Forum Post: Too big to fail?
Posted 13 years ago on Oct. 11, 2011, 1:51 p.m. EST by Dymmesdale
(5)
This content is user submitted and not an official statement
I see the sentiment behind the "we are the 99%, and we're too big to fail" slogan. But the truth is, that we are really not. Success or failure does not only depend on how many of us are out there. If people begin to lose hope that something will come of the occupation, and people start to go home, and stop coming back to the occupation, we will fail. If we do not develop some kind of sustainable economy, separate from the economy of the nation at large, we will eventually run out of resources, and fail.
Your perspective is right on! I see the continued involvement hinging on a fully lawful solution that all Americans can relate to. The tea party needs to be accountable to Article V of the US constitution. Why aren't they discussing it when Mark Meckler, a constitutionalist leader of the tea party admitted on September 25 at Harvard that an Article V convention was probably the only way out of this situation. Please examine this compiled set of links on Article V. http://algoxy.com/poly/article_v_convention.html Realize that there is a accompaning proposal to revise the First Amendment to defeat media control and deprivation of facts, truth and enable the internet by a return to the usenet, as was originally paid for by tax dollars then ripped off through corporate collusion with congress.
Read this http://huff.to/ox7mom and then tell me what you think. Because if she is right, then the OWS message could be sharpened.
My name is Anne. I am a 40 year old business owner and mother of three. I have things to say to the organizers of the Occupy Wallstreet Protests to keep the momentum going but I don't know how or who to contact. If you find the following of interest, please do what you can to spread the word. Thanks.
MY WORRY: when it gets cold, this important protest will fizzle. MY IDEA: that we organize via facebook/twitter and choose a date where we completely evacuate wall street....in otherwords, one day we are there, the next we're not...all over country, the protests stop on purpose. that would make a serious impact.
THEN: we stage targeted "boycotts" that are announced, again, via facebook/twitter. for instance, the entire 99% does not shop for only one day at a different place and this place changes every single day. (after all we are not trying to put anyone out of business or do harm but make a point and show our power.) for instance, monday no amazon NOT ONE DIME...tuesday no starbucks...wednesday no arco...etc. Again, the company does not matter. All companies are culpable, even the good ones, because they are all part of the Wallstreet Machine. Our goal is not to shut down the country, after all we want to employ people. But we will no longer feel like helpless consumers that have no choice but to buy the "company stores" product no matter what the price. We have a choice...let’s choose!
AND THEN, TO EXPLAIN OUR PURPOSE: we will calculate the amount of money a company lost by losing 99% of the country's business and say... "hey, that's a lot of money in just one day." Now let's compare that to the modest and FAIR amount of tax we'd like you to pay...or “how much is that compared to the insane bonuses you give your CEO” etc etc etc.
BECAUSE: we are not trying to screw anyone, we just demand fairness.
AND: the best way to achieve fairness is to REGULATE Wallstreet and modify the tax code (i.e. add a tax bracket for millionaires, scrap overseas tax havens, introduce a modest financial transaction tax, revamp the estate tax, end preferential treatment on capital gains tax)
AND IN THE END: this is a relatively painless thing for all. the rich will still be rich. the free market will still be free (just not allowed to be as corrupt) and ALL OF US will enjoy our American citizenry without so much contempt for each other.
AND TO END WITH A SLOGAN THAT MATTERS: "when we all do better, we all do better."
(duh)
PS If you think this could work please forward to as many people necessary and feel free to use any or all of my ideas to make this protest lead to positive policy change..
Annie, the Wall Street occupation was designed from the beginning to last 2 months, we have an end date. Boycotts may work, but so far they haven't been effective. Look at Anonymous's attempts with Sony. Rallies might be better and flash-protests where twitter posts have everyone meet for an hour suddenly in front of city halls
very good post - and to back that up: My name is Tracey. I am a 40+ year old business owner and corporate employee and mother of one. I also have things to say to the organizers of the OWS but don't know how or who to contact.
MY thoughts: Besides Anne's suggestions above, we also need to have organization at the helm. We do need more structure to move us to the next level or step. We have made it global, we do have a voice the first step is in place.
Create a more concrete, more focused list of demands. Become more organized and search for individuals who can speak well and will speak for everyone. We need to have FOCUS that is not there.
Incorporate all of what Anne states above into an organized plan. You can't let this all fail because you lack structure. You have the body amassed - now put a structure in place.
Need people with a name sitting on a panel or committee. The OWS global commitee who is empowered to put a mission scope and goals/demands down in writing.
