#F29 - Occupy Portland National Call To Action To Shut Down the Corporations
Posted 12 years ago on Jan. 6, 2012, 6:12 a.m. EST by OccupyWallSt
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via Occupy Portland & Portland Action Lab:
"Occupy Portland calls for a day of non-violent direct action to reclaim our voices and challenge our society’s obsession with profit and greed by shutting down the corporations. We are rejecting a society that does not allow us control of our future. We will reclaim our ability to shape our world in a democratic, cooperative, just and sustainable direction.
We call on the Occupy Movement and everyone seeking freedom and justice to join us in this day of action.
There has been a theft by the 1% of our democratic ability to shape and form the society in which we live and our society is steered toward the destructive pursuit of consumption, profit and greed at the expense of all else.
We call on people to target corporations that are part of the American Legislative Exchange Council which is a prime example of the way corporations buy off legislators and craft legislation that serves the interests of corporations and not people. They used it to create the anti-labor legislation in Wisconsin and the racist bill SB 1070 in Arizona among so many others. They use ALEC to spread these corporate laws around the country.
In doing this we begin to recreate our democracy. In doing this we begin to create a society that is organized to meet human needs and sustain life.
On February 29th, we will reclaim our future from the 1%. We will shut down the corporations and recreate our democracy.
Join us! Leap into action! Reclaim our future! Shut down the corporations!
*This action received unanimous consensus from the Portland General Assembly on Sunday January 1st, 2012."
If you want to shut down the corporations, you have to start with their propaganda arm....the corporate media using our public airwaves to lie every day!
Surround the TV stations with facts about the corporations and their illegal behavior that continues to go on without prosecution. We have a Justice System that should be acting to protect us, but they too have been put into power by corporations.
We must go to the TV stations with the truth, and demand they start serving the public interest or resign. We must Demand prosecutions, or Demand resignations until we get to someone who will prosecute.
Occupy continues to wait and hope the corporate media will cover the movement fairly and it's not going to happen.
Those are our public airwaves, and it is time to take the protest to the source of the problem, corporate propaganda 24/7!
I hear time and time again, who cares, we have twitter and other social media.
We all know they are censoring Twitter, yahoo, censoring facebook and using facebook to collect data...their whole goal is total control on the internet at this time and it is working smashingly.
It has become increasingly difficult to find any information or news stories about Occupy anywhere on the net. Alternative news sites have dropped most coverage. The movement looks dead to the majority of Americans, even those searching on the internet.
Then there are millions who only get their 'news' from the liars on the corporate media, and they are making it impossible to have a discussion with people because their BIG LIES are so pervasive.
Those are our public airwaves and we have every right to take them back.
Surround the TV stations, Do not let them come or go until they start telling the truth, Make them uncomfortable being fascists enablers. And most importantly BRING FACTS written on signs "Stop Wall Street Speculation causing the rise in food and gas prices' WE need to wake the rest of the 99% who are confused and do not realize that they are being ripped off every day. You see them come to the site every day, they think this movement is about welfare people wanting more money. It is completely absurd and we need to stop their bullshit now!
Good thoughts about occupying media. The Occupy Movement has much more ground to till, before new seeds can take hold and grow. Those that are secure in our current system do not want to upset what has been working for them. Now we must develop systems to serve this common and greater good, while at the same time exposing the harmful consequences on many millions of earth citizens. Common sense and strong resolve will pave the way.
This is our answer www.the-communal-solution.us
I was going to leave a comment,but you said it all,good one mate.
Manufacturing Consent is a "must see"
yours s http://struggleforfreedom.blogg.no/
the majority of people in the US suffer from a lack of class consciousness. Building that is essential for gaining a majority that will allow the movement to succeed.
Care to outline your plan?
Massive educational campaigns; teach-ins, etc. I was merely stating a fact...
Good thoughts here. Keep them coming.
Thank you, proudofOKC. It's going to be a long, hard road; but because this has become a global movement, I have hope...
I have hope too, even if the global movement dies, or the national movement dies, or every movement dies. I'm quite the stubborn humanist. Until someone reaches into my ribcage and squeezes the life out of me, there will be hope for mankind, and my strength and willpower fueling it. Solidarity :D.
My sentiments exactly! I was encouraged by hearing about the demonstrations in Romania though I do not have specific details... I do miss the encampments and believe them to be important to the movement. Solidarity ; )
Agreed! Convincing and enlightening people (in a respectful manner of course) is very important in this "growing stage" that the Occupy Movement is in now. Please read my contribution "The Transition Phase: The Road to Freedom"
Anarcho-Syndicalism is especially concerned about making people class conscious.
yours s sff http://struggleforfreedom.blogg.no/
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Watched it some weeks ago when you first recommended it to me. A great documentary.
Absolutely. I've been saying this since 2003. What I love about the Occupy movement is that they finally get it. But we need MORE people to actually do this -- to actually get enough bodies in there to shut them down --- prevent anyone from coming or going into the buildings, that sort of thing.
And yes, it's gotta be the media. We have NO "mainstream" media in this country. Zero. It's all corporate propaganda.
Edward Bernays would be proud.
No. 1. action to stop corruption is to show it to the American people. American governmental corporate corruption against everyday citizens. Court proven documents at www.classvictim.wordpress.com
How can we implement this?? This is a great idea.
Well said fucorporatemedia. Maybe now that FB is owned by Goldman Sachs people will wake up; I am not holding my breath but I can hope.
Even if illegal the laws get changed in their favor.
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paranoid much? You forgot what America was built on. Dreams of hard workers, not the nightmares of you pinhead slouchers who think being on welfare is a fine job to hold.
America was built on GREED ....America was built on the back of slaves & over the graves of millions of Native Americans .... I think YOU are the one who forgot! Only an imbecile would think OWS is a welfare movement...
How much hard work is involved in bankrupting the country and taking trillions in government handouts?
We're trying to end Welfare As We Know it -- CORPORATE WELFARE.
The leech class lives off government handouts -- big government contracts for the Military Industrial Complex and bailouts for the Too Corrupt To Fail banks.
Why are you for that?
Could you please explain why you think Socialism for the Rich is a good thing?
I think that looking to start smaller is important This year, I am changing the world by changing myself I am paying off the credit cards- they have been cut up My car will be paid off in 2.5 years and I will never buy another car- I will save and buy something dependable Personally, i do not need more clothes- I took a good look at my wardrobe and realized that I have enough clothing to live comfortably for years....maybe some new white socks this year I do not need to buy Nike, I will look for comfort and price for my feet I do not need a $3.00 cup of hot chocolate from Starbucks nor a 1.00 paper when the internet works just fine Basic cable is great, shutting off the lights when you don't use them and I am cutting consumption of water this year I am now on an allowance and use cash for food and for gas.....it hurts when you hand cash over versus swiping a card...Also, started to buy gas on Tuesdays to save money and I drive a little slower... Yes, I have stopped drinking Coca Cola- for political reasons but also becuase 1.25 for a 20 oz drink that is not good for you...is just stupid Started buying natural products that actually cost less... Cancelled all magazine subscriptions and I will now spend every other Saturday at the library for a couple of hours...I can order a book if I really want it While having these grand notions are great- there is some satisfaction with living simply....being thankful for what you have and sharing it with others Happy New Year everyone- I hope OWS moves ahead....and that we become more sensible as a society in our wants...
Well put...people have to realize it begins with us individually... Black Friday should have been boycotted... People should start voting with their pockets and living more conservative lifestyles ....its a recession & most reality tv stars r walking around with 10,000+ Hermes bags... Children were lined up and violent for a pair of air jordans this Xmas which came out 15 yrs ago... It's time everyone do their share & not depend on a govt that has been hijacked.
Way to go!
