Forum Post: To the <insert title here> of Occupy Wall street
Posted 12 years ago on Oct. 21, 2011, 3:47 p.m. EST by slickrjt
(47)
This content is user submitted and not an official statement
To the
I've been supportive of the Occupy Wall street Movement and all the ideals behind it. I've spent the better part of two hours this afternoon reading and posting threads in the OccupyWallStreet forum on the main website for the movement, and got into what I thought was a very progressive back-and-forth brainstorming session with another supporter.
At the end of it all, I (we) WANT to take some action...some tangible, concrete action...but I am not sure how to go about it.
Basically the idea has 4 main parts:
1) focus strongly on a single issue (we both believe it should be the issue that began the movement in the first place, Get The Money Out Of Politics).
2) organize a national petition along those lines demanding a fundamental change on campaign finance laws and get as many signatures are possible.
3) organize a coordinated letter-writing campaign, asking ALL supporters of the O.W.S. movement to write one letter a month to their congress representative, both state senators, and President Obama (four letters, four envelopes, four stamps - per person, per month which is very doable).
4) unite the different Occupy __ Movements from across the nation in a unified large-scale march on Washington DC.
So...aside from interacting in the forum (which is good for voicing ideas, or learning the time and place for protests), I am not quite sure what avenues are available in the organization to organize and take tangible ACTION to make these things happen. Perhaps you, or whoever is in charge of disseminating information can put the idea out there.
Either way, I strongly encourage the leaderless "leadership" of the Occupy Wall Street Movement to work on establishing some tools or framework to allow individual supporters to turn ideas into action.
Thank you for your time and consideration!
+1, slickrjt is right, rally around a single concrete issue and take organized action to make it happen... squating in wallstreet and howling at the moon will only go so far.
also... wtf is going on in oakland, freaking scary guy with a mask physically threatening local journalists and presumably others passing by... the only thing he should be occupying is a jail cell.
It sounds to me that we all need to go with Article V of the US constitution and take action. You are so correct that we need to take the money out of our politics. That is the biggest key to our success. Any other fight can be won on the other side when we tackle the root cause of the problem.
http://www.articlevmeeting.info
We need to start at the state level and occupy the state legislatures in all 50 states to force them to request a constitutional convention from congress. 34 states are required to make this happen.
Then, we need to run to be delegates for the convention on the platform of getting the money out of politics and pulling out the role of the fed.
You seem to be well informed on this option - I need some clarification on "occupy the state legislature" with the goal of getting 34 of those states to request a constitutional convention. What exactly does this entail, do you mean physical occupy (as in a sit-in), or can this be accomplished with a petition-based initiative?
Depending on the law in your state or if you have a ballot initiative in your state, a petition may do it or a sit in on your legislature may have to be your option. If you private message me with your Skype ID, I will add you to a group that will tell you exactly how to find out that information.
I think sit-ins are a great symbolic move - but the broad-base petition is, in my understanding, the best tool we have to begin the transition from protest to politics.
Yes, you are correct, do you have a Skype account? I want to talk to you about Article V of the constitution and how we can use our state legislatures through a petition process. If you are active here and in other places, we can get a head of steam on this. Send me a message with your Skype ID
I don't currently have one but I understand its free to download and use so I can set one up.
Send me a message with that Skype id and I will meet up with you later on when I get home, we can chat and I will explain what a group of people that I am working with are doing. Also, take a look at this. http://articlevmeeting.info
Skype is free and it is a great place to start with a state by state ground game. There is also a link to Skype on the site near the bottom of the page.
Strongly agreed. There's a video that address this issue and give a solution on how to achieve this goal:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4gpbfY-atMk&feature=mh_lolz&list=LLu-lOP79o3J0Zj12Q75yy8w
Agreed, we should do all 4 of these procedures, so perhaps you would consider the " tangible ACTION" of our group's proposal of an alternative online direct democracy of business and government at http://getsatisfaction.com/americanselect/topics/on_strategically_weighted_policies_organizational_operating_structures_tactical_investment_procedures-448eo and then direct questions or comments to our group's 19 members committed to that plan at: http://finance.groups.yahoo.com/group/StrategicInternationalSystems/
I've saved the link you sent, but there is quite a bit of information there so I will have to review it first.
