Forum Post: OWS is six weeks old and what is the message?
Posted 13 years ago on Oct. 30, 2011, 3:21 p.m. EST by Someguy
(12)
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I'm trying to learn the goals and the message of the OWS movement. I have heard a great deal about OWS but I still do not completely understand the goals.
Is it to spread wealth? Is it to bring down wall street? Is it to separate corporations from government?
Why Wall street?
Enlighten me please. I'm not trying to antagonize but simply trying to understand. So far I like what I am hearing but I want to know the goal.
create awareness
the message is there is a lot of pain out there and our so called leaders don't care and further have opposite agenda
Were mad as hell and we aint going to take it any more...
I would vote for a co-operative system rather than a fascist/corporate one.And some sort of direct democracy.but that's just me.
Repeal the Federal Reserve Act of 1913: Abraham Lincoln's deb-free monetary system ("greenbacks"). Retire Fed debt-money; retire Fed.
get money out of politics
There are no goals as far as I can see. I've heard what people don't like, what people are pissed off about, it seems to me everyone has their own agenda - End the Federal Reserve, Re-instate Glass-Steagal, End Corruption in Banks, Prosecute the Banks, Ban Lobbyists, Get Rid of the Jews, End Capitalism, Communistic and Socialist ideology, Vote for Ron Lawl. The Democrats, Move On, White Supremacists, Die Hard Obama fans have co-opted the movement. "Occupy" has gotten people's attention. The lack of cohesiveness and clearly defined goals has gotten negative attention from mainstream media. Without any clear goals, occupy is just a trend. Trends fade. This movement will fade. If you go to the general assembly website, there are no goals defined there either. I see people trying to establish a communal sort of society, essential trying to reinvent the wheel. I'm not trying to antagonize either. Just calling it, like I see it.
NO WAR
direct democracy
public health care
direct democracy is mob rule
war will always happen
public health sucks
each state already has health plans for the poor
GROW UP
doom
cool game
I wrote this last week. Some of it may answer your questions. I hope this helps you understand more. Thank you for reading it!
Why I support Occupy Wall Street (excerpts/i had to edit because content was too long)
There are soo many issues that need to be addressed. on any given day we are seeing/hearing people speaking to the issue that matters to them most, whether it's the environment, job cuts, the federal reserve, corporate greed, stop and frisk, healthcare, the list goes on....but at the core of all this is an opportunity to create a whole new paradigm in how we live our lives. i see this movement as a model for what our society could be. we are occupying as an example of goodness, transparency and compassion. maybe it is an evolved concept, and perhaps it's easy for us to be misunderstood when most of the people in middle-america are getting their news from mainstream media. some people don't "get" the phrase 'we are our demands'. is it too sophisticated of a statement for the main stream to understand? if they came down to the park and hung out for a few hours talking to people, and seeing the compassion and hard work that is taking place, they just might "get it".
Most people i know (and I"m a left-leaning musician who knows all kinds) are on the left, but they are so "busy" in their own personal drama that they don't have time for occupying. they KNOW the shit is messed up, but they are comfortable, they have decent jobs and they are so wrapped up in themselves. some are struggling and trying to survive, which can take up all of our energies, leaving no room to consider a solution. some think that as long as OTHER people are willing to fight the fight, why should we come out of the house on a rainy, cold day to listen to these people?
If we are not part of the solution then we are part of the problem.
You can't SCHEDULE A REVOLUTION!
I know that the mainstream media spins this whole thing like we have no idea what we are doing, etc...they say we should all quit occupying and get jobs.
We are leading by example. this is our MAIN point. we want ALL Americans to have what we have; the guts to question the greed of the corporate elite who spend much of their time manipulating the public with their advertising. they are intimidating, and easy to fear. especially to the folks who haven't found anything to stand for at all. there are so many people who do NOT have a clue where they themselves stand because they live in bubbles. they have been brainwashed by the big corporations to believe that life is about making the least amount of effort to accumulate as much money and material things, to make it even easier. they have NO idea of the big picture we are trying to achieve. this is all a sense of denial to many. so, who wants to rock the boat/spoil a good thing?
Demands? we got some, but I believe the demands (which are not so much demands as they are human rights that we all are fighting to exercise) are secondary to this cause. what the naysayers are complaining about mostly is that we aren't making this about any one issue to be resolved. We are not "asking" for anything. We are, in fact, taking it. It is Ours.
The primary objective is achieving a state of mind where we have True Democracy, and it starts with Compassion.
The goal is to create a distraction and an enemy (Wall Street) during the entire campaign season in order to get Obama reelected.
Message is occupy everything with protest and then occupy galaxies with protest. Shout loud: tax the riches, we are 99%. This have been message from starting.
I think the message started out along the lines of "we want our government to be responsive to the 99% of people in America, not just the elite 1%"
I think it has devolved into something along the lines of "we just want to stay in the park and have people give us stuff till we can get our act together."
They are not going to build any farms and shelters and start new civilization around there?
Uh, no.
Hippies smell and chanting in unison is creepy. Other than that, the message needs a little work.
The medium is the message. And, in this particular case, the medium is a guy playing bongos in a public park who hasn't properly washed in weeks.
Funny with all this talk about "no message" #occupy has the attention of millions of people and the support of millions too. Must be #occupy has something very well figured out and everyone really "gets" the message.
It's interesting really, it means whatever is important to you. The disenfranchised are blinking in the sun of publicity and they can't stop themselves from disgorging years of frustrations to anyone who will listen.
Look at the subjects on this board, everything from the ridiculous to the sublime, the fitted tin hat brigade to considered policy positions. The raucous freedom of the proletariat to express whatever crosses their mind is OWS.
This is the best answer yet. It is a cause that supports all the things that are wrong in this country, correct? Whatever my grievance it has to do with OWS because it is a cause. My thoughts on the post thought are simple. Should it not be Occupy the US instead of OWS. I know some feel like wall street bankers are the biggest problem but if the corporations are the problem why not take the protest to them. Most corporations are not the bad guy though. They are hard working people simply trying to make a living. The corporations that are the enemy are the ones that corrupt our government and make fair trade. I believe that politicians control Wall St and Wall st controls politicians. The difference is simple. Washington is made up of lawyers and wall st is made up of business people neither understands the other but both understand money. Greed has ruled our country for many years. Greed is the enemy not capitalism.