#ows Takes Foley Square With Union Brothers And Sisters
Posted 13 years ago on Oct. 6, 2011, 4:03 a.m. EST by OccupyWallSt
The American Dream has been stolen from the world. Workers are told that they aren't allowed health care, shelter, food. Students are told that they aren't allowed jobs, and that they will be in debt for the rest of their lives, unable to declare bankruptcy. The 1% has destroyed this nation and its values through their greed. The 1% has stolen this world. We will not allow this to occur.
Supporters of #ows filled Foley Square past capacity and expressed their grievances with the economic and social injustice pervasive in our world. The 99% are growing louder and larger every day.
What is it all about?
It is not just about America, Wall Street, corporate greed, crony capitalism...Its about these and a whole lot more. Its about the whole of humanity. As humanity progresses further into the 21st century, it has yet to find the answers to some basic problems affecting its survival. How should all human beings live together in our habitat of earth? How should we organise ourselves to share its resources and maintain its habitable state? The answers to these questions become more desperate in the face of a perpetually growing world's population.
Until now, we have been living in conflicts, fighting to grab as much as possible for ourselves. To fight more effectively, we organise ourselves first as clans, then tribes, fiefdoms, kingdoms and now, nations. While we organise and fight throughout our history, we have seen humanity thrown into periods of war and peace, territorial expansions and contractions and the rises and ebbs of power and influence. The current state is a world of independent nations. In it, we continue to compete and fight for the earth’s resources. It may not be a zero-sum game, but it is a finite-sum game. As one nation gets more, it leaves less for the others. So we have nations wishing the worst for the others. This cannot go on forever. It endangers the existence of the whole humanity. More and more nations are having more and more destructive weapons. There are now enough weapons of mass destruction to destroy the whole world many times over.
Capitalistic economy ultimately depends on consumption for growth. It has to encourage mass consumption. The more the masses consume, the more the economy grows. The faster they consume, the faster the economy grows. The masses are incessantly encouraged, even conned into consuming, even if it is beyond, or way beyond, their means. Only a small percentage makes the most gain out of this frenzy of intoxicated consumption. The system ends up with a small percentage of very rich living above and beyond masses of poor, disadvantaged and deprived. This small percentage do not and cannot feel for the injustices felt by the masses. When the government too is controlled by this small percentage and is not able to help the masses, then the time is ripe for a social revolution. The whole system has to be overthrown. Unlike social revolutions in the past which started from a locality and spread slowly, in the open and well-interconnected world of today, a social revolution can start nationwide, and even worldwide, instantaneously, in a parallel, distributed model. This is what the “Occupy Wall Street” movement is about. Will it result in a new and better world model? Let’s hope it does because humanity is craving for one.
"Will it result in a new and better world model? Let’s hope it does because humanity is craving for one."
Huh? So, after the tear down, there is no plan in place for the new model of societal organization? We all recognize the corruption of having criminal monied interests influencing government, but to deem all corporations as evil is simply a fallacy. Also, there is no Wall Street influence toward government that doesn't have a Government entity receptive to their influence and who even invites their influence.
In fact, it's government who has the ability to stop Wall Street from visiting. Why aren't we over there as well, instead of here only?
I'm having a hard time discovering exactly what we're aiming at here. To influence voters within the framework of our Constitution? And if not then how is this tear down going to occur? More importantly who is poised to organize the 'New Society'?
The absolutely worst thing we are doing, imho, is inviting Big Marxism in. In fact, it's beginning to look like Big Marxism had their eye on this from the beginning and needed us to put up a middle class face so they could move in!
please educate yourselves! i'm not saying that to be mean, but please do not make sweeping generalizations about something you do not understand. it is banks and corporations that OWN our government.
Our government is run by corporations - literally. The Federal Reserve is made up of 1/3 of the banks in the united states, and it regulate the tax dollars of America, NOT congress - in fact congress has no idea where our money is and Senator Alan Grayson has been asking the Fed Reserve where trillions of tax dollars have been, and the head of the Reserve simply answered that he did not know and that information was not for congress or the public.
we no longer have control of our own government let alone our own money, we need to STOP the corporations from controlling our government. they are now giving their banker friends INTEREST FREE LOANS, and people say Occupiers are freeloading! Last time I checked - that was our goddamn money!
so government has no ability to do anything - does NOT EVEN HAVE THE PURSE STRINGS, EVEN OUR POLICE ARE PAID BY JP MORGAN, not the city
We cannot rely on a system that has failed us and is failing as we speak, thespark I agree with you, as human beings we must evolve to find pleasure in life and not money and not have our lives revolve around money, we are better than that, and instead of fighting like animals over who gets what and how to earn money to survive, we need to be more concerned about the welfare of all human beings and not just our selves.
good link below: http://knockknockrevolution.tumblr.com/flyers
great comment. it needs to be added, however, that the American urge to compete with the whole world and out-do everyone else has grown out of manageable proportion. since it has become the national narrative to be the best, we have become unable to see and appreciate others, non-Americans as well as our own, the way they deserve to be seen and appreciated. i agree that the whole system has to be torn down, but with it goes the narrative, all the values that we find important and which define our American identity, but which, as many of them do, work against the betterment of our experience of America and that of being an American.
On the other hand - we're letting our -own industries- die to feed the pockets of a few multinationals who own our kickback-loving politicians.
What a world, eh?
beautifully put. Humanity is not only craving a better world, our survival depends on it.
