Un-Settling Occupation
Posted 12 years ago on Dec. 29, 2011, 4:59 p.m. EST by OccupyWallSt
this evening, 5:30 - 8:30
Irondale, 85 South Oxford Street, Brooklyn, NY 11217
Please join Occupy Wall St. to connect the colonial occupation of Manhattan to Occupy Wall Street— an occupation of already occupied land. We are taking action on this day, on the 121st anniversary of the massacre at Wounded Knee, in order to initiate an open dialogue with indigenous Americans, to raise local and national awareness of ongoing Native struggles, and to recognize that the injustices and inequalities we all currently confront are the bricks and mortar of conquest and settler colonialism. Conditions of capitalist exploitation are predicated upon the acquisition of territory and the dispossession and dehumanization of indigenous peoples. The American political economy of greed is forever implicated in settler nationalism.
Standing as allies with indigenous Americans, we seek to un-settle our consciousness.
Un-settling “occupation” calls us to remain cognizant that our movement unfolds on land seized by force, and compels us to take action in support of indigenous peoples—peoples for whom occupation has not been a choice, but a lived experience of oppression.
Join us for a conversation about how Occupy Wall St. can move toward a radical un-settling of “occupation”—in vision and in action—and build a movement that is more expansive, more inclusive, more conscious, and more just.
Janice Richards, Oglala Lakota, Activist and Educator Jake Little, Oglala Lakota, Activist and Educator Tiokasin Ghosthorse, Cheyenne River Lakota, Activist, Artist, Host of First Voices Radio Firewolf Nelson-Wong, Diné, AIM Member and Activist Demelza Champagne, Turtle Mountain Chippewa, Activist and Scholar Members of AMERINDA: American Indian Artists, Inc. Gloria Miguel, Kuna, will perform excerpts from her one-woman play, “Something Old, Something New, Something Borrowed, Something Blue"
As a movement striving to voice the experiences of the 99%, we must make space for those most marginalized by the mechanisms of settler colonialism: the original inhabitants of the land. Dismantling the rhetoric of colonialism enables us to subvert imperialist structures of power. By listening to indigenous perspectives on “occupation,” we move closer to creating a safe space for indigenous peoples to connect to the movement, and finding roads down which indigenous and non-indigenous collaborators can walk together, fight together, and engage in transformative intellectual, emotional, and direct action exchanges.
Take the 2,3,4,5,N,R,Q,B,D Trains to Atlantic Ave-Pacific, the C Train to Lafayette, or the G Train to Fulton.
http://www.facebook.com/events/316813028349570/
OWS you are the best thing that could have happened to the world. People just don't know it yet because they have been indoctrinated since childhood. America has been bankrupt since 1933 yet we have managed to incorporate the world. How did we pull this off without a partner in crime? Who tricked us? Who poisoned our minds? Who said we need money to live on? Just what is money? You cant eat it and it has no value on its own except the value we give it. It is like a plague that is gonna kill us all if we don't cure that disease.
"Just what is money?" Money is one of the greatest inventions of all time that supplements prices. Money and prices made possible and easy the coordination of the behaviors of vast number of people (even including those with very little knowledge or education - a single number, price, can drive away automatically and peacefully those with too little money, a form of rationing without all of the complexities of rationing). Money has the qualities of being a fungible means of exchange and store of value. Therein lie the seeds of its corruption. Fungibility means the newly created money has at least the same worth as any other old money at least for a short while until the masses find out that there are vastly more money available (most people do not even track the monetary aggregates to know about this so the elites can steal innocuously from everybody who holds any money through INFLATION). The store of value part is a terrible and very sick joke in the long run for all who grow old (I actually wish for you being included, believe it or not) to live a long life because NO easily generated money has ever retained its value for long. Look at what the elites hold - real things and a liberal helping of debts. That is the secret and perhaps not-so-secret path to retaining wealth (ergo speculation of commodities and real estate). Add to all of that debt the electronic creation of credit and we can speculate up Jack's Beanstalk to the Pearly Gate. BUT... even the gods get their twilights eventually (see Warren Buffett's shoring up Goldman Sachs, Federal Reserve's backstopping J.P. Morgan Chase to acquire Bear Stearns). There was the mad craze to create money so there would be the central-bank/national-government mediated not-so-soft bumpy skeleton ride to destroy the glut of credit and "savings." All savers were cursed but those who played the elites' game without knowing the importance of liquidity were even more so.
I love this. Solidarity among the 99% - whoever they are, whether it´s students, seniors, workers, unemployed, indigenous etc etc - is really important. Keep on fighting, keep on growing!
Solidarity.
http://struggleforfreedom.blogg.no/
It's solidarity among the 33% of the 99%. Latest Harvard poll shows 33% of Americans support the two core ideas of OWS (Not the movement), 37% don't support it and 30% don't care.
[Removed]
Could I get political asylum from an Indian nation should NDAA become law?
Indigenous People are suffering the most from the high cost of food created by the speculation of Goldman Sachs and others...
Wheat has gone from $4 to $25 on Speculation alone! Stop Goldman Sachs from ripping off the world!! In the first 55 days of 2008, speculators poured $55 billion into commodity markets, and by July, $318 billion was roiling the markets. Food inflation has remained steady since.
Hard red spring wheat, which usually trades in the $4 to $6 dollar range per 60-pound bushel, broke all previous records as the futures contract climbed into the teens and kept on going until it topped $25. And so, from 2005 to 2008, the worldwide price of food rose 80 percent — and has kept rising. http://occupywallst.org/forum/wheat-has-gone-from-4-to-25-on-speculation-alone-s/
This would have been perfect, if the protest ended at the TV stations, making demands that they tell the truth about Speculation and how it is affecting the price of everything.