Establish laws at the local level http://occupywallst.org/forum/american-prosperity-initiative/ and create co-ops, more specifically, the 'CoMart'. Simply targeting corporations for boycotting and protesting, especially by people portrayed as being a bunch of jobless, whining, hippies, leads nowhere. Ports have been temporarily shut down, has anything significantly changed? Protest without actual positive action leads nowhere. Protest is supposed to draw attention to things. Allow protesting to draw attention to positive activities in addition to the negative corruption and influence of the corporations. Make a real difference by building something economically real and affecting the local laws to limit corporate advantages. Otherwise, it's business as usual.
Yes! We have to protest this current world while at the same time begin to build the world we want to live in.
OBAMA has done nothing to convict corporations or public corruption
....they have deliberately created a Society that profits from Chaos.......
Deliberate Social Chaos through:
NEEDLESS WARS: Vietnam, Iraq #1 " let to Happen" Iraq # 2 created
Afghanistan it was about Osama but now its about all of Afghanistan...yet Heroin grows and grows.....killing the poor and middle class
Laundering Drug Cartel money through HSBC bank....profiting from the (This is being done on a GLOBAL SCALE) devil is killing the poor and middle class, our children our neighborhoods here again HSBC bank is a Bush Buddy. MUST READ: "World Banking World Fraud" by insider Whistleblower John Cruz
Then they build PRISONS FOR PROFIT now the #1 Industry in the USA
for Construction and Operation ... out pacing all other industries and incarcerating the poor and middle class, keeping the drug cartels in business by laundering their money equals more citizens in prison a Society built on Social Chaos
Collapsing our financial institutions and markets deliberately by
debt spending and needless wars or no regulation A. Bush Sr. 1988,89,90,91 B. Goldman-Sachs, lead by Henry Paulson in 2000 with a Board Director from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, leveled the political playing field which then allowed GW Bush to win and Gates stopped the beak up of Microsoft and in so doing destroyed a $17 Trillion Dollar segment of the Global Economy, millions of jobs, and investments of the middle class, the small and mid cap investor, deliberately...no one was convicted, C.then in 2008,09,10 GW Bush allowed global fraud from Greece to the USA by Goldman-Sachs, full scale FRAUD, BUT OBAMA has not convicted anyone and has taken millions in campaign contributions from Goldman-Sachs and its Executives.
....................Keep Occupy Pure................... end Class Warfare & the Society by Chaos
Elect a new president and a new congress no Democrats & no Republicans .........then convict the Financial Terrorists and the Social Terrorists.................
If the target is ALEC, it should be easy to coordinate and build support through other groups like DFA, AFLCIO, Public Citizen, MoveOn, Peace Action, etc... No groups are going to attempt anything big without the assent and leadership of OWS. Flash mobs, phone jamming, mike checks at meetings and lobbyist events, and strikes are all reasonable tactics by coalitions, and they're non-violent, passively resistant tactics--the only ones really proven to work.
violence has traditionally been used to overthrow tyranny.
Not very successfully. Nonviolence works much better. Far more powerful.
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In what manner would the Portland GA suggest people "target corporations"?
How will these corporations know that they are being targeted?
How will the people know that their protest is working?
What would the Portland GA like to see the corporations do? Admit culpability? Sign a consent decree?
Coke is a member of Alec. Call for a Boycott on Coke.
Home Depot is a member of ALEC stop buying things at Hoe Depot.
I don't use either one anymore.
All Occupy movements should come to consensus on focusing their efforts on a SINGLE Corporation (at least for a period of time). Take Citigroup for example. The amount of unethical things this corporation has done since the Reagan administration could keep activists busy for months! They basically wrote Gramm-Leach Bliley. They were getting bailed out before people even heard of bailouts. They are heavily involved in mountaintop removal coalmining. Let's pool our efforts and make an example of ONE corporation and then move on to the next.
Your response addresses the first question, what about the other three?
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I am not really sure a boycott really works. How many times have you seen National Don't Get Gas Day. Do you think oil companies really felt an impact?
It's a good idea, but not really sure if Corporations are going to even blink an eye. I mean do you think McDonalds will care if you boycott them? Super Size me didn't make a dent in their sales and their "healthier" options are laughable. Just sayin'
Yeah, I have to agree. I boycott McDonalds, Walmart, etc. on principle, but I doubt it makes much of an impact. We should do something more concrete, physically put our bodies out there. Human chains. I know Occupy OKC has been mike checking Walmarts with statistics of income inequality.
Agree
Thanks.
I honestly am not a fan of human chains etc. I would personally be upset if I have to go to a bank to deposit a check to pay a bill and had to clamber through people blocking or protesting my bank. My bills don't care that I could not get into the bank. And while I understand people are trying to "wake" people up, it is not right to impact other prople's ability to do their day to day.
Forgive me if I, your fellow man, interrupt your day to day. This is why the movement in America is small groups getting beaten up by the cops whereas in the Middle East hundreds of thousands are marching together. I remember studying the Vietnam War in high school and seeing pictures of monks who lit themselves on fire in protest to the violence. I'm pretty sure if someone did that in America, he would be scorned for getting in the way somehow. I still have faith in my people, and yet sometimes they make me sick.
Am I any poorer than you? Do I struggle any more than you? If arrested for civil disobedience, is it going to impact my job and future any more than you? Probably not, so I don't really get why you resent people who are trying to change things for the better and fighting a losing battle because there is strength in numbers and Americans don't get that. It changes a people's movement into a parade of martyrs. We don't need anymore martyrs. We need solidarity, but instead of joining together, hundreds of millions sit at home and watch tiny groups of concerned citizens get overwhelmed by the police.
Completely agree
Thanks :D
I am not against the movement, I am not for causing issues to others when protesting. Case in point, a colleague sometime a month ago or go had to pick up her children after work for daycare. Because a small group of Occupy DC had decided to protest in traffic it snarled up her ability to get her kids in time. The day care center has a policy that if you are X minutes late you have to pay a fine. The fine covers the cost of paying the people to continue I watch the kids. She gets the reason why they have that policy and does not have an issue with the fine, because it ensures her kids are safe. However, she was really upset that she had to pay the fine because of the fri he group of Occupy DC decided to blockade traffic. I was saddened to see someone who was sympathetic to the Occupy movement be turned off and no longer support it because it had negatively impacted her.
So what I was saying is, get the message out but don't impact people negatively. The general populous is getting tired of the movement. And it will only further erode it if you make it so inconvenient. Right now I think people tolerate it, but it is not something they want impending their ability to do their day to day living.
And why is Occupy DC not protesting in front of the White House or the Capitol? Seems logical to me to be there. When I ask there never seems to be interest. Just hang out at the MacPherson Square and mingle.
Very good questions. I'm wondering very much the same thing.
This is really a great initiative. Corporations have been given rights way beyond actual people:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mpd3grtjkK8
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iqlTyAMVDUk
Corporations are real tyrannies - private tyrannies in fact - and must be fought.
We need to replace capitalism with democracy. In order to do so we must keep on struggling for freedom and build a free, democratic, egalitarian, non-hierarchical, sustainable, society where the institutions/workplaces are run democratically by the participants, not by the wealthy.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YftlB3AxBws
yours s http://struggleforfreedom.blogg.no/
And what happens to the employees of these corporations?
I hope that with this action, we'll keep in mind other lobby groups as well.
This is an amazing initiative of #OWS, as it holds the worst of capitalists responsible for so many different crimes. I hope that everybody gets out there on February 29.
Additionally, the American Petroleum Institute is pushing HARD for Obama to allow for the Keystone XL pipeline (and I'm sure they have Republican candidates all greased up and ready to go). And with oil companies having a field day in Iraq, you have to wonder who it was that paid for the Iraq War. American Petroleum Institute?
And then there's the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC) which dictates much of America's policy in the Middle East as a means of securing an ethnocentric "Jewish" state.
I have a friend studying abroad in Egypt. He spoke with somebody in the American Embassy there, who told him that America's top priority in Egypt is Israel. A distant second is the Suez Canal.
Occupy ALEC. Occupy API. Occupy AIPAC.
Using "amazing" and OWS in the same sentance is a piss poor attempt at humor. Your friend in Egypt is a tool and so are you for believing a word of the crap you're spreading on this website.