And who is going to pay for it? The US is broke. You can rob every rich person in you country and it wont do a fucking thing. You guys are finished. Just wait and see.
Yeah yeah we get it - I have parents that absolutely love free trade...while my mom is at a s**y job and my dad and I have no work and future.
It's true that some of us asked for it literally by putting our money into China and Pakistan and etc. over ourselves...but I never asked for this. Since I don't earn any money, I'm not really in a position to boycott anything. My parents are, even had this discussion with them and you know what? It's not even "the Lord giveth and he taketh" with them, they are freaking apologists for the system even as they get raped.
So yeah, sneer at us and at yourselves coldly and with bitterness. Whistle while Rome burns. Remember to keep turning a blind eye to the people who never asked for this - the kids.
We cannot rely on a system that has failed us and is failing as we speak, thespark I agree with you, as human beings we must evolve to find pleasure in life and not money and not have our lives revolve around money, we are better than that, and instead of fighting like animals over who gets what and how to earn money to survive, we need to be more concerned about the welfare of all human beings and not just our selves.
good link below: http://knockknockrevolution.tumblr.com/flyers
"I see in the near future a crisis approaching that unnerves me and causes me to tremble for the safety of my country. Corporations have been enthroned and an era of corruption in high places will follow, and the money power of the country will endeavor to prolong its reign by working on the prejudices of the people until all wealth is aggregated in a few hands and the republic is destroyed." (Abraham Lincoln, in a letter to Col. William F. Elkin, dated November 21, 1864, The Lincoln Encyclopedia [1950]).
Alas, the truth was spoken and look what happened to him!!!
You are so right young man. I was born in 1945, a teen in the 60s, experienced the Vietnam War, Civil Rights, Feminist movements. This IS about so much more. Planet wide more. There is no 'specific' problem. The problems (plural) have gone viral affecting the extinction of the human species on this planet if we don't work to make change happen now. This article was written in Feb 2008. Read it and weep. http://www.satyacenter.com/coming-collapse-of-globalization
+1 excellent comment
You have no idea. The US abandoned capitalism long long ago. That paper system is nothing more than a modern form of socialism. Wake up and smell the the shit around you. You deserve what is commimg. I've known it for years now. There is justice in the world. And its name is inflation. Ask yourelf where it comes from and how it is caused?
From Huff Post: David Graeber, one of the original organizers of the protests, told The Washington Post that making demands of institutions implies that you want them to stay in power.
“You’re creating a vision of the sort of society you want to have in miniature,” he said. “And it’s a way of juxtaposing yourself against these powerful, undemocratic forces you’re protesting.”
Bravo. Clear, basic. People who have made the paradigm shift finally have an opportunity to come together politically and begin acting on these deeper truths that guide us.
From John Robb at Global Guerrillas:
" OCCUPY WALL STREET (the theory)
Really simple:
Occupy Wall Street is an open source protest.
This type of protest has been very effective over the last year in toppling regimes in north Africa. It's proving relatively successful in the US too.
Open source protest is an organizational technique. Probably the only organizational technique that can assemble a massive crowd in today's multiplexed environment. Essential rules of open source protest include:
A promise. A simple goal/idea that nearly everyone can get behind. Adbusters did pretty good with "occupy wall street." Why? Nearly everyone hates the pervasive corruption of banks and Wall Street. It's an easy target.
A plausible promise. Prove that the promise can work. They did. They actually occupied Wall Street and set up camp. They then got the message out.
A big tent and an open invitation. It doesn't matter what your reason for protesting is as long as you hate/dislike Wall Street. The big tent is already in place (notice the diversity of the signage). Saw something similar from the Tea Party before it was mainstreamed/diminished.
Let everyone innovate. Don't create a leadership group. The general assembly approach appears to work.
Support anyone in a leadership role that either a) grows the movement or b) advances the movement closer to its goal. Oppose (ignore) anybody that proposes a larger, more complex agenda or those that claim ownership over the movement.
If a new technique works, document it, use it again, and share it with everyone else. Copy everything that works.
Spread the word of the movement as widely as possible.
That's the gist of it.
What's the real goal of this protest? Frankly, it's probably a recognition that the center of power in the US doesn't reside in Washington anymore. It's on Wall Street. This protest dispenses with the middle men (the US government) and goes straight after the real power.
My guess is that the Adbuster team that launched this open source protest felt that an October financial meltdown was possible, hence the September start-date. If the meltdown does occur, this movement is going to go global, just at the moment when the banks are going to be at their most vulnerable. Regardless, this effort is going to set the groundwork for a fast launch in the future when the next financial meltdown occurs.
What's the big picture? Global guerrillas are getting better at building open source protests. We are going to see more and they are likely to become a prominent feature of the geopolitical landscape. It will also be interesting to see if open source protests could end up taking down a Too Big To Fail bank (i.e. Goldman) or a US President in the next 5 years. That would be very cool to see. "
http://globalguerrillas.typepad.com/globalguerrillas/2011/10/occupy-wall-street-the-theory.html
This Occupy Wall Street, to put it succinctly, defines itself as it grows. Its message is in its title and does as an occupying army does: command the occupied. This is good because it is Americans taking back(occupying) what is theirs.
The current working definition is: Wall Streets influence on government is detrimental to the country and needs to be stopped by the people.
Now then, let us continue with this narrative and see where it goes:
What needs to be done to remove the influence of Wall Street on Washington??
Everyone reading this consider the question and suggest a solution.
