite of this, it was our medics who bandaged him when he was released. Later, you can see the police deny a young man an inhaler during an asthma attack which the crowd explains may kill him.
After these events the police continued pressuring protesters with extralegal tactics by stating that a protester on a bullhorn was breaking a law. The protester refused to cease exercising his first amendment rights and was also arrested. Then the police began to indiscriminately attempt to arrest protesters, many unsheathing their batons, in spite of the protest remaining peaceful. In the end the police arrested seven of our members, holding five without charge for more than twelve hours. Liberato's Pizza graciously offered to donate 20 pizzas for every hour a protester was held without charge.
In spite of these gross occurrences, we had work to do. After the abrupt end of our General Assembly we split ourselves into our normal working groups, and went about our tasks. Our outreach group organized a community march for Thursday at five in the afternoon. Our food group organized a group dinner. Our arts and culture group lifted our depressed and insulted mood. Our media outreach group was very busy.
Around three in the afternoon we reconvened our General Assembly. There was a brief discussion on how the Assembly worked due to the new members that were among us. We work as an ordered democratic body that passes proposals through a modified-consensus. Anyone can speak, but there is a list, we call it a stack. Our stack isn't first come first serve – socially marginalized voices are given priority. We use hand signals to express assent (wave your hand high), dissent (wave your hand low), points of process (make a triangle with your forefingers and thumbs), and blocks (make an X with your forearms). A point of process indicates a query or an objection, or, rarely, a valued interruption. A block is used to indicate that the Assembly is disobeying its principles. A block voices its principled objection and the Assembly votes again, a vote of 90%+1 can overturn a block.
The General Assembly heard many proposals, here are some that were approved: the trade union group will attend a meeting with the Teamsters; the arts and culture group are organizing a benefit concert to be held in two or three weeks; our outreach group is heading to marginalized communities; next Saturday is devoted to you, to us, the 99 percent. We also came to consensus on how to respond to the morning's police aggression.
At 4:30 we stood in solidarity with Troy Davis, an innocent man that the state of Georgia wants to murder today. We were joined by the International Action Center.
Afterward we heard a rousing speech from one of our released members, and then broke bread together. At seven we reconvened our General Assembly, which lasted until nine. Among other things, we designated talking spaces and quiet spaces, and we solidified our schedule. We're still here. We intend to stay until we see movements toward real change in our country and the world.
We speak as one. All of our decisions, from our choice to march on Wall Street to our decision to continue occupying Liberty Square in spite of police brutality, were decided through a consensus based process by the group, for the group.
If they touch one, touch us all, kisses and force from 15M Barcelona Spain
"We do not think the police our our enemy". This seems naive. Didn't they chip your friend's tooth? Until they defect and join in the occupation, it seems to me that the police represent the very powers that this occupation is fighting: the corporate class.
The Police are not the enemy, they are not in the one percent, they are the people in the 99% that the 1% tasks with defending their interests. If a dog bites you, would you say that because the dog attacked a protester the dog is the enemy? Police should be treated with respect, tact and empathy, and any hate in them for the protesters should be eroded wisely, it should be made clear to the police that the protesters think they are part of the 99%, start with this little trick, ask them if they would like some coffee, psychologically erode their will to hate you. Best regards from Argentina.
My posts are being deleted from this server. This is a repost.
The police are the armed fist of the capitalist class. They exist to defend the capitalists and their private property from the working people. This is true in EVERY capitalist country and always has been and always WILL be. The working class can be likened to an army. If an army isn't taught to distinguish enemy troops from friendly troops - that army will surely be defeated. The cops are the front-line soldiers of the enemy class. As you have seen during their attacks against your camp, the cops are NOT neutral.
Read this: http://marxists.org/archive/marx/works/1848/communist-manifesto/index.htm I know it may seem outdated to you, and in some ways it is. But the Manifesto is still to this day one of the most basic weapons the working people have that enables us to understand the fundamental nature of capitalist society. Any worker who hasn't taken the time to study this brief pamphlet is like a babe in the woods, unable to understand the world around him. Which side are you on? The side of the Workers or the side of the Capitalists? The cops and courts and armed forces are on the side of the capitalist class. You can not expect the cops to defend the right of working people to successfully wage class warfare against the capitalist class. To believe otherwise is to set yourself up for a massive defeat.
Workers of the World, Unite!
Varlet
Comparing a dog biting someone to police abusing their power and authority is comparing apples to oranges.