Agreed, and we look forward to your asking questions seeking clarification, for such question are the most important part of any coordinated action; that is, keeping ourselves informed of our perspectives because our collective knowledge is 10 times greater than our individual knowledge, agreed?
Agreed!
You must be a Post Office Lobbyist :P
HA! Well, I've written emails to my elected representatives on subjects I care about but all I ever get back is "copied and pasted" generic responses. A physical letter is much harder for them to ignore...and yes, the Post Office is struggling just like us, so it can be considered an honorary 99-er.
post letters to representatives in public places
Any thoughts about that? "Post letters to representatives in public places"...i imagine the possibility of flash mobs meeting in public places attract attention from passers by and then use it to share our political message.
I need to get outside
Um...is there a current flash mob plot happening right now?
not that I know of
http://occupywallst.org/forum/forum-topics/#comment-172247
I like that idea! Cardboard messages hanging from overpasses for everybody driving to work on Monday morning to see.
my suggestion? start one. seriously. don't brand it "OWS," but make clear that you are an OWS sympathizer. Make a website. Try to get people to sign up.
OWS can be the starting point for lots of actions. Not just one. But they should grow out of the movement, not try to take it over, IMHO...
I actually agree with what you are suggesting. OWS has too many organizations and groups with their own concerns. It's unlikely they will be able to agree on a single goal.
All we need is a strong leader who are willing to take charge in a new movement. A movement with a single goal "Get The Money Out Of Politics".
We are the leaders of this movement - We have the message - We are responsible for getting that message out.
What do you folks think about the suggestion? I don't know how to get it going, but I am certainly willing to try.
I was watching the Daily Show (with Jon Stewart) earlier today, and the guest appearance was Al Sharpton...and he made a good point. The Occupy Movement may not have changed the world, or the country yet - but the Occupy Movement has changed the national conversation (instead of having the subject of political discourse dictated to us by the corporate-owned cable news networks, WE the people are dictating the subject, changing the conversation). I still think the Occupy Movement needs to take tangible action to transition from a simple protest to real political change - but we should be proud of our achievement thus far.
That being said, moving forward involves first rallying around one, primary goal (getting the money out of wall street), beginning a campaign to inform and energize the electorate (the 99%), and communicate our demands for fundamental change to our elected officials and keep the pressure on D.C. - keep fighting.
I saw that show, too. So it sounds like you're in favor of trying to work within the OWS movement to try to get people motivated to support this change. The question I have is how? I'm posting here and on some spin-off forums: www.themultitude.org, www.occupyr.com and www.nycga.net. It seems like many people are putting out their ideas but I'm having difficulty getting people to have a legitimate discourse.
Absolutely - I think the protests should eventually translate into real political change. That is the purpose of protests in the first place - to fight for change. For that to happen - there DOES need to be a legitimate action-oriented dialogue which, so far, doesn't exist. I think a lot of us agree on many different ideas but the official online forums that exist seem to be geared towards either: 1) simply scheduling protests, and 2) venting frustrations and opinions. They are not so much geared for coordinating political action (which I feel should be the next step of the 99% movement). I don't YET know what I am do personally to help change that, but I am still giving it a lot of brainstorming. For the time being, I stand by the original ideas of the post that started this conversation.
I've started posting on www.themultitude.org, www.occupyr.com and several groups of www.nycga.net. Unfortunately, I can't figure out how to create a group on the nycga website. I think that the first thing that needs to happen is to create some sort of organized forum for brainstorming and critiquing ideas for how to get the money out of politics. I think from there, it could be possible to get at least a small group consensus on which approach(es) to take. I'm just not sure how or where to get a constructive dialogue going.
Occupy Wall Street IS the original brand for the movement. And I am not just a sympathizer, I strongly support it.