We have not always had speculation, and now people are starving all over the world because of the greedy bastards on wall street. WE have to be the ones to stop this, and help the masses that are suffering due to this hoarding disease.
Argentina President Cristina Fernandez called for an end to speculation just before she was diagnosed with cancer. This is harming everyone, everywhere, and it is our responsibility to stop it.
This should be the first priority of Occupy, speculation is what is driving everyone into poverty all for Goldman's Sachs bottom line.
The worst part is not the Goldman Sachs' bottom line but their top line meaning bonuses.... shame shame shame...
There is nothing they won't do...
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-latin-america-16349845
Chavez muses on US Latin America cancer plot
Mr Chavez and Ms Fernandez are close political allies Continue reading the main story Related Stories Argentine president has cancer Chavez says he is free of cancer 'Good progress' for Brazil's Lula Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez has questioned whether the US has developed a secret technology to give cancer to left-wing leaders in Latin America.
Treated for cancer this year, Mr Chavez was speaking a day after news that Argentina's president had the disease.
Fernando Lugo of Paraguay, Dilma Rousseff of Brazil and her predecessor Lula have also had cancer.
Mr Chavez said this was "very strange" but stressed that he was thinking aloud rather than making "rash accusations".
But he said the instances of cancer among Latin American leaders were "difficult to explain using the law of probabilities".
"Would it be strange if they had developed the technology to induce cancer and nobody knew about it?" Mr Chavez asked in a televised speech to soldiers at an army base.
Who next? Mr Chavez noted that US government scientists had infected Guatemalan prisoners with syphilis and other diseases in the 1940s, but that this had only come to light last year.
And he joked that he would now take extra care of the presidents of Bolivia and Ecuador - Evo Morales and Rafael Correa - lest they also be diagnosed with cancer.
Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff has beaten cancer, and Lula is fighting the disease The Venezuelan leader, who is 57, has often accused the US of plotting to overthrow or even kill him.
He says he is now free of cancer after having surgery and chemotherapy in Cuba earlier this year.
The exact details of his illness have not been made public, fuelling speculation that his condition may be worse than he has let on.
Mr Chavez was the first regional leader to offer support to the Argentine President, Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner, after it was announced on Tuesday that she had thyroid cancer.
"We will live and we will conquer!" he told her.
Ms Fernandez, 58, is due to have an operation on 4 January, but doctors say her prognosis is very good.
Survivors' summit Doctors treating former Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva for throat cancer say the 66-year-old is responding well to chemotherapy and should make a full recovery.
Dilma Rousseff, 64 - who took over from Lula as Brazilian president a year ago - is fully recovered after receiving treatment for lymphoma cancer in 2009.
Paraguayan President Fernando Lugo, 60, was diagnosed with lymphoma in August 2010 but is now in remission after chemotherapy.
Lula and Mr Chavez have previously joked that they would hold a summit of Latin American leaders who had beaten cancer.
Ms Fernandez has now said that she will insist on being
Our CIA has never let up an inch on South America. US corporations continue to hold out and thus finance a return of their land and resource grab of this continent. There is nothing that the CIA would not do to facilitate that process. Our Federal US budget, if your read it line by line allocates more than 67% of annual Federal Tax revenues to the support and expansion of corporate interests. Until our campaign finance laws change nothing will change.
Only too true. Yet what you are talking about is cutting their profits by trillions. This is a "non-negotiable" issue since it will take a global uprising to eviscerate this mega octopus.
I am sorry if this is off the mark- I did not believe in Occupy Wall Street- until 1 day...this is why I believe in this movement My main reason for being active in Occupy Wall Street is .... For my students. I work in education and I was standing in the middle of a cafeteria three months ago when a wave of panic hit me. I am middle class. I work as a vice principal and I am taxed to a point that I am middle class to lower middle class. My students are urban and for the most part poor. They don't feel that way in a number of cases, because their parents have learned to either settle or go without, to sacrifice for their children. If these children want to go to college, not that their parents can afford the gap (money owed after aid), they will become slaves like their ancestors, but this time to student loan companies. While they won't be forced to work the fields or be beaten, they will be forced to pay chunks of money and will never have a piece of whatever is left of the American dream after it has been taxed and marked up... Some people state that it is a choice to go to college- usually they are already college educated...so I guess that the poor should just shut their mouths and be satisfied with their crumbs. To dream is lunacy....and community college is not like it was when I was young...it is expensive now... My students are growing up in a world filled by media that promotes material items from countries where workers are oppressed and forced to live in horrible conditions, whereas the American psyche has been trained to convince itself that these people are living a good standard compared to earning nothing...Does Nike really need to sell a 109.00 sneaker... I would like to make a proposal that every item in America should be tagged with the total cost of production...so with labor, shipping, materials-whatever...how much is that sneaker really worth? I am participating because my students live in a country which gives freely to other countries....billions of dollars while their school is crumbling and their books are falling apart, where their neighborhoods have crime up and down their respective streets and cities have had to cut programs because there is not enough damn money to open gyms and to have other programs. In Michigan, tows have started to turn out the streetlights at night...wonderful. How great it is to not be able to play baseball or to walk to a friends house at night or to be late to school in winter because your parent who is struggling does not want you hit to be hit by a car at 5:30 on a winter's night? But that is ok...it is just a childhood...and for those people who are afraid to drive at night- well they had better shop during the day. I bet that the lights are on, for the most part, in Baghdad. I believe in this protest because I am a human and because the middle class is falling down the drain -you can listen to the media when they say that "we are doing better" and spout statistics...Really? Is gas cheap? Is food affordable for you? If it is not...then how are the poor eating? How are they affording fruits and vegetables? I can barely afford to buy 30.00 a week of apples and other healthy produce items. Is it fair that Vets don't have jobs? That they are homeless in droves? What a nice welcome home...let's send some more aid overseas... If you think that this is anarchy...great...go to Starbucks, get some free Wi-fi, have a $5.00 drink and live in your world with magical unicorns and rainbows. Next week, I am gearing up for yet another food drive and once again making sure that our kids have coats...but they should be happy right? A sweatshirt is better than nothing. Before you criticize why others act the way they do....maybe you should be hungry, cold or desperate...for a week...at least this is hope...If you want an experience, go to an urban school cafeteria on a Monday morning and watch kids eat their food.... In closing , my worst memory in education happened one day before Thanksgiving. We had a raffle and the winner won a football that was signed by our team. I presented the football and the student started crying. He was almost broken. He thought that the winning prize was a bag of food from the cafeteria. I told him that it was going to be all right and raided what we had raised for the local food pantry coming up with two bags for both for he and his family.. I never want to experience this again.... This movement is hope...
