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Occupation: Coming to a City Near You?
The Occupation Is On The Move, Find a Big Bank Protest Near You
U.S. Senator Paul Wellstone used to say "sometimes you have to pick a fight to win one."
Now Occupy Wall Street has picked one, right in Jamie Dimon's backyard.
But it won’t stay contained in Zuccotti Park. While Brookfield Properties called the park a "public sanctuary" in 2005, they have apparently changed their minds. Mr. Zuccotti wants his park back and the police are preparing to clear it with new rules barring camping, sleeping and breathing.
They are too late. The train has left the station and the Occupation is on the move. From Manhattan to Hawaii big bank protests are planned. Everyone who cares about creating an economy that works for working people should get on board.
"Savvy Businessmen"
In 2009, President Obama told a group of 13 bankers "my administration is the only thing between you and the pitchforks." Now the pitchforks are being tuned.
It hasn't escaped notice of the 99% that while 1,000 top officers were jailed after the Savings and Loan debacle, not a single bankers has been jailed for their role in collapsing the global economy. The only firm really punished in the entire affair was Lehman Brothers, allowed to fail by Bush's Treasury Secretary Hank Paulson.
When Obama took over, he failed to crack down on Wall Street, he failed to even tag the Banksters as the culprits for the global economic meltdown. Rather he praised Goldman Sach's LLoyd Blankfein and JP Morgan Chase's Jamie Dimon as friends and "savvy businessmen."
Into the void, stepped the GOP who made huge gains at the federal and state level in 2010. Never shy, the GOP stepped right up to name the culprits -- us. Now in states like Wisconsin, Ohio, Michigan, teachers, firefighters, nurses and other public workers are fighting for their lives -- in utter disbelief that they are being blamed as the cause of the economic downturn. The poor, the elderly and working families are being asked to pay more to close state budget shortfalls, while radical governors shell out billions in tax breaks.
The young people in Zuccotti are standing up to say enough is enough.
“We are the 99%”
As the Occupation of Wall Street enters its third week, the group has been criticized by media as not having a coherent message, as if a PR firm was a precursor to membership in our democracy. But from out here in Wisconsin, their message rings clear and true. The 99% percent has been shafted, our economic system is broken, and we need an economy that works for all.
The hopeful nature of the message, that change is possible when the monied elite have a stranglehold on our economy and our democracy, is itself remarkable and revolutionary. Too many Americans are ground down by opaque forces and feel powerless to change anything.
Messages like this one on the Occupy website resonate: "On September 27th, 2011, we marched on the Financial District's Luxury Night Out, where couples wore outfits that cost more than we will ever make in a month and looked at cars that cost more than we will ever make in a year, afterward, they went back to one of their many houses that cost more than we will make in our lifetime."
But for those who need a concrete list of demands, a working draft was produced though a consensus process on 29.
Lesson from Wisconsin: Pizza and Pizzazz
As someone who participated in the Seattle 1999 WTO protests and in the WI uprising, I offer a few observations as the “American Autumn” gets underway. The Occupiers have already learned a key lesson of Wisconsin, the physical occupation of a space can’t be beat. When folks are sleeping, eating and strategizing together, a lot of quality communication and consensus building gets done fast. New alliances can be forged. And quality pizza can be delivered from supporters across America.
Don't forget to put the classy in class warfare. We learned from Wisconsin that fun is essential to turning out large crowds. Only in a safe peaceful space will your supporters feel comfortable bringing kids and grandma. If the police give you trouble, don't rise to the bait.
Lessons from Seattle: Big City Police Are Not Your Friend
Although Wisconsin protesters were able to forge solid relationships with police and firefighters who saw they were next in the collective bargaining firing line, this was a rare occurrence. Police in big cities whose entire lives have been spent protecting private property will not be your friend.
This weekend, there were 700 arrests in Manhattan as occupiers took to the streets stopping traffic on the Brooklyn Bridge. Protesters charge that the police encouraged the march as a way of emptying the park and rounding up a large number of protestors and their leadership. The police led protesters onto an onramp on the Brooklyn Bridge where they were later corralled and carted away.
