Forum Post: Idea: Occupy Congress steps
Posted 12 years ago on Oct. 23, 2011, 5:19 p.m. EST by BearDrummer
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Idea: occupy the steps of Congress. Make the legislators themselves have to look the protesters in the eyes. This is not a new thing. Protests have been effective because of this before... I include a quote underneath a rather revealing article:
When Bonus Marches -- thousands of unemployed and desperate former veterans who had been promised and denied their bonus checks in the Depression, which they needed to feed their families -- camped out for months on the Mall in D.C. and sat daily (when this was possible) on the steps of Congress, they won, eventually, because of the disruption. Some of the power of real protest, which is peaceful and patient and civil but disruptive, comes from the emotional power of the human face-to-face: all those Congresspeople had to look those hungry men in the eyes on their way to legislate the decision about the bonus.
I've been down to Occupy DC and asked them about going over to the Capital building... but nothing... no can do... It's like they don't want to go there... I just don't get it. If this movement is to make any real progress, they need to camp out right in front of the capital building. Then they need to get a list of all the committees which deal with writing financial legislation and start occupying the offices of the congressmen/women and senators who sit on those committees... And when the financial industry lobbiests come knocking on the doors of the congressmen/women and senators, the OWS crowd should livestream getting into their faces... etc. etc.... It's like OWS is lacking some common sense!