Hello, Riley.
Thank you for sharing your perspective. Your heartbreak is palpable. I understand it well, having been a teacher for 15 years.
The one thing I would take issue with is your focus on foreign aid. It is not the reason for the poverty you see, nor would doing away with it help your kids in any way. We are a wealthy country - though that wealth is so obscenely concentrated among so few - and there is enough to help our own impoverished without turning our backs on desperation in other parts of the world. Considering that many of the same forces that created crushing poverty here have done so in other parts of the world (and by our hand in too many cases) we have an obligation to act on more than one front. Hungry children don't know national boundaries, and in many cases it was our policies have made hundreds of millions of them hungry, not just here, but everywhere.
A much as I share your anguish about American children, I believe you are presenting a false choice with regard to foreign aid.
As to the rest of your post, again, thank you. I hope you post reaches the eyes, minds and hearts of those who can change things for the better, and soften the stance of those who would do nothing but judge the poor for their poverty.
Thank you Riley. I shared your post with my friends and family. Lets work to create a new world continuing to build on what was begun, but with increased momentum in the New Year.
[Removed]
Thank you for the courage to help shift consciousness with these needed conversations.
The red people from Manhattan Island crossed to the mainland, where a treaty was made with the Dutch, and the place was therefore called the Pipe of Peace―in their language, Hoboken.
But soon after that, the Dutch governor, Kieft, sent his men out there one night and massacred the entire population. Few of them escaped, but they spread the story of what had been done, and this did much to antagonize all the remaining tribes against all the white settlers.
Shortly after, New Amsterdam erected a double palisade for defense against its now enraged red neighbors, and this remained for some time the northern limit of the Dutch city. The space between the former walls is now called Wall Street, and its spirit is still that of a bulwark against the people.
This from William James Sidis manuscript the tribes and the states..sidis.net.. HIghest IQ ever recorded 300..
The worst European traditions came here with those who tries to escape them. America is very confused and decency completely mis interpreted by many as justifying past actions.
Admitting wrong is often taken as weakness. This is a cowardly position and not only gains no respect by those wronged but also by others watching.
When any individual perpetrates abuse or violence against another and refuses to acknowledge the harm that they have caused and take the steps to right the wrong, there is a massive erosion of self respect and self esteem within that individual. This is what leads to further violence against others until this individual reaches a state of Indifference to themselves and their fellow man. We are first and foremost Spiritual Beings (even in a non-religious sense) that are integrally related to All That Is. When we devalue the worth of another we feed our greed, avarice and indifference. In my opinion this is why Wall Streeters have grown in their ruthless self-centeredness and self-importance willing to diminish and destroy all that has made their "success" possible. Matt Taibbi got it right when he wrote in Rolling Stones "Wall Street Isn't Winning - It's Cheating" http://www.rollingstone.com/politics/blogs/taibblog/owss-beef-wall-street-isnt-winning-its-cheating-20111025
Thank you for your considered and strong confirmation of what fundamental humanity needs to be healthy and health giving to its members.
Wall street et al is symptomatic of a sickness embedded within a culture of self, and justified ad nauseam by the lobbying of the political system to entrench advantage of banks and adventuring investors who have no regard for the society they unfairly feed off.
The damage done to the fabric of society is profound
The damage is profound because it has driven millions of people around the world deeper into poverty, starvation and disease. The speculation on basic food stuffs and energy are the biggest drivers of poverty. It robs people of their means for self support and thus entire communities are destroyed. Greed makes people blind to the rights and needs of others.
we have been brutalised by their BS. we have a community of joy in our hearts. we do not need other communities to infiltrate and look down on us promising us another joy if we believe. we do not need to be saved: we need to save our community. remember the ENEMY the queen of england is head of corporate america and the anglican church. she is the whore of babylon riding on the back of the great beast. she is a german fascist. the head of the church of rome is also a german fascist. we must wake up to the RACIST HORROR of the crucified jew and ask ourselves why we permit it!
Thank you!
the christian have been trying to block me from discussing their horror story and violent images. we are a NON-VIOLENT movement. crucifixion is violence. the INTENT of their putting such violent images in children's minds is to FRIGHTEN them. reliving the crucifixion, pretending they're eating dead jesus and talking to their imaginary friend is BAD MENTAL HEALTH. that is how they have brutalised us for 2000. the INTENT of the gospel is to brutalise and enslave. we must break free from their psychotic tyranny!!!