Protestors from the global justice movement which staged the successful 1999 WTO protests in Settle, which forced the end of the “Millennium Round” of global trade negotiations can give you some advice based on subsequent battles across the country. Police will infiltrate you by the dozens. They will identify and arrest your leaders without cause and hold them for as long as it takes. They will lure groups of you away for the sole purpose of corralling you and arresting you. Stay calm and protest on.
JP Morgan Chase Hearts the NYPD
As if more evidence were needed, news broke this weekend that JP Morgan Chase recently donated an “unprecedented” $4.6 million to the New York Police Foundation. “These officers put their lives on the line every day to keep us safe," chirped Chase CEO Jamie Dimon said.
The big banks are worried about a wide-ranging investigation by New York AG Eric Schneiderman into the Wall Street meltdown, not focusing on the small fry, but on the big fish. The behemoth banks whose origination, pooling an securitization of mortgage-backed securities which turned our domestic housing bubble into a global economic catastrophe.
The banks freak every time Schneiderman drops a bomb like, “The markets didn't crash because we were paying too much to teachers.” Or how about “people are not going to be satisfied until they have a sense that those responsible have been held accountable." The Wall Street protesters are helping give Schneiderman a backbone.
Find a Protest Near You
A season of “Pay U.S. Back!” actions are planned for October under the banner of the "New Bottom Line" coalition. Find updates here. Plus, the Occupation is spreading fast, you can find updates here.
In San Francisco, hundreds of protesters took to the streets targeting Bank of America, Charles Schwab and Wells Fargo.
In Seattle, hundreds of people shut down a Chase bank branch and 11 were arrested.
In Suncaidia, the Washington Community Action Network infiltrated the annual policy summit of Association of Washington Business, sponsored by Chase bank.
In Boston, 3,000 marched on Foreclosure King, Bank of America, to present their demands to stop foreclosures in the main lobby. More at Take Back Boston. Occupy Wall Street, Move On and organized labor is joining in with a major march planned for Wednesday, October 5.
Occupy LA is underway at City Hall.
Occupy Chicago is underway at the Federal Reserve bank. Occupy DC starts on October 6 in Freedom Plaza.
Refund California is planning a “home visit to a Wall Street executive October 4 in Los Angles, Holmby Park in Los Angeles.
Occupy DC starts on October 6. Chicago is planning a Pay US Back Action October 09.
Minneapolis is planning a Pay US Back Actions, October 10.
New York City is planning a Pay US Back Action, October 11.
Occupy Milwaukee starts October 15.
Denver is planning a Pay US Back Actions.
Honolulu is planning a Pay US Back Actions: November 05.
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48 Comments so far
Show All1,000 bankers were convicted of crimes for their parts in the Savings and Loan debacle 20 years ago because fraud and deceptive financial practices were still illegal back then.
Starting in 1978 FDR's New Deal financial industry regulations have been overturned, thereby decriminalizing (euphemistally called deregulation) activities that were previously illegal. Today, barely any of the New Deal regulations remain.
Until the New Deal regulations are restored and new laws enacted to address financial "products" introduced during the past 30 years, there will be no grounds for convicting the banksters who destroyed the lives of so many at home and abroad.
I want you loyal Democrats to face the fact that the decriminalization of banking rules allowing the banks to invent more ways to increase their profits as they crash our economy were passed under a Democratic administration. Clinton passed all the bills that Bush one could not. Not only did he get us the banking deregulation but also the end of the new deal's program that guaranteed all children in the United States food, clothing and shelter. He also ended putting tarifs on good imported into the United States to protect American manufacturing with NAFTA, This causes massive unemployment in our land. The large corporations which used to be American corporations are now international corporations and they have no loyalty or concern for this nation. These corporations want to get labor as cheap as possible and don't want any safety regulations for the workers because their ONLY concern is to maximize profits. They get tax cuts to the point that many of them pay NO TAXES!
