Forum Post: Why can't OWS coalesce and come together on these essential action items?
Posted 13 years ago on Nov. 21, 2011, 11:19 p.m. EST by bluesunday
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Whenever I talk to people about the OccupyWallStreet "movement" I get the same reaction. "What exactly are they protesting?" Is it the inequality between classes? Is it the growing disparity between rich and poor? And what are their proposals for solving this?" Now the latter question is the most important as I see it. And yet, nowhere on the OccupyWallStreet about page is there anything that this movement is proposing. So I'd like to know, why can't OccupyWallStreet come together and voice 100% unanimous support for the following proposals:
Reinstate the Glass-Steagal Act - This act was dispensed with by Congress in the late 1990's and MUST be reinstated in order to prevent banks from speculating with people's money. More about this act here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Glass%E2%80%93Steagall_Act
Reinstate the Bank Holding Company Act of 1956 - This act was repealed by Congress in 1994 and allowed banks to merge across state lines. This is why we have so few banks today and WHY we have a few MEGA banks!
Tax Wall Street day traders! Want to know why there is so much volatility on Wall Street? Because day traders aren't TAXED! Congressman Peter Defazio proposed a .25% tax on day traders. This would add stability to the marketplace and decrease the volatility on Wall Street and generate revenue for Uncle Sam.
Finally, unite on increase taxes on the rich! Agree on a number, say 50% federal tax rate on the wealthy.
There, that's it. Can't OccupyWallStreet unite on these measure that will do a great deal to help restore parity in an otherwise unequal and deepening divide between financial classes?
OccupyWallStreet needs one collective voice to express support for these actions and then OWS must take their list of grievances and action items to Washington D.C.. Congress must bear witness to the demands placed by OWS. Just protesting in various cities won't do a damn thing to make inroads in restoring financial parity in this country. Back in the 1930's, homeless encampments known as "Hoovervilles" populated the country but they had a focus around the White House. And that's where we need tent cities in large numbers to begin populating. Obama and Congress must see first hand the level of outrage right on their doorstep. We need the homeless and voiceless to congregate and united in Washington D.C. These are national problems and we need leadership to confront them.
Will OccupyWallStreet come together on these action items I've listed?
Sooner or later there has to be some consensus on a handful of core issues, but I think there are motives for keeping this from happening that need to be explored. At the moment what I see in front of me is an object lesson in how divide and conquer works. The big foot that came down on Liberty Plaza and scattered everyone worked perfectly.
So, while I do like that you propose a concentration of issues, I don't see it happening for some time. Why not has to be seriously explored.
I also like your idea of the concentration of folks around D.C. but if we can't even keep little Zuccotti park and fulfil the wish to have be/mean/symbolize Liberty, then the D.C. thing also is very far away.
What finally got me out of my apartment and down to the park after the eviction of folks and the big day of protests that followed was the expection that there would be hundreds of new faces reoccupying the park with another 24/7 force. The eviction was evil and enraging. How disheartening to see nothing like an immediate reoccupation take place. Even the easiest solution of keeping the park occupied by having folks commit to doing shifts round the clock, not my idea but one I saw come up several times in live feed chats, seems to have never been seriously discussed. And I wonder why not. If a stupid idea, I sure would like to know why and to whom.
I see movement that NYC OWS is far away from becoming concrete and being able to truly occupy concrete. Which is fine, what it's done in such a short time is amazing. I remain hopeful...and I thank the OWS first occupiers for giving me what little hope I have. I believe the movement will grow, no matter how many wrong right and wrong turns it takes. That it will succeed without actually occupying a physical space 24/7 and galvinazing around a set of core issues and principles seems obvious to anyone paying attention--like those who want it to fail as much as succeed.
I have a petitition started at The White House petition site. The assigned link is wh.gov/bJR for the first 150 out of 25000 signatures, then it goes public. My petition is essentially to nationalize the Federal Reserve which is privately owned and operated in a highly secretive and costly way to those who need to borrow.
I'm not interested in generating revenue for Uncle Sam.
I am interested in seeing the dismantling of the Octopus that is our banking system. Mega Banks indeed.
Glass-Steagal and the Bank Holding Act are relevant to slowing the growth of Mega Banks. Reinstating them however, will only be a stop-gap...before they are repealed again...by the very same Government body who will supposedly reinstate this legislation...that they repealed.
I think it is relevant to discuss what exactly the banking system has evolved to do.
The structure of the banking system is designed to allow politically connected groups to harness the "benefits" of inflationary monetary policy.
The general effect of this "benefit" is a wealth transfer whereby the poor and those on fixed incomes have their purchasing power transferred to the wealthy and politically connected.
This is a real mechanism, built into the way the system operates.
3 things threaten the gravy train of creating money out of thin air: 1) the extent of the bank's inflation 2) the number of customers a bank has 3) the number of competitors a bank has. The more of any of these three factors the higher the risk of a "bank run". Course, this was in the old days, before the opportunity to take down a bank by simply withdrawing funds was made illegal.