I read in the book by Howard Zinn" The People's History of United States" that the United States Army killed all the game including; whitetail deer, bison, elk, and extinct some other species of deer in Tennessee and the South! I was wondering how there was no deer in TN when my dad was young. The Secret History I learned is how the government at the time was keeping settlers from living like indians so they could force the settlers to farm. (The land so fertile is that all you had to do was go out and shoot your meat and grow your fruit and veggies, also build your house from resources off the land.) History books say it was war in the Creek Indian wars but will not metion how they control the lives of the 99 percent back then. Therefore taxes and commerce could go forward and tame the west. Yes Tennessee was the frontier at one time. The idea of Freedom comes from the Indians. To live free with the earth.
Thank you! My husband is a tribal member of one of the Sovereign Nations, he is a Choctaw http://www.choctawnation.com/ For all reading here he says "We Natives are a quiet people and I respect your pursuit in trying to help the Natives. I'm afraid that we have enough troubles right now though to get involved in things we don't understand. I have 8 years of college, moreso than most and most of the 500 Sovereign tribes in the country alone, all with their own Constitutions and tribal laws, all we see are poverty and many are also truckers and they work in the docks, warehouses and railroads at the ports. Please, we support your fight against corruption in US Government, Wall Street and Banking systems but to cut off the ports while it is a great statement, if you keep doing it you are causing many poor Indians and others to go home without pay or with less pay. The truckers are running their trucks idling diesel they cannot afford.
If you'll look at most Sovereign tribes they are well off, on the other hand, many people in the tribes are among the have nots. They are trying to fix that, feel free to go to any reservation and try to help them and see what happens-God Bless your cause and I hope you do well in your future endeavors for this country.
At this time I cannot wholeheartedly support the movement with anarchists and others who would tear this country apart by wanting to eliminate the US Constitution, Bill of Rights and the freedoms that I too fought for in Vietnam. With the last 10 presidents our country has slid so far from its original ideals we are in a scary period of time.
There must be a better way to organize than to have people interviewed on the streets who say crazy things like wanting to go back to hunter gatherer societies, get rid of government altogether and destroying private property just makes everybody look bad when what we all deeply want is to get the corruption out and the original ideals back in so that we can all live in a happier space.
What you're doing on this site is great and it's this type of interaction that will help the cause and keep fighting the fight, the right fight is to fight against corruption in the White House, Congress, Senate, The Representatives, Wall Street and Banking."
PS:Don't forget the 2nd Amendment, have plenty of Ammo. and make sure your guns are in firing order. God Bless America!"
http://www.usconstitution.net/xconst.html scroll down and you can read the whole Constitution here and links to the Bill of Rights and other documents can be found here http://www.usconstitution.net/otherdocs.html
What you overlook is that the entitled class of 1% has no regard for the US Constitution and has installed legislators ( by financing their campaigns to the tunes of millions of dollars) who through the Patriot Act have shredded our Bill of Rights. Since you love the Constitution, written by the 1% of their time, to serve them and not the working colonist, please note that this Constitution offers no protections for the Native people of this Land nor names and protects the rights of working individuals. It is written to protect the rights of the merchant class, todays Bankers and Corporations and the wealthiest American whose many families made their wealth on the exploitation of slave labor.
This is exactly why I said we need to get the corruption out. I too am a 99er. The Choctaw Nation, Navajo and other tribes like us are among the wealthiest of the 7 Civilized Nations and they too have their wealthy 1% while below are the truly poor. Having visited many reservations passing through various states including my tribes' I have seen that corruption at the top is most likely repeated in similar ways.
I fully respect and agree with what you say, but as Americans the Constitution and Bill of Rights outside of the reservations and tribal laws within them is the best framework for a working government and a society as free as possible without infringing on personal freedoms to as great an extent as other forms of government that force rather than compel their citizenry on multiple levels.
What to do about exploitation and corruption? I think OWS is a great start, but individually and in small groups within the larger groups of like mind is part of the answer.
[Removed]
Dear Occupy Wall Street NYC,
I’m a daily occupier since the beginning of the movement; there are drastic changes that we have to look at. Many supporters of the movement feel the same way as I do, which is why the issue is brung up. It’s not well on how some things are going. I spoken to a lot facilitators of the OWS movement, and most of you aren’t able to deliver me valid information. This isn’t in anyway to bash or exploit the movement but rather constructive criticism to think about.
For instance, when there were tents in Zuccotti Park, we had much more weight of energy and momentum, even drummers were making noise. Now that’s gone because we only allowed it to happen. We’re not fighting hard enough. There were many facilitators and people in the park that were pro-active and were able to deliver updated information about the movement, aside from the panhandlers. Now there is little to none.
Different individuals come from all over the world to Zuccotti Park for inspiration. A place for different individuals to interact and spread ideas on how we can make a change for the future. Now keep in mind, if it weren’t for us. There wouldn’t be any occupation worldwide.
I had heard many people say that this movement touched them deeply from the bottom of their hearts.
Even when the park got raided, there were still massive amount of people holding down the symbolic area of the movement. This only showed true dedication.
Remember when over 10,000 people showed up at the General Assembly after the park got raided? This was the same time the barricades were set up around the park. The police put the barricades there because the Government felt the movement was growing too rapidly, that showed an instant sign of fear.