One solution: eliminate all incumbents in office. Vote em out!! We fired the republicans and that didn't work, we fired the democrats and that didn't work. Let us now fire the whole lot!!
Another: Draft legislation that eliminates money from the election process after candidates are nominated in the primary process. Everyone who is in the primary gets an even footing. Public appearances will be made en mass from the pool of people in the primary. Campaigning as we know it ends. The campaign is paid for by the people and drags the potential congressmen/presidents on a trail through the country/congressional district with equal speaking time. The public broadcasting system is in place already, programming could be suited to the political process from the national to the local political programs.
This would still mean that a lot of money gets spent to get into the primary, but at least we can cut down the majority of financial influence on elections.
This idea needs refining. Any suggestions?
Another: Flat tax 10% or 20% across the board with no exceptions, no deductions or other odd things that just add complexity to the tax system.
Another: National sales tax that taxes consumption, not work. This will work to make the tax system proportional(rich people consume a lot more than us poor folks:) ). It will also encourage saving and thats always sensible.
Boots
Excellent analysis. open source protests are the way to go. may be we should state "rolling stone gathers no moss". But the summative will be it will gather mass.
Comments like yours really prove to me that many people are on the same page. This movement seems to be starting within.
Love the info,My name is David j. Tatum I wish to see, us come together in this movement, with a clear message of the 99% can be defined, Jobs, better education, government Etc . There must be a clear goal, and a vision, I believe people are ready, but they need to understand and be understood in the movement. http://www.facebook.com/david.j.tatum#!/groups/199769420061812/
love this! Thanks for the info & link.
"It doesn't matter what your reason for protesting is as long as you hate and/or dislike Wall Street." I disagree, even if I dislike the obviously corrupt business practices of the major banks. There are so many legitimate reasons to be disgusted by the obvious undue influence of the banks, but the people who have the power to do otherwise are the elected officials. Our Congress has the power, has always had the power, not to choose to engage in an illegal and unethical war in Iraq, not to funnel trillions of dollars into said war, not to facilitate the escalation of wars in the middle east, not to allow for electoral fraud that barred legitimate voters from voting, not to disclose the identity of a CIA operative for political vindictiveness. not to allow for the hiring of mercenaries to fight in the middle east, not to allow for the abuse of prisoners....not to allow insurance companies to write a healthcare bill to suit its needs instead of the needs of the country and the people, not to allow for the extenuation of tax breaks for the super wealthy. Instead of employing a mob mentality of "tear it all down," why can we not speak with a modicum of reservation about taking it all down? If this is how people really feel, then the White House Press Secretary couldn't be more out of touch. If hate is what unites, it can be used to divide just as easily. Be careful of the energy that is wielded, no matter how righteous it may seem. While I don't dislike Adbusters, it seems curious that a magazine that uses a very certain amount of shock value to promote itself is believed to be the instigator of the demonstrations... the vision behind it, above and beyond protesting the unfair and illegal acts of banks, is murky.
The "5 years" part is the modicum of reservation.
Hmmm... "creating a vision for the sort of society you want to have in miniature..." Really? Who's vision? What if I have a different vision for the manner in which we order society? If there is a "vision" for society, and we are all supposed to "share" in it, is there any purpose in allowing people to choose their own path? Seek goals of their own choosing? Should they be allowed to control their own property and use it as they see fit to achieve their goals - even if those goals are not part of the "vision"?
Occupy Wall Street is NOT affiliated with Unions, MoveOn, or ANY Dems or Repubs… http://tl.gd/dg872d
Nobel winner Stiglitz : The vicious circle of corporation, CEOs, money, politics and legal system, etc CEOs walk away with loads of money while their wrongdoing is paid back by corporations which is owned by shareholders! We should put financial criminals in jail, the so-called white-collar crime. Watch the video (2 pieces): http://www.dailyfinance.com/2010/10/22/joseph-stiglitz-corporate-crooks-to-jail/
By the way this battle is not about the american dream stupid! Its about the dream of the planet!
It may be true that a plot from Iran is a solid issue.... but the timing of this big news is colliding with the attention the American public is paying to "Occupy Wall Street" cause. I do believe that the 1% is very capable of any thing in order to save the discussion from move forward.
Herman Cain wants to tax the poor, increase taxes on the middle class and give massive tax cuts to the rich with his 9-9-9 plan.
Don't let this man get elected!!!
How do i post a picture i took from the movement on Mon. here?
Google Dr. Burzynski and you'll find a cure for cancer in phase three clinical trials. Google Stan Meyers and you'll find a guy who could run his car on water. Google Royal Raymond Rife and you'll find a guy who cured cancer in the thirties and forties. What do they all have in common? All were, or are, being squashed by big corporations and our government. Capitalism isn't the problem. Corrupt monopolies are. But, we need focus. We need to pick out one injustice first, then go after another once we've had success.
Make no mistake, our current economic situation has been caused by the fed! Between the fed and the big bankers, the housing bubble was created and so was the crash. The democrats seem to want to stand behind you. Use that to your advantage and force them to audit the fed. The house will pass an audit the fed bill, pressure the senate to do the same. Then we'll see if obama truly stands with you/us.
If we can get the audit done in a transparent way, the people will see the corruption and things can start to change. Next, we need an audit of Fort Knox. I suspect that there's nothing left in there. Once people see that, it's game on for complete change.