Its a fair comparison between animals, the angry dog and the abusive police both doing what they do.
People have more ability to reason and rationalize. A dog's goal is to protect itself..... period. A dog doesn't have an ulterior motive to say, be paid off by the criminals, like people might. So, it is not the same thing.
So, are you OK with the police brutalizing citizens and taking away their Constitutionally-granted right to peaceably assemble and protest? The police are going ABOVE the law and using unwarranted force. Is that OK with you? If you are OK with that, then it's no different than supporting the very criminals whom these protesters are protesting.
People who go above the law in this manner deserve NO respect.
I'm definitely Not OK with that, but them being the enemy doesn't depend on me being ok with what they do or not..
The reason why I say that they should be treated with respect is not that they deserve it, its more of a tactical respect.
Saying that they are the enemy does not mean I'm advocating violence of any kind. When someone goes against your rights and threatens your safety and well-being and is going above the law, then they become the enemy. The protesters need to find a way to "fight" (not physically) the abuse of the police officers. They need to communicate with the NY State Governor, the NY State Attorney General, etc. They need to keep posting video and photographs of the evidence of the police violence not only on here but everywhere.
I still don't agree with your dog biting and police brutality analogy. Dogs bite when they feel threatened or are being attacked. The police are attacking without cause. Furthermore, people are supposed to have more reasoning ability.
The analogy mean that a police dog is ordered to bite someone. A police officer is likewise ordered to harass and arrest people without just cause. Police officers are unionized government employees, so they will not lose their jobs as long as they follow orders and perform whatever their ordered duty may be. Most of them agree with our cause, but there is not enough momentum for them to risk their jobs and families' likelihoods by joining us. But once the momentum is strong enough that their direct superiors start questioning orders from higher up, the police will stand by our sides. This is exactly what happened in Egypt, though not until some protestors were killed. It is a risk we have to take. But the police officers are not billionaires. They aren't in charge of anything. Just like their dogs.
Also, if the cops would stand together as one and refuse to follow orders to abuse and be brutal and to arrest people for petty reasons, the higher ups wouldn't be able to do anything. If ALL stood together and protested the demands, then they'd beat them. Would they be able to fire all of the NYPD??? And I'd bet that the Wall St. cronies are the ones calling the shots on this.
If one continues to keep a job that forces them to abuse others, then they have their priorities messed up. I don't care what they situation is.
Technically, in a capitalist society, there isn't a job that you can have where you aren't causing someone else to suffer.
But not every job forces you to beat someone. I'm talking about people physically (and emotionally, as well) beating others for no reason, as the cops are doing. I wouldn't exactly say that people suffer from every job that everyone does.
So, police brutality is a part of that? If I was ordered by my boss to beat someone without reason, I'd quit my job..... because the job just wouldn't be worth it.
Javier mentioned a dog biting someone. He didn't say a thing about a police dog. Those are two totally different things. And even if a police dog was ordered to bite someone, for no reason, the cops STILL are the enemy.... because they are the ones who train the dogs and then order them to do things.
"Only with the realization that, what we share with our enemy is greater than what divides us, can peace ever be won."
I agree totally. The police ARE the enemy because of what they're doing.
You can not hate someone, because they are doing what they have to do to provide for thier families. this is about peace, not hate. they do what they do out of fear of not being able to do what they need to. think with your heart, not your fists.
And as stephencm said, it's the cops who are being violent.
I don't think anyone's advocating beating up the cops. That would be tough, 'cuz they're all armored up. It is naive to think that they are going to support a people's movement just because they have to put food on the table.
Who said anything about hating anyone? The police are BRUTALIZING citizens who are peaceably protesting, which is a right our Constitution grants us.... and the cops are denying that right. That makes the NYPD the enemy.
Is it OK for the NYPD to brutalize citizens and to deny them of their Constitutional rights, in the name of providing for their families? That IS the issue here. If you would've read ALL comments, you would have gotten that.
In any case, it's typically the cops who get violent.
Do you remove comments that are against your cause?
cough cough Testing, 123... UP WITH WALL STREET! waits to judge democracy levels
I expressed my own thoughts on the demonstrations here: http://www.thepopulista.com/?p=217
We're with you, even if we can't be with you. Keep your spirits up, and keep it peaceful!