It's a crappy place - within these pages, but do you have to turn on the shit machine so early?
im so sick of these days of action being on work days...
its like you dont want the help of the people that have to work... i thought this was a peoples movement... most americans have to work to pay for there homes, cars, etc... i came out to n17... but i cant take off random wednesdays everytime you want to do something....
lets get a saturday day of action. mass protests/rallies. the media is ignoring us because we arent doing anything big... and why is nothing big? because every major event is on a day when most regular americans have work or school...
im so sick of it. who ever is running this movement is retarded. and they keep shooting themselves in the foot with these weekdays. do you want to succeed or not.
i was so excited about ows when it started and i agree with everything the movement has done. but we need actual organization... a "leaderless" movement is great, in theory. but we need to get organized. its sad watching this idea go down the drain because of a lack of centralized leadership.
also... the ga's want average supporters to go out and be creative and create there own protests... this is not going to happen... most people are not that involved even though they support the movement... they need more instruction... like this "show up here at this time and we protest." not "go to your local wallmart with some friends and show them a thing or two"
and yes. i do realize that the corporations are closed on weekends... so what? we need mass action. not a few people who have no jobs trying to stop people from getting to work. all thats doing is giving the media more ways to talk us down. we need to organize massive marchs on washington or nyc to show people that regular people support us. but youve kinda lost your momentum by not doing that sooner... ill continue to support ows but we need leaders/organization/realistic ideas/ and a unified message.
Corporate structure is designed only for the wealthy to use the poor and unfortunate underclass. The fact is, these corporations are not powerful at all. Their true power lies in your desire to "consume" for things you truly don't need and have become psychologically dependent on. This is the main reason why, "advertisements" for these corporations are so expensive because of the influence they have on your own lives.
You also have to understand, that corporations have no interest in the very people that help them become successful. They give you what you think you want and in return, they use their own rights to exploit you for long term profits.
Your food and technology are used to destroy you and the laws will not be there in the long run for you to fight back. Soon, there will be no Governments, it will be a "Corporate" run world and we, will only have ourselves to blame. There are small compared to an entire global population and that is why, they are careful how they present themselves to you in public. If you are to continue watching television, then at least questions why there is a similar pattern in how people either look, talk or act. This has nothing to do with being "educated" or not. Being "aware" is being educated period.
And for those who are plugged into the presidential race, ask yourselves which candidates are getting the most money and support from these corporations. Also, your "president" has already been chosen for you and your votes have not matter for the past 20 years. The actions and events that happen around these presidents is evidence enough that they are selected to keep you "distracted" from what happens around you.
For example, the reason the OWS is happening now, instead of ten years ago, is because America was preoccupied with the war after 9/11. The economic system was heading for crash and now it's at a point, where it's too big to hide anymore. Our economy has been in turmoil for decades and the volcano erupted.
Today's generation cannot be conditioned like the previous ones. Today's generation is more evolved and aware and they continue to try their best to distract you with technology. Before it was color tv then video games and now it's cellphones and ipads. But, it hasn't worked this time because today's generation cannot be controlled by corporations and refuse to be conditioned to accept it and say "that's just the way it is".
that is incorrect. we say, "things must change for the better". We are the future and the past must be left behind and put in it's place to never resurface again.
PEACE.
Well said. Thanks for your thoughts.
Why do you think corporations have anything to do with SB 1070 in Arizona?
The law gives county attorneys subpoena power in certain investigations of employers who may be employing illegal immigrants.
It would be crazy for any corporation to endorse that.
ALEC wrote SB1070 in Arizona. BTW, The Koch Brothers are the boggest contributor to ALEC.
Why would ALEC right a bill that gives the government increased power to investigate corporations? There is no logic in that.
Explain what you believe their motive was?
most likely because the investigations would be of companies that don't kowtow to the current corporate regime. Thus they write a law to target those companies, disguised as just an immigration law, but the enforcement would be selective at best.
Very cynical point of view.
If you want to know why they wrote the bill, you should ask them.
But, from what I know the motive behind SB1070 Bill was to support the For Profit Prison System in Arizona (they gert more prisoners, more priosoners = more money!) which is also a member of ALEC. Check it out.
CCA.
Do you have evidence of this? Any links to share?
Rachel Maddow did a few stories on ALEC, SB1070, and Sheriff Joe Arpios involvement.
Ed Schultz did a follow up too. Check it out.
http://www.privateci.org/rap_alec.html
There are many other sites out there that track ALEC.
All I can find a blogs like the one you posted.
What in the law gives a boost to prison attendance?
Then you missed the articles as well. I find that quite odd. http://alecexposed.org/wiki/ALEC_Exposed
I do not believe that you have read the bill that was here: http://www.azleg.gov/alispdfs/council/SB1070-HB2162.PDF
alecexposed.org is also a blog.
I did read the bill but the official version. http://www.azleg.gov/legtext/49leg/2r/bills/sb1070s.pdf
Did you go through the "blog" and did you find any information on ALEC? And after having read the bill did you not see where the benefit was to the for- profit prison industry?
I read a lot of blogs in the subject and they are all hearsay. I do not use "blogs" as sources for information.
I read a blog and they said ALEC was responsible because CCA in a member and CCA influenced the bill by paying off politicians. Then I checked the records and it turns out CCA made a total of $5,000 in political donations in Arizona in 2009. $5,000 to buy 30 representatives... c'mon
When dealing with government I prefer to use sites that end in .gov
Paul Senseman, Gov. Brewer’s Chief of Staff is a former lobbyist for CCA and his wife is currently lobbying for them Chuck Coughlin, the Governor’s campaign manager, runs a public relations firm that lobbies for CCA Mark Brnovich, Chair of the Governor’s Commission on Privatization and Efficiency, served as a Senior Director of State and Customer Relations for Corrections Corporation of America from 2005-2006 and was a lobbyist for them in 2007 http://tucsoncitizen.com/cell-out-arizona/tag/jan-brewer/
I expect government websites to show transparency. However, I doubt very seriously that they would show this information with pretty pictures. CCA contracts with ICE, no?
You could always go directly to their website. http://www.alec.org/
SB 1070 is a big boost to the prison industry.
See "The rules of Engagement". Provocateurs will make this about ALEC or some other "leftist" agenda. It is not, this is beyond left and right, We end debt (including "debt based" money system, Fed Reserve). All else has stemmed from this. The fear inherent in a system that begins in debt (original sin) creates, the greed and all else. Repent and be forgiven of this original SIN. All for one and ONE for ALL. Bless Be Maud'dib
Tonight's broadcast on PBS National Business Report said Private Equity firms AKA Hedge Funds the same Wall Street Dirt Bags that collapsed the economy are now going to buy Foreclosed Homes from Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. They want to buy 250,000 Foreclosed Homes and rent them out. The same people that caused the financial crisis with bad Mortgages threw Two Million people out of their Homes now want to buy them at Fire Sale prices and rent them out. The Federal Housing Finance Agency FHFA cooked this deal up with the Wall Street Hedge Funds. So the Crooks make a bundle from their thievery. Occupy the FHFA. This cannot be allowed to happen !!! There are about Twenty Million Homes under water of which a Third will wind up as Foreclosures in the next 5 years. The Banks should be forced to eat their losses not the Taxpayers or the people about to lose their homes.
From Mexico: Saludos en Mexico nos sumamos a las actividades para el F29 www.clausuralascorporaciones.org
Why isn't there an occupy T.V./ radio station?
Shouldn't the main financial goal be to set up occupy banks, the main propaganda (literally to propagate one's opinion to the masses)/ information goal be T.V./ Radio stations (News reports, local actions, not just live streams).
The goal of occupy is to create an open aired society where people can have their voices heard and directly influence government/ laws. Shouldn't occupy elect politicians (as a start/ assistance)?
