what is our one demand?

[stog]

A Message From Occupied Wall Street (Day Five)
Published 2011-09-22 07:51:42 UTC by OccupyWallSt
at OccupyWallStreet.org

This is the fifth communiqué from the 99 percent. We are occupying Wall Street.

On September 21st, 2011, Troy Davis, an innocent man, was murdered by the state of Georgia. Troy Davis was one of the 99 percent.

Ending capital punishment is our one demand.

On September 21st, 2011, four of our members were arrested on baseless charges.

Ending police intimidation is our one demand.

On September 21st, 2011, the richest 400 Americans owned more than half of the country's population.

Ending wealth inequality is our one demand.

On September 21st, 2011, we determined that Yahoo lied about occupywallst.org being in spam filters.

Ending corporate censorship is our one demand.

On September 21st, 2011, roughly eighty percent of Americans thought the country was on the wrong track.

Ending the modern gilded age is our one demand.

On September 21st, 2011, roughly 15% of Americans approved of the job Congress was doing.

Ending political corruption is our one demand.

On September 21st, 2011, roughly one sixth of Americans did not have work.

Ending joblessness is our one demand.

On September 21st, 2011, roughly one sixth of America lived in poverty.

Ending poverty is our one demand.

On September 21st, 2011, roughly fifty million Americans were without health insurance.

Ending health-profiteering is our one demand.

On September 21st, 2011, America had military bases in around one hundred and thirty out of one hundred and sixty-five countries.

Ending American imperialism is our one demand.

On September 21st, 2011, America was at war with the world.

Ending war is our one demand.

On September 21st, 2011, we stood in solidarity with Madrid, San Francisco, Los Angeles, Madison, Toronto, London, Athens, Sydney, Stuttgart, Tokyo, Milan, Amsterdam, Algiers, Tel Aviv, Portland and Chicago. Soon we will stand with Phoenix, Montreal, Cleveland and Atlanta. We're still here. We are growing. We intend to stay until we see movements toward real change in our country and the world.

You have fought all the wars. You have worked for all the bosses. You have wandered over all the countries. Have you harvested the fruits of your labors, the price of your victories? Does the past comfort you? Does the present smile on you? Does the future promise you anything? Have you found a piece of land where you can live like a human being and die like a human being? On these questions, on this argument, and on this theme, the struggle for existence, the people will speak. Join us.

We speak as one. All of our decisions, from our choice to march on Wall Street to our decision to continue occupying Liberty Square, were decided through a consensus based process by the group, for the group.

END OF 9/22/2011 DOCUMENT

*****************************************

BEGINNING OF NEWEST DOCUMENT, AGREED TO ON 9/29/2011

NYC General Assembly
The Official Website of the GA at #OccupyWallStreet

Declaration of the Occupation of New York City
Posted on September 30, 2011 by NYCGA
This document was accepted by the NYC General Assembly on september 29, 2011

As we gather together in solidarity to express a feeling of mass injustice, we must not lose sight of what brought us together. We write so that all people who feel wronged by the corporate forces of the world can know that we are your allies.

As one people, united, we acknowledge the reality: that the future of the human race requires the cooperation of its members; that our system must protect our rights, and upon corruption of that system, it is up to the individuals to protect their own rights, and those of their neighbors; that a democratic government derives its just power from the people, but corporations do not seek consent to extract wealth from the people and the Earth; and that no true democracy is attainable when the process is determined by economic power. We come to you at a time when corporations, which place profit over people, self-interest over justice, and oppression over equality, run our governments. We have peaceably assembled here, as is our right, to let these facts be known.

They have taken our houses through an illegal foreclosure process, despite not having the original mortgage.
They have taken bailouts from taxpayers with impunity, and continue to give Executives exorbitant bonuses.
They have perpetuated inequality and discrimination in the workplace based on age, the color of one's skin, sex, gender identity and sexual orientation.
They have poisoned the food supply through negligence, and undermined the farming system through monopolization.
They have profited off of the torture, confinement, and cruel treatment of countless animals, and actively hide these practices.
They have continuously sought to strip employees of the right to negotiate for better pay and safer working conditions.
They have held students hostage with tens of thousands of dollars of debt on education, which is itself a human right.
They have consistently outsourced labor and used that outsourcing as leverage to cut workers' healthcare and pay.
They have influenced the courts to achieve the same rights as people, with none of the culpability or responsibility.
They have spent millions of dollars on legal teams that look for ways to get them out of contracts in regards to health insurance.
They have sold our privacy as a commodity.
They have used the military and police force to prevent freedom of the press. They have deliberately declined to recall faulty products endangering lives in pursuit of profit.
They determine economic policy, despite the catastrophic failures their policies have produced and continue to produce.
They have donated large sums of money to politicians, who are responsible for regulating them.
They continue to block alternate forms of energy to keep us dependent on oil.
They continue to block generic forms of medicine that could save people's lives or provide relief in order to protect investments that have already turned a substantial profit.
They have purposely covered up oil spills, accidents, faulty bookkeeping, and inactive ingredients in pursuit of profit.
They purposefully keep people misinformed and fearful through their control of the media.
They have accepted private contracts to murder prisoners even when presented with serious doubts about their guilt.
They have perpetuated colonialism at home and abroad. They have participated in the torture and murder of innocent civilians overseas.
They continue to create weapons of mass destruction in order to receive government contracts. *

To the people of the world,

We, the New York City General Assembly occupying Wall Street in Liberty Square, urge you to assert your power.

