Forum Post: What should 'Occupy Wall Street' demand?
Posted 13 years ago on Oct. 12, 2011, 2:42 p.m. EST by johnjb32
(6)
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Sooner or later everybody involved with OWS will realize that infinite growth is the ONLY problem. And they will realize that infinite growth is rooted in fractional reserve banking, compound interest and fiat currency. Because until you change the way money works, you change nothing and no other demands will be achievable. These are the only demands that will truly frighten TPTB (The Powers That Be). Until then they will happily sip champagne from balconies in New York and hang signs in Chicago gloating that they are the 1%. -- Michael C. Ruppert
BAN private campaign finance No more individual or corporate donations, PERIOD. Political candidates can be funded EQUALLY by a publicly funded Election Commission. Government will no longer be in the back pockets of wealthy companies. No more special interest groups!
RESTRICT time spent on political campaigns Politicians don't have to campaign for a year and a half or more on the taxpayers tab - they need to be working!! The system spent almost $4.5B on the last cycle, and it’s now forecasted to be $6.2B for the next cycle. Restrict it.
REDESIGN the tax code Companies give politicians money and the politicians pay them back through tax breaks in the tax code. These tax rules are "gifts" to a select group of companies and people. SCRAP it all! The income tax should be simple, minimal, but progressive (tax rates are higher the more money you make). Personal income from labor and investment should be treated the same. We should have a Value Added Tax (consumption tax which encourages savings and investment) - such a tax should have an exemption for basic goods (eg., food and utilities) which would help rebalance our economy, while protecting those in need of basic necessities.
STOP the lying The top people in the public sector (Fed, FDIC, SEC, Treasury etc.,) and in the private sector (CEOs under whose watch fraud was propagated) who created this mess should resign. WE CANNOT just "Move On" unless officials are held fully responsible and our system is purged. The revolving doors of employment between government and the private sector has to stop - the watchdogs of Wall Street and corporate America too often become their lapdogs, afraid to upset those who will take care of them generously after they leave government. Make lying perjury.
CLEAN up the mortgage mess Banks need to recognize their mortgage losses, and deal with the consequences of their bad investment decisions. The federal government needs to get out of the business of guaranteeing mortgages - we pay for that!!
SHAKE UP the banking system Transparency everywhere!! Restrict the size of public banks and they won't be "Too Big to Fail". Banks & Brokers that take in public deposits should not be allowed to risk YOUR money to trade. Implement the Volcker rule (bans speculation by banks that does not benefit customers) in strict fashion.
Ideas from the minds of gainfully employed Wall Street economists and traders. Write to : avwallstreet@gmail.com
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qI_P3pxze5w&feature=player_embedded
I am asking the same in a questionaire, to get some structure and understanding. I am amased at how Occupy works. Would like to have your input on the movement to understaqnd it better. I am asking you to answer 10 questions and I am happy to share results if you are interested. Please, take some time for it: Thank you! http://www.surveymonkey.com/s/Q3NF7QB
I am amased at how Occupy works. Would like to have your input on the movement to understand it better. I am asking you to answer 10 questions and I am happy to share results if you are interested. Please, take some time for it: Thank you! http://www.surveymonkey.com/s/Q3NF7QB
ows from start has been democratic and all republicans do nothing but demonize the movement read the signs listen to the people and see tax rich get money out of politics end wars have never been backed by republicans tax cuts for middle class modernize roads and bridges invest in middle class not banking class by raising minimum wage thats the occupy wall street message
This is a VERY important comment on the site! Spoil their champagne!
PLEASE listen to Michael Rupert. Research his work. He is one of the most courageous and informed researchers and communicators out there. He has more than "done his homework" and "paid his dues" in so many different ways.
I was relieved to read his words of experience and wisdom here because this fledgling movement, that is so full of promise, has already been infiltrated and badly compromised by those who, either deliberately or through lack of experience, end up "muddying the waters" and confusing people.
