Forum Post: A plea from an old warrior - ACT NOW!
Posted 12 years ago on Nov. 23, 2011, 8:54 p.m. EST by bensdad
(8977)
This content is user submitted and not an official statement
I am a veteran of the anti-Vietnam war movement and I would like to share my own experience with OWS - I have spoken directly to only 100-200 people in the last few weeks. We really seem to be in two different camps.
Some of us seem intent on centering on things that belong in a graduate school discussion group ( obviously imho ) – such as how to create a bank based on morals in stead of greed, or why to abolish the federal reserve, or how to replace capitalism. I have heard some very wise people put forth some very well thought out ideas.
But the serious truth is - that these theories will never come to fruition.
Whether due to economics or politics or inertia - they just wont happen.
Consider
the French revolution - before and after,
the American revolution - before and after,
the Egyptian revolution - before and after,
the Russian revolution - before and after.
What most of these OWS theories advocate is at least an order of magnitude more "revolutionary"
But the serious truth is - that these theories will never come to fruition.
Then there are a lot of old fogies - like me – “in my youth” many of us did things different from our parents – just because we wanted to be different. Don’t dissipate the OWS passion under the assumption that “different” is always better.
You are not what you envision – you are what you accomplish.
I have demanded of myself what I demand of YOU - realistic goals and ACTION .
You HAVE bravely & brilliantly woken up America and the world to the truth of the mess we are in – I have been in movement meetings, stockholder meetings, political meetings, corporate board meetings – please trust me - you don’t need to reinvent the world to save it! I have seen so many of you dedicated young people work so hard to resolve issues - to establish rules & policies & methods.
You are drowning in red tape!
ACT NOW!
You have awakened the world –
please, drink the coffee - wake up – and
ACT NOW!
Past movements - civil rights - women's suffrage - Vietnam -
took years and decades that we cannot afford!
ACT NOW!
We are drowning in greed!
ACT NOW!
We are drowning in tea!
ACT NOW!
We are drowning in war mongering!
ACT NOW!
We are drowning in attacks on labor!
ACT NOW!
We are drowning in injustice!
ACT NOW!
Don’t waste your momentum!
ACT NOW!
“THE CAPITAL OF DEMOCRACY IS THE VOTE”
I want you to go to this post. I want you to speak truth to power!. Say it once, say it twice. Say it loud. Say it proud. I'm down with the KTC. The Revolution starts here!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rGaRtqrlGy8&feature=related
http://occupywallst.org/forum/make-a-stand-join-the-clan/
The Revolution starts here! No one can silence the Revolution!
Do you know what a truly revolutionary act looks like in a capitalist society? Buy all of your Holiday presents at one of those neat little local mom and pop shops in your town. Chose items made in your town/state/country. The only thing capitalism will respond to is where you spend your money. If you don't want jobs to go to china simply don't buy chinese goods. If you don't want multinational corporations lobbying congress, don't spend your money with them. The revolutionary answer you are looking for is so simple and so easy. Every time you spend a dollar you are voting for everything behind that item you purchased. Every time you deposit a dollar in Bank of America you are voting to support that organization. Chose very wisely how and where you spend your dollars. That is the only thing that ever makes them listen you don't reason with capitalism, capitalism only responds to trends in where money is being spent. Be a revolutionary and support your neighbors by buying localy grown food and locally made products.
But there are no mom and pop shops...
Also I hope nobody here is doing business with the too big to exist banks.
If you actually live in a place with no small local stores, then for heaven's sake look at etsy on line. There are numberless individual crafters there.
For the sake our our children and future generations of Americans, we need to take back our democracy from the rich and powerful who are using their vast sums of money to "speak" as if they represent millions of Americans. They are twisting our laws and manipulating our policies in their favor at the expense of the average American. The $50 or $100 a normal American may give to a political campaign becomes meaningless when corporations or other special interests are handing our millions to buy political access to the decision making process. Here's my 2 cents on what we need to do:
For decades now the corporations and special interests have had our "representatives" bought and paid for (both on the right and the left). Don't get distracted by the symptoms - we need to address the root cause. Concentrating our efforts on getting the money out of our politics is the best way we can create an environment in which further reforms can be realized. Until we end the current system of legalized bribery (campaign donations) and paid lobbying our politicians will continue to be the LAP DOGS of the corporations and special interests. What we need first and foremost is real, loop-hole free CAMPAIGN FINANCE REFORM!!!! If the corruption is not dealt with first, the chance of any other meaningful reforms becoming a reality is almost zero - the special interests will just use their money to buy votes and put forward bills that create loop-holes or otherwise twist the law in their favor. If we want our children to live in a country where there vote matters, we need to get the money out of our politics, otherwise they will increasingly become the 21st century version of the "landless peasant." Spread the word - End the LEGALIZED BRIBERY!!! CAMPAIGN FINANCE REFORM needs to be THE main goal of the protests!!!
ABSOLUTELY !
The first step ( ACTION ) to campaign finance reform is getting rid of the abominable Citizens United -
details at http://bit.ly/vK2pGI
join us - OWS Restore Democracy WG
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/NYCRDWG
I agree - Citizen's United is a miscarriage of justice and it needs to go!
If China were to consume as much as the US we would need two earths worth of resources in order to sustain it.
Well it turns out that China is about to catch up with the US GDP wise in 2016.
It also turns out that most natural resources are found in Africa and that's were most wars will take place in the future.
And all to sustain the unsustainable system we call capitalism.
Well there's no way people will let go of capitalism willingly so keeping that in mind...
All aboard the war choo choo train, chooo chooo!
Oh btw they're already starting to portray Boko Haram as terrorists.
Never mind the fact that their corrupt dictator is reaping the oil profits at the expense of his own people.
War train, next stop Nigeria, chooo chooo!
Wise thoughts from a wise person. I am starting to wonder if wise advice is falling on deaf ears, though.
Democracy runs on opinion, opinion comes from information, media controls info to the masses.
Corporate campaign spending and election reform along with secured electonic aspects must be done too.--
This takes lost of authority and article 5 of the US constitution is our first and last right as well as greatest possible level of democratic control over the principles of the republic.
Article 5 NOW!
We can amend sensibly IF we secure good information ot the people BEFORE continuing. Extensions of public access TV and PBS justifications taking prime time national broadcast time to educate voters.
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