Forum Post: For those who are looking for a Demand ...
Posted 12 years ago on Oct. 22, 2011, 3:25 p.m. EST by marcxstar
(167)
from Los Angeles, CA
This content is user submitted and not an official statement
... I think the Adbusters blog post from July 13, 2011 that inspired the Occupy Wall Street movement sums it up best:
http://www.adbusters.org/blogs/adbusters-blog/occupywallstreet.html
I think as has been stated in the opening "official" posts on this site, the enemy is" neoliberalism." How many people even know what that is? Part of that agenda is offshoring jobs. That single issue is the primary cause of our unemployment.
Democracy NOT Corporatocracy
makes a great "one demand"
I like your one demand but I think congress itself is also in dire need of reform. How about #OWS proposing the Congressional Reform Act of 2011, as follows?
No Tenure / No Pension. A Congressman collects a salary while in office and receives no pay when they are out of office. Congress (past, present and future) participates in Social Security. All funds in the Congressional retirement fund move to the Social Security system immediately. All future funds flow into the Social Security system, and Congress participates with the American people. It may not be used for any other purpose. Congress can purchase their own retirement plan, just as all Americans do. Congress will no longer vote themselves a pay raise. Congressional pay will rise by the lower of CPI or 3%. Congress loses their current health care system and participates in the same health care system as the American people. Congress must equally abide by all laws they impose on the American people. All contracts with past and present Congressmen are void effective 1/1/12.
This package of congressional reforms should universally appeal to all Americans, with the obvious exception of members of congress. But even the members of congress, who enjoy these outrageous self-serving benefits, will not stand up publicly to defend their current perquisites because they are indefensible. The above list of reforms is a no-brainer and should be adopted and published, as a minimum, by the #OWS, along with your suggested single demand. If this is the initial set of #OWS demands, it will be extremely popular and put the corporate elites and congress itself on notice.