In my opinion, you should distance yourself from the union leaders. The union members are great (I'm one of them in construction), but their/our leaders are corrupt. I've never met one who didn't love riding around in limos, telling me who to vote for (at risk of losing my job if I disagree), didn't make six figures, and who didn't send his lazy friend out to work while better, harder workers sit home. Unions help get better conditions and better pay, but in the bad times, they control who works and who doesn't. That has to stop.
In conclusion, focus on the fed if you want to start getting real change. Pressure our government to get an audit done and tell them if they don't, they'll be out of a job. Oh yeah, don't listen to Herman Cain. He's one of them and just Bernanke's bitch.
I wish all of you the best. Keep up the fight. If one opens up near me, I'll come out and help.
Why are these unions using us? They give millions to Obama for his re-election. Richard Trumka AFL-CIO President is making close to $300,000 a year. I dont think he feels our pain. If he comes back around tell him to turn around and go home. THE UNIONS ARE USING US FOR THERE OWN AGENDA.
Growing up, most of us were taught that if we wanted to change things in America, we could do it at the ballot box. Well, today large numbers of Americans are realizing that both major political parties have been bought and paid for. http://youtu.be/p3Ven1km2y4
Thank you! I thought that public support for labor (working people) and the critical role of collective bargaining (the means to protecting workers and achieving fairness in the workplace) was tracking toward extinction. Corporate greed and corruption have left our economy in tatters and our democracy on its deathbed. To divert attention, public employees and unionized workers are targeted and blamed for the damage. Thank you for standing up and acting out for those of us who cannot! OneGlobalCitizen
I wanted to share this with the group.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wcePaR1LSVA
Enjoy.
"The American Dream has been stolen from the world. Workers are told that they aren't allowed health care, shelter, food. Students are told that they aren't allowed jobs, and that they will be in debt for the rest of their lives, unable to declare bankruptcy. The 1% has destroyed this nation and its values through their greed. The 1% has stolen this world. We will not allow this to occur."
No mention of so-called "free" trade with cut-throat mercantilist countries being responsible for all this? No mention of that same "free" trade turning Mexico into a sh1thole by displacing the local workers? No mention of how many of those countries we are "free trading" with actually enforced high tariffs on us while we let them rape us by lowering our tariffs and letting them flood us with slave labor goods?
It's a cat and mouse game where ALL the governments involved are the "cat" and ALL people are the "mouse". Well...not all the time, but for the US and everybody who trades with us...definitely. Jobs go to country B and when country A is a sh1thole, jobs go to Country A until country B is a sh1thole. Lather, rinse, repeat.
Advocating fair trade or free trade with countries that are actually "free" and at the very least, aren't cut-throat mercantilists is one thong that may be the solution. My parents love free trade, because they don't want to pay "400% more for towels just to protect Americans". However, if we actually used protectionism in favor of the American PEOPLE, (thereby making the demand come back home and reducing the demand elsewhere for slaves) my parents wouldn't make a huge fuss about it - they'd just buy USA, because it became the cheaper option. When we are losing jobs and whole industries, when other countries have tariffs on us while forcing their way in and destroying our industries (and jobs)..."buy America or bye bye America" doesn't seem like a bad idea.
Imposing tariffs on multinational terrorists, busting trusts left and right wherever they try to sprout, strengthening our corporate prosecutors and our borders, getting serious about cracking down and putting the PEOPLE first, making Wall St more visible and accountable for their actions instead of having taxpayers foot their bill (subsidies, tax cuts and right to work laws are three examples of Wall St incompetence and irresponsibility) are a few of my suggestions.
Oh btw - a lot of news sites are getting bought out to be -for- the pending FTAs. I read several mortifying articles that called protectionism "stone age barbarism", completely ignoring the effects of all the other "free" trade agreements we got into and repeating the same mantra we've been hearing since NAFTA (Free trade will allow them to buy our goods! Free trade is a must!). For example - touting the benefits of exports without addressing the reality of industry (and job) killing imports, what we may be trading off in the long run if they will even stop their current mercantilistic practices on us (like the South Bay tech jobs so we can sell them our grapefruit and our beef) and in a sinister vibe - ignoring the very real damage (such as job losses like what happened to us) it will do to the citizens of those other countries too. The comments sections are always full of people who have been displaced by these FTAs or for those who haven't, but know the reality of "free" trade. Plus you hear that even Korea's and Colombia's citizens oppose "free" trade.
Looking back on Madonna's comment about how she would "move to France" if Bush got elected (same for conservatives who actually did move to France once Obama got elected)...I realize that Madonna and all those other people saying that were and are really stupid. We should have been looking to move to France\Sweden\New Zealand\etc. a long, long, long time ago...
EDIT-Also forgot to add that there are a lot of the "pro-elites" blaming the healthcare "reform" for this mess. I had to laugh to myself - Obamacare is a huge subsidy to the monstrous health insurance giants over the sensible and money SAVING option, which was single payer. Obamacare was BO, Max Baucus, Wall Street, etc.'s answer to the American people - "F**k You and Give Us Some More of Your Money". It's like the band of thugs coming in, beating up all the people while chanting "Stop kicking yourself!" to the American people.
