Forum Post: Occupy Needs National Meeting to Set Goal on National Government
Posted 12 years ago on Dec. 14, 2011, 12:17 a.m. EST by cross1242
(10)
This content is user submitted and not an official statement
Right now, Occupy is a collection of local movements with entirely local influence. It needs to have a national position to establish the principles regarding the national government that bind all of them together. I'd suggest that the GA for NYC needs to adopt this resolution:
A RESOLUTION Providing for a National Assembly
WHEREAS, the record of our present national government is a history of failure and willful disregard of the needs of 99% of Americans: and
WHEREAS, Americans have petitioned the present government for redress of grievances but those repeated petitions have been answered by repeated insult; and
WHEREAS, a government of that character is unfit to be the government of a free people; and
WHEREAS, there are profound disagreements among Americans on what binds them together. Those disagreements threaten our ability to live in society and govern ourselves; NOW, THEREFORE,
BE IT RESOLVED by Occupy – New York City that:
Occupy movements in America should send delegates to a national assembly. The assembly must achieve consensus on the nature of the failure of our present social contract and government. It should then achieve consensus on and publish a new American Social Compact. It must consider philosophical and political thought on what a social contract should contain and then put a new social compact in writing. It will then be presented to Americans as a basis for changes in our society and government.
The national assembly should be at a central location; have excellent transportation; have the support of the local Occupy movement and its community; and convene on July 1, 2012. Other details may be decided by a logistics team from each state.
Each state delegation has one vote. State delegates are designated by Occupy movements using an open process. The assembly may not supervise any OWS movement.
The national assembly determines the validity of credentials of delegates and adopts its own procedural rules. The assembly must keep and publish its minutes. All meetings are open to the public.
Upon adoption, a true copy of this resolution should be sent to all Occupy movements in America. We urge them to consider and adopt similar resolutions.
If someone in the NYC movement likes this idea, feel free to pick up this idea (and resolution) and run with it. I live a long way from NYC and can't participate myself.
Wont happen. I cant get OccupyTampa to even agree that campaign finance reform should be a good calling point.
For some reason, these protests refuse to say anything, which really makes me wonder sometimes..
It seems like campaign finance reform would be a no-brainer. What does Tampa think should be at the top of the list?
Its not that they wont say its important, just wont say "We Demand It" and then call out the politicians.
Yeah, it's tough. But my hope is to get the ball rolling some way or another and then a lot of other Occupy groups will see the wisdom of joining in.
Great. Have you read the 99% Declaration? I like that you've correctly identified that a resolution such as this must come from NYCGA to get picked up by the media. It's an explosive idea and it would catapult the waning movement back into the limelight at a crucial juncture. Thanks!
http://www.the99declaration.org/
Yes, I have. I've also read comments by others connected with Occupy in NYC that say the the "99 Percent Declaration" has NOT been approved by the GA there. It was also said that the group behind it is something of a rogue group that is doing things entirely on their own. If you read the declaration, you will find out that there is going to be an "election" of delegates through an unspecified process on line. You'll also see that the result to be approved is published already on the website so all the assembly is to do is approve it. It's not exactly an open process.
If you read farther you will find that there is a SUGGESTED list, that the delegates are to be chosen by local GAs.
I suggest reading the website and asking questions there, rather than making assumptions and presenting them as fact.
Interesting reply from someone who joined this forum on December 14th and posted this topic within 17 minutes of joining.
What result are you referring to please.
Just curious. Why does a resolution have to come from the NYCGA? By their own statement they do not represent Occupy as a whole, they only represent New York City.
I think the facts would show that to the rest of the world, NYC is believed to be Occupy HQ, regardless of any statement to the contrary. The NYC chapter will forever hold a unique place in the movement. Hence they have a unique responsibility in this matter.
OWS has to grow up or it will die.
Do a fact finding mission yourself: tell people there is going to be a big announcement from OWS then ask them where they think it will come from. "i dunno Wall St?" will most likely be your answer.
True, as they say themselves, they don't represent from Occupy as a whole. But, from someone out in the hinterlands, I can testify that everyone out here watches what NYC is doing. So, if NYC passes it, there are a lot of other Occupy groups will see the wisdom in it.
So what happens to direct democracy? This is a plan that weighs the votes of small rural states that do not have large Black and Latino populations much more highly than big states like California and New York that are diverse.
Not sure what to make of Cross1242 but I do like the 99% Declaration as everyone knows and I would like to see the NYCGA publicly endorse it. It's proposal to elect two reps from each congressional district (DGA's) creates a parallel congress.
I guess the NYCGA activists are more into the types of actions you find on the NEWS tab of this website. I tend to agree with them, if it's a question of priorities.
This is still a direct democracy. Note that the local Occupy groups are NOT electing "representatives." They are selecting, through whatever process each one devises, who is going to participate. I suspect that it will be mostly people who volunteer. And, if they get 100 volunteers, they can all go. This is still very much in the direct democracy and consensus-building that is at the heart of the Occupy movement.
Vermont has around the same number of people as my neighborhood does and they get one delegate. New York State has around 30x more people than Vermont and gets one delegate. California has around twice as many as New York and gets one delegate.
This has nothing to do with the national assembly in my resolution. Each Occupy can send as many people as they want. Each state only gets one vote (So that the assembly doesn't turn into a race to send the most delegates.) Even with that limit, "consensus" is still required. So there needn't be a fight between "big states" and "small states." It's also the way things were done at the Continental Congress because all the states needed to agree on the union that they were creating.
I know. Also at that time there was no pretense of democracy.
Mob rule will only cause deeper factions than what exist already. 50.1% should never be allowed to supercede our current democratic system. It will only lead to disillusionment.
Only if you take out the use of 99% of Americans because that is not who this group represents.
If this is a resolution passed by Occupy groups and it's Occupy groups who are sending people to the national meeting, it would be most certainly composed of "the 99%.
It might be but it is not a representation of the 99%
Occupy needs national meeting to set goal on GET A JOB.
I've got a job. So do most of us. The rest are still trying. As long as we've joined the job market, how about you joining Occupy?
I don't join things that rape women, demand entitlements they don't deserve, and just generally degrade the integrity of america.
You were clearly on another planet when you saw any of that. Just tell us which one so we know not to go there.