They even put yellow tapes inside the park, against the walls where the benches are, made bogus conceptions about how it was to protect the plants. Bloomberg sent in NYPD and the Sanitation to trash and destroy books.
Ask yourself why?
In order to make a real difference we have to continue and maintain this energy, keep sending these vial energies. To not only show we are a serious movement but to show we’re fighting for what we believe in.
Millions of dollars are put into the NYPD force. Guess who’s paying for it? All of the police at Zuccotti park are being paid to stand around and do absolutely nothing and go home with big bonuses. We mind as well give them a reason for them to stand around.
Every-time a peaceful protester gets arrested and beaten down, it only makes the movement stronger. Keep in mind that we also have to play smarter, work in a fashionable matter without having to get arrested and working towards the goal.
A lot of different rallies are planned and thousands of brave souls are out there participating and risking their freedoms. But do they all have a reasonable-purpose and is it getting closer to obtaining the primary goal?
Also all these planned rallies is one thing but are the facilitators out there with the participants? Only a very few.
Back to the space.
It’s not the space that matters, but the fact that thousands of different faces come to Zuccotti park every single day. The whole world is watching and questioning. Even one supporter can make a major difference.
They need our presence, we’re all in this together.
When people come and try to look for information, interact, share ideas and not a soul is to be found. How do you think that looks reflecting upon the movement? People that pass by daily are being sent off to “60 Wall Street”. When they arrive at “60 Wall Street” in regards of finding information, they’re told to go on NYCGA.NET. We need a valid information structure to point people in the right direction.
It’s unbelievable to have people come from across all over the country / states to be told that they should visit a website for information. The individual may not be computer literate and would much rather prefer to interact physically, besides the website has all type of things going on at the same time.
Now from my understanding there’s 2 spaces “60 Wall Street” And an office at “52 Broadway”.
What I would think is that a lot of individuals are starting to get way too comfortable and off-task. A lot of excuses are being made.
Just take as minute to look and open your eyes on what’s going. Look at the other movements throughout the world where, people are dying, getting shot, getting killed for fighting what they believe in.
Do they receive the same luxury as we do? definitely not.
I think it’s time for major improvements to take in place. The Occupation isn’t at 60 Wall Street. Change isn’t going to happen overnight, but we can start by taking little steps such as going to Zuccotti Park, going to different communities. Interacting with different individuals, sharing information updates, and simply give them a reason why they should be part of the movement.
Even if it’s only one or two hours a day.
Seems like a majority of the Spokes council meeting nothing ever gets done, from the fact that some working groups have tension towards each other. There are over 80+ working groups, which is unnecessary. We have way more things to be worrying about then just argue about who takes control of what, and who has the power to do such.
The website Occupywallst.org needs major improvements as well. It’s a source of network connecting worldwide. It’s affecting a lot of viewers negatively. There’s a lot of bogus content. As if there were nothing real and important to post about. Just random videos and content talking about how well the movement is doing maybe we shouldn’t credit ourselves just yet.
I’d advise you to start posting more serious information, like the new bill that’s being passed NDAA (National Defense Authorization Act) and SOPA.
Let our people who don’t already know how it can affect this movement, our rights and freedom. The reason for a lot of the downfall in this country is that we wait to get things done at the last second or when it’s too late. This movement is still at its early baby stage. On top of that the NDAA bill passed on $663 billion dollars. Most of us that are aware of this are just watching it fly right by us, allowing it to happen as if it was nothing.
There was a chance for Congress to vote on a millionaire’s tax last week - a tax most people support - and if OWS had organized against it something could have actually been done. Instead - people picked a fight with a generally supportive Church and sat in an atrium drinking coffee, eating, argued about how to celebrate the holidays (People didn’t donate money for this). People argued about bureaucratic points, deciding which politicians to shout down. We protest against the banks instead of the politicians who write the tax laws that allow the banks to get away with paying no US Federal Income Tax ; they protest the banks that give campaign donations instead of the politicians who accept them; we protest verbally against the lobbying done by big business but don’t protest the Congress that the lobbyists are influencing. We are squatting in places that are private property instead of marching on the White House which set the Loan Modification program in motion that was supposed to help 7 - 9 million people keep their homes. Instead of protesting the “feel good but do nothing” modification program - they seek to block access to the banks. This all comes back to the people we elected to represent us in DC and locally - yet we are protesting those who are only following the rules laid down by those election persons.
We need a real tax reform
Why are local marches ignored in favor of supporting a union only based on its early support of OWS?
Yes we have supporters, but nearly not enough. People are still debating If the movement is on the right track. Half of the people don’t even know what’s going on.
We have to continue to keep up the vigorous energy. Keep in mind again, this movement is still at it’s early stage and there’s so much more to progress in. We cannot afford to lose the energy and slack off.
I’ve been bringing this topic daily to OWS, and speaking of the behalf of many others and feel our voices been neglected and ignored.
Part of this movement is that everybody needs be welcomed and that everybody needs to work together.
The real change has to start within yourself.
There are a lot that needs to be done before we can say there was actual change. We have to find a realistic demand and specific goal we’re aiming at. In order to do so we can start by taking steps such as working with other occupations, etc.
We need serious planning, direction, discipline, focus, coordination among all the Occupy camps, coordinated local strategies, Start local in our communities showing that we care, etc. I know that’s going on to an extent, but it needs to be more organized and purposeful.
Remember, everyone is entitled to have a voice and say.
Sincerely,
The 99% that wants economic and social reform
Seriously, do you just cut and paste the same thing to whenever there is a new post? How about oe original thought than and cut and paste job, I doubt anyone is really reading your diatribe over and over. Just sayin'
I'm almost positive someone is reading.