Congratulations little child, you survived being aborted by your leftwing mother!
http://www.newyorker.com/reporting/2011/10/10/111010fa_fact_mayer
I support the efforts to end Wall Street Financial Terrorism, I support the efforts to end the conservative class warfare strategy that favors the rich against the poor, I support the efforts to overcome in solidarity the corruption and abuse of power by elected and non-elected leaders, I support the end of financial terrorism that benefits the few at the expense of the many. We stand in solidarity, in the same Spirit we go forward, to victory! And Justice For All, not just the few; All are created equal, not just the rich and powerful; All have a right to life, liberty, and happiness, not just the rich. Revolution to victory!
www.whatreallyhappened.com is fully behind the OWS protests, and is exposing every attempt by the regime to co-opt it. The regime is: The corporate media (CNN, FOX, etc), the banks, the Democratic and Republican parties, and some multinational corporations.
Here's what you people need: some focus. Interviews with the “occupiers” have been all over the map, reflecting a very wide range of grievances. I would suggest someone focusing the OWS dialogue, and presenting some workable solutions. The solutions I have heard so far include things like: • Dramatically raise taxes on wealthy • Forgive student loans • Provide free health care to all • Provide free cell phone and internet access to all • Controlled drug prices • Reduce insurance company profits by force • Prohibit banks from raising fees
The underlying theme here sounds a little like, “We want free stuff.” These are not really workable solutions to anything, other than an increase in government control. So, my suggestion to OWS is: 1) Sharpen your message 2) Don’t demand free stuff 3) Roll up your sleeping bags and go back to work
Who is paying for your demonstration. You are blocking the legal businesses in all of the cities, so now they too cannot make any money. You are hurting the working class people. GET RID OF OBAMA, VOTE HIS GOVERRNMENT OUT, MAKE SMALLER GOVERNMENT, GET RID OF ILLEGALS, GET RID OF LOBBYISTS AND GET RID OF UNION PENSIONS.
California just passed a law allowing illegals access to money for college Dayton Ohio is so desperate to save their dying city that they are welcoming immigrants in the hope that they will revive it Political correctness runs rampant like a disease such that it hinders free speech Hospitals are closing because they can't afford to treat people who can't afford to pay Jobs are being shipped overseas favoring profit over all else The American dream has been bastardized, this country is worth fighting for; I hope this movement grows ever more in numbers and makes all these injustices heard by the RIGHT people!
My hand in the air from Indonesia to support this action. i know this bank system who make war, stealing money from civilian, making racist issue, making issue of religion to rob their oil, mining or everything, plant corrupt government to backup their purpose, shut the mouth of conventional media to control people, and many more, UNTIL WE DIDNT REALIZE WE ROBBED BY THEM! the truth must be told, spread the word to other places. HOPE THE TRUTH BE REVEALED, STARTING FROM U.S.
ps. this not only happen on U.S but other part of the world too. Good luck!
What is it all about? Privatized profits and socialized losses: their effects are pernicious. Bismarck, ND
Mixed feelings about support from the unions. I am all for workers' rights but that is not what we are fighting for here. Do we just want to change our movement into a workers' right issue? That has been going on for decades and will continue to go on. It will not change the status quo of the bigger problem - corporate ownership of the government.
Out of all the issues out there, we have chosen to fight to end corporate ownership of the government. Let us keep at that. We need to be focused on that.
Let us not get hijacked by other interests, however noble they may be. I say that because none of those other groups address the issue of corporate ownership of the government.
Sorry to keep repeating this phrase but I believe that is how OWS started and that is how it should keep going.
What a bunch of losers. Get a job. Keep protesting corporations, yet you all have iPhones in your pockets. You are all a bunch of hypoctites, and pathetic losers.
Talk about a hypocrite. Your user name and then your comment contradict each other. Get a job huh? Please explain to us how we are to "get a job" when all these companies are relocating to other countries thanks to the governments tax break to companies that work out of this country. We use things like iPhones, laptops, ect because they are the tools at hand. What a better way to tick off a company then to use the tools they created against them.
@lyn123, Not all of us like Apple, Google, Microsoft and Facebook. They are just as corrupt as Exxon, BP, Koch, Haliburton, Goldman, AIG and the rest.
We like Apple, Google, Microsoft and Facebook. We don't like Exxon, BP, Koch, Haliburton, Goldman, AIG, Super Pac funds, and lobbyist.
[Removed]
Nobel winner Stiglitz : The vicious circle of corporation, CEOs, money, politics and legal system, etc CEOs walk away with loads of money while their wrongdoing is paid back by corporations which is owned by shareholders! We should put financial criminals in jail, the so-called white-collar crime. Watch the video (2 pieces): http://www.dailyfinance.com/2010/10/22/joseph-stiglitz-corporate-crooks-to-jail/
Many people have expressed their opinion about the way forward in this movement.
There are 3 common flaws in the proposals 1)"demands" have to be approved within the existing political structure, 2)physical theft or violence would require interference from the government, 3)current political entities would absorb this movement, when the feeling in the air is that something absolutely new is required.
Here is my proposal: create a new national capitol. Only that move will be seen as satisfying when we look back on these events in the decades to come.
But how can this small movement break free from the current oligarchy that controls us? We are doctors, lawyers, and farmers just the same as our founding fathers. Yet, the principles they created have been distorted to serve the oligarchy. These principles should be renewed.
In creating a new and better seat of government, we have the most powerful tool ever created - the internet.
I suggest Kansas City, Kansas as a location for this new seat of government. A new and faster internet is being created there. An open and more benign canvas exists at this site, without the stifling history and "baggage" found on either coast.
We don't need to hate "them", we'll just focus on creating a better "us". The energy to do this, exists right now in New York.
CarryTheGrips
I'm from Brazil and I am following the protests around the world.