We need to occupy Attorney General Beau Biden's office and demand he Revoke BP's Corporate Charter. BP has one of the worst safety track records of any major oil company operating in the United States, I really believe that demanding that the Attorney General stand up for our Country and rid us this one horrible Corporation would be at least a step in the direction we all want.
yes
From Barcelona: the police is our enemy in the inviction of catalonia square in 27th may 2011 (see youtube videos please). The police is our enemy because protects de 1%.
My Demands:
Politicians will never be able to accept donations (or any other form of money) from bankers or corporations that have been involved in fraud, fines for illegal behavior, slave labor or externatlities. All money must be donated from the 99%.
The federal reserve shall no longer be a separate entity owned by a group of bankers. The Government and American people shall control the bank system.
Do away with the "loan system."
Corporations will have limitations. They cannot outsource more than 50% of their jobs. Also, monopolies will be limited. They cannot just go into towns and destory all of the competition by using sheer numbers, size and improper buisness practices (wall mart).
The tax system needs to be redone. It needs to be simeple, so that even a high school graduate can understand it.
If a corporation is involved in corrupt or illegal activities, their assets and investments can be frozen for up to 5 years. No OPERATION.
No bailouts. Let them fall... Rebuild a better system.
V
Yes, it is a start, but I say no outsourcing, no illegal aliens; not now, not while so many citizens need work.
Undocumented people have had their countries destroyed by US capitalism. I say, welcome economic refugees and fight against corporate globalization.
It is true corporations destroy countries everywhere...but American CITIZENS should not pay the price with the loss of THEIR jobs, it is the corporations who should pay, not innocent Americans.
Yep. The U.S. has its hands everywhere, literally. It and its corporate scum buddies even are in South America taking control of its water supply, so that it and its scum buddies can make billions off of it and control it.
It is time that Americans took America back from corrupt politicians, lobbyists and greed driven corporations who take their $$ and work overseas. What you are doing is what we did in the 60's it takes courage, stamina and facing fear to stand up to the intimidation that you encounter. Our prayers are for your success - each day this can be seen. It it up to the rest of us sitting at home in our comfortable chairs in front of the ever brainwashing tube to get up and make a call or email or send a letter to those who can make a difference. Tell them ENOUGH IS ENOUGH it is time to WORK FOR THE PEOPLE! Or move out the door and join in -- Stand firm, stand tall with courage!!
Those congressional offices get thousands of emails a day run by hand picked naive young interns who barely know their left from right. It is going to take media coverage that the whole world sees to make DC take notice. And the media is run by the corrupt corporations.
I thought you guys were staying on a privately owned park? Isn't it up to the owner of said land to decide whether you can erect tents or not?
I'd like this answered too.
We are the Wall Street Protestors. Existence, as you know it, is over. We will add your Fiscal and technological distinctiveness to our own. Resistance is futile."
I predict the future happiness for Americans if they can prevent the government from wasting the labors of the people under the pretense of taking care of them. ~Thomas Jefferson~
why aren't our posts in chronological order?? Fix this!
Honestly, I love that we're channeling the French Revolution =)
Who is the enemy? Try watching some of these "reality" police programs and you may get your answer. On a "Border patrol" episode, there was a person trying to cross with a group of other individuals and the spotlight found him, he sat down halfway down a hill and weighted to be taken into custody. Flash back to the border control officers and one of them said to let him go and deal with it. We then go back to this person siting on the hill and suddenly from out of the shadows this officer leaps onto this person from behind and the two of them tumble and roll to the bottom of this hill and this person that was sitting quietly had to be taken away in a stretcher as he wasn't able to move on his own. Then we flash back to the officers all giving out Hight fives, and the Hight flying officer glowing in his glory. ( I was sickened ). And a " Police 5 " program of normal police officers getting ready for their shift summed up their Job as " Us against Them " Them being anyone who doesn't work for the Police, Army, or any form of " Law enforcement ". They know who their enemy is!!!
Hello there, speaking as a non American who had not even heard of your protest till a few minutes ago, could someone help me out and explain exactly what you are protesting about? It all seems a bit vague and imprecise. What are your complaints, what are your suggestions to change them and why do you need to occupy Wall Street?
Dear Occupy Wall St.,
I've been following the coverage and I feel what you're doing sends a great message.
My only question as it stands right now is: What is your proposed answer for the changes you seek? I can't find a manifesto, or FAQ or anything on this site.
anyone?
It just sickens me. If the police would leave us to exercise our rights peacefully, there would be no violence, no crimes. The police show up and start shoving people around and create the environment that they're supposed to prevent. It's absolutely absurd!
