Forum Post: ORGANIZE!!! This is what needs to be done to win public support!!
Posted 13 years ago on Nov. 16, 2011, 9:12 a.m. EST by Veritas82
(1)
This content is user submitted and not an official statement
I've followed this movement from day one. I've observed, taken notes, given suggestions. I hope that enough people read this, post it, twitter it, and spread it to others to get the message out.
WE NEED TO ORGANIZE!! This movement has great potential, more than any movement for the last few decades. But we are blowing it, all of us. We have videos going all over the net of police brutality, of illegal behavior by our government. We should have way more public support than we do. And here is why we don't:
Our message is severely unclear. Yes, we give interviews, conduct speeches about Corporate Greed, about illegal actions on Wall street, about the huge wealth gap in this nation, and most of all about corporations purchasing our government officials that are supposed to represent us. But that is obstructed. Obstructed every time a protestor waives a sign that says "Legalize Pot", or "Kill Capitalism", or "End all Wars". The reason we don't have a huge tidal wave of support is that people are lazy and looking for an excuse not to join. It's easier to say "whoa, wait a minute... these guys want to legalize pot... I'm not in support of that. I'm not going to help this movement in any way." We cannot bring up every single political debate in this movement!! It will be the death of us! You want to see this movement thrive, then support the main cause. We want our nation back!! WE WANT CORPORATIONS AND BILLIONAIRES OUT OF OUR GOVERNMENT AND OUR POLITICAL PROCESS!! We need to Organize!!!!
I agree completely with your thoughts and words. I drafted a Constitutional Amendment that is getting some traction:
http://www.nycga.net/groups/political-and-electoral-reform/docs/amendment-28-to-the-constitution-of-the-united-states-of-america
The first priority for me is to do something that will make all other things possible.
Want to legalize Pot, the pass this amendment so you don't have to fight the corporations in your effort. It is called "order of operations". It is true in Math and Programming, it is true with change. Pass the amendment around so it gets more traction.
In the end it does not have to be the document I wrote, it can be another that sets the table for us, mine can be modified.
It seems to me that the Occupy movement, though a great idea is not organized itself enough. There are too many occupy"s if you will. Occupy Women's Rights, Occupy Teachers Rights. Occupy Oakland. Somehow it seems to me that it does need leaders and should be for one cause only. Occupy America. As far as having a place to congregate, you don't need it right now. You have the internet at your fingertips and can reach out to the world at the press of a button. You will reach more people on the internet than you ever will having people hanging out in a park. People just need to know where to look for you. If you can really get organized and get a plan that yes the 99% are looking for, then you can plan a march on Washington in the future that would number in the millions. Get a plan. Get organized. Get heard. Then Occupy America.
Absolutely brilliant. But it took you this long to figure it out?
No, have been saying this since I occupied Pittsburgh, and saw the disorganization and thousand voices saying different things, for myself. Have been focusing all my attention and energy there since it is the closest occupation site to me. Just thought I'd share across the spectrum.
I agree. There are some good ideas, but many are saddled down by crazy. Crazy is not going to win enough support by anyone. I strongly support the idea of having a general convention to draft up a list of addressable problems as put forth by the 99 Declaration but as can be seen from it's anemic support, something is missing. So it's a great idea, with poor implementation.
https://sites.google.com/site/the99percentdeclaration/
I'd like to see this work with sane people who want to enact real, game changing policies to improve the country. Most people agree that our government is pretty broken and that we are on the wrong track.
I would be fine with corporations and billionaires having to pay a minimum tax rate - and if they want to operate in the United States, they have to pay taxes in the United States to compensate for the infrastructure and public goods (everything from roads to investment in human capital) that they use. Corporations and billionaires shouldn't be shut out of the political process - but billionaires are only citizens, and corporations can't make profits without the cooperation of MANY consumers and long-term investments in education, health care, R&D and infrastructure that aren't good for the annual report or in their interests/ability to finance themselves.