Forum Post: Is it time for demands yet?

It seems like it's time for OWS to step up another level – to keep the movement moving. One obvious next level would be demands, which many clamor for. And there are many well-thought out demands that can garner the support of varying percentages of the OWS-movement population. (Personally, I like the idea of a People's Bailout -- Consumer Debt Jubilee [free the people!].)

But I propose that in order to maintain the broadest possible base of support, we need another level of movement before consolidating the many demands into a few. The level we need before demands, and the level we should be embarking on hard-core, is spreading awareness and understanding of the problem – that our societies and governments have become plutocracies – run by and for the wealthy – rather than democracies run (in one way or other) by and for the democratic majority. Once the problem of plutocracy is widely and clearly understood, then it would be appropriate for people to democratically discuss and decide at what level(s) of the problem the demands should aim.

(Some will surely be interested in reform of the current system, while others will prefer to regroup, embarking on a more radical, democracy-based reorganization of the way we live. Those of us in the latter category [many of whom envision post-nation-state decentralization as the best path forward] can probably accede to reform-based demands in the short-term as long as our desire to keep moving toward true democracy has the social space to flourish.)