Who is writing these communiques? Is it Media? Who decided that the police are not an enemy? A significant minority of us, at least, seem to think that they are the most immediate enemy.
Thats what you get for resisting arrest, dude deserved it for acting stupid. When a cop tells you something, comply politely and you wont get hit, then let the lawyers and jury sort it out. If you want people to follow you, focus on an issue and stop making out these stoner idiots to be martyrs.
Police officers have families and house payments, the last thimg theyre looking for is a fight. Stop making their job difficult by having to babysit you, there is real crime on the street.
The Movement needs to spread ot the other burroughs... Post Occupy Wall St banners in the Subway trains and stations: over 2million+ people ride the MTA daily. You brave citizens are inpiritation to us all.
Solidarity from Los Angeles
The Movement needs to spread ot the other burroughs... Post Occupy Wall St banners in the Subway trains and stations: over 2million+ people ride the MTA daily. You brave citizens are inpiritation to us all.
Solidarity from Los Angeles
Wish I could be there but it's a long walk from Houston and the wife and kids would miss the little I contribute to our existence.
That said, I am behind you 150% keep up the good fight, and keep doin' it right :)
I try to share it in Brasil, with my blog: http://quevenhaabaixo.blogspot.com/2011/09/occupy-wall-street-st-sept-17th.html :) But in 15 octuber I'll go to street too!
Watching from Paris, France. The world is watching your phenomenal progress.
Thank you, and all of the people watching us internationally! We appreciate it!
I'm from Croatia and I give full support for the Occupiers. Something has to be done with a loose capitalism and it's not stimulus nor minor tax change. We in Croatia also have problems with the government representing only rich and the police who protects them. Check this http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y1A8GUbGzB8 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_a7B8wg7Rzk http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gj-8hqKvAm8 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WVxfY4BeYFs
I thought that USA police cannot be so blatantly misemploymed.
Liberatos Pizza Thank You for Your Order We have received your order. Your order number is 4326. Delivery Instructions: Greets from New Zealand. Hope the guy with grazed hands from the police drag gets some.
Go back to Brooklyn you are not welcome in this neighborhood
There's been an app made for us to help us get and share the things we need to keep this thing going.
http://www.reddit.com/r/occupywallstreet/comments/klf3w/protesters_a_web_app_has_been_built_for_you/
http://jordanarsenault.com/occupywallstreet-demo/
You are making history. Don't stop. Love is better than hate. Keep following your conscience.
in tahrir square, in barcelona, in madrid, everywhere: the police have been the enemy of the occupation.
y'all need to recognize this so you can be successful. all my love and solidarity! keep it going!
This is a MiiU page I'm making about Camping Protests as a resource for people in Liberty Plaza and similar protests, feel free to add to it. http://miiu.org/wiki/Camping_Protest
This entire campaign should be focused on pushing the "Buffett Rule" to pass. It's stuck. Just sitting there. No one wants to move it along because the wealthy don't want to pay higher taxes.
Do you want a share of America or not? Do you want to remain under the hold of bureaucrats that coddle corporations and do their biddings?
GET ORGANIZED. GET INFORMED. GET ACTIVE. Only 5 to 10 percent of voters ever contact legislators, which is why even small groups of advocates can make a difference.
Is "Occupy Wall St." just a publicity stunt or just a reason to skip school? How about making it matter? YOU can make this movement matter.
Do you think the government honestly cares that you're sleeping outside (for a few nights or even months)? Wake up. There's 73K homeless in Los Angeles. The government doesn't care about them either.
you're thinking too small. you say the entire movement should be helping Obama pass the Buffett Rule, and also point out the 73K homeless in LA. well, the buffett rule is not going to do anything for them.
how about a moratorium on foreclosures, refinancing every mortgage at current interest rates, and taking all empty homes away from banks and giving them away to those who need them? that'd be a start...
Don't forget, Obama voted for the bank bail outs and appointed the very architects of deregulated financial markets - douchebags like Geitner and Larry Summers, and now former GE CEO Jeffery Immelt, whose company employs twice as many people overseas as they do American workers AND paid no tax in 2010.
As far as I'm concerned he's made it very clear whom he serves, and it isn't the 99%.
I agree with you. I was surprised to find this out while watching "Inside Job". All the presidents are crooks. Clinton did a lot of harm, too.... along with all of the Republicans.
Clinton was awful - the 1933 Glass-Steagall Act was repealed under his Presidency, which directly paved the way for the financial crisis. Not to mention NAFTA was promoted by him and passed as well.
