Forum Post: Welcome to the Occupy Movement.

It can be hard to know where to start with a leaderless movement. Who speaks for the 99%? Who has answers for my questions?

As it turns out, we all speak for the movement. It is first and foremost a movement of the people. All are welcome, including you. It also seems we all have the answers. Once we drop the pretense of divisive ideologies, it is surprising how much we can learn from one another. After puzzling for weeks on how to introduce the movement to those on the periphery, this charming video from Bristol surfaced. It's lovely, have a watch: http://vimeo.com/31489386

Like any reasonable individual, I wanted to know how the movement got started. My usual mantra of "follow the money" needed to be modified slightly to "follow the inspiration". To the best of my knowledge, this is how the Occupy movement began: http://www.nakedcapitalism.com/2011/10/david-graeber-on-playing-by-the-rules-%e2%80%93-the-strange-success-of-occupy-wall-street.html

So now you understand the issues and you have a pretty good idea of how we got here. Great! Now what? Now we begin the arduous task of undoing the systemic corruption which allows and perpetuates the destructive activities of the so called 1%. It's no small task to be sure, it's hard to even condense into one sentence, but there you have it. We are taking on the wealthiest individuals in the most powerful nation on Earth- yet they derive their power through our consent. It will be hard-fought, and not without trials and tribulations, but complacency is no excuse for inaction against injustice. Let's get to it! The first task is establishing a General Assembly. The occupiers in NYC have been doing it the longest and have assembled all sorts of useful information: http://www.nycga.net/resources/general-assembly-guide/

Another great resource of pooled wisdom can be found here: http://www.howtooccupy.org/

Want to know what is happening in the Occupy movement outside of your local occupation? Well, a lot of us are very web savvy (having grown up along with the internet) so news is abundant- if you know where to look. An excellent source of traditional style news: http://thinkprogress.org/tag/99-percent-movement/

An up to the minute pool of news can be found here: http://www.occupyr.com/news.php

Up to the second news from the masses can be found on twitter. Simply do a search for "#ows" like so: http://twitter.com/#!/search/%23ows or refine your search by adding the city name you wish to see updates on: "#occupyCITY" (substituting 'CITY' for the occupation of your choice, like so: http://twitter.com/#!/search/%23occupyoakland

If live video feeds are your thing, here they ALL are: http://occupystream.com/

And of course, let's not forget: http://www.occupywallst.org/

This is by no means a complete list. If you have a source you would like me to add here, please mention it in the comments and I'll edit it in.

Last, but certainly not least, is our agenda. We have adopted the process of horizontal decision making. This means everyone has a voice, and the strength of our ideas are based upon their merits and not the strength of any one leader. Coming to a consensus takes time, and patience; did I mention time and patience? Many of us are rightfully angry and feel extremely liberated by just having an open forum in which to air our grievances. It is important to respect this time of release. Upon arrival, many feel they have THE answer, the ONE important thing that has been missing or overlooked. This means a lot gets repeated, and that's ok. Its one way to learn what we all agree upon, helping build a true democratic consensus. But every once in a while, someone comes along out of nowhere with a message: http://fattymoon.posterous.com/occupiers-everyone-i-bear-a-message-for-you-f

Our agenda is coming together a little more each day, aided by professionals from every industry (even Wall Street) who have donated their time to our cause, adding the authority of experience to our proposals. We are not taking this lightly and intend to do it right, no matter how long it takes. That's why its an occupation.

So there you have it, welcome to the movement! Your presence here means you have already taken the first step towards understanding the Occupy movement- asking questions and finding answers. Please, join in the discussion, both online and in person, and find out what we can solve together. -Solidarity-