To revitalize the movement, wait 'till spring. Plan. Organize. Recruit. Occupy
I would like to suggest that we all have to look at our individual spending habits first, then make a conscious change to do little or no business with any one or thing other than locally owned coops. To bring any influence from our meager voices we have to be strong in our own homes first. Look around at your belongings and see if you know who made it, where that person lives, do you really need it, questions along those lines will better direct your actual contributions to life. If you are looking at your stuff and seeing that it is imported, then you have done more for the oil companies than just the fuel you put in your car. If you do not know where it was made than you are doing more for big businesses than you are for the occupy movement protest you are attending. Do not be sheep and believe that contributing your voice is a great and courageous act, vibrating air molecules is free but useless if you are not living the actions required for the change we all seek. Peace out all. may the killing stop!
There are viarious major corporations which could be brought down right now but it rquires a public legal action. My family of three was used to collect untold amounts of monies from a lawsuit. Attorneys the state and federal courts have left us for dead and are extorting the awards for protecting the corporations from further legal actions.
One criminal action upon another is being applied to us. We have court documents of the suit to prove. www.classvictim.wordpress.com
Take this to the public. A present action by state and federal government to extort hundreds of millions and maybe billions from my family who were left for dead after having been used to accept settlement offers which the court, attorneys and state officials now refuse to release to the victims. The major corporations have worked day and night with threats and arrest to keep this hid. court documents at www.mftms13.wordpress.com
If we really want to stop corporate corruption we need to make WallStreets crimes known. Please view these court documents of a governmental corporate courrtion plot which is presently extorting hundreds of millions from my family who were left for dead by the state and federal courts politicians and attorneys after beating the corporation in court. court documents at. www.mftms13.wordpress.com
The fair way to target the corporations that unfairly influence our political system is to boycott them. But not for a day or a week. Boycott them until they release their grip on congress and we again hold the reigns of Democracy. This one day boycott will feel good but not accomplish anything. A war is not fought in a day!
What, specifically, do you propose that we do on Feb 29? You need to be more specific regarding what exactly a person could do on this day that might help "shut down" those large corporations or the ALEC. I think the average person would read this call to action and say "Wait... HOW will they 'shut down' corporations? what are they going to DO on Feb 29?"
What actions are planned for NYC?
We have to be careful at what we're doing about Corporations, Banks and other financial institutions. We cannot blame them for all of our troubles. We need all of them as they provide a source of our tax base, in the trillions and employ millions of people who otherwise would be unemployed.
We may want to regulate them better so we can get the most out of their business but we cannot impede their existence. This movement must have a rational approach to any action it takes. Now, how to regulate them the way we want? Well, States and the U.S. Congress pass laws and have oversight over them. In order to have a just economic sharing of our financial institutions and other businesses we need to force our politicians to totally redo all the assessments and pass new laws which include well thought rules and practices agreed to fulfill what we're fighting for. This is for the short term. Long term, we have to establish as a political party run our own people for all the positions of office and push for dramatic changes in laws at the State and Federal level. We will have to push for changes in Civil Laws but also for Criminal Laws as the way they're now are extremely oppressive and punitive.
There are ways to accomplish whatever has to be done, and the list is much longer than the one presented by the NY GA which limit itself to only financial redress. It's important to note,though, that this movement cannot be hijacked by racial trouble-makers who may take this opportunity to push their agenda for more and more ad nauseam demands for their own people. After all this is our revolution.
There are zillions of little things to ware out the beast. A email to the advertisers of products that you will ban their products advertised on bias media channels would be just one example. Ultimately is all about money, more exactly about the promissory notes masquerading as money. Think about it. Deficits=money, mortgages=money, military spending = money, student loans=money......END THE FED = REAL money.
REFORM THE CORPORATIONS!
This corporation will produce high quality goods and/or services that make a clear contribution to society. Most corporations already do this. If people find that questionable activities such as casinos contribute to our entertainment and therefore to society, then these activities are accepted. However, if a company produces products that are clearly harmful to us, such as cigarettes or hydrogenated oils in food, then it is appropriate to tax them, as cigarettes are now. Likewise, if people cannot find any contribution to society from such activities as hedge funds or commodity speculators or day traders, then these activities can be outlawed or taxed, most likely by a transaction tax. If an activity only makes its participants rich at a cost to society but contributes nothing, then that activity is parasitical. Why should we allow parasites to game the system and suck up our lifeblood?
This corporation will function as ecologically as possible in all ways. The Germans already do this, and it makes their production system perhaps the most efficient in the world. This point would be a major challenge to coal companies and other polluters. Cap and trade is a sham that allows for enormous fraud. Taxing unecological practices would work much better. Mother Earth sustains us in every way, and all of us, including corporations, need to function in ways that are beneficial not only to our long term survival but to all the other species we share this planet with. Our mismanagement of the ecology is causing the largest die-off of species since the meteor hit the Yucatan Peninsula 67 million years ago, and climate change is making everything worse.
This corporation will hire Americans to produce goods and services sold in America and will pay fair wages and benefits, as determined in negotiation with its employees. American businesses have a responsibility to provide quality jobs for Americans. This would eliminate sending all our jobs overseas. Making a product or service cheaper somewhere else does us no good when we’re out of work and can’t afford it at any price, and sending our money overseas simply puts us in debt. Corporations can be fined or taxed for not hiring Americans to make goods and services sold to Americans. This can apply to foreign and off-shore corporations as well as those registered in America. This may mean a tariff on all imported goods and perhaps also a tariff on all exported raw materials, including oil and gas, since why should we give away our resources merely for money? Furthermore, negotiation with employees includes being able to cap management compensation. By what logic is a CEO worth a thousand times his lowest paid employee? Aren’t we equal beings?
In addition to the corporation as a whole, management and board members shall be individually liable for significant breaches of these first three points. Let’s straighten out the Supreme Court on the appropriate rights and responsibilities of corporations. Fining a CEO $500,000 means nothing when he is worth $100,000,000. Sure, fine them, but also jail them!
This corporation is entitled to make a reasonable profit on its operations. Note that this so-called bottom line is fifth in order of priority of a responsible contributor to society. This simple change would do away with the claim that a corporation has to do all kinds of heinous things because the bottom line requires it. The bottom line is not money: it is contribution to society.
The resolution also suggests that Free Trade may profit a few corporations, but otherwise it is an absolute disaster and we should explore strong alternatives. Everyone from Ron Paul to Paul Krugman seems to support Free Trade, even though Free Trade has shipped a huge portion of our manufacturing jobs and even some of our service jobs overseas, and over the last 20 years we have accumulated a trade deficit of over $8 trillion, causing us to be out of jobs and out of money. The US concept of Free Trade does not protect American workers or our true financial interests. The French protect their workers, and consequently they have high wages, a 35 hour week, six weeks of vacation, and retirement at 62. The Germans pretend to support Free Trade, but in fact have all kinds of trade barriers that protect their manufacturing and enable them to be the third largest exporter on the planet. Furthermore, in the name of Free Trade we have destroyed various components of other countries’ economies, such as the dairy industry in Jamaica or the indigenous corn growers in Mexico. Through the WTO and World Bank we have required so many Third World countries to grow coffee, cocoa, cotton, and other commodities that the world prices on these items have been driven so low that no one can make any money growing them. We have seen what Free Trade has done to us and other countries. It’s time to explore a little protectionism.
These reforms would eliminate the excesses of unbridled capitalism and give us a steady and productive economy. But first we need to take the corruption out of politics. After we pass our Constitutional Amendment, we can pass a law that says only individuals can make political contributions, up to $2500. All else is bribery. So much for Obama’s $38,500 a plate fund raising dinners!
I am not a designated spokesperson for Occupy Bend, nor has this statement been offered for approval by the General Assembly. It is just this one Occupier’s view. But perhaps by collecting and synthesizing all our many views, we can see more clearly what we need to do to dig ourselves out of this corrupt mess.