Exercise your right to peaceably assemble; occupy public space; create a process to address the problems we face, and generate solutions accessible to everyone.

To all communities that take action and form groups in the spirit of direct democracy, we offer support, documentation, and all of the resources at our disposal.

Join us and make your voices heard!

*These grievances are not all-inclusive.

END OF 9/29/2011 DOCUMENT

[diane]

They continue to block generic forms of medicine that could save people's lives or provide relief in order to protect investments that have already turned a substantial profit.

I agree with this movement, and have publicised this document, but do take issue with this one...knowing what I know about generic medicines.

They are not cheap life saving medicines.

They are medicines made on the cheap - that is without proper regulation from the relevant bodies - they routinely turn the FDA away from their doors, refusing audits. They cut corners in manufacturing and quality assurance, They use unverified/unvalidated equipment and process pathways. They are often located in developing countries where practices are dubious, for the workers and the consumers alike.

The biggest daily challenge for us is trying to produce drugs at the same cost as them, because if we don't, we lose the market. It is virtually impossible with the strict manufacturing and testing constraints imposed on us.

This is 'wrong thinking'...the driving thought process should not be 'lets cheat people who have studied [now often at their own expense] and work hard, work ethically, to produce a safe product for your families to take to help them live longer and better lives'...it is...pay people fair wages, so they can afford a safe drug product when they need it.

It is the same wrong thinking as 'i want cheap trainers and cheap iPods'..I dont care if that means it will be made in a developing country, by workers in sweat shops and oppressed into the most unthinkable working conditions...so you get cheap products, the CEOs still get their big fat bonuses and your fellow countrymen are denied a living. This is the path that has lead us here..one and all...how anyone could not see this coming is beyond me. Guess they were too busy numbing their minds watching X-Factor.

Take the corporate bonus eaters off the top, set a MAXIMUM wage - say 10 times that of the average wage. If CEOs want a wage hike then, well they will have to raise the AVERAGE WAGE.

[diane]

There is much good work going on for this cause in London too...this guy is ace and speaks the message I have long spoken - of course much more eloquently than me

http://youtu.be/2ZDFm5ftiDk

http://youtu.be/3Ck9Pxl2pXg

This guy will always be one of my heroes...and this sketch, delivered from inside the occupied UBS building does not disappoint [watch for the maximum wage comments  ]

http://youtu.be/AtSiT9h-KPs

And sing this song along patriotically with Tom...get with the 99%..all of you..

http://youtu.be/E1ImQ7Ylvdo

[stog]

thx good links --

the documentary "Inside  Job" is available on BBC iplayer for a few days -- don't know if it is available outside UK ..
http://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/b0183l0t/Storyville_20112012_Inside_Job/

[diane]

the documentary "Inside  Job" is available on BBC iplayer for a few days -- don't know if it is available outside UK ..

Nope - not available here.

[NIHILIST]

What's truly laughable about this alleged movement is their failure to occupy the areas that are at the cause of most of their misery........Washington DC and the state capitals.

You want to protest against duplicitous public servants who seem to emerge from congress wealthier than when they entered, true 1-percenters, .......OCCUPY DC. Former Speaker Nancy Pelosi and her husband took advantage of a sweerheart IPO of Visa, bought 5000 shares of stock at a price not available to the general public and saw the investment increase 50% in one day and double in a few weeks.

Why occupy Oakland when you can occupy the city in California most responsible for a failed economy, failed school system, a huge state income tax, an above-national-average unemployment rate and a regulatory morass that's caused businesses and workers to flee the state........OCCUPY SACRAMENTO.

There's certainly enough to demonstrate against, but these clowns haven't figured it out yet.

If they're demonstrating out of a sense of sorrow and nostalgia for having missed the great protests of the 60s, I have two words for them..........KENT STATE.


Bob

[diane]

You know the movement must be justifiable when the best critique Bob can offer is that they are in the wrong place. Perhaps he would like  to set up a further camp in DC - there will be plenty who will join him, if he gets it moving.

[NIHILIST]

I don't know if it's justifiable or not, but it's certainly off-target, and, in the end, unproductive. When you go after the wrong people for the wrong reasons there's no chance of accomplishing your objectives, whatever they are. I don't recall anyone advocating an agenda other than some vague calls for wealth distribution which was never going to resonate with the Wall Street crowd.