Through YouTube and RTP in Portugal, as the Brazilian media is completely dominated by the global elite, and just spends the whole day garbage to distract the population, such as pornography, BBB, football, soap, etc..
One detail that worries me in the protests is that they can not leave for the violence because it is all that the global elite want.
They want confrontation to justify the establishment of martial law.
Then comes the financial crisis and alienated people will call for a New World Order, so they come to "save" the people, and create a single global currency, fully digital.
With digital currency the elite will have total control over the population, and the creation of fiat money, without the inconvenience of physical currency.
I am an unemployed American. I am unemployed because despite my certification in automotive tech, and my 14 yeras as a house painter, the area I live in would rather give jobs to illegal immigrants that will work under the table for low pay and not complain. I am unemployed because the few jobs available in my area REQUIRE you to to be bilingual. I am unemployed because I am a white male that speaks English.
These are the cold, hard FACTS of the area I live in.
As quoted from a great movie, "I',M MAD AS HELL, AND I'M NOT GOING TO TAKE IT ANY MORE.
I am sure I will get grief from this post, but I don't agree that the unions should be joining OWS. The unions are the biggest cause for big companies to have to raise cost, prices and shut down and ship everything out of the country. Union workers go on strike over petty crap. I understand their right to work for fair pay and benefits, but a lot of stuff they complain about it uncalled for. I say go on strike, I'll be glad to work your job while you picket. I could use the money.
Eleven score and fifteen years ago a nation was born under God for the deliverance of oppressed peoples. It derived its birth by the will of God. God blessed this nation and has continued His blessing for specific reasons: Liberty and Justice and economic progress for its people. When that liberty is infringed upon, when the “haves” have more and the “have-nots” have even less then what they had, then it is ordained by God for the citizens of this nation to arise and once again formulate a renewed call for justice and the lessening of the economic burdened placed on these “newly have-nots.”
It is a moral travesty that in America, this land that God has blessed because of its holding to noble principles, the poor are becoming poorer at the hands of and the uncaring attitude of many of the rich and wealthy. This should not, and by God, will not be maintained. There is a movement forming in America that should have the blessing of all God’s people. It is a grass-roots movement to effect economic and social betterment for 99% of its family.
The wealthy in the United States have benefitted inordinately since the great recession that they in effect caused. There can be no disputing that fact. There can also be no dispute when one considers that more and more Americans face a dim economic future. The wealthy are not losing jobs, their homes, their self-esteem and self-respect. And even if some have lost their employment, they do not face the specter of the unemployment line; they do not face the degradation of, in essence, “begging” for bread. They do not share in the trepidation of, again, 99% of American citizenry.
Until today.
This is a clarion call for all Americans who are disaffected by the clandestine rule of the rich to peaceably stand up and assert their moral authority so that those in their government take notice and act. America is on the verge of a revolution of sorts. The poor and the middle class have awakened from their slumber. They want their self-respect back; they desire their dignity, and demand justice politically, socially, economically and spiritually.
Why spiritually? Oppression in any form is against the will of God and depresses the spirit of man. Many people in America feel that they are oppressed, that no one is listening, and that their government has lost its way. Yes, their government! The government belongs to the governed in America. And more and more Americans are demanding their rights as a citizen of this nation. This nation under God was created for the benefit of all, not for the profit of a few. That is the blood-thought that circulates in the heart of the majority in this country. It is the blood-thought that keeps America alive.
Arise! Take back what is yours. Take back your liberty. Take back your justice and take back your country. You have given much to this country: your blood, your sweat, and your tears. Is it not time for your country to listen to you, you who have given so much?
(Dr. Rev. Ronald Coleman)
Another source of our pain is the private banking cartel, known as the Federal Reserve System, that is unconstitutionally printing and controlling our money supply! This monopolistic entity must be abolished. To that end we have posted a petition on the White House, "We the People" website at http://wh.gov/gzS 5,000 signatures are needed by 10/24/11 to gain "consideration." Thanks!
State the sources. Who is telling "workers" they aren't allowed healthcare, shelter, food? Who is telling "students" they aren't allowed jobs? You have a very distorted view of the American Dream (should I write Amerikan?). The American dream is that anyone from any background and any race can succeed. We have an EQUAL OPPORTUNITY TO SUCCEED (and fail). Not the right to an equal outcome.
Your protests are misdirected. You should be protesting Big Government and Big Union. Over-bearing federal regulations and fat-cat union bosses who only worry about lining their pockets are the root of our problems. Go picket Barney Frank, the US Capitol, Trumka, the HQs of UAW, SEIU, AFL-CIO, etc. Why is Big Business bad, but Big Labor and even BIGGER GOVERNMENT good? Haven't you learned anything from history? What countries are on the brink of fiscal collapse? Socialist nations. What countries / regimes in the 20th century have slaugthered more "workers"? Communist and socialist nations.
Your flash-roots efforts are based on faulty ideas. Your slogan should be "Corruption! We either want less of it or more opportunity to partipcate in it."
The Word Dream has been stolen by Americans. People in the 3rd world are told that they aren't allowed clean water, shelter, food. People are told that they aren't allowed to live, and that they will be under cruise missile attack for the rest of their short their lives, unable to flee. The 1% (all Americans) have destroyed this world and its values through their greed. America has stolen this world. We will not allow this to occur. Americans are the source of the worlds problems, even the wall street protesters - they are complicit in the destruction and subjugation of the rest of the world. They sit in there camp tapping away on their mac-books and iphones feeling sad because they can't afford any more macdonalds.