It occurred to me recently that reform is impossible with the people we have elected; obviously our government works for the 1%. Our system is so corrupt that the elections could be rigged. Therefore, I propose organizing a massive walk to Washington to ask for Obama’s resignation. We elected him to work for us and instead he is working for the corporate oligarchy; it is our constitutional right to replace him at any time. They did it in Egypt. We can do it here! We choose a date and depart from New York, Seattle, Portland, San Francisco, Los Angeles and San Diego to meet in Washington DC at another set date (we can use vehicles part of the way if necessary). By the time we get there, enlisting occupiers along the way, we should number on the thousands. And we occupy until we install a new president and replace the Federal Reserve System (a banking cartel that stole our government in 1913 – it is unconstitutional) See: The Creature from Jekyll Island: A Second Look at the Federal … Reserve, by G Edward Grifffin. It is paramount to do this because there is overwhelming e v i d e n c e that 9/11 was an inside job (AE 9/11 Truth ) which means that our political system is so corrupt that it would be impossible to start our new country without cleaning house and bringing the guilty to justice. No system can exist long without justice . . . justice for all! Besides, without a clean-up, an honest president would be thrown into a nest of vipers and his chances to survive would be slim. If you have any doubt that JFK was assassinated by the 1%, I suggest reading: JFK and the Unspeakable: Why He Died and Why It Matters By James Douglass. Native Americans should be invited to participate in this march as they have been immorally ignored and marginalized for too long. It is time for them to claim their right place in our society. We can learn much from their culture. And we must keep in mind that the reason the 1% is in power is the apathy and lack of caring of the 99%. When we loose our virtue we are easy prey for vipers. It is a must to realize that everything is interconnected and we are all part of a Whole, and when we help others we help ourselves. What would the world be like if when we get up in the morning our first thought would be to help others. . . do unto others what is best for them? That said, for the occupy movement failure is not an option, for if the movement fails the future is bleak indeed; what the corporate oligarchy is doing is not only serious, it is evil. Let’s get it done!
What about a strike, not a labor strike but a consumer strike? Take a weekend and refuse to purchase gasoline, stay at home, or refuse to watch the cooperate backed news media or it's station programing. This may sound trivial but just imagine fifty million gallons of fuel not being purchased at four dollars a gallon! It is a small amount of the overall total of our consumption, but the loss of two hundred million dollars in one weekend is not nothing to take lightly. Stay at home,call friends,family, and each other for camaraderie. We can take control by our lac of willingness for consumption to make our voice be any thing other than being just a stastic in a quarterly report. Lets not be ourselves a commodity to be used for their oppression of the 99%. I think we could sell this idea to everyone in this country who are crippled fuel hostages!
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With well considered actions, that is, companies directly or indirectly affiliated with the 1% can be bought down one by one. When the first one falls the second will be trembling in their boots. Loss of profits or sales for a week will send shock waves.
[url=http://occupywallst.org/forum/the-big-bang-theory-season-5-episode-12-the-shiny-/] [The Big Bang Theory Season 5 Episode 12[/url]
Haha now you want to shut down McDonalds, Wal-Mart, and AT&T? Have you lost your minds or are you overly obsessed with incriminating anyone who wears a suit and holds a briefcase these days? What do you want to do, pass a law that bans all corporations? There is a reason corporations exist. It means one entity found a way to create some good or service in a way that has a durable competitive advantage. One company managed to create a product is a manner so efficient, that they can charge a lower price and beat out their competition. WHAT IS WRONG WITH THAT? Too bad not everyone can afford a $7.50 Caesar salad and tall espresso and has to settle on the dollar menu. Not everyone can afford to shop at high quality clothing stores and what do you propose we do after we shut down exxon mobile? you idiots need to get your act together and come up with better alternatives rather than advocate shutting companies down because it's senseless and achieves nothing long-lasting and tangible.
Wtf does reclaim our future mean anyways? Is this just another fancy meaningless slogan you came up with again?
Too many corporations...not enough time. Just one corporation...focus on taking down one bad actor at a time...then the next...
I need a few specifics to go with the rhetoric. Rhetoric alone just makes you look silly, irrelevant, and powerless.
John Wiley & Sons, the publishing Hitlers of America!
Why?
Twitter test of US textbook publisher John Wiley & Sons tolerance of free speech:
1) Buy book/mag@ US publisher JohnWiley&Sons & pay4 hardcore torture cockfights entertaining diabolic chairman PeterBoothWiley
2) "I love to go to cockfights" What chairman Peter Booth Wiley loves compares 4 other ppl to child pornography – it’s illegal
3) Blood-sport pig Peter Booth Wiley: out of John Wiley & Sons and don't let the door hit you in the ass on your way out
Result: @DrHRGoetting Twitter account “suspended” by academic textbook publisher John Wiley & Sons attorneys, a chilling effect on freedom of expression.
In addition, my website was hacked, riddled w/ malicious software & rendered useless by John Wiley & Sons’ sociopaths.
John Wiley & Sons inheritor & chairman Peter Booth Wiley, a member of the oppressed capitalist masses: ‘Twitter and Wordpress are powerful elitist propaganda tools for left-wing elements; we must punish and remove them’.
I'm not going to jail for your hatred of your own enemies. Learn to deal with them yourself, you big baby.
And get some professional help. You're clearly NUTS.
I like Occupy Portland for the most part. However it may be wise to pay attention to what is happening with Occupy overall. Please read below.
Barak Obama - Pacification of invaded black lands since 2001-2011. Elected, being a minority nothing like this has ever happened in the history of the world. America and Americans are in debt up to their necks. Borrower slave to the lender? Its obvious they can do what they want. Taking control and steering things the way they want. People are slightly astonished. They don't get to the core of the matter. There is good reason for that. People feel ignored I noticed. 9/11 left out again. Invasion of three countries and the Federal Reserve that prints virtrually all they want with no one stop them.
Whats wrong OCCUPY? Clever students and professors. Trying to make a better day for themselves? Truly serious people will find your little student teacher game out and go for what is the real truth. Where are the real protestors? Hidden amoung you. The 9/11 people? Where are they? The Iraqi people? The anti-invasion protestors? Seems to me you should just step aside and let EVERYONE else in thats fed up. Truth is never trust those student/professor friends. They want to acheive personal goals. Protest when you want where you want. Without coordination. All Universty orgainization is BAD. Use some common sense. The real truth is everything is blowing apart at the seams. They understand that. There was a delay in anything of any DISSENSION being publicly known. In fact everyone wondered where it was. The dissension in other countries was not made public. Which has been happening right along. Bombings in Iraq every week all of this going on in many places. INCLUDING EGYPT. Held off. Until they could make their way into the disgruntled people of the United States to hold things off here also. Although it was very out there and not given any attention by the debt merchant owned news. They are there to take it back in the old direction. They were really clever back in the Vietnam war days.
Nothing they can do about anything unless you are smart enough to understand what they want.. They are very clever organizers coordinated with the debt merchants through their Universities. Deal is this time its not going to come together for them again. Just understand who they are why they are doing it and what for. Mostly themseleves.
Truth is you have not seen one 9/11 sign on the Occupy news or much protest of the invasion of 3 nations in the past 11 years. That ought to tell you something right there. Youv'e seen the rest of the world coming apart true in many places. Pacification, Obama never mentioned. U.S. Invasions never brought up. To any small degree. To Inflammatory for them to bring up. Truth is they have come out to put Humpty Dumpty back together again. It obviously ain't workin.
Who did you vote for ask your friends? The incredible Obama puppet of the debt merchants. Similar to the puppets of the conqueored peoples of Afganistan and Iraq. However a puppet for debt ridden Americans and America who owe the debt merchants. Could not happen here think again.
Two appointed black national one govenor the other senator. Minorities never win where there is another majority. Not in Africa. Not in the Middle east or Europe. Not on the face of things anyway. Just dosen't make sense to think otherwise.
In short if you see anything of any organization. Especially something like a Unversity, students that get funding for education. Not to mention the University itself. Get suspicious. They are playing for their future. Not out of any sense of right or wrong. Especially the organizers. Not all may be hip. However the organizers are good at what they do. Jumping themselves into a very upset populace that is sick and tired of being swindled and very tired of the invasions of this country on others. This is serious business. We don't have time making the personal future of some University people that could care less about anything but themselves and their futures. In short it is an infiltration of what was already taking place to begin with. Trying to steer things away from a country and a world sick of U.S. invasion. Mortgage swindels and the like. Not to mention the fact its turned really damn nasty in many other countries and has been that way for a since 2007. They don't want it happening here.
