Forum Post: Occupy's Core Purpose now must be...
Posted 12 years ago on May 1, 2012, 3:44 a.m. EST by Endgame
(535)
This content is user submitted and not an official statement
Getting outside money out of politics. End the bribery system that is our political system.
Its the most important issue that is at the core of most(if not all) of the problems in this country. And it just so happens to be the most bipartisan goal. AND its a simple universal message that people can understand and get on board with when people try to find out what OWS is really about.
Umbrella Strategy: Since there are so many legitimate problems in this country that Occupiers are bringing to the table, it should all be stated under the "Umbrella" of Getting outside money out of our politics.
Example: "Higher education in this country is to high..but none of this problem will never be fixed until its illegal for Colleges to bribe politicians. We need to get outside money out of politics"
Example: "To Big To Fail is no where near to being a thing of the past. Our system is corrupt and because Wall Street are able to bribe politicians they got to get away with screwing over this country. This will not end until we Get Outside Money Out of Politics".
Example: "My healthcare cost have bankrupted me and my family. We have been screwed by the healthcare companies. And they get away with it because they bribe politicians and the corrupt politicians don't do anything about it. That is why we must get outside money out of politics!"
Those are just a few examples but you get the picture. No more vague things like "Occupying the Harbor". What the hell does that do? And when there is just chaos for the sake of Chaos you lose the public and you play right into the hands of Fox News and the corporations that would love for this movement to just die. There is a huge difference between getting arrested for something righteous like protesting foreclosure practices and just bank practices or corrupt politicians. But the few crazies are allowed to go around breaking business windows..it just hurts the whole movement. Use the Umbrella Strategy of getting outside money out of politics. That should be the next phase of the movement. Its simple and it gets at the very root of the problem.
At the core of all the dark forces of inequity, injustice and indifference is GREED!. A very powerful human emotion that causes the inhumane, to rise, to control.
In the physical sense, greed is quantified in Money and recognized as Power. Globally follow the money trail back to source, to realize the core crime is GREED.
On our little planet, each and every man-thought system of governance and regulation is corruptible and has been corrupted by this basic human fallacy.
Corporations are the high priests of Money and Power, they are legal entities brought to existence with the singular motive of Profit, (offering on the altar of greed). Corporations control and decide on the lives of nearly all life on this little blue planet. (we live in the illusion of nationalities, race and religions)
The world we live in was fashioned by and for corporations..Globalization,
that has effected nearly every form of life on earth, has provided windfalls of stupendous wealth for the 1%..true devotees of Greed, while causing immense suffering on millions of the powerless.
No taxation systems are foolproof and as global players, nearly all corporations have and continue to unethically abstain from contributing their due share.
Curb the Corporations..Make the existence of corporations subject to a charter (as done by the founding fathers of USA ). Corporations should be brought into being, not only for profit motives (as currently done), but for detailed social, and developmental goals/obligations. An example would be a Corp primarily in the Manufacturing sector will have to maintain a pre determined number of local employees on its payroll, and further will be responsible for funding the county/district development/maintenance of the infrastructure..roads, emergency services, educational institutions etc.
Curb the Corporations worldwide and Curb the corruption world over. Deal Greed a kick in the *%s. Let humanity rule!
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Totally agree. I favor building consensus for proposals like this that we can build cross-partisan support for. Here's how I envision building a forum within Occupy:
Solutions? Town circle here. [see my post on the site in a few minutes]
create a conversation space for ongoing dialog only about 'solution proposals' using a large drop cloth - no shoes - and back jack chairs.
Camera Mike and speakers Let's dialog until we arrive at least to one non-contentious silent majority transpartisan solution for our each: City, state, or fed representatives to enact now! Or we elect those who will in Nov. Posted on BF, on YouTube Likes are votes a circle to discuss, refine & optimize, every day until one or a few top winners emerge at every level. We express & campaign for the desired result, ideal if we can refer to existing models that work White boards to develop concepts, posters to hold favorites in place Then post them online with best video case for each
Invite people to make viral videos that share the message in various ways that connect with different constituencies (grannys vs. kids)
Extra 'stars' if the solution: Promotes fairness Transpartisan 'tea occuparty' Low cost Moms, kids and old people understand and agree Working examples What else?
would be cool to promote this among young folks with such as occupy school classroom program in 'citizen consensus solutioneering'
Skills list to code website, voting platform (that proves a broad base) and representative canvassing also video their: pledge to legislate & vote-by-this-date
Thanks for sharing your ideas vrum. I like the idea of the best ideas being voted on from within. :)
But whatever sub ideas(not down playing the significance of any of these ideas) I feel that ALL ideas need to be under the Umbrella of getting money out of politics.
The question is exactly how to do this. I am confident a very broad based transpartisan movement could be built around this. But consider: a popular movement builds a voting block that swings on this main issue: to change campaign finance to make elections fair. so congress enacts legislation, even an amendment (if the supreme court ruling recognizing corporations as people is a factor) to make it law: only individuals can donate, maximum donations, air time on all media in prime time for a series of debates - all elected parts of federal gov't.
Is that enough? How do we take into account such as an entire network with an agenda? all the networks with an agenda?
What approaches work best in other countries?