Both Republicans AND Democrats are bought and paid for and we should not look to them for solutions. Corruption is bipartisan.
I think most will agree that our economic system is not working and needs to be redesigned. Seeing as homelessness is caused by multiple reasons - there's isn't one simple solution to it.
I pointed out the homelessness to emphasize a point. I don't believe this movement is well organized. Sleeping on Wall St, isn't action. I live in NYC and I know tonight, I'm going to talk to every homeless person I see and ask them nicely to relocate to Wall St. Putting a real face on America's poverty is something worthy of this cause.
The Buffett Rule would be a change in the correct direction. From my understanding the citizens of Occupy Wall St, don't like being stuck under corporate greed.
That's a good idea. More numbers!
The protesters are doing more than just sleeping on the streets. They are organizing now. I think it's a great idea to ask the homeless to relocate to Wall St.
Peaceful protest is good. If you can make it for a few weeks is great, but the best way to change something is to make a brave an unexpected move. Indeed, occupying wall street (the stock exchange) is that terrible move who can change everything. You need to break inside building and occupying it. But not before ten of thousands people join your protest. More people are needed. A number of 100.000 or more is necessary. Lets show the world what means 99 percent. Be strong, we will prevail.
ANYONE who is looking to go to Wall Street should look into the FB page Carpool to #Occupy Wall Street. If you are already planning to go, there are people who have money for gas but no ride. If you have money for gas, this may help you find a ride!
Mainstream media is not covering this - how to make that happen? The media did the same with the Tea Partyers in the beginning, even their huge march on DC was not covered well. The media is doing the same with the open border and the cartels hiring Hezbollah to dig under it. Understand, that diverse groups are screwed by the corruption of the State and corporations which run it. The Tea Party got highjacked because there was a vacuum of power. But at the grass roots, all are saying, "enough is enough."
Realize that at these roots are both the left and the right not involved with corporations. Be INCLUSIVE, not exclusive and you will succeed. As a young adult of the 60s, all this is recognizable. The reason the VietNam War ended was because of Inclusion at the grass roots: the left protested and the right followed to say, "enough is enough."
I think change will happen faster this time around, not as many people are fooled now.
Hopefully the Bull statue on Wall Street starts Shitting soon.
Hahahahahaha!!!
LA organizing it's own occupation in support of NYC's OWS by http://tinychat.com/tr7ah
Please spread the word. We're here for the same reasons. We'll be setting up our site soon...
http://occupywallstreet.bbnow.org/ southern california - occupy wall street
The United States where built on protesting unfair tax procedures. Its the same with this, just in a different light. Its time for the country to step forward and voice its concerns. Its time for a revolution. Its time for America to become America again. I applode all of you, my brothers and sisters.
The Movement needs to spread ot the other burroughs... Post Occupy Wall St banners in the Subway trains and stations: over 2million+ people ride the MTA daily. You brave citizens are inpiritation to us all. Solidarity from Los Angeles
The Movement needs to spread ot the other burroughs... Post Occupy Wall St banners in the Subway trains and stations: over 2million+ people ride the MTA daily. You brave citizens are inpiritation to us all. Solidarity from Los Angeles
"Before we say more about what happened to us it seems important to point this out: we do not think the police are our enemy."
And that is why this will fail.
The police are our enemy. Whinging that 'well they need jobs too' is pathetic. The jobs they chose are as the armed thugs of the capitalist state. They are no different to some hood back in the 30's who became an enforcer with the Mafia because there were no other jobs, except they have formal uniforms.
Their job, is to beat you, arrest you, terrorise you into being compliant. Being our enemy is their job.
If the police is not showing any respect for you, why should you show any respect for them? The police is the force used by the System against you. If you don't counter the force in anyway, you will lose and the System will prevail.
It's time to get behind the only honest and consistent through all his political career presidential candidate. He is for abolishing the Fed like President Jackson did in the 1800's. The Fed, which is run by the biggest banks and answers to noone, is one of the root causes of our problems. If you want real change and not more of the same - read about Ron Paul!
What can we do in NC?
Hopefully the Bull statue on Wall Street starts Shitting soon.
I just wish these protesters understood economics and global economies.
These banks that your protesting can rebase their HQ anywhere in the world, they leave the US and you get NO taxes from them, oh and queue the next depression.
The country's in a sad state yes...but instead of complaining about it, has anyone though of solutions??