Another thing they never bring up in their films is the exhorbitant interest people pay on a house that take only a few month to build and 30 years to pay off. Not to mention the fact they really are not homeowners. If they were they could not be thrown out of their homes. To put it another way they understand who butters their bread. All you get is some bs about banks got bailed out. Fact is people are HIGHLY upset about the Federal Reserve being a privately owned corp. They don't make much out of that either. Its a loud chours they get going leaving a very relevant fact behind. Or gracefully changing the subject. I see a lot of that going on.
I am so glad I don't live in your country. That was the economic downfall of your country caused by you will only have a minor effect on me. Good luck living in the third world
I cannot get NYCGA when I click on it. WTF??
I am becoming increasingly disturbed by the collaboration between progressives and neo-liberals like Jeffrey Sachs. I know that JS spoke at OWS and honestly, I was very surprised. I recently heard Tavis Smiley speak on a talk show about the importance of addressing poverty. He then mentioned the name Jeffrey Sachs!! Are people ignorant of this man's involvement in the destruction of the Chilean economy??? People like JS are the reason OWS exists. I would like to hear from others on this thread.
There is NO OWS. There are no 'others.' This entire street performance is compliments of obama to threaten the real U.S. Citizens into electing him again. The U.S.A. cannot afford his wife and her $10 million worth of vacations every 2 months!
There is no OWS. There are no pictures with you and obama, and you haven't squatted on obama's yard. You don't exist as a movement or a revolution (5-yr olds with pointy sticks and capes) until you take on obama.
What? Oh yeah. Crickets.
OWS does not support Obama; neither do I. Please respond, if you must, in a coherent and articulate way.
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We need to secure the people. People support corporations so they have the means to provide shelter and food for themselves and their families. We can secure these things without corporations and banks if we claim ownership of the land and resources that we need to be self sustaining. We need an American Jubilee that forgives all personal debt to the exploiters. We have PAID IN FULL for America through usurious interest and bailouts to the banks. Claim your home and make yourselves self sustaining through home grown food coops and through barter systems of economics. Without a dependence on corporate wages and government jobs and handouts we can build for ourselves a society that serves US while shunning the corrupt that want us as their slaves.
the original occupy platform discovered http://www.RightsOfMan.org
If the Government, or the Constitution, or by whatever name it be called, be that miracle of perfection which the Proclamation and the Addresses have trumpeted it forth to be, it ought to have defied discussion and investigation, instead of dreading it. Whereas, every attempt it makes, either by Proclamation, Prosecution, or Address, to suppress investigation, is a confession that it feels itself unable to bear it. It is error only, and not truth, that shrinks from enquiry. All the numerous pamphlets, and all the newspaper falsehood and abuse, that have been published against the Rights ofMan, have fallen before it like pointless arrows; and, in like manner, would any work have fallen before the Constitution, had the Constitution, as it is called, been founded on as good political principles as those on which the Rights ofMan is written.
It is a good Constitution for courtiers, placemen, pensioners, borough-holders, and the leaders of Parties, and these are the men that have been the active leaders of Addresses; but it is a bad Constitution for at least ninety-nine parts of the nation out of an hundred, and this truth is every day making its way.
It is bad, first, because it entails upon the nation the unnecessary expence of supporting three forms and systems of Government at once, namely, the monarchical, the aristocratical, and the democratical.
Secondly, because it is impossible to unite such a discordant composition by any other means than perpetual corruption; and therefore the corruption so loudly and so universally complained of, is no other than the natural consequence of such an unnatural compound of Governments; and in this consists that excellence which the numerous herd of placemen and pensioners so loudly extol, and which at the same time, occasions that enormous load of taxes under which the rest of the nation groans.
Among the mass of national delusions calculated to amuse and impose upon the multitude, the standing one has been that of flattering them into taxes, by calling the Government (or as they please to express it, the English Constitution) “the envy and the admiration of the world.” Scarcely an Address has been voted in which some of the speakers have not uttered this hackneyed nonsensical falsehood.
The Rights of Man Organization
Hi Right on. It is time to throw the bums out. You can google Take Back America. It is time for a peaceful revolution. Act now. We do not want to go through any more election cycles beyond this one to get our country back.
Shut that sh#t DOWN!!!!!!
Sounds like more feel good talk to me. Why stop there. Shutdown the government too. But then what? What's the plan Vern? You might want to check out OsiXs and "The Nuclear Option" - we need it.
"WAKE UP PEOPLE!” - JOIN THE REVOLUTION There is a better way to fight back.
Read “Common Sense 3.1” at ( http://www.revolution2.osixs.org ) – “entirely”
How else can I say this? "We Are Free!" http://WeAreFree.osixs.org "Spread the News"
New Bill Known As Enemy Expatriation Act Would Allow Government To Strip Citizenship Without Conviction http://www.addictinginfo.org/2012/01/06/new-bill-known-as-enemy-expatriation-act-would-allow-government-to-strip-citizenship-without-conviction/
Chevron Inc is the 3rd largest global corporation, and their environmental crimes in the Amazon are testament to how they perceive the 99%.
The creeps are refusing to pay 18 billion dollars for damages in Ecuador and have played every form of deceit in avoiding the responsibility it has for the colossal oil spills in jungle communities, causing pollution and cancer on a huge scale.
On F29, why don't we call for an occupation of Chevron stations everywhere?
I agree, the media is a great approach, but Bentonville Arkansas is a direct link to much of the wealth and money. Combine the two, and you will have world attention.
I mean, pretty broad terminology. The corner convenience store is often structured as a "corporation" (as is the small factory employing one or two dozen people, or the small professional services firm like architects or whatever).
These stories are getting wackier every day. Shut down the corporations and all you'll get are more unemployed people. Then who will be able to make the monetary contributions that you freeloading OWS people depend on for your survival? You're stupid. There can be no other explanation.
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decentralizing will take power away from the centralizers, the 1%, banks, corporations.
OWS must lead "full spectrum" decentralization
food water energy communication life
of course, at the end of the day we'll need some kind(s) and levels of government, so it's not completely possible to decentralize utterly...also hard to decentralize when the IRS and landlords are breathing down everyone's neck.
Start local, control the ground beneath our feet...town level freedom. Then band together. Regional feudalism or egalitarianism is the future.
The future really is feudalism or chaos... what we had before fossil fuels.
I agree that the Corporate world is the main cause of fiscal and environmental terror.The true and lasting way to change,is to vote in Independents that are not a affiliated to the major parties.So all OWS movements have to field candidates.A country of sheep will deserve a government of wolves.
the American Legislative Exchange Council needs the following for private sector membership Membership Levels Washington Club – $7,000 Madison Club – $12,000 Jefferson Club – $25,000
You can join the ACLU for $5
see this mic check of mitt romney in NH, we need more mic checks and more powerful ones!!
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/01/06/mitt-romney-mic-check_n_1190816.html
Of course there is coruption within some corporations, but the real root of the problem we face is with private banking institutes that control our currency. With the advent of global satellite communications and number crunching computers, these bankers want to control the finances of the entire global community. The writers of US Constitution recognized this threat and warned us of its consequences. Corporate banks are the real threat to our freedoms.
http://rt.com/news/iran-us-israel-exercises-305/
My apologies, but I don't think this is going to play well in Peoria. People in the U.S. very much want jobs, income, domestic production, consumer goods --- they've seen enough corporations shut down already. You can't just criticize the businesses that are actually working and think that's going to galvanize the country. You need to show a better alternative, and you need to actually make it work - get people hired in functioning worker-owned enterprises or other corporate alternatives or more fairly run corporations that make real products. In theory the lack of overpaid corporate officials and a spirit of collaboration rather than distrust should make this economically superior. But in practice, we hear about just a few good examples, the Isthmus Corporation, Ben and Jerry's and the like. We need to figure out why these good examples remain the exception rather than the rule. And if you want to boast about the advantages of democratically run companies, you should work out a clear set of principles that they should uphold, to make it clear what the advantages will be. I think this might be a combination of employee and consumer rights combined with a guarantee of quality - not just the right of employees not to be fired for having an Obama bumper sticker, but also the right of consumers to be free from arbitrary fees levied for things that aren't really services and don't really cost anything. But you need to build, not destroy, open new enterprises, not shut things down.
