Where the Hell's the American Spring Thread?

[Hayduke]

"I ain't gonna die for Standard Oil
I.B.M. . . . I wouldn't die for them!
G.E.? Not me!" - Jim Carroll

[James]

NPR finally, finally decides this is a story.

"On Monday, Day 15 of "Occupy Wall Street" brought out the zombies." --NPR

[James]

A manifesto!

there may be a typo here, but you get the point They have influenced the courts to achieve the same rights as people, with none of the culpability or responsibility.

[James]

Oh well, Check it out:


Declaration of the Occupation of New York City

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 nonhuman 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 supposed to be 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 in order to protect investments that have already turned a substantive 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.

[Hank IV]

http://thestir.cafemom.com/in_the_ne...nation_to_nypd

[Hildegard]

And now, some musical accompaniment from Billy Bragg.

[zulu]

NPR finally, finally decides this is a story.

"On Monday, Day 15 of "Occupy Wall Street" brought out the zombies." --NPR

For the record, they reported on it on ATC last week.

[CAFKIA]

"We are the 99%" starts to generate a cohesive message. That's good. Now add 'and we are registered to vote,' and maybe some attention will be paid. Add to that an organizational effort to actually get people to the polls on election day, and you've really got something. Money can buy cable news channels and all sorts of political advertising, but the big secret hiding in broad daylight is that motivated and mobilized blocs of voters are the real currency in Washington. Money is a means, not an end. Protesting in the street can be a means, but it's not an end. That's why coherent messaging is critical. When politicians see hippies and hipsters in the streets with a mile long laundry list of grievances and really cool and equitable assertions of individuality, they keep moving right on past, because while those people may be in the "99%," they are also typically in the majority that don't vote. What worked for the Tea Partiers was taking their discontent to the ballot box.

The willingness of the TeaBaggers to focus their message and follow a leader, while effective, was(is) also the means that the very traitors they should have been fighting were able to take them over and redirect their efforts in exactly the wrong direction. The Liberals certainly have their (our) issues but that is also a strength. I would also suggest that while there are certain key elements in our current condition that get pretty much all of the press, the problems are much more broadbased (see the manifesto James posted). If the Koch brothers can get us to focus on one or two, of their choosing naturally, that they can then shoot down, ridicule or modify to suit their investment profile, it will certainly be better for them.

[zulu]

The willingness of the TeaBaggers to focus their message and follow a leader, while effective, was(is) also the means that the very traitors they should have been fighting were able to take them over and redirect their efforts in exactly the wrong direction. The Liberals certainly have their (our) issues but that is also a strength. I would also suggest that while there are certain key elements in our current condition that get pretty much all of the press, the problems are much more broadbased (see the manifesto James posted). If the Koch brothers can get us to focus on one or two, of their choosing naturally, that they can then shoot down, ridicule or modify to suit their investment profile, it will certainly be better for them.

That's fine, if you don't require elected officials to start aligning themselves with you, and you don't particularly care if a majority of voters do, either. Thomas Jefferson eventually penned a really great list of grievances, but the original tea party in Boston first offered up a handy and motivational summation of the problem with "No Taxation Without Representation."

Saying that incoherence is the only way to keep the Koch Bros. from choosing your message for you is pretty self-defeating. If you really believe that, you might as well hang it up and go home. That's like saying the only way to win is by offering up your unconditional surrender.

[metulj]

That's fine, if you don't require elected officials to start aligning themselves with you, and you don't particularly care if a majority of voters do, either. Thomas Jefferson eventually penned a really great list of grievances, but the original tea party in Boston first offered up a handy and motivational summation of the problem with "No Taxation Without Representation."

Saying that incoherence is the only way to keep the Koch Bros. from choosing your message for you is pretty self-defeating. If you really believe that, you might as well hang it up and go home. That's like saying the only way to win is by offering up your unconditional surrender.

I agree there needs to be a focused message and I think that manifesto is all over the place, but facts are facts. Jamie Dimon donated ~$4 million to the NYPD non-profit. The Koch Brothers are not going to co-opt a nominally leftist movement for their own ends. And if there is any single word that can solidify the Occupy movement it is: Jobs. If there is a message, it is: "Wall Street is the problem."

A couple of colleagues at Rutgers and CUNY emailed around to tell us that the Occupy "leaders" were telling "truthers" to get lost. Anyhow, I imagine that there will be infiltration by the FBI and others sooner than later if it hasn't happened yet. That's not paranoia. That's experience. TVA had people inside the friggin' Sierra Clubs reporting back to Zigrossi, et al.