We are not getting any taxes from any of the corporations now. Who was it? Feld? of Lehman? who made $370 to 480 Million!!! in bonuses and paid no taxes. Let them go overseas, then they have less standing to run the country. This molly-coddling of 'too big to fail' is one of the major problems. If the Feds had given each adult US citizen $1 Million dollars in '09, all the mortgages would have been paid off and millions of businesses started with the economy full steam ahead. IT WOULD HAVE BEEN CHEAPER than bailing out the banks or Obama's impotent (no) jobs stimulus (road work jobs of which went to illegal aliens since the contracts were with Fed. insiders). The problem is the government is tied to its sycophants and not only will not give any power to its citizens, but does not trust its own citizens, .
Obama's job plan could cost up to 300 billion. Divide that by the American population of 300 Million. You get 1 thousand dollars to each American. ...$999,000 short of a million. So it's actually 99.9% cheaper.
Furthermore lets look at history, the Irish in the early 1900's we're the 'Mexicans' of their era, many died even building bridges, skyscrapers, tunnels and railroad, that can in part be credited to saving our country from the great depression. With that said I've got no problem with people coming to our country to work, this is after all the 'land of opportunity'.
And it's not the ones coming here from other countries who are bankrupting this country. The people who come here work, pay taxes, spend, etc.
Here is an article about Chinese immigrants to America... another group that was hated, harassed, oppressed, etc....
http://library.thinkquest.org/20619/Chinese.html
If you read the article, you'll find the same claims being made today by people against Mexican immigrants as they did back then against Chinese immigrants.
$300 billion ain't enough to jump-start garbage.
It is the eroding of Law that has everyone, most pointedly the corporations, thinking laws don't matter and they can be broken by the "me" excuse. It is not right to do allow jobs be given ILLEGALLY. The Irish entered legally, big difference.
This occupation is based on the fact that this is no longer the Land of Opportunity, even for the highly educated.
It might be the eroding of the law, but it isn't the immigrants' fault. "Illegal immigrants" is not the correct term, either. It's very inaccurate. And the jobs that the immigrants are doing are not jobs that most Americans will or want to do. These immigrants ARE NOT taking away higher paying jobs that require education beyond high school.
Agreed!
RE: immigration, I blame NAFTA, the people who voted for it and signed it, and the companies that pushed for it.
Thanks to NAFTA, subsidized maize, grain and rice from the US has flooded the market of Central American and Carribean nations like Mexico and Haiti - their farmers are no longer able to feed their families and they feel they have no choice but to work in the US, whether or not they have documentation.
I saw a documentary on this. How sad it is.
The 2008 financial meltdown wasn't an accident or an "ooooops, we shouldn't have done that" situation. It ALL was planned.
I take it you have hard evidence for such an accusation.
Have you seen "Inside Job"? You sound like a supporter of the Wall Street criminal trash.
I didn't know it was a characteristic of 'criminal trash to ask for documentation behind claims that would other wise be considered libel. Moving on, no I have not seen "Inside Job," would you care enough about you cause to highlight a few key points?
the repeal of glass stegall for one. the creation of the derivatives market for two. should i go on?
hedgefunds
How about we (our legislators) put back in the place the regulations that kept this from happening for 40 years??? The financial meltdown of 2008 happened with the banks at the helm after every president since and including Reagan deregulated the financial sector more and more. And the financial meltdown is the result.
This has to do with a LOT MORE than who is and isn't paying taxes.
I'm listening, what regulations do you think should be reinstated?
ALL OF THEM.... DUH!!!!
I'm asking because I'm genuinely interested in what you have to say. I wanted to give you the chance to enlighten some people, myself included about what policies you think would be beneficial to our economy and in turn the American public.
Opinions aside, protests are not about hate nor anger but rather getting your point across to people who otherwise wouldn't listen. If you want to make a change then I'd suggest you have something intelligent to state when the time comes, other than just shouting deregulation.
So you can ignore this, hurl some more insults my way, or enlighten me to your cause, tell me and anyone reading this how we can fix the mess that our economy is in.
Do I have to name all of the regulations? I don't know of the specific policies that were in place but know they were there before all of this happened. They were created after the Great Depression. They kept the country from going into economic collapse for 40 years until Reagan started the age of regulation. I'm sure anyone can find them if they try. Since they worked for so many years and deregulating them and letting greedy scum do what they want to cause an economic collapse, they should be reinstated. And corporate pandering to politicians and vice versa needs to stop as well.