Now we have another Democratic administration which again has gone to the right of the Republicans. All the wars continue and expand. Globalization and job loss increase. Obama upholds the Bush policies of torture, invasion of privacy, loss of the right of a trial if accused of being a 'terrorist', (a term without definition) Obama has gone so far as to have a list of people he calls terrorists that can be killed without it being a crime. This hit list contains the names of American citizens. Now Obama has moved again to the right of the Republicans with his insistence for cutting Social Security and Medicare when the Republicans has agreed to leave Social Security alone. Obama rating is so low that the joined at the hip two corporate twin political parties are looking far and wide to get more unsuitable candidates so that people will say, "Oh, the Republicans are so bad that we must stick with the Democrats!"
WRONG! If we 'stick with the Democrats' we can COUNT ON THINGS GETTING WORSE. As long as you stick in the two party strangle hold on our political system the 99% will remain unrepresented in our federal government. There are gatherings all over the nation on Oct 6 of people DEMANDING that our federal government END THE WARS, TAX THE RICH, CARE FOR THE PEOPLE, and PROTECT THE ENVIRONMENT. We must get out on the street to make these demands and then we must RESOLVE never to vote for either a Democrat or a Republican. Face it!! They are the two heads of one evil corporate monster. We must get out on the street to make connections with other people and then vote for minor party candidates or find a decent honorable person with some morals and ethics in your Congressional District and vote for that person. These new members of Congress will learn what it means to really represent the people. Unlike the corrupt creatures in Congress now who, in spite of the desires of the great majority of our citizens, will not vote to end the wars. Will not vote to tax the rich. Will cut all of our domestic programs like education, health care, Social Security and Medicare and even cut environmental regulations because these rules cut into the profits of the corporations.
Our only hope of any real democracy in our nation is to vote out the entire Congress and replace them with people who will listen to the 99%. We can gut the corrupt out of the House of Representative in four years and cut the corrupt out of the Senate in six years. All you have to do is don't vote for anyone in office now. The incumbents must be kicked out firmly and decisively to turn things around. If we don't do this, the police and military forces of the United States will be turned on the working people of this nation. Not only will we suffer austerity, we will suffer fascism in its most raw and violent form. It is up to you. Don't cave to the campaign propaganda. Look at the records of both the Democrats and the Republican for the last three decades. They are one and the same. They assist the rich to get richer and screw the working class. If you are not in the top 1% you are going to suffer with your kids and grandkids. Join the 99% and insist on democracy where the government is concerned with the general welfare of our nation as their duty is stated in our Constitution.
Well said! It is exasperating to see people cling to the Democrats.
It's been a long time since I researched the S & L rip-off, but I seem to remember that huge amounts of money were never recovered and it still cost the taxpayers a lot of money.
_______________________________________________________________
But more than that, there were hints of an inside job, that the CIA was involved in money laundering for the Contras, drug dealing, etc. It's been awhile but just google "S & L" "CIA" and youll find a lot. It was another moment when the "Secret Government" momentarily emerged from the shadows and quickly disappeared back into them, with the big players getting away with it.
I believe you refer to BCCI:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bank_of_Credit_and_Commerce_International
I'm not aware of those allegations with any of the other S&Ls, "just" garden variety white collar crime.
It should not be only about the banks... The big issue is Capitalism. There is a better way. Even if all banks were eliminated we still would have war and no health care. The root of the problem is Capitalism. We can do better.
Also, economic justice for USrs is not the only issue. What about reparations for those we killed in other countries. OWS would be on a higher international moral plane if it recognized the harm we have done around the world.
Also, being arrested can be a good tactic. Use it. Imagine putting many thousands of citizens on Trial. Never waste an opportunity to show the world what the U$A is all about.