The fact that Obama has already said he "understands" the movement is immediately suspicious. He hides behind democratic "cover" but he is just as much pro-corporations and pro-bankers as Bush Jr ... if not more!
Learn why the LEFT and the RIGHT are both just two heads of the same beast that we all want to see "de-fanged".
In order though to have any "Hope" of any REAL and LASTING "Change" the monetary system needs to be returned to the kind promoted by both Abraham Lincoln and JFK.
ONLY once that is done can ANY real success be claimed.
It is the overhaul of the monetary system that makes ALL "other problems" that so many good people here in this movement want to tackle, even possible.
PLEASE do NOT be "corralled into blind alleys" by manipulators. Learn where their REAL weak spot, their Achilles Heel REALLY is.
PLEASE listen to your Founding Fathers and early Presidents.
Quote : "I believe that banking institutions are more dangerous to our liberties than standing armies." Thomas Jefferson, US President 1801-9.
"If the American people ever allow private banks to control issue of their currency, first by inflation, then by deflation, the banks and the corporations will grow up around them, will deprive the people of all property until their children wake up homeless on the continent their fathers conquered. The issuing power should be taken from the banks and restored to the people, to whom it properly belongs." Thomas Jefferson in the debate over The Re-charter of the Bank Bill (1809).
"The government should create, issue and circulate all the currency and credits needed to satisfy the spending power of the government and the buying power of consumers. By adoption of these principles, the taxpayers will be saved immense sums of interest. Money will cease to be master and become the servant of humanity." Abraham Lincoln, US President 1861-5. He created government issue money during the American Civil War before he was assassinated.
"Banking was conceived in iniquity and was born in sin. The Bankers own the Earth. Take it away from them, but leave them the power to create deposits, and with the flick of a pen they will create enough deposits to buy it back again. However, take it away from them, and all the fortunes like mine will disappear, and they ought to disappear, for this world would be a happier and better world to live in. But if you wish to remain slaves of the Bankers and pay for the cost of your own slavery, let them continue to create deposits." Sir Josiah Stamp, President of the Bank of England in the 1920s, the second richest man in Britain.
Just remember this, that all OTHER grievances, that we all rightly have, can, and will, be addressed and solved, but they can ONLY be permanently tackled AFTER this task is complete.
Like a magnifying glass focuses the rays of the sun, let's make sure we "occupy" the main issue from which all other issues will be cured, the private, rather than Constitutional, issuance of money itself.
The Jefferson quote seems to be a hoax.
And I believe if you'll read his writings yourself, you'll find that Jefferson was opposed to PAPER MONEY. And opposed to a central bank.
Don't fall for the Zimbabwe ruse. Stick to constitutional money. Gold or silver. Otherwise you'll just have Congress doing to us what the Fed already is doing, only probably a whole lot faster. Look how they spend now, fercryinoutloud!
There seems to be a movement towards divorcing money from governance (full disclosure: it is one that I fully support).
That means the demands will be in the vein of systemic reform, not policy change.
1) Enact Campaign Finance Reform
2) Abolish Corporate Personhood
3) Disclose Private Finances of Congress
4) Impose Congressional Term Limits
These are demands that the entire 99% can get behind, regardless of political leanings or policy preferences. I support this trend, and I hope more will rally behind it as the days go on.
End the Federal Reserve Board.
Hold a recall election with campaign finance reform.
Enforce a limit to lobbying campaigns
Develop a sustainable economy.
Human beings are not inherently greedy.
Human beings are a product of their environment.
Human beings reflect their environment.
The human race is suffering from a value system disorder.
We, as a society cannot seem to denote wrong from right.
This must change.
The world must evolve.
The government must evolve.
The economic system must evolve.
Peace, Love, and Unity.
http://occupywallst.org/forum/a-central-message-for-the-movement-to-rally-around/
This is what we should demand to begin with. Other issues will be easier to address after the influence of the dollar is removed from the political process!
Your demand is "change the way money works"?
sounds vague...