Glass-Steagall is the key. It separated commercial and investment banking. Clinton repealed it at the behest of Larry Summers, Obama's top economic adviser for the first two years of his administration. If Glass-Steagall was in place, Goldman Sachs could not have legally gotten a bailout since the rules governing commercial and investment banks were separate. Blurring the line allowed them to get the special treatment designed to save ma-and-pa's deposits.
Right. I just read up on it. It undid a lot of the regulations that were in place since the 1930s which kept this type of thing from happening.
Fair enough, and please don't mistake my intentions, I agree with this movement more than my comments would lead you to believe. I'm challenging responses because if people just rally and don't understand the details, the media will put you in front of a news camera and make you look like fools, and in the end the rally will have done more harm than good. So please, you have the right idea, do some more studying about the subject, and yes you should know specific names of bills, laws, and treatys, then when the camera is in your face, shove an educated opinion down their throats.
Good luck to you all, I've spent more than my lunch break going back and forth and must get back to the grind.
I apologize for my negative comments toward you. If you don't explain yourself, you can sound like someone who's trolling. I agree that people must understand the details and have focus.
I found out a lot of the info from "Inside Job", the documentary about the financial collapse. I haven't had time to look up a lot of details. I did find this, however...
http://motherjones.com/politics/2008/05/foreclosure-phil
I meant "the age of deregulation".
Let's start with Glass-Stegall. But while we're wishing for things that aren't ever going to happen, I'd like a pony, too.
Look, the governing institutions are bought and paid for by these financial institutions and large corporations. They aren't going reinstate anything because it's not the interest of the class that they serve. This is why we're taking to the streets - we have no other way of being heard. We have no representation. As a class and as a generation we are getting screwed and we are tired of it.
Solution?
Simply a more just way of distributing the wealth. You will not get that unless you protest.
So the 'evil' people at the top protested to get their wealth?
Or did they work towards a solution.
He's absolutely right. This movement needs a definite plan of action with both short- and long-term goals. We can all agree on the theme: our culture revolves around competition-based socioeconomic exchange systems and, in order for humanity itself to survive, has to develop into a cooperative socio-economic model. But what are the specific goals, both short-term and long-term? What is the concrete strategy in achieving them? Are these strategies and goals completely mainstream? The theme certainly is. The emotion behind it is shared by the 99% and then some. How are we going to bring in mainstream participation and galvanize our message? These issues have to be addressed if anything real and lasting is going to happen.
We're talking about the ones who STOLE IT FROM THE PEOPLE, moron.
Thanks for clarifying that, you'll have to pardon my ignorance.
yes to stealing, no to moron.
You really think Jamie Dimon is going to move to some Third World country if they bring back Glass-Steagall? Europe has (somewhat) more strict banking rules than the U.S. and not one of them has packed up and left. Iceland even defaulted on its debt and now they have much higher economic growth because they rejected austerity which is already causing severe economic contraction in Greece and the U.S. -www.planetanarchy.net
You've already stated you wish these protesters understood economics and global economies.... you mean the ones where the people in control can steal and get away with it and then cause and economic collapse?
No I mean economy, regardless of who's in charge; You know, trade, exports, and imports.
Iceland also had a financial meltdown (I believe theirs happened before ours did), because of deregulation of their banks and financial sector and the privatization of their banks.
There's a common theme here.
I'm all for a "Traitor Tax" in response: any company that wishes to move its HQ elsewhere for the sake of dodging taxes doesn't get to do business with American consumers unless they pay a pretty heavy tariff.
Sure, it's a global economy, but we're a big player, and these fuckers do not want to piss us off. Either they play by fair rules and accept their responsibilities in exchange for the gains they receive, or they forfeit and make way for other businesses who are willing to do as we ask.
Stop kowtowing to them despite absolutely wretched behavior.
And what happens if they call our bluff, cause a economic meltdown, a huge depression and then no one, including the 'traitors' will have any reason to do business with Americans.
Like it or not this is a global economy and we are just a part of it, and definitely not as big a part as we were in the past. We can't just ignore that, we have to trouble shoot and give businesses a reason to want to do business in American, while still passing the benefits of those businesses being in our country down to the rest of the population, in the forms of jobs and revenue.
Who's bluffing? Things can certainly get worse, but they're definitely not getting any better with us sat here, thumbs up our asses. We're just about on the verge of a meltdown now, and I'm afraid that's probably what it's going to take to get the rest of the hundreds of millions involved who still marginally have just enough to keep plodding along, poked at by the "personal responsibility!" crowd who have shushed them into never asking anything for themselves, or asking for better treatment.