I completely agree with what you have to say. I started a thread about corporate finance reform earlier today (http://occupywallst.org/forum/get-the-money-out-of-politics/). My biggest question is how to get action?
you know what you all want...but how are you going to achieve it.? – "Those who make peaceful revolution impossible, make violent revolution inevitable." - John F. Kennedy ... if you want the 1 % out of goverment. then propose an admendment to do away with lobbist, and how about only allowing senators to serve 2 terms and congressmen the same. like the president. to keep power in check..i mean really..do you think the president has any power at all, maybe little..but senators and congress can stay in office as long as the electronic votes go in their favor..lmfao..!..hello...see the big picture..? who needs to be president when you can serve a life term as a senator who decides...rule behind the curtain..seriously know the facts about goverment..and make a change..but you are going to have to do it the right way or the fight way...success is make a plan and follow it through ..just like our forefathers did..just my opinion..
I assure you that I can see the big picture (and agree with doing away with the disproportional influence of special interest and lobbyist) - I somewhat agree with placing term limits on congress representatives and senators. I do think, however, that's a battle for another day and that we should, for the time being, focus on the deeper problem of campaign finances (and the resulting corruption).
all i have to say...is.....never trust anyone who's loyality has a price...:-))
Agree on focusing on a few main points. Look: if we get the money out of politics, give the power back to the people so that our leaders do OUR bidding.......all the rest of the issues will fall into line. This is our time; with any luck, the corporations can go back to producing things, valuing their employees, paying their fair share, and making all the money they want. WITHOUT the power of "Corporate Personhood" and unlimited contributions to their bought-and-paid-for shills.......
This forum is great for expressing ideas, and the protests across the country have given the movement legitimacy and recognition...but its hasn't translated into tangible progress yet.
Tell me - if Occupy Wall Street Organized a national petition, or national letter-writing campaign, or a march on Washington DC...would you participate in those things?
Yes, I would. I already write letters regularly to my corporate shills, er, I mean Congresscritters. I think there is no big rush to have concrete demands, other than one or two very simple wishes. Take the money out of politics, and end Corporate Personhood.
Now we are in the information and education stage. If all the OWS groups nationwide got shut down tomorrow, it would be too late for the status quo, and those who are desperate to maintain it.
As time goes on, (as long as the OWS message isn't co-opted by moveon or the Democrat Party) a short and concise list of demands will bubble to the surface, and will be advocated for by the most effective organizers and spokespeople from within our ranks. Recall votes are a possibility if the politicians keep voting for the corporate interests and against the will of the people. A Constitutional convention could be convened to address the corporate personhood and campaign finance issues. The people's voice may yet be heard again in America!!!
Lastly, the trolling here must be curtailed. I don't mean opposing ideas and debate....I"m talking about mean-spirit and ignorant comments with nothing to offer in the way of ideas. I don't come here often just for that reason. Why no moderators and/or removal of offensive or just plain badwill comments?
I agree completely; only productive action-oriented dialogue.
I can't necessarily camp out, but I'm certainly willing to write letters, sign petitions, etc.
That's exactly why I think petitions and letter-writing campaigns should be the natural first step in transitioning from protests to political action. Not everybody can camp out, or travel across country to march on DC, but everybody can write a letter to their congressman or sign a petition.
I'm in. How to get started? With some of the junk that's in the forum, it's difficult to keep a thread visible.
To get started...begin writing letters (to congress and President Obama) - I've been doing that myself already. Second - draft a petition (there are websites I've found with resources on how to do that). Third - circulate the petition (which...if you follow the "gossip" rule - you tell two people about the petition, they in turn each tell two more people (1 = 2 = 4 = 8 = 16 = 32, etc etc etc) about the petition until eventually it is widely known about - once a lot of people know about it, THEN it can have a genuine impact)
Well...I have personally been copying and saving the links for the conversation threads that I think are more geared towards action. That way I can keep track of those I consider motivated to do something and continue the dialogue.
The idea being...we can't change the world in one conversation - but we can lay the groundwork. I think the important ingredients of meaningful social change are: effort, coordination and persistence.
Please see and comment on:
http://occupywallst.org/forum/explaining-the-movement-to-others-v2/
or ...
http://www.themultitude.org/forum/viewtopic.php?f=28&t=254
Thank you, I will. I saved the link...