The problem with striking these large corporations is that they have a monopoly. Our hands are tied by this system. If you boycott a company that produces clothing, who are you going to turn to? They pretty much all use sweatshops and employ unethical tactics for success. Take the insurance agencies....again its a monopoly. We need to create start up companies to challenge these corporation so in the event of strike, people can turn to another company. p.s. if anyone knows of clothing lines that do not employ sweat shop labor please inform me, thanks....
Just do a Google search for made in the USA - also, many sites such as Zappos now have that option of searching made is USA.
thanks
We need to each work in our natural environment. Let us not forget the need for us to do basic local community organizing, work with existing community organizations and help spread the word! #OWS alone cannot replace the direct local community work that needs to be done in conjunction with others. I still believe in Voter Education & Registration. Exhausting all peaceful methods of struggle. @Peta_de_Aztlan
Many people have become dependent on some corporations. We need to create alternative businesses to replace services and products they provide…
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I want to see National Strikes before insurrection and civil war. We can start by not working and not purchasing the first Monday of the first month. On the Second month if there are no changes; then we strike from work and purchases the first Monday and Tuesday of the second month...There is a tax incentive with the backbone of the 99% middle class. I want to see OWS focus on ECONOMICS not all the 1001 dalmation fringe "feeling" issues. The 1% morticians and the 8 family grim reapers that rule global economics are not going to stop. There is no "incentive" for the 1% and the 8 families to stop. I do not want to see the 99% wait any longer...until they turn into corpses with:
Has this achieved consensus in the NYCGA?
So is this a strike? If it's something like making a human shield in front of Walmart, that won't fly and will set the movement back.
How about providing support to any group of employees who want to carry out a strike? Say workers at a Taco Bell chain want to strike for a day, or week or whatever. Occupy could provide moral/physical/logistical support and even cover their lost wages. Heck they only make what, 7 bucks an hour? I just registered the domain occupystrike.org. Any ideas?
But yeah, whatever this action is, it's not till February 29. Hopefully we do a lot of other productive things before then.
http://www.primitivetimes.com/2012/occupying-a-new-mindset-in-2012/
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Yay ill be sure to take off work
I support this movement wholeheartedly but shutting them down, no, protest em yes. We want them to quit influencing politics and play by a fair set of rules that benefits everyone not just them. It's impractical to shut them down and will only be used as more smear by those that oppose. Now if we mean temporary shutdown then lets say that's what it is. Do not feed the trolls.
I'm thinking they mean to temporarily shut them down until things change.
Good afternoon again.
How can you equate the terms above: "temporarily" and "until"
I think you would be in for a much longer period than "termporary" if you are planning on any change.
conformist
Why wait until February 29th???
It needs to be organized to be effective.
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interesting artwork (in black/blue above) in this blog. Shows men in suits running away from people riding bikes, children running, jumping, standing on their heads. There is one character who has his/her hands up holding a hockey stick, maybe that's who they are running away from or that big blue sun. I think we could use better artwork.
HAHAHA...how do you suppose to shut down corporation?
Trying to put more big ass fat ass moochers on the dole? Wise choice for the coming austerity measures!
You are punishing the 99% who have the crappy jobs at all the corporations you plan to "scream, squat, and spit" at.
Occupy the lawn of the white house or private country clubs, you imbeciles! Stop inferring with the pennies that someone at mcdonalds makes!
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The way to fight corporate greed is not to do business with corporations. Buy from small companies. The EASIEST way to get lower gas prices is to start a consumer gas price war. Don't buy gas from ALL of the gas companies from A-M until they lower their gas prices. Then don't buy any gas from gas companies N-Z until they lower their gas prices. We can win this war against the rich. We just have to have a plan and initiate it. Read my web page at www.mybetteramericaplan.com to see ideas on my Current Events section that will make this revolution a success.
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Okay, so how exactly one can shut down a corporation???
Start with research on "Sir Evelyn De Rothschild" and his family. They have 500 Trillion dollars in "gold" and "silver". That's more than half the world's wealth.
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general strike is the only too we have left next to violence.
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Which companies specifically are being targeted by this? The ALEC website doesn't make it clear who they represent, or maybe I'm just on the wrong page.
EDIT: If someone has time to comb through the newsletters and pull the contact info and companies that the columnists represent I'm sure it would be appreciated. I skimmed through this issue, and it looks like a bunch of free market/reduced government/fight the EPA BS.
http://www.alec.org/wp-content/uploads/IA_JulAug2011_reduced.pdf
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Please do not forget to make large signs featuring those corporations who carry "Dead Peasant" otherwise known as "Corporate Owned Life Insurance" that is held on employees. What happens is when the employee DIES whether during or after employment the CORP receives the benefit and the heirs of the deceased receive Nothing.
Do you have any idea what you are talking about. If you do not know the difference between "term" and "whole life" insurance, you should STOP posting NOW.
List and explanation of companies carrying "Dead Peasant" insurance at link below. If you worked for any of these or others like them you may have more than one "Dead Peasant" aka: Corporate Owned Life Insurance policies on your head. When you or I die the public record of that fact will trigger the benefit for however many of these policies are held on you with benefits primed to accrue only to the Corporation/Beneficiary. If I knew how to find public record of any of these policies from past employers I would want to have legal counsel annul every single one of them or force that additional beneficiaries, namely my family receive the death benefit. http://deadpeasantinsurance.com/which-employers-bought-policies-on-the-lives-of-employees/
Your source is a class action attorney's website?
It's one that has a pretty good explanation and examples; that's why it was chosen.
Of course, there's no reason at all why an individual could not bring suit independently.
the post by the law office doesn't really explain why the policies were obtained or on which employees. Not one specific example was provided.
Some companies do buy policies for their top executives since they are considered very valuable to the company.
I would contact them to find out more but the concept of millions of these policies taken out on unwitting employees by publicly traded companies is understandable in light of preserving a 'floating' level of profitability.
When the employee dies, whether during employment or after the benefit only accrues to the company with zero benefit to the deceased's estate, this is what is criminal to my thinking along with the fact that accidentally a check originally intended for the hiring company was sent to a deceased employee's widow and the check was just over $1M and she sued and won the case as I recall.
That doesn't sound true because insurance laws require the person on whose life is being insured must have knowledge of the policy. I can't take a million dollar policy on anyone I choose without them having to be notified of the policy and the carrier will require a medical exam.
see: 'Widow Sues Late Husband’s Employer Over “Dead Peasant” Insurance Policy' http://jonathanturley.org/2009/02/25/peasant-uprising-widow-sues-late-husbands-employer-over-dead-peasant-insurance-policy/
Sad and true.
Peasant Uprising: Widow Sues Late Husband’s Employer Over “Dead Peasant” Insurance Policy Published 1, February 25, 2009 Society , Torts43 Comments
Irma Johnson, a Texas widow, is suing after she was mistakingly informed that the employer of her late husband Daniel Johnson was to receive $1.6 million after his death under a practice known in the industry as a “dead peasant” insurance policy. Under this common practice, employers take out life insurance on employees and write off the payments as a business expense. They then collect a windfall when one of the “peasants” die.
The postal service triggered the lawsuit by misdirecting the check made out to Amegy Bank, her husband’s former employer.
These policies can continue for years after an employee has left an employer.
Wal-Mart was recently sued over its use of dead peasant policies of low-level employees and agreed to pay $10.4 million to the families of 380 employees. This has led to protests, including this video. The Walmart litigation was protracted and once again the company fought the lawsuit to guarantee bad press and then settled.