Well guess what - to the rest of the world you are the 1% you self congratulatory ass-hats.
Stuttgart (Germany) will be connected with you on 15th october. We are trained in Mass protests and fighting for real democracy. together we are strong and will win
http://cams21.de/
http://www.spanishrevolution.eu/
Im a graphic designer and just made these satire wall street images, just thought you might wanna use them.
http://27.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_lsnl13Nmql1qldsiio1_r2_250.jpg
http://28.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_lsnl5cLD6z1qlduvho1_r1_250.jpg
Love the picture of the baby! My 2 month old daughter and I will be at Occupy DC on Sunday! :D
I was there Thursday. We had abt 2700 at Freedon sq in front of the commerce building that claimed they have jobs.People came from all over the country,but we need MORE suppoters.
Nice comments from CNN.
http://ireport.cnn.com/docs/DOC-683852
current tv is the most accurate.
"Workers are told that they aren't allowed health care, shelter, food. Students are told that they aren't allowed jobs, and that they will be in debt for the rest of their lives, unable to declare bankruptcy."
Since when is this the case? Who isn't "allowed" any of these things? What statute - anywhere, at any level - specifically prohibits these? Since when was anyone forced to take a student loan? Since when did borrowing money for paying tuition become something other than a voluntary act? And since when did we come to the conclusion that, upon borrowing someone else's wealth to spend for our own purposes, we weren't obligated to pay them back?
Based on what I have observed, these protests - to the extent that they have a message - seem opposed to the very concept of individual liberty and the responsibility that goes with it. All of these things which seem to be regarded as "rights" - healthcare, jobs, education, and so on - can be secured only by directing others to provide them. This is the fundamental difference between the negative and positive conceptions of rights - and we must recognize the American Constitution as a charter of negative rights. Positive rights can be secured only by assigning specific benefits to particular individuals at the cost of other specific individuals - and are therefore incompatible with just application of the rule of law.
If any of you are genuinely interested in building a just, free, and prosperous society, you should read Hayek's The Constitution of Liberty - it does a good job of explaining how societies organized around the principles of liberty, private property, and the rule of law have prospered and those with centralized, planned economies have failed.
Huh? Workers are told they aren't "allowed" healthcare? Students are told they aren't "allowed" jobs? What does that even mean? Is it that their daddy's won't give them their "allowance", . . . what? This is the most narcissistic, incoherent drivel I have ever seen outside of a junior high school party
Huh? Workers are told they aren't "allowed" healthcare? Students are told they aren't "allowed" jobs? What does that even mean? Is it that their daddy's won't give them their "allowance", . . . what? This is the most narcissistic, incoherent drivel I have ever seen outside of a junior high school party
Huh? Workers are told they aren't "allowed" healthcare? Students are told they aren't "allowed" jobs? What does that even mean? Is it that their daddy's won't give them their "allowance", . . . what? This is the most narcissistic, incoherent drivel I have ever seen outside of a junior high school party
The energy and passion of OccupyWallStreet is terrific, but you're really just protesting the symptom of our current political campaign financing system. Rather than go after a symptom, why not go right to the source and put pressure on candidates/politicians to reform the structure of campaign financing? Remember, it's big business, big oil, big banks, big insurance companies, big money, who control Congress. And Congress holds the reins to our pursuit of happiness. Not we the people.
Campaigning for political offices should be limited to 15-30 days. That way the politicians will not be spending their time raising money all the time and the lobbyists and the corporations cannot spend as much. Cut the cord!
Multiple journalists were attacked by the police!!
http://theintelhub.com/2011/10/06/journalists-attacked-by-nypd-at-occupy-wall-street-protests/
I am Ahmed. I'm from Iran. We have no problem with the people of America. We love you. We have a problem with your government's wrong policies. For example, the war in Afghanistan and Iraq And economic domination over the world. Good luck in the Occupy Wall Street. And such as Spring Arabic The victory comes. thank you.
Economic dominion? You mean the fact that our free society creates more wealth, satisfies more desires, wants, and needs, and generates more happiness than any other economy on the face of the earth? Please understand - the American economy is based on voluntary exchange. Free individuals exchange goods and services with one another to further their own aims - this is what trade and the division of labor are all about... Competetive markets ensure that scare resources are rationally allocated based on the concept of marginal utility... When economies are planned and competition is chort-circuited, resources cannot be rationally allocated, and the economy is thus less efficient... Please understand that the United States' economic "domination" results is more people able to satisfy their desires than they could otherwise.
most of these opinions posted below are interesting and very intelligent. But remember what happened in Egypt; no real change has been achieved as the military oligarchs still have the power - and all kind of weapons and tanks as well. What would you do as an egypt woman or man, having protested and fighted against the weird system and now you are thrown back to the same as before? Remember french revolution 1789: People had to cut off the heads of these ancien regime representants. Not one of the dukes and barons would have resigned voluntarily !! I am very sceptic regarding your success! Greedy and reckless people always take over the controls at the end... (this is a comment from Germany)
Post these videos of the NYPD on motorcycles ramming into protestors - from the 2nd video below it looks like they may have ran one protestor over:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HznJZKgiElA & http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UxSk55u9xN4
These are totally, totally, totally unacceptable policing methods. These are techniques we're more used to seeing from the murderous Iranian Revolutionary Guards - NYPD have gone waaaay over the top with this and must be stopped before they maim someone or worse.