The long and short of it is that the banking system has evolved to eliminate threat #3 via "regulation" - pyramiding state banks on top of national banks with the central bank at the top.
Monopolizing the banking system neutralizes threat #3 and turns threat #1 an asset for the politically connected. Threat #2 is neutralized by the fact that everyone is forced to participate in the inflationary system. "This is legal tender for ALL debts - public and private".
But all this...only with government assistance.
Glass-Steagal and the Bank Holding Act are only "necessary" to hold in check a monstrous monopoly on money and credit created by the State in the first place. Smash the Monopoly.
OWS beats the drum of the 1st Amendment right of the people peaceably to assemble but yet when I mention the 1st Amendment right to petition the government for a redress of grievances I hear that that is not what OWS stands for, it's heirarchical, it's treasonous, or simply it's impossible. I appreciate that drafting that list is going to be a difficult task but I don't see how OWS is going to actually change anything if people don't use the right to petition as strongly as they've used the right to peaceably assemble.
The right to petition is at the heart of this document yet the working group was removed from this website. Why and by who? In the wake of being evicted (when they should have acted first by declaring the occupation / assembly phase successfully concluded) why isn'tOWS beating the petition drum till their hands bleed?
https://sites.google.com/site/the99percentdeclaration/ It was petitions that were ignored that led to the Suffolk Resolves in 1774 that led to the Declaration Of Independence
Thanks blackberry45 and SicPoet for posting meaningful responses to my post. I realize this is going to take time but like you said, there will have to be consensus on some of these issues at some point if Congress is ever to take note of this movement.
My observations and advice from another post, take 'em or leave 'em ...
I spend a lot of time talking to mainstream folks outside of OWS. From what I am hearing, we have lost the "independents" (who aren't really independent, they just swing either way... "non-affiliated" would be more accurate). They were interested at first, but we never actually said anything, so they generally agree with the mayors, "you've had your time to speak, but you've said nothing, so now it's time to go home."
Without the middle, we have have no power except to spoil the Democrats' chances of winning. We can form a new party, but it can't win without the middle, and it will only draw votes from the Democrats. We can stay with the Democrats, but without the middle to give us real power, Obama will just make a few promises to try and keep us from "none-of-the-above." His track record of keeping promises to minor segments of the party is poor, and based on what I see in these forums, our people know that. Frankly, the most likely outcome I see from us is a "none-of-the-above" vote which would likely deny Obama a victory. Ironic yes, but I see disillusionment growing, and "none-of-the-above" is the usual result it produces. People say OWS was started by the Democrats, but it might just as well have been started by Karl Rove.
We don't have a platform or a candidate much less the financial backing to run him if we did. Even if we got the funding, we'd be ridiculed for accepting the money. A third party is out. All that's left is to try and build sufficient power to change the Democratic party in a fashion similar to the Tea Party.
The Tea Party had one very clear message, "GOVERNMENT IS TOO BIG." We have a multitude of messages (infinite if the conversation in these forums is representative). We need to trim our message back to one big message with broad appeal from the left to the middle. This idea needs to be so non-partisan, so easily understood, and so broadly appealing that we can pull independents into the Democratic party. If we an do that, we can shape the party like the Tea Party shaped the Republican debate.
I believe the one big message is "WE WANT OUR GOVERNMENT BACK." Congress' polling numbers are at an all time low, we've just seen the 'insider trading' scandal, and all Americans know money is corrupting our Democracy. This is the one big message that can pull independents into the Democratic party, and that's how we get sufficient power to change things.
Continuing to babble on about 100 different ideas out on the radical left may be satisfying, but it's not going to result in any real change. If, and that's a huge if at this point, we can rally behind getting the money out of our government, we may be able to get sufficient power to actually do something meaningful.
We can get the money out a number of ways. My proposal at http://occupywallst.org/forum/we-the-people-in-order-to-a-proposal/ not only gets the money out, but breaks the two party system. If we only accomplish these two objectives, we will have created a real and fundamental change to the state of America. It's effects will be felt far longer and by far more people than any of the other changes we talk about (and which most of America doesn't even understand).
That's my advice.
Day traders are taxed. Their profits are taxed as short-term capital gains which are actually taxed at a much higher rate than long-term capital gains.
And what do you categorize as wealthy?
Public sentiment, growth of the movement, and number of protesters are at an all time high. The movement is ripe for the demand and call to action phase especially after the UC Davis incident. I suggest this......Its time for the Occupy Wall Street Bill to go before Congress for a vote.
A. Define the Issues for the bill. Use language from failed bills that support the views of the 99 percent.
B. Outline the components of the Bill to the American People (the 99%)
C. Find A Congressman/ Congresswoman to sponsor the Bill to put before Congress for a vote.
Take this action and you will be able to show the country is behind you. Have people give their name, email address, highest education level, whether they are currently employed, and their profession/trade.
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