Forum Post: Occupy Wall Street movement and the 99% are ABOUT TO TAKE CONTROL OF THIS COUNTRY. We absolutely have the power to do so. It is simply a fact.

The most cynical of the 1%, in their darker moments in country club locker rooms and smoke filled parlors, delight in the fact that we, the 99% squabble amongst ourselves. It is what allows 1% of the citizens to make most of the decisions in a country where each person 18 or over may vote.

We all need to take a deep breath and think about this. Because, although there may SEEM to be a huge difference of opinion among members of the 99%, when you take a step back, we really all have the same foot on our necks. Whether we're old or young, Catholic or atheist, middle class or poor, we all experience a similar resistance that is well funded, well organized and positively undemocratic.

As soon as we realize this, we'll greatly disturb the status quo. This is because we, the 99%, will begin to focus less on what divides us and will focus more on what unites us. At that point, it will begin to dawn on us.... "Wait a second. Each of us has a vote. And although we have differences, there are some core action items that we the 99% all agree upon and the results would benefit us all." it is at that point that we will escape the chains of nihilism that has been forced on us by relentless consumer marketing. It is that point that we begin to think for ourselves.

And then..... as we begin to consider how to gain enough power to take action on this list, it will dawn on us that we ALREADY have that power. We each have a vote. In 2005, Citibank sent a memo (google "2005 Citibank memo" or "Citigroup-Oct-16-2005-Plutonomy-Report-Part-1.pdf") to its wealthiest clients advising them how to invest in the changing landscape of America. In this memo, Citibank analysts were exceedingly candid with their wealthy clients. They told them POINT BLANK that America is no longer a democracy, it's a plutonomy - a country which is controlled by and is set up to benefit the richest 1%. They told them that the best investments going forward were likely to be luxury goods because the middle class and poor were going to have less and less and the rich were going to have more and more.

They also reviewed risks to this investment strategy, indicating that one of the only hitches could be that it's possible that at some point the majority of citizens would awaken to the fact that each person has a vote and they would exercise that right. Citibank put the odds of that as very low but told their clients they'd keep them posted of anything changed on that front. Their view was that, although it's true that each person really does have a vote, they won't be motivated enough, organized enough, frustrated enough or smart enough to actually use the power that is already within their grasp.

If we can begin to focus on what we have in common rather than what divides us, we can make decisions from a position of unified power rather than making demands from a position of divided weakness. How funny to discover that we've had the power all along. We just haven't used it.