Part of the demands needs to include:
Lets start to put some action into all that we stand for and make change happen - make them answer to all of us.
Changeinmotion, The moment you name a leader for the movement, you create dissension. We are still building our communication network. Writing up a more set list of goals would also lead to failure. Give it time. In a short period of days, we've organized protests all over the country, set up web pages and are reaching consensus on many things.
When it is time and we are ready, goals will rise up and be embraced by the majority. Those that aren't will wither. This is a leaderless organization because we're all leading this. We all have a say. You just need to let it mature a little more. Ok?
I agree with you, my impatience is passion ... however to your statement "we've organized protests all over the country, set up web pages and are reaching consensus on many things." --- this alone is begging for a visual by many OWSers who would like to see some of our endeavors captured in one spot ...and this will address those folks who process information by seeing it written - not everyone is able to visualize in their heads without some organizational aids. Listing out the protests and providing the list of "good" websites for all of us is needed and addresses my concerns. Web pages, all combined in some fashion, will show us all just how much diversity we have. Organizing it so its easy to navigate is needed. Somehow not necessarily one person - a body of people - a panel that switches out - someone/some body needs to be point to organize the info - accumulate the titles, give the addresses for the pages... i want to put up a page and start movement to do "something" ... boycott GM for example... how do we get this info out for everyone's viewing and "advertised" for everyone to partake?
OCS is evolving as we speak. Methods of communication which don't work are abandoned, methods that work are adopted. Kinda like how loudspeakers were banned by the police at the Park but people adapted by doing the chanting.
Well, take the idea of boycotting GM. If it is embraced, more and more people will get behind it and it will succeed. If a lot of people don't like the idea, then it will fail. Having an organized center with such ideas means that the media can point to it, laugh, and say... "oh look! OCS is a failure!"
Right now, everyone in the OCS is a leader. They can take on their own project and get it rolling. If people like the idea, they'll join up or copy it and the project will gather steam. It's evolution/natural selection in action.
changeinmotion writes: Part of the demands needs to include: 1. Person(s) to investigate and fact find all the legislation on the books that regulate corporate bankingEND Love the energy and the ability to see work that needs to be done. Yes, demands, but I say simplify by using reference to law. LAWS already demand to be followed. Congress is in violation of the law of the land, the constitution for not convening an Article V convention long ago. http://algoxy.com/poly/article_v_convention.html DEMAND an article V convention in each state on the steps of their capitol buildings by the tens of thousands, like yesterday.
got it! Thank you Christopher!
agreed! very well written! and at the very least, we will have refocused the conversation so our elected officials whose hands are tied by a broken system can use the momentum of this movement as it gains acceptance and traction to actually change policy. keep writing and posting and facebooking where ever you can because yours is a voice of reason and your ideas are accessible! thank you.
annie - (sorry for not spelling correct above!) do we want to start a facebook page just for this? i like the link that chris gave above... what should we do to get this part of it more focus... check out wall street FB titles and lets create something connected to but aside from it - link to it ... i am thinking a blog would be more in tune but for now FB? Come up with a title ... I don't mind creating it -
FB potential name: OWS Change Legislation... ?
Sounds good to me!
AS for a title....Occupy WallStreet, the Next Steps to Affect Change ...OWS From Protest to Policy ...or Occupy Wall Street, What can YOU do?... hmmm, I am not sure. My goal is for OWS to be organized on many fronts and not only protest through demonstration but to protest by disrupting the flow of money. Nothing else gets the attention of the media like drama. For instance....no cell phone use for a day....lights out for a day....no driving for a day. If we can get media attention and prove we are organized we can get an audience for our ideas. And in many ways we will improve our numbers if we offer easier options than taking a month off work to demonstrate. That way a person just has to check facebook everyday and make one very impactful daily change. Yes, go for it and tell me what to do!!
and a pitiful p.s. I don't even have a facebook page...my husband does and I sometimes loiter on his...but I found myself spending too much time on the computer when I had my own. I guess it might be time to reopen that account, eh?!
Absolutely - with you 100%...i am going down to NYC next weekend - 10/21!! on other biz but will make it down there to see it in person! What i don't like about this thing no search field - hard to find the page! ? or am i missing something
this is a very unorganized way to communicate and get out ideas and info. and a good reason why the facebook page idea works for me! Keep fighting and find out the OWS scoop! And if you want to contact me directly with future ideas...westcoastdreyers@cox.net
AGREED ! sent you an email - sweetpeas