I feel the OWS movement is hijacked now, and is manipulating many individuals.
We never discuss about any real issues, I mean look at the website.
I'm forced to copy and paste this to everyone of their post because I'm sending a message to the infinity group.
Just as much as it annoys you, it is already working.
I know I didn't read it.
Well this is the first time I have seen alnyc2011's comment. I don't mind cutting and pasting especially when it's something progressive and meaningful such as this. With such a poor forum design this site uses, (no categories, no search function, etc) it's hard to sift through all the spam and bullshit from people who would like to see occupy movement fail. So it makes sense that if you're going to spend time typing a long-thought-out message that you'd want people to actually read it.
"The real change has to start within yourself." Thanks for cutting and pasting, alnyc2011. The right to assemble and protest must be exercised, before it's taken away. The unpatriotic assault on freedom, is becoming understood, as the opposition shows itself more warlike. They just wish they could appoint tribal chiefs to OWS and make treaties with them.
This is most recently demonstrated by the hanging of Ken Saro-Wiwa -
In his closing address to the tribunal, Saro-Wiwa stated "I repeat that we all stand before history. I and my colleagues are not the only ones on trial. Shell is here on trial and it is as well that it is represented by counsel said to be holding a watching brief. The Company has, indeed, ducked this particular trial, but its day will surely come and the lessons learnt here may prove useful to it for there is no doubt in my mind that the ecological war that the Company has waged in the Delta will be called to question sooner than later and the crimes of that war be duly punished. The crime of the Company's dirty wars against the Ogoni people will also be punished."
The only crime he and his colleagues had committed was to demand sound environmental practices and to ask for compensation for the devastation of Ogoni territories.
Nigerian television producer, writer of satirical novels, children's tales, and plays. In 1994 Saro-Wiwa was imprisoned by order of the dictator Sani Abacha. He had strongly defended the rights of the Ogoni people and criticized the government's oil policy with Royal Dutch/Shell. Despite wide international protests, Saro-Wiwa was hanged after a show trial with other eight Ogoni rights activists in Port Harcourt, on November 10, 1995.
Brilliant ! My Occupy Movement Brothers and Sisters - wishing i could be there..... Be safe, be smart, be united and be non-violent !
You liberal idiots need to get off your asses and get a job. All you are doing is creating mass havoc and wreaking more problems...You are using this as an excuse to be idiots....Pick apples if you can't find a job...send all the illegals back where they came from and take those jobs....get grunt work, maybe it would do you some good.
And, you need to get off this website. No idiots allowed.
why...b/c i don't agree with this? b/c i agree with hard work!?
Because you're nasty. If you can't see the problems facing this nation and you want a status quo than go somewhere else. We're discussing change here.
i see the problems facing this nation....i just don't agree with how the ows is trying to deal with them.
Okay. So, then debate us. Don't hurl insults at us.
So glad to read that OWS is supportive of the Indigenous lands taken by force. The land that OWS currently 'occupies is Mohegan land. It so happens that there is a way to both support the Mohegans and the greater goals of the Occupy movement. Legally Occupy the Courts. Here is a legal defense for those that wish to truly support the case:
http://mightisnotright.org/conclusion-justice-via-revolution-redux.php
in sol
A New frontier is being occupied!!
OCCUPY EVERYTHING! http://www.occupyfashion.spreadshirt.com
I wish I lived in NY so I could have gone to this. Would anyone like to help me try to orchestrate a national day of public mourning for peasant and indigenous farming on September 10 (the day Lee Kyung-hae killed himself at a WTO protest in Cancun)? Having people wear funeral attire, ask for a moment of silence in offices and classrooms, and hold public vigils in crowded areas could help make more people aware of the ongoing war against subsistence lifestyles. And while I certainly don't wish to take away from the tragic loss of innocent lives on September 11, publicly mourning the victims of the WTO the day before may help complicate the nation's emotions in productive ways. If you think it's a good idea and want to help me figure out how to go about executing it, please email me at ramblingrambam[at]gmail(dot)com.
Here are two articles about Lee: http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2003/sep/16/northkorea.wto http://www.countercurrents.org/glo-carlsen160903.htm
And here is the video I'm hoping this public display will draw attention to: http://vimeo.com/27473286
http://occupywallst.org/forum/occupy-new-year-eve-and-day-2012/
That reminds me
I have to get busy . . . .
I am so thankful that the people are not scapegoating minorties like they did 100 years ago during a recession. That was when the government passed the Jim Crow laws. Racism has been a tool of the 1% to put the blame on others when they use trends in the market and other factors to get richer while the rest of us suffer and hungry.
Racism is marketed as a product. It's sold in every form of media that is made available to the public. Do your homework or better yet try living as a minority in this country.
Racism? Your actually going to throw out that card? Obama is the most racist idiot I've ever seen? Have you checked out or read anything on his housing acts? They actually are hurting blacks! It makes it so blacks can't afford anything in a good neighborhood. Read Thomas Sowell. Anything by him.
Your an idiot. What does Obama have to do with capitalism profiting off of racist stereotypes portrayed in film and television of minorities.