Rosemarie, you argue that "the big issue is Capitalism," however, that doesn't truly identify the core of the problem. Capitalism doesn't exist and behave in a vacuum; its general force of existence and workings are provoked by a very specific set of conditions, namely: the United States has become a highly focused corporate fascist state and these forces have, with the complete compliance of this government, usurped the democratic characteristics of this nation for their misuse, corruption, and illegal betterment. My point being, that superficially identifying the cause of the problem as being Capitalism doesn't even begin to isolate the core of the issue. The issue of a problem has to be identified by the very circumstances that have provoked a problem into existence, and by doing so, one can begin to pinpoint the cause-and-effect. Therein lies everything that is at hand. Corporations and the banks lobby (legally bribe) the politicians, whom, they themselves, are willfully bribed. Therefore, the laws are altered by corrupt individuals who are paid to create a legal atmosphere for this corruption to take place. And lastly, the concept of Capitalism is just that; a theory. I'm not a proponent of it but it's nothing more than an economic theory. Its properties and characteristics are unique to every condition, so to say that Capitalism is at fault is an error of perspective because even this thing, Capitalism, is strictly not the same at the hands of every nation. American Capitalism is a unique circumstance drastically different from other forms of Capitalism. In fact, I will strongly argue that American Capitalism isn't Capitalism at all; it's a corrupted and mutated form of it that has been greatly reduced in its scope to fit into a very specific behavior model. To suggest that what America has is Capitalism is not only a gross over-simplification, but it also does an injustice of how far its strayed from Capitalism proper, as theory.
"To suggest that what America has is Capitalism is not only a gross over-simplification, but it also does an injustice of how far its strayed from Capitalism proper, as theory. "
Capitalism is not a Theory. Capitalism is a set of human relationships in production.
These human relationships must be understood within a historical perspective.
Capitalism began from the enclosure of the commons in the Middle Ages, and the enforced 'employment" of landless peasants for wages in the production of commodities for the market instead of their labor being devoted to local community needs. This created inherited wealth for the nobility, and a class of wage laborers. Wage labor is always disempowering because there is always an army of unemployed keeping the worker insecure and willing to sell his or her labor power cheap. Capitalism is not fully understood by most Americans. It is the basis of all exploitation in the common world economic system. Banks create money out of thin air when they issue credit, thereby adding debt slavery to wage slavery. But slavery is still the goal. The media is there to make people think their slavery is voluntary.
Revenge Girl, fundamentally speaking, every concept is a theory; its inherent characteristics, as theory, are then put into effect as practice. A theory is a conception or view of a particular concept, and by what means that concept is to be implemented, as method, into action. If to suggest that "Capitalism is a set of human relationships in production," then what you're doing is suggesting how it's meant to be practiced in theory. Most importantly, your definition is invalid so far as every and any economic system is based on human relationships in production. Your definition is not just broad but it doesn't succeed in defining the true characteristics of Capitalism. Firstly, you're misunderstanding the word 'theory.' And secondly, your historical record or recounting is only partially accurate. Every economic system has the same fixed concept of purpose, to create capital. The only varying degree is by what means and how it's distributed. In a Marxian economic model, the purpose is to create capital but the process by which it's circulated varies. Capitalism as an economic system is practiced by various societies, and its behavioral model modifies according to its implementation according to various laws, regulations, etc. As a theory, one could suggest its exploitative nature, however, its level of exploitation has very much to do with how it relates, by its very existence, to any given society according to its model. If, for example, you were to live in a society with a market economy, which features capitalism, but you also have socialist institutions, by which a government monitors the mechanization of distribution by regulation as well as an emphasis on how both private and public ownership are distributed then you incorporate capitalism, as market economy, into a mixed economy of private ownership and state initiative. And, there isn't any bank that "creates money out of thin air." Banks that aren't regulated (properly), along with corrupt officials who benefit from this deregulation, work, in cohorts, to promote speculative forms of agenda by which to manipulate the forms and modes of how this money acts, or, is acted upon, in an effort to usurp it from the system for the purposes of greed. Also, banks aren't institutions unique to capitalism, but rather an entity of finance that exists in every economic system. What differs is how they behave based on regulations and laws implemented by a particular governing agency. This is not just a simple act of capitalism being the culprit in that it has features in its economic system that provide for the possibility of exploitation, but, more to the point, it's very much the result of the government in place that allows for that exploitation to take effect.
