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We are the 99 percent

Something Truly Brand New

Posted 10 years ago on Sept. 4, 2013, 8:31 p.m. EST by OccupyWallSt
Tags: #S17, ows, March on Washington, Bayard Rustin

About #S17.

There are politicians that come from all sides to lend their support, in the hopes that occupy will give a shout out in the future and endorse them. We struggle with how to approach this, usually absurd, situation.

We want something new and they want to work from within.

Fifty years ago, at the original March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom, the event's lead organizer, the incomparable Bayard Rustin, insisted passionately (and successfully) that no politicians or political appointees be allowed to speak.

Bayard Rustin was not an anarchist. (In fact, for whatever it's worth, the event was largely funded by the UAW, one of the most hierarchical organizations on the Left, and one of the most wedded-at-the-hips to the Dems to boot.)

Which begs the question: why would Rustin have done such a thing? And what were the consequences of his having done so?

We are now in a world in which the proportion of African American men in the United States, with some sort of criminal record, approaches 80%. We are now in a world in which corporations have lobbied for laws that are tantamount to hunting our children.

We need new solutions and we need them now.

We are finished with politics as usual. It is time for something truly brand new.

5 Comments

5 Comments


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[-] 2 points by TropicalDepression (-45) 10 years ago

""We need in every community a group of angelic troublemakers. Our power is in our ability to make things unworkable." -Bayard Rustin."

[-] 2 points by WSmith (2698) from Cornelius, OR 10 years ago

Government is the exercise of political authority.

Politics is the art and science of government.

The political Civil Rights Act of 1964 (Pub.L. 88–352, 78 Stat. 241, enacted July 2, 1964) is a landmark piece of political civil rights legislation in the United States that outlawed major forms of discrimination against racial, ethnic, national and religious minorities, and women. It ended unequal application of political voter registration requirements and racial segregation in schools, at the workplace and by facilities that served the general public (known as "public accommodations"). It was a great political achievement. And without working with and the support of the political House of Representatives, the Senate and Presidents Kennedy and Johnson, it would never have been debated, voted on, and politically ratified. Without politicians it would have politically died.

Democracy is our preferred form of politics ~ the worst except for all the others ~ but it requires participation by the People, and we usually have the lowest Voter Turnout of all democracies. Filling our turnout void, our Private Sector Interests have stepped into our public politics to buy legislation that they find favorable often to the detriment of the People.

So if you want to try something truly NEW & UNUSUAL ~ that would really REALLY improve things ~ let's get the majority of our electorate VOTING!!!

[-] 1 points by magician (31) 10 years ago

A briliant book about the Money system, history and solutions is written but need translation. From Swedish to other languages. Please contact at: www.nyaekonomiskasystemet.se/?page_id=169

[-] 1 points by GirlFriday (17435) 10 years ago

In fact, for whatever it's worth, the event was largely funded by the UAW, one of the most hierarchical organizations on the Left, and one of the most wedded-at-the-hips to the Dems to boot.)


Damn the UAW for that. :/

In fact, damn them for being wedded at the hips to the Dems. Because when the Rethuglicans said that they were going to take out the Unions.........oh fuck it. You saw a shot and took it. Couldn't wait to take it.

[-] 1 points by TropicalDepression (-45) 10 years ago

Whatever it is, its going to take a massive outreach into mass society to pull at least a small percentage along at some point.

The desire is out there, its just not being tapped.

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