And WTF was the point of demonstrating in Oakland ? Might as well protest in Detroit, Newark or East St Louis.

At least the mobs in Greece threw rocks at the establishment which promised them a  social utopia , used the German credit card to run iup the bill, then stiffed their own people and the rest of their EU partners when the bills came due and they couldn't deliver.

How's that one-Europe/one-currency shtick working out ? Did I miss the OCCUPY BRUSSELS protests ?


Bob

[diane]

How's that one-Europe/one-currency shtick working out ?

About as well as that one America - one currency shtick I reckon.

It isn't really the currencies fault that a few ran off with all of it....

[diane]

And WTF was the point of demonstrating in Oakland ? Might as well protest in Detroit, Newark or East St Louis.

Who knows what point - they should know like everyone else, that the most effective protests are made by logging into fibs and using shouts there.

If they couple that with not voting they can be sure they are taking full responsibility for the state of the country and the world.

[moonshadow]

Though I disagree with many of the OWS demands that are clearly idealistic posturing or just outright nonsensical and many of the protesters I have seen interviewed on TV seem incoherent and don't know exactly what they even are angry about, I nonetheless have supported the movement, which to many of my conservative friends raises some eyebrows.

Capitalism is not inherently evil, nor is a democratic government as in the US. However when Wall Street and the banks climb into bed with the politicians and government burueacrats, what has been called the Axis of Evil emerges. Once the Left and the Right figure this out, then perhaps some real change will occur.

This recent letter pretty much is in line with my thinking and why I support OWS:

Open Letter from a Marine Tea Partier to All Occupiers

First of all, I'm surprised you're reading this. Thanks to the corrupt media, many of you might be clueless to the fact we share quite a bit of commonground.

Let me clarify: By "Tea Party," I am in no way referring to the hijacked movement we know and love today. By "Tea Party," I don't mean Iran warmongers, bailout lovers, the "extreme right," and people who think what happens in your bedroom affects them in any way. No, what I mean is the Tea Party as it started in 2007 as opposition to Bush policies.

The media loves to paint a picture of OWS vs. TP, "right" vs. "left," etc. It's an old tactic called divide and conquer. If we fight amongst ourselves, no one looks at the true criminals at work in society.

Of course, Fox loves to make corporations out to be our "capitalist saviors." They'll cover every corrupt government action they can find (if there's a Democrat in the White House), but they won't admit the greed of the mega banks and corporations. They rarely talk about the private Federal Reserve system and how it robs the lower and middle classes of their wealth via inflation. MSNBC is no better. They do point out how the corporations literally stole trillions of dollars from the American people through the bailouts and the Fed. However, for some reason they're hard-pressed to admit these actions are carried out by government guns. CNN is STILL no better. In their effort to be "right down the middle" they don't point out any of the criminals! Whether in the corporate world or the government.

And by the way, we do need to start calling actions like the bailouts what they are: Theft. The corporations, through their rental politicians, used government force to take from the people trillions of dollars. If we refuse to pay the taxes to pay this "debt" off we face risk of government guns carrying us off to jail. That is the very definition of theft.

This brings us back to the commonground we share. The original Tea Party (not counting the historical Boston Tea Party) was focused on ending the corporatist (fascist?) model ourselves. The original Tea Party was for ending the wars and against policing the world. We are against legislation that invades privacy of citizens here and abroad. Think unPatriot Act and the recently passed NDAA bill. The NDAA gives the military the authority to raid homes without warrants and imprison citizens indefinitely without trial.

If we actually want to change this country, we have to unite on issues like these and others. General Assemblies: invite Tea Party groups to participate. If you can find shared values organize joint protests. If you can find local Tea Parties that want to occupy with you, encourage it.

The system we live under is a corporatist model rapidly deteriorating into a fascist police state. The reason I added "Marine" to the heading of this letter was to (hopefully) attract active duty servicemembers, veterans, and law enforcement. We took an oath to the Constitution in order to join. The oath clearly gives us not only the option, but the responsibility to disobey ALL illegal orders. The police attacking peaceful protesters in the streets are in direct violation of that oath. If you are attacking peaceful people you are already on the wrong side of history.

Remember, focus on commonground. Just don't look to government to be our saviors. Our politicians (yes, including our President) are bought and paid for by corporations and the mega banks. In fact, Obama's biggest campaign donor is Goldman Sachs. His Treasury Secretary worked at Goldman Sachs himself. Why do you think some Europeans call us the United States of Goldman Sachs?

Semper Fi and Semper Occupare. Because nothing would terrify the establishment more than a united Occupy Tea Party movement.

- Cpl. Stephen Mark Allen, USMC

(http://libertyspinnetwork.wordpress.com/2011/12/12/open-letter-from-a-marine-tea-partier-to-all-occupiers/)