If you build an entire empire on the backs of people who are now sick of bearing the load, and they move to get out from under it, things are going to be upended and destroyed. That's just the way of it. We can either be cowards and find a more "status quo friendly" way to do it, or we can start doing things like the occupation and grow from there.
Since they don't want an equitable, mutually beneficial agreement (and I think a Traitor tax IS that -- you gain vast wealth, you share it, or you go away -- but good luck getting anyone else to see it), it's either to be us under their bootheels, or them under ours. I think 99% are in the latter camp.
I don't make a habit of saying any bill is right or wrong because the fact is they all have consequences, just like everything in life, so I'm not going to say you're wrong, I just hope you understand the repercussions of what you're suggesting.
And furthermore I like the illustration of building an empire, and allow me to sub in the word country, on the backs of people. How else does a country or empire get built, someones always going to be at the bottom, we just have to try and do our best to help them. If everyone made the same money and wealth was spread evenly this would be a communist state, and while that sounds like a good idea in theory, it doesn't work, its been tested by history time and time again. Why would I spend years of my life to become a doctor when I could make the same money and have more time to enjoy it, being a janitor.
I feel like this movement is on the right track but tearing down the whole system and rebuilding isn't the answer, IMO. I think doing what you propose would be a flash point in crashing our economy and bringing the country to it's knees to the point of true civil war. And some may say, then bring on the war 'viva la revolution', and to those people I say this isn't France in the 1700 where people had muskets and swords and you faced your enemy face to face. This is the age of mass murdering weapons that can wipe entire cities of the map with the press of a button...War is not the answer, reason is.
are you suggesting there was a lack of doctors in communist states? http://www.smh.com.au/news/world/impoverished-cuba-sends-doctors-around-the-globe-to-help-the-poor/2006/10/27/1161749315614.html see why communism gets ruined and by who?
No I'm saying that "Why would I spend years of my life to become a doctor when I could make the same money and have more time to enjoy it, being a janitor"
This whole occupy wall st movement is because the distribution of money isn't fair, you can't fix that by making the distribution of work unfair.
Whole systems can be torn down and rebuilt gradually, with short-term goals leading up to long-term ones. Change doesn't have to be one large catastrophe with the positive results being dug up from the fallout.
I 100% agree, I just think before people start rallying they should have a set of benchmarks or a plan to do get to the long term goal.
Whether or not it becomes war, however, is up to them. This is a peaceful demonstration, and from what I've seen (I'm not clairvoyant), it is intended to remain peaceful. Whether or not it becomes violent is most likely going to have to do with Wall Street itself -- already, police are making spurious arrests on charges they had to dig back to 19th century statutes to levy, no doubt at the behest of the suits who simply don't want to deal with it.
There are measures going through legislation that could make things better. Again, if they want reasonable resolution, they've got the power to make it so. That's exactly the point -- THEY have the power as long as we're complicit, because with everything they've amassed, power has been conferred upon them. They simply don't want the responsibility that naturally comes with it.
So, it's up to them. They can keep this from getting ugly. They can step aside and let the people decide they're not for corporate personhood. They can step aside and allow us to end the tax breaks for people who will still have millions to burn after the fact. They can help us raise up those on the very bottom rungs to the point where he at least has food on the table, a roof over his head and medicine when he's sick. I know there will always be layers in society and I'm not saying that everyone should have exactly the same things -- I'm saying, everyone should at least be able to live. If they want an education and better opportunities, they should have that; we should be proud to invest in our future workers. If they need doctors to take care of them, we should make sure they have that. If they need a job, we should be able to put them to work.
I don't think those things are luxuries. No one has proposed everyone have a yacht and a mansion apiece (or that such would even be possible). Just that Richie Rich doesn't get to buy his second private jet while thousands can't even afford to take a sick day or book a doctor's appointment. That simply is not moral, no matter how you slice it.
It's their choice now.
I don't think it's reasonable to expect people whose faulty decision-making led us to the social and economic crises we now face to suddenly start making good decisions just because the populace pressures them. We need to propose and launch our own solutions and realign the structure so that less flawed people are are in a position to make these decisions.
I agree with you 100%. If we sit and do nothing, things will just get worse. Big changes never have been made by people sitting on their rear ends.
yes
Right on!!!!