Forum Post: What are we supposed to be accomplishing?
Posted 13 years ago on Oct. 4, 2011, 6:44 p.m. EST by Yebuddy
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I'm a little confused as to what's supposed to be accomplished by all this. Anybody want to fill me in?
It is about making democracy fair again, and giving the people the means to run the government instead of those with the money to buy votes.
The goal is to demonize a minority group (the richest 1% of the population).
FREE STARBUCKS!
This is a secondary goal at best.
Maybe a tertiary goal.
Tertiary....??? Let's not be hasty....
I am in support of the protesters %100 and I agree this is a huge problem that must be addressed ASAP if the movement is going to gain more support.
Right now, most people I've observed on various forums have reservations about OWS because it seems aimless. There are too many directions, the heat is being spread too thin. Protesters are bickering against each other because one guy's OWS cause is different than another's. The message of the "99% against the 1%" is not powerful enough, it says nothing about who is the good guy, or what the crime was, or what we want.
We need a banner to rally behind or this movement will fizzle out like a balloon with too many holes. OWS must have a direct, specific, nameable purpose- not random shots of protest directed at a million causes.
OWS is about corporate greed dominating American politics right? Make demands:
-Tell the Supreme Court to reverse its decision on "Citizens United VS. Federal Election commission". Stop immoral campaign financing.
-Or Tell Wall St. and other corporations to pay their taxes.
-Or Call for legislation limiting/banning the use of lobbyists in Congress by corporations
-Or call on Congress to remove "corporations" from being defined as a "person" from the 14th amendment
-Or raise taxes on the highest income earners, or create more tax brackets with more equitable taxing
sorry i respectfully disagree. i don't think we need any more information, any more whining, any more consciousness-raising.
we are the 99% ... are you now trying to convert the other 1%? is our goal complete and total consensus, or is it democracy??
i humbly suggest taking all of our energy, all this viral attention, and channeling it towards a decisive goal.
in my opinion, the ONLY thing that will make a permanent change is the "GET MONEY OUT" constitutional amendment.
it already has 100,000 signatures, and despite the media blackout we literally have millions of people standing with us in solidarity all over the country. (i believe DFA, MoveON, etc., will join us).
"Get Money Out" will cut off Wall Street influence on our government (and on war policy, economic policy, environmental policy, etc).
Don't forget the May 1968 student revolution in France. It had a lot of momentum, and basically died off due to people going home for summer break.
In a few weeks we will have cold weather, possibly freezing rain, then winter. There is no time to waffle.
I think its about raising consciousness of the issues all over America. Folks all across the nation are bombed with the Fox News (and CBS and NBC) version of economic events. OWS is causing a different conversation to take place, raising different issues that are on FOX News. I mean, picture some guys in Indiana or somewheres saying "So whats up with this Wall Street protest?" And one guy says "blah blah socialists..." and maybe the other guy, who's buddy lost a job when the town factory went to Vietnam or somewhere so they could "lower labor costs" maybe he's thinking ..."Well MAYBE they're socialists, but you know, things are kinda weird..."
And we got one. And its one by one, believe me.
We've GOT to get people thinking and talking about the issues. Then the next step is to educate them on the issues. And then we've got to trust the people to make the right call.
But if we're quiet, if we don't choose to make the conversation - and make it loud enough that it will be heard over all the din of Fox News and Monday Night Football, then we'll be left with the guys who ARE fighting for their futures - the guys who only know exploitation; control; selfishness. And without the 99% behind us, those guys could very well win.
Strength in numbers. Educate. Get the conversation going. That's the fight. The more people who hear of us, think about the issues. That's what is meant by raising consciousness.
i think for now its mainly a display of power, not so sure how good its working out.ill give them props theyve been at it a while now
Whining, Complaining and Griping will be added to Bitching and Moaning, as viable and legitimate forms of legal protest. All the wanking disenfranchised pussies will go home with a warm feeling of participation. The banks will have proven stronger yet again. Did you anticipate something else?
Check the link after the edit mark on this page for a working list of goals http://occupywallst.org/forum/first-official-release-from-occupy-wall-street/
and this Warning from the original Tea Party before it got hijacked http://occupywallst.org/forum/an-open-letter-and-warning-from-a-former-tea-party/
and this list of usefull PDF files http://occupywallst.org/forum/demonstration-materials/