Forum Post: Our most powerful tool (READ THIS NOW)
Posted 13 years ago on Oct. 17, 2011, 3:27 a.m. EST by OAAAO
(16)
from Santa Ana, CA
This content is user submitted and not an official statement
If we want something to happen we need to take more drastic action. As a community we need to come up with one demand--something symbolic of our struggle--and have a hunger strike until it is complied with.
Gandhi used it to drive the British out of India, it is the most powerful tool at our disposal. It will draw media attention. It is something people can do all over the country (and world).
..and it can be the first of many.
What issue do we want to HS about? Disbanding the federal reserve? Repeal of the patriot act? Requiring every member of congress to make their finances public?
How can we make this happen? Comment so this thread becomes visible above this churning mass of information, even if it's just 'I agree'.
I have a petition to let taxpays choose where their money will go instead members of congress. http://www.petitiononline.com/FengGao/petition.html
one of the demands could be an open to the public investigation of the lies and crimes of 1%
That'd be a good one, it's easy to comply too as well.
Create a new non-secular religious movement. Non-profit, of course. Any Police or political harrassment of your religion can be taken to court, and effectively defended. Use the laws of the country to defend yourselves.
From there, create your own savings/investment/lending co-operative, and use your buying power to support local growers/industry/other co-operatives.
It's called collectivism, people. Grass-roots collectivism.
Create a barter-card system to trade skills for food, medicine, or other skills. Money is only required for transacting with the mainstream.
Identify public areas where you can legally camp out for free, and populate those areas permanently. Bucket your waste into publicly available receptacles for removal by the mainstream services available.
We have all become too reliant on housing, food, services, health care being provided for us.
Take the initiative, and think about what you need to survive.
Won't be long now and we'll all have to do this anyway, so practise it now, while there are still back-ups available if you need them.
Ciao from a nomad in Australia.
But the system is still in place. What happens when they come for us? The jews couldn't have avoided Nazi germany by doing that. I agree with the collectivist ideal. I agree with tribalism, and establishing self-sufficient communities. I actually am a part-time member of one on a river way out in national forrest.
But, what about the people that own the weapons? What are we going to do about them?
No need to drop out at all. I want this movement to continue for all the same reasons you do.
Just saying that if you are operating under the banner of religion, and you are being persecuted, you can use the system against itself, because despite the mess they have made of the constitution, religions are still untouchable.
Use their garbage collection services, and sure, you'll have to buy some of the things you can't make or provide. If there aren't any jobs, and housing is to expensive, find where you can camp out legally. I know it gets cold there, but with the right shelter, you can do it. I just did the southern winter here in a little tent and sleeping bag.
That will also deter the many religious who would be on our side, but cannot because it will become heresy if we are under the banner of religion.
I did say non-secular. I often confuse secular and non-secular.
I meant to say an all-inclusive religious organisation, which mirrors what OWS is at the moment, meaning all are welcome and free to discuss anything they want to discuss.
As long as it is an inclusive religious organisation, and it is being persecuted, that persecution is contestable and winnable in a court of law.
Sorry for the confusion.
true change will come with true FREEDOM
starting with freedom of consciousness
I think the system needs to fall before most people can do that. We are a fringe group. Most people are watching TV instead of debating the politics of change on a website. How can we help them?
The system IS collapsing under its own weight of greed, corruption, etc.
We are helping them... the freedom is in the air..
we can focus on what we want, instead of on what we don't want - the system has failed totally. I want building of sustainable self-sufficient communities, which will create jobs, improve ecology, unite people, bring out creativity, validate each person and focus on improving of well-being...
Are you proposing timothy leary's 'drop out' philosophy that he outlined in Neuropolitique?
I think that the problem is the government is becoming more and more authoritarian. By the time our children are our age they may not have the option to leave their assigned housing unit. If there is ever a nuclear terrorist attack there would be perpetual martial law instated over night. We are teetering on the edge of an abyss.
We need to do something about the world we live in , we can't drop out and wait for an apocalypse to solve our problems for us.
this is a creation of a new world that has never existed before... it is a birthing process... and people are ready for this creation of the beautiful unknown... the world of respect, dignity, integrity, appreciation,... (I'm not familiar with that philosophy)
Children are our teachers.
Leary proposed that people leave society and form self sustaining communities. He believed that overt rebellion (even like OWS) was just playing the game of the system, and the only real option was to 'drop out'. That is what he did, but they came for him and stuck him in solitary confinement for 5 years. That philosophy was first proposed in the 60's and it doesn't seem like much has changed. I love the idea of doing that, and am in the process of establishing a community like that of my own...but what do we do about the people with weapons, armies, police, jails, and handcuffs? especially when they are getting more and more oppressive? What happens when they say that our communities are a threat?
So Leary prepaved today's movement. It is a different time now. People are changing. The system is collapsing, since it is not working. Which establishment focuses on the creating of well-being for people? They are all done.
The most agreed upon thing seems to be to get money out of politics. We need to reduce that to a list of actions so we can achieve that. Money out of politics is too general.
politics is a dirty business
...separate water from water...?
I agree
Take a look at the money-out-of-politics Constitutional Amendment poll, and please add your ideas and feedback. http://occupywallst.org/forum/poll-what-do-you-want-in-a-money-out-of-politics-a/
Boycott imported goods!!!! Buy Made in America!!!
and have a hunger strike until it is complied with.
:) ok you first ;) seriously it might take a year or two before this thing works
I'll hunger strike if we have a unified cause.
It's the best option we have. It's a powerful statement. If most college students were doing this the system would collapse in a month.
...and from an anthropological standpoint the expression of hunger generates sympathy innately... people won't be able to help but identify with us.
From a physical standpoint, you would be doing yourself a disservice.
Healthy humans can fast for weeks in a tropical climate. In a cold and heavily populated place, you will be exposing yourself to both the elements, and to sickness and disease.
You will need your strength, and your health, to see this through. Keep eating, please. Source your food from sympathetic suppliers where you can.