When a policy was written in 2001 for Daniel Johnson, he already had been diagnosed with terminal brain cancer. The project manager had undergone two brain surgeries to remove a tumor and was getting radiation treatments. He was unable to walk or talk. It appears that, while most insurance companies would laugh at individuals seeking insurance at such a medical stage, a bank can get a $1.6 million policy without difficulty.
What is particularly galling is that the bank (then Southwest Bank of Texas), criticized his job performance and demoted him. After buying a supplemental insurance policy, he was fired five months later and then died the following summer.
Here is a clip from a Walmart-Amegy corporate retreat. The key is to first insure the peasants before using them for clay pigeons.
Res ipsa loquitur ("The thing itself speaks")
The 'teeny tiny' writing consisting of the legalese permitting such policies in employment agreements taken at the time of employment of most poverty level income earners on up (and mostly desperate to grab 'any job') signed in haste is the likely reason so many have been signed and by default agreed to.
Really? The job applicant is so desperate and in such a hurry they don't read or understand what they are signing? Cmon, don't make the employees to be idiots.
I've seen them do it myself as a manager...
Ignorance abounds - and that is one reason why we have so many lawyers in the top 1%. The 99% put them there with their ignorance and jumps to wrong conclusions.
why?
shut the shop! they can't put the genii back in the bottle! let's tell the truth! face the facts! this system stinks!
good job...........keep up the good work...........shut em down
StruggleforFreedom, right on!!!!
Thanks :)
Come visit my blog: http://struggleforfreedom.blogg.no/
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All of you occupy people need to pack up and go home. Your only making things worse. Your occupy movements will give the government a reason to implement martial law on you, not me. I know the game. The rich run this government and your occupy movements will never change that. If you get violent then that just gives them a reason to take more of our freedoms away. Go Home!!!!!
Corporations are made up of you and me. Anyone who has money invested in these corporations would lose money. The only reason corporations exist are because people invested money in them and they own a share of that corporation. Plus boycotts won't work, Why would I stop going to Home Depot I have good relations with the workers there and they help me a lot. I enjoy eating at McDonalds. I have money invested in many corporations. In return I get money back when the company does well. So when you hurt corporations you hurt those who invested in them, which is many Americans.
Corporations are made up of you and me, but the issue is whether or not the people in them are treated fairly. You may enjoy eating at McDonalds, but most people don't enjoy working there. They have very unfulfilling, dehumanizing jobs, and aren't paid enough to live on, which is the case with many corporations. And the corporations get away with doing this because they are able to use their profits to influence legislation, as well as get away with all sorts of socially corrosive behavior, because they run the economy.
They also control the media and the messaging of society, so most people, who are busy serving the corporations and don't have time to spend hours on the internet reading alternative media sources, get their news and world view from corporations, which only present filtered news in the way they want you to hear it so you don't think for yourself and realize you are being controlled, which would be a threat to them.
Whether people make money off a corporation's stock or not means nothing. The question is the quality of life for everyone, and the quality of life would be immeasurably better for everyone if corporations had far less power over our government and society than they do today, because corporations, by definition, are self-serving. If they weren't, they would pay employees more and stop outsourcing jobs. They would also help us solve the real problems of our world- poverty, crime, the environment, etc. But because they run the show, we're busy using our human energy flipping burgers instead of actually solving these problems.
Working at McDonalds is a job not a career. The people who work there should know that it is designed to be a temporary job not a life long career. The people who should be working there are highschool students or those just out of college. I myself am a highschool student and I work at Best Buy. It's a great job for me but it's not a career. Now do the working conditions there suck? Not really I am treated very well and I get paid a fair wage. So what I'm trying to get at is that people should not be working fro these corporations for long periods of time, they should be looking into careers which last long periods of time.
First of all, that's not true. Lots of adults work at those kinds of jobs. Sure, maybe it's a result of their poor choices earlier in life, but we believe in second chances, don't we? So if someone wants to go back to school and try and get a better job, they'll have to take out a loan and pay interest - to a for-profit corporation that doesn't care about them, and only cares about profits. Since they work at McDonalds, they're probably already in debt to credit card companies because their wage doesn't cover their costs. So that person will now be further in debt with more interest, while going to school and working fulltime, for the CHANCE of getting a better job, which is not at all guaranteed in today's economy even with a good education. On top of that, a "good" job today is not nearly as good or dependable as it was in the past, while college tuitions and cost of living have gone up dramatically. So even if someone does go to college and get a decent job, they'll likely be in debt for a HUGE part of their lives, and have to take out even more loans to buy a car, home, send THEIR kids to college, etc. etc.
But I would disagree with you that you're paid a fair wage. You only think that because it's the way it's always been. But you enable Best Buy to exist. The CEO of Best Buy is every bit as dependent on you as you are on him. The labor you provide Best Buy is critical, yet you have no say in what goes on in the company or the decisions that are made. You are only there to serve corporate interests. You have a strict set of parameters you have to follow, and if you don't follow them, you'll be fired.
Think of what it is that truly enables your store to operate. The people who built the building? They aren't the ones making millions. The engineers who designed the products you sell? They make a bit more, but not much. The workers who built the products? Most of them were made in Chinese sweatshops with even worse working conditions than here. Yet Best Buy sells these products without hesitation because, again, it's about profit, not people. So actually, everything that allows your store to operate is made possible by people who are not making insane amounts of money. The ones who do are the ones dictating at the top, and despite what they want you to think, THEY are the ones who are expendable, not you.
If we had a system designed by and for the majority of people instead of an elite minority, believe me, your working conditions and pay would be far better than they are today, not to mention every other part of your life. But again, most people don't question any of this because it's just normal. It's not really your concern whether the products you sell were produced ethically or not. You have your own life to deal with.
There's a lot more to get into here, but I sense that we just see things very differently. I respect where you are at this stage in your thinking and encourage you to keep an open mind and question everything. Your world view will be much different in 5, 10, 20 years than it is today, and so will mine. If it isn't, there's something wrong, as life is a constant learning process.
Seems to me you people are real close to understanding. The truth is right there. Its very simple. Soon we will be able to create the world we want. Keep talking for we need each other and remember love always wins! Its our choice.
No I get paid a fair wage. Plus a company has to make a profit, that's the whole point of a company
My God! They have you so brainwashed that you don't even know what a fair wage is!!! A Company does have to make a profit, but it doesn't have to pay it's employees "Coolie Wages" to do it.
The head of your Corp makes 300 times what you make. If you don't know that that's unfair, you need to go to some OWS meetings!
I know they make a lot more than I do. But I really don't do much, nor do the rest of my fellow employees.
Yeah, and they do even less.
No they definitely do more and have more responsibilty.
2012 is not gonna be a year for the faint hear ted. Don't worry OWS, America is gonna rebuild. Those who don't wan't to help can stay stuck in the old system because they are slaves to money and their idea of a God which was passed down to them and no longer applies. They will come around when there is nothing left to hang on to. For better or worse America will always be the country that has changed the face of the planet. We are co creators and destroyers of worlds because life demands change and change is the only constant there is. Lets just have some fun no matter whom it upsets as long as it doesn't hurt anybody.
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You don't need corporations to have a web site. There are plenty of small local businesses that offer web hosting. And I don't think people will die without cell phones for a while. I just went 2 months without one and have survived it.
Idiot.
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? We haven't even said how we are shutting them down, and already you're making up reasons as to why we are wrong. For all you know, this could be a boycott, and even if it goes beyond protest-by-consumption. And illegality does not mean immorality. Landing in jail is a proven and true method for promoting change in society, and the willingness to do so for the sake of defying unjust laws is intrinsically heroic.
Going to jail can be a true method but I think it must be in huge numbers and leaders ,think Martin Luther King, Nelson Mandella etc, to be truely effective. I still dont know who is emerging as a leader and cant think of one revolution in the past that was totally leaderless..I understand your concept but I have reservations about how you attain your goals.
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