FYI - Rudy and Mike pushed SAIC on us -- massive tax payer abuse CityTime etc. now revealed SAIC involved in wrong air strike killing innocent Afganistan people. My blog tells you about mass displacement largest since American Indians. http://suzannahbtroy.blogspot.com/2011/12/saic-citytime-scandal-trial-to-begin.html you may want to Occupy trial but FYI US Attorney not interested in Rudy roots and his guys lobbyist or Bloomberg's role just like DA refused to even acknowledge Bloomberg committed perjury Haggerty trial.
http://blog.instinctnyc.com/post/15073925230/occupy-wall-street-is-all-planned
THE TRUTH BEHIND OCCUPY WALL STREET
http://blog.instinctnyc.com/post/15073925230/occupy-wall-street-is-all-planned
THE TRUTH BEHIND OCCUPY WALL STREET
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f8--X7_qTXg&feature=channel_video_title
SGT SHAMAR THOMAS = FAKE
OWS IS AN ACT PUSHING FOR NWO
It's funny, now that it's not just happening to THOSE OTHER people everybody now wants to start standing up and fighting.
that's positive, property and the value of money are imaginary. lets try to plan things in advance so i can actually take off work ok?
Why bother working? Your money from your job is imaginary. Are you occupying drugs son?
well the money itself is physically existing but it literally is only a piece of paper and it's evil that it has such a huge value in society. Of coarse the constitution is a piece of paper but the ideas written on it are immortal. But yeah submitting to a corporation to get money is the system, which i don't like but I'm domesticated like an animal that's been in a cage. I have yet to retrieve my instincts
This is great! It just gets better and better!
Just a little FYI....Amanda the People’s Burden -- our mega-millionaire socialite city planner commissioner and Bloomberg responsible for the most displacement since American Indians and Burden and Wolfson -- made a deputy mayor after he helped Bloomberg barely win -- held a discussion at The American Indian Museum which is one place they really do not belong.
Good luck tonight.
[Removed]
[Removed]
Civilizations have been conquered all through history. Indians were weak. European settlers were strong.
The greatest nation ever created was born as a result. You are alive and have the right to protest as a result.
Do you equate strong with having metal.
Certainly moral strength was absent.
Dog eat dog is a crazy existence if you choose might is right.
What sort of world do you want for our kids and grandkids and beyond if they survive.
The USA is NOT the greatest nation ever born. Get out from under your rock. There are nations that are FAR BETTER than USA.
[Removed]
Hey, the Native Americans are doing just fine. Walk into any casino and ask who ownes it?
The Natives were forced to open up casinos. Natives know how to live off the land and did, without needing money, without the concept of owning land, without being greedy and living within their means..... something white people know NOTHING about.
Because of what white people have done to them (put them into poverty from forcing them to live on reservations and adopt the white people's materialistic ways), they now have to do such things as own casinos in order to survive.
Sorry but I disagree with you when you say "Natives were forced to open up Casions".
They were given the opportunity by the federal government to do so and they took advantage of it.
Do a search on
"They were given the opportunity by the federal government to do so and they took advantage of it."
Um, by that do you mean being forced off of the land they lived on for centuries and being forced to live where the U.S. government has told them they can live and being forced to make money to eat and live, rather than being able to live off the land (you know, by producing their own food like they did for centuries).... putting them into poverty, because they were forced to adopt white man's ways in every aspect of life?????
They were given an opportunity. What a big fucking joke THAT is!!!!!!!!
Hey, I'm not talking about what happened 100 or more years ago I am talking about today
[Removed]
[Removed]
[Removed]
[Removed]
[Removed]
Remigrate to Europe!
[Removed]
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f8--X7_qTXg&feature=channel_video_title
SGT SHAMAR THOMAS = FAKE
OWS IS AN ACT PUSHING FOR NWO
Occupy wall street was started by globalists and SEIU from the start.
No OWS was started by anarchists. They did build a successful coalition with sections of organized labor and subsequently the SEIU has been trying to capture the movement, so far without success.
"Anarchists" got Agit8ed ; Educ8ed and Organised ?!! Who'd have thunk it ?! ad astra ...~~*
[Removed]
[Removed]
Let me start by saying the capitalist society is a model of natural order of life. Life is not fair in nature. Greed is a trait built in to EVERY single species on the face of the earth. Nature doesnt get things wrong. For us to second guess Nature is to say we are Gods. Nature was designed/evolved using one principal: Survival of the fittest. In order to further our species we need not protect the weakest least capable of our species. Instead let them perish via there own consequencial genetic make up i.e laziness, poverty, homelessness, addictive tendancies. In all other species the weakest animals are the targets of predators and nature allows that animal to be killed so that only the strongest survive and populate. Why are we going to such great lengths to protect those who are too weak to protect themselves? Looking at that question with a COMPLETELY open mind you realize by doing that we are slowly but surely creating a weaker, more sickly, lazy society. By allowing those of us who wake up every morning and bust ass from dusk till dawn to do whatever it takes to make sure his/her family is taken care to prosper as nature designed it we are securing our future as a species to be a very good one. I live a pretty simple life. I have a wife and two small children. I live in a home that I rent. I go to work every day. I pay taxes. I guess you could lable me as greedy because I take advantage of every opportunity to make my life better even if that means that some one else does without. Again life is not fair and survival of the fittest rules. If someone is not smart enough or bold enough or talented enough to take what they need and at the same time protect the environment around them than how would it be beneficial having those people populate the world? I hope youve read this with an open mind because its frank and true if you really think about it.
You are arguing for no change in a world failing because of a maladaptive streak in the human society. The thinking you expressed has many flaws which I will not spend time arguing against.
Too much energy is spend in fighting and competing while thinking and exploring strengths in humanity is much more productive.
Other creatures do cooperate and some are highly socially organized which is the strength of their existence. The biosphere is a complex interaction of living things to which mankind is out of tune breaking the balance and creating wide scale destruction of the very things that supported his existence. Before the rise of modern capitalism and widespread exploitation of the earths resources the finely tunes balance had taken eons to unfold.