A good majority of the public servants with badges take advantage of their position time and again.They are paid by our tax money,something that eludes them everytime they abuse their fellow citizens.They are goons in uniform.What is sad is they forget they are part of the 99%.
i beg your pardon? American Dream is not the world's dream. it is American. i don't understand how having a job and being able to pay one's bills should qualify as a dream, anyway. these are basics. but, in America the basics are becoming harder and harder to obtain. to struggle to afford a metro-card? it is all becoming a friggin' joke. for years Americans have been struggling, but they have been repressing this stuff, because of the narrative that makes them do so. the self-reliance BS, remember? no wonder that, according to stats, one in four people in America could be diagnosed with mental illness (one in twelve is the world's average). this society is too repressed and too depressed and too ignorant, and it is going to be a long way before America returns to what it was years back.
You are right.We The People no longer have the American Dream. We have been in SERFDOM for about 30 yrs. now. We just FINALLY awoke from the nightmare.
What he said ^^^
it's a she
This will not work. This movement did not consider its image before starting their work. If they did consider their image...then they are going about it, in a very ineffective manner. The latest comment from the President...along with many others, has done so much to decrease the effect of what y'all are trying to achieve, it's sad to see it happen so quickly.
You've been relegated to being called socialists...and that will stop this from going forward to a great degree, as well as, keep you in the minority.
You do not want to be identified as socialists...but it's already occurred.
You folks need to do something about controlling your narrative.
You're making the marchers look like spoiled brats or miscreants with nothing to do.
THAT - was a dumb move.
You've lost the narrative.
and what is exactly wrong with socialism? or - (properly termed) social democracy? what is wrong with caring about your less privileged, less fortunate, less able, and so on? American way has become to marginalize such people, if not to step on them in the name of gain. is this, however, the right, proper way of conduct of a nation that claims to be "under God"? pou-friggin'-lease.
American narrative is pretty much telling you to shut the hell up and be a proud American. As "undeveloped" as the #OWS narrative may seem, it is far better than the common American brainwash.
Shhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh! We don't need naysayers. We are a WORK in Progress!
Dear American friends! I'm happy for you. 1% owns nearly everything. Oligarchs Wall Street makes money on wars and poverty. U.S. debt - 14.6 trillion, the largest in the world. Oligarchs print more and more dollars without any control.
Here's the video from which I was shocked.
Fed Inspector general Claims does not knov - where Trillions Went http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tAMAF4Cfrps&feature=related
And this video tells, where dollars go: John Perkins / Confessions of an Economic Hitman http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pA5bwYWvGtc&feature=related
John Perkins speaks at University of San Francsico http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NHpv-p23aOI&feature=related
Need a different financial system! Solve these problems and do not let blood! God bless you!
Portrait of Occupy Wall Street. Those cops were something else. Not all...but some.
http://wp.me/pif7l-12Q
POWER to the PEOPLE that are the 99%
YES!
Hoffa: Teamsters Stand in Solidarity With Occupy Wall Street Movement
http://www.sacbee.com/2011/10/05/3962874/hoffa-teamsters-stand-in-solidarity.html
Big problem having the union thugs join. Bad for image. Now it will get violent
You are wrong. Dead wrong! I come from a union family. Grandfather,father ,mother all union.When I worked for the USPS, I was union. My husband was a union steward for the shipyard. The union serves and protects the workers.They help build the middle class. Reagon started dismantling the unions 30 yrs ago. That was the begining of American serfdom. The majority of the working people today are serfs. You know what serfs are...they get paid,but are taxed to death and return the rest of their hard earned money to the lords and masters...aka the banks,wallstreet and walmart.
I respectfully disagree. Unions are people, and entirely from within the 99%. You may disagree with union bosses and corporate hierarchies, but the many millions who work at union jobs are the folks we need at our side. Who do you think has their necks closest to the chopping block once the 1% finish their takeover? Unions have always been the worst enemy of the 1%. That is why they were created.
And we are all driving this bus, not just those who feel they are coming from some sort of blameless idealistic quasi-reality. BTW, I am not nor never have been a union member, nor do I even personally know someone who is. But I know a bit of US history, and without unions, we would be working 80 hours a week for $2 an hour with no overtime pay.
So please consider making room in your heart for unions and their members. The false ideological divides are the prime tool of the 1%.
If you think monopolies and cartels are bad, them you should oppose labor unions. Unions derive their power not by exercising coercion over corporations - their power comes from exercising coercion over their fellow workers. Fixing wage rates above what the free market for wages allows means only that wages for one group will be inflated at the expense of another.
PLEASE, PLEASE, PLEASE
Stay away from violence, stay alert to provocative actions which sometimes are carried out by the police other times by us, some of us are covered policemen. Stay away from violence. I know police HQ are reading this, please don´t bit us up, we don´t like violence.
We will not allow this to continue. It is already occurring.
Phenomenal! So inspiring. Very trippy audio in the first vid btw haha
What a bunch of losers. Get a job. Keep protesting corporations, yet you all have iPhones in your pockets. You are all a bunch of hypoctites, and pathetic losers.
we are not anti-capitalism. We are against corporates owning the government. The media is trying to project us as anti-capitalistic. There is also the possibility of extreme left wing parties supporting us in an effort to hijack the OWS movement. Time will tell.
Dont abuse babies for political statements! They are too young to have their own opinion and this is not democratic! If you do this you show that you didn't understand the essence of this battle!