"Most importantly, your definition is invalid so far as every and any economic system is based on human relationships in production."
I said Capitalism is a SET of human relationships - meaning a particular set of relationships peculiar to capitalism.
"Firstly, you're misunderstanding the word 'theory.' "
A theory is a group of phenomena that has been observed and verified to some degree.
Capital is created by arranging a set of human relationships in order to siphon off capital from unpaid labor, to be used by capitalists.
"And, there isn't any bank that "creates money out of thin air."
Yes there is, it is called a credit card. A purchase on credit is buying something of value, with something that only has value when you pay it back, but does not have value or even exist at the time of purchase.
My historical recounting is not inaccurate, it is plain and simple - and to the point.
It is specialists and bureaucrats that try to make this sound complicated in order to fool people into thinking that they know what they are talking about.
Revenge Girl, I appreciate your passion and conviction but you're beginning to expose the fact that, although you possess a superficial understanding of what's being discussed, you lack accuracy and true understanding. When something is to be studied from an analytical perspective, or in depth, and one only possesses an awareness of its workings, that doesn't conclude that only a specialist or a bureaucrat must understand it fully, and by your assessment, and, in extension, serve to manipulate those that either don't or can't understand it further. Your argument is, strictly speaking, all over the place. Simply, it lacks focus. When a credit card exists, the monetary limit or amount that's issued on this card is backed by capital that this financial institution holds. The credit line is thus extended in agreement and by contract with the user. When one uses a credit card to make a purchase, one buys an item of value based on market price (as retail value). The financial institution that represents this card pays for this purchase as an immediate transaction of value of said product, and, by way of a contract, the buyer or user, agrees to pay this amount back to the financial institution in accordance to the terms of service and/or repayment. So, when you argue that "something only has value when you pay it back, but does not have value or even exist at the time of purchase" you're either trying to make a point that isn't clearly being made, or, if you hold your presentation of this idea as truth, then this argument is just rather silly.
"only a specialist or a bureaucrat must understand it fully,"
I never said that - I said that THEY make it sound overly complicated to bamboozle people - just like you are doing ...and that is silly!
"When a credit card exists, the monetary limit or amount that's issued on this card is backed by capital that this financial institution holds".
O Really?...then where are the trillions of dollars that disappeared in the real estate bubble? Explain that one! The financial institutions were claiming to hold assets that they had inflated on paper and were NOT holding. In the end this deflated the real value citizens had in their homes, the value of the dollar, and all value in the economy by causing the depression that specialists call "The great recession"! And this was done so the capitalist bankers could siphon off capital to buy their villas on the Rivera.
Because as you know the banks are not giving out loans to small businesses now - they are hoarding cash and giving out bonuses to their savvy banking specialists.
The homes people bought with their life long work had value, the paper that bureaucrats play with has little value to me, and neither does their talk. I like to focus on the truth, which is much easier to understand when you look at the results of the work of all those savvy bankers and their complex and well focused analysis.