In modern times America has led the destruction of so much and has the highest rate of pollution and waste per capita of all nations. The world is paying for this dearly.
It is no longer a matter of thinking about self only and if you do then social responsibility will be forces on you and your children will pay dearly as will our all future generations.
The phase of business as usual is over.
If all the world lived like the average American today then the Earth would not be able to support 2 billion humans let alone the 7 billion alive today.
The human population will fall.
The longer we carry on exploiting the natural resources the way we are then the smaller the long term surviving human race will be.
Opening your mind does involve expanding your understanding and knowledge horizons. Do you best and other will help.
So if someone comes over to your house, shoots you and your family and steals your stuff, you would be cool with that? It's survival of the fittest, after all--in that situation, the people who killed and robbed you WERE the fittest. You obviously weren't fit enough to fight them off, so you deserve to lose your life, your family, and your belongings, correct?
You are frank in expressing your perspective. Your perspective and the assumptions and conclusion you use to validate it are made up and in fact not based in Truth. Nature is a process that supports the body called Life and all its laws function on cooperation, not competition. Look at your own body: If you applied your twisted perspective to the functions of your body then the heart would be in competition with your liver for survival, your gall bladder would be in competition with your pancreas leading you into death. Instead every organ within the body is fully committed to carry out it's function in cooperation with every other organ to the life enhancing support of the entire body.
Nature functions on cooperation not competition. A tree does not devour the birds that come to nest in it and help the tree propagate by spreading it's seeds. The whale, though the largest creature in the sea does not devour everything in its path, even though every fish and creature that crosses its path is an opportunity to feed. Before the exponential growth of the Human population the animal and plant species where creating an abundant world of food for the nourishment and shelter of all creatures. Nature did not introduce the law of competition, Darwin did. A Homo Sapient! Greed is not the driving force in every species, growth and adaptationare. Nothing survives for the sake of survival in nature. The disappearance of 1000's of species was brought about by the ruthless greed of humans. Every creature and law in Nature serves a purpose and function in the survival of the body called Life. What your perspective reflects is a core belief that led to Nazi policies of the extermination of the weak and disabled and anyone that they believed to be of an inferior status. So call it what it is. Have a back bone!
Agreed. JohnWa is making what he believes are objective statements about nature. He presents his views as scientific truth. But there are a couple of problems. First, it's not scientific truth at all. While competition for survival between and within species exists, all scientific evidence points to the fact that humans have become the most successful species on earth specifically because of cooperation. No other higher primate exhibits the social bonding and especially altruism that people do, and that our willingness to cooperate (even for no direct benefit) is now considered to be one of the markers of our evolution.
Second, without evidence, JohnWa's statement is entirely arbitrary. Any observation can be made about any single aspect of Nature (it is an infinite system, after all) that will support any conclusion of any kind one chooses. So the question is, why does JohnWa choose this one - cutthroat competition - over one favoring cooperation?
The answer is obvious: he has a predisposition to do so, cherry-picking what he wants to support his already existing agenda, based on nothing but irrational, and hateful, judgement of those who have less than him. This judgement of those he considers inferior makes him feel superior by comparison (clearly he doesn't feel adequate enough in himself, without the need for comparing), but the irony is that as a would-be murderer-by-neglect, he has only demonstrated to himself how very inferior he is to the rest of humanity, a throwback to less evolved primates.
It actually was zachssaints who said those things.
Oops. My bad.
Your addition is much appreciated. Cooperation is the key.
"Survival of the fittest" is a very flawed "principle" perpetrated on the simple-minded. What is the unambiguous DEFINITION of the "fittest"? Can I point to anything and decide a priori whether it is fit or not? I do not think so. Some say that the definition is that those who survive are the fittest so survival proves the fitness. By that definition, everyone who is living is fittest. Does it sound a little bit ridiculous? I contend that fitness needs a contextual grounding. The same feature can be fit or unfit depending on the context. What is fit at one moment is unfit at another moment. Let us look at the "Rise of Man." Did it occur because we were greedy enough so our mothers eat their fill and leave their children hungry? No. Did the strong people of ancient Sparta who made sure that their babies were not sickly achieve durable survival? Is it because they have so few babies who are "fit"? I think one of the defining trait for fitness is the kindly protection of the young and old alike. Reptiles have shells around their eggs. Mammals suckle their young. Human beings learn from their old and educate their children. These are all fitness traits. Now that we have achieved a new level of oneness and oldness with the ubiquitous availability of information, knowledge, and hopefully wisdom, we should put it to good use. Competition is NOT the only thing that matters in survival. Interdependence, cooperation, and balance are just as important. I advise you try growing some plants and weeds together and see the weeds take over. Feel if you like the survival of the fittest weeds. I view the U.S. financial sector as some overgrown weeds. I should feed everybody moldy food so we can find out who does not get sick or die from it to select the fittest. I should send everybody to crawl into a hole in the ground to dig for coal that they need to make fire to choose who is the fittest. Will my ways forge a great nation or not? Are you too busy working every day to try this out?
How many users to you have?
Ye who ate of the fruit have eyes that see. Need I say more? Others I cannot force-feed the fruit of the tree of knowledge of good and evil.
Every inch of habitable land on this planet has been fought over, invaded, occupied. It's human history. You people need to get over yourselves.
This oppression is ongoing.
People have been killing each other since the beginning of time. So why bother? Let's just kill each other, all of us!