Forum Post: Seize Wall Street
Posted 13 years ago on Oct. 4, 2011, 10:50 a.m. EST by MetroEco
(12)
from Philadelphia, PA
This content is user submitted and not an official statement
We need to do more than Occupy Wall Street.
We need to take it over.
Start REGIONAL STOCK EXCHANGES to gather capital of all kinds for green jobs and green cities.
MOVE OUR MONEY into communty banks and credit unions. Require that they host REVOLVING LOAN FUNDS for low-interest or interest-free loans to green jobs, green cities, organic farms and clean fuels.
PRINT OUR OWN MONEY backed by our labor, skills, tools, and land.
CONNECT to health co-ops, insulation, bicycling, walking, trollies and trains, urban orchards, local stores rather than chains.
DISCONNECT from utility grids, cars and highways, crooked elections, wars.
LET RAGE TRICKLE UP. The rich claim they don't need us (Atlas Shrugged). As we do the above, we prove we don't need them either.
Story with links at http://paulglover.org/1110.html
Just a couple of comments by point.
1) This is always an interesting idea but I'm not sure how one would go about doing so. It comes with great risk (for example, how do you guard against fraud?) and people will be reluctant to contribute. But stuff like that does exist. Consider http://www.prosper.com/. This is "peer-to-peer" lending. You can lend directly to people. I personally considered it too risky for my own tastes and wouldn't recommend it to others but it is a neat idea. You'd also have to consider different regulatory aspects. The SEC has broad powers over all securities so a lawyer might need to be consulted.
2) I'm a fan of the former statement. The latter would need to be qualified. How do you "require" them to give these loans? Who are they required to give it to? Only good ideas? Who is to judge whether or not the bank or CU is required to give to this or that party? If it's required, then how do you prevent fraud? (Fraud will occur, I promise.)
3) That one will probably get nixed. State chartered banks were ordered by the Federal government to stop printing their own notes. Their response: demand deposits - and thus checking accounts were born. This one you'd probably have to change the legal framework to make happen.
4) Thumbs up.
5) Thumbs up.
6) They definitely do need us. That's why they need us to borrow more money to buy shit because they aren't willing to share the wealth and allow our wages to increase with theirs.
Likewise, though state governments are prohibited from printing bills of credit, the rest of us may. I did so: http://paulglover.org/hours.html
Here are my details for regional stock exchange: http://greenjobsphilly.org/static_praise.php
I agree on this. All of these demands that people are proposing are either dependent on faith in congress or an idealistic dismantling of the capitalist system that cannot happen unless this movement abandons its pillar of non-violence (which would discredit the whole movement IMO).
Let's be a model! We don't need the government. Let's just do all of this ourselves and we'll watch as people follow us. I just posted a thread that states that demanding full ownership of the park indefinitely is integral to being a model. PM me if you'd like to collaborate on this.
I agree that we should not depend on the rich.