Forum Post: Staying On Message

I went down to the Occupy Wall Street encampment today and was impressed with what I saw, in regards to organization. What disappointed me, however, was the lack of signs and papers advocating non-financial issues. The only focus right now should be financial and economic issues. Otherwise, there won't be a clear message coming out, leading to a lack of support by the major unions and mainstream politicians. Sure, I know AFL-CIO President Trumka was there a few days ago, but there needs to be a daily, continuous union present there. When I was there today, I noticed only a handful of union activists openly advocating support. That is totally unacceptable -- especially with all the union people being layed off (like myself). The AFL-CIO and other major unions could also provide valuable leadership and strategies. And there are a number financial rallying cries or slogans that are being advocated on this forum. I would like to add a few: Support for HR1489 (Rep. Marcy Kaptor), 'Return to Prudent Banking Act,' that would break up investment and commercial banks; Enanct a 'Final Speculation Tax' to discourage harmful speculation and make Wall Street pay to rebuild the economy it helped destroy; And enforce tight safeguards to stop the kind of cheating and massive fraud on Wall Street that precipitated the crisis of 2008. Beyond that, I agree with a nice man I saw there today wearing a white beret, who advocated that people withdrawal their money from large banks and redeposit them in credit unions. These and other financial and economic issues should be the main focus to attract the majority of people who are unemployed and/or are hurting. It may even be a good idea to demonstrate and hand out leaflets at a place(s) where the unemployed must gather -- State Labor offices. It is also a good idea (that I saw down there as well) to encourage financial house workers to become whistle blowers when they know of wrong doing. And finally, I think it makes little sense for people to get arrested for blocking roads and similar activities. It doesn't serve and positive purpose -- just turning off people who might be interested in getting actively involved. Only when there are thousands and thousands of people coming down can you block roads and bring in other issues, not now. And I was also concerned by the dearth of American flags I saw displayed there. I think it would be a good idea to prominently display American flags throughout the encampment to make it more inviting and to show people that the protest is not anti-American.