Forum Post: Breathe in direction. Exhale FOCUS!
Posted 13 years ago on Nov. 16, 2011, 9:12 p.m. EST by Taoman85
(14)
This content is user submitted and not an official statement
One of the things that the OWS needs at this point in time, is to be a little more focused. They should Clearly voice some specific demands. I did read something somewhere where an arm of the OWS has specific demands referencing certain bills et al. One demand I think would be valid, and maybe that’s the wrong word with the OWS’s Kumbia-ish approach, is to demand that big corporations send some of their jobs back here to America. Even conservatives can get behind that one. And, if the corporations don’t send jobs back here we boycott them. Boycotts really work. Look what it did to bussing in the south. Even if we boycott some corporation for only a day, it would have a big impact. If one day saying a significant number of us decided that we weren’t going to gas up our cars, it would have an effect. Right now OWS appears, whether it’s true or not, not specific and CLEAR enough to get support of the masses.
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!!!
I agree with much of what you said. Clearly, lobbying money is too rampat. But one of my main understandings is that change has to be something people can get behind--something a little more visual, something every one can see. Love is a noun, yet we can't see it. Lobbying is coruptting our politicans, but that's not easily seen. You have to read a newspaper, watch the news. Not everyone is informed. And even if you do watch the news, they don't cover that. If it bleeds it leads. We'll hear about a random shooting in Brooklyn instead of something news worthy. Instead, what everyone can see is that the T-shirts at the 911 memorial were made in China. People can see that they have no job--and when they call their cell phone, their cable company at 3 in the morning they're talking to someone in India. The majority of people understand that. Progressives understand that the average american doesn't pay attention to what's going on.
"This is not a question of politics, of right or wrong. This is a question of intelligence. We must be smart. We enjoy popular support, for now. But to preserve America's good will, we must keep our demands narrow: end the corrupting influence of money in politics. That is something a majority of Americans can get behind. That is something a social movement can achieve. And then, and only then, can the other issues be successfully pursued." -theghostofthomassjefferson
NGA NOW! https://sites.google.com/site/the99percentdeclaration/
We must be smart, but we also have to realize we're dealing with a populace that isn't smart. Many think that Fox is "Fair and Balanced." Moreover, despite that "corrupting influence" of money in politics including all forms of lobbying how does that address the immediate needs of the people struggling? How will this help a mom and dad buy food, get one of their kids a winter coat? Will the answer be, "we've stopped the corrupting influence" of money in politics? When is that money going to "trickle down?" I'm not saying boycotting is the end all be all. But, it is something that everyone understands including the corporate media. ABC has been talking about this for months.