Revenge Girl, does it even matter as to what I render? You possess an obvious distrust of intellectualism, as you associate it with mistrust and deception. Since you've accused me of being overly complicated in an effort to trick, then I assume that you also associate intellectual discussion with magic. I assure you, in no way, shape, or form, was I speaking down to you. In fact, part of the problem has been that we've been exchanging words at each other, rather than, with one another. My attempt was nothing other than an innocuous exchange of ideas. The problem, however, is simple, even though I agree with all that you've stated, and your conviction, along with the passion that you possess is admirable, you're still, in your stubborn persistence, not allowing yourself to understand, and take in, what I've been trying to convey. You're like a race horse with flaps. And the ironic thing is that, not only do I agree with you, but I'm not against your perception of the results. However, how we differ, which you refuse to comprehend, is the means by which, as a mechanism (of sorts), the results were what they were. So, it's not that I disagree with you, it's that we're conversing about truths that have few elements in common. You're suggesting that a banana is yellow, when I had asked you what color is the sun. Apart from its silliness, I hope that you get the idea. We both see the same color but we're referring to two distinct items. I guess that by way of this medium, the act of communicating is more laborious. If this conversation had taken place in person, we'd be further along and in better harmony. Nonetheless, I thought about engaging in further discussion, but you'd come back with the same out-of-focus impassioned plea demonstrating little, if any, cohesive effort to comprehend what I've written. But I did appreciate this exchange and if you're a regular here, I'll look forward to further discourse. Hopefully, you'll be in a better position to accept my words in some form of understanding. I thank you for your time and impassioned effort.
No it isn't about capitalism. No matter what "economic system" you put it nothing will change UNLESS YOU ADDRESS HOW MONEY IS CREATED. They are attacking the wrong target. Take out the federal reserve, change the way money is printed, and you will have prosperity like you couldn't imagine.
You see the only way money comes into existence is when interest bearing debt is issued by the fed or the banks. Well if the only way we get money is interest bearing debt then there is never enough money in circulation to pay back the debts, therefore, making us slaves to the banks.
Its not capitalism hun. Its the banks. You want to kill the beast that consuming us? Hit its heart, the federal reserve.
cpotts18 YOU ARE EXACTLY CORRECT. I hope that every reader sees and thinks about what you have said. YOU HIT THE NAIL ON THE HEAD
Vancouver, BC, Canada, Oct. 15 - ongoing.
Gather at the Vancouver Art Gallery.
Bring a tent and warm clothing.
This is all good, but for us working class folks hearing even the positive press screw up on something as simple as a pitchfork is at least irksome. Or we might wonder if the writer has a clue about any form of working class life.
Like, thank you for your support, but at least look up what a pitchfork is. It has many uses, but often used for pitching (throwing) hay. You don't "tune" them.
If they were to be used in an action you might sharpen one.
Were you thinking "pitch pipe" or "tuning fork".
Thanks, gotta go and tune my hammer.
As a veteran of many nonviolent resistance actions and even more protests, I stand to applaud everything that OccupyWallStreet folks have done - it is bold, brave, creative and inspiring.
But now, as it grows and moves, I would ask - what are the demands? What if any specific plan of action is there? The message is fantastic, but messages don't create political change, let alone sweeping, fundamental political change, and if the plan is simply that increasing numbers of people should, as one sign said "Occupy Everything," until the bankers just give up, well…. that ain't likely to happen.
How does this not become another glorious moment that creates little actual change? I've lived through too many of them...
The demands in the planned event in San Francisco on Oct 6 (the ten year anniversary of the Afghanistan war) are END THE WARS! TAX THE RICH! CARE FOR THE PEOPLE and PROTECT THE ENVIRONMENT! You can go to a Federal Building near you or to the office of your "Rep" (who does not represent you) with these demands. END THE WARS! TAX THE RICH1 CARE FOR THE PEOPLE and PROTECT THE ENVIRONMENT.
those have been the demands for many, many years, I'm afraid…still unclear how any of this leads to fundamental social or political change -
All we can hope for is increased awareness. The education value of these protests is enormous, IMO. Read the minutes of the General Assembly, where active efforts at outreach are under way. Talk to your friends and neighbors if you want to do some good.
Some kind of tipping pt. has been reached. What and where that's taking us?
Hopefully on a path that will leave the utterly failed neo-liberal DLC Democratic Party in the dust. All these anti-Wall Street movements with building labor union support are about to be joined by a giant anti-war movement starting later this week in D.C. Their proliferation right under Obama's snotty, intransigent nose is starting to make him look bad to the Democratic voters who've been sitting on the fence watching him do nothing but afflict the afflicted and comfort the comfortable.
Nader was right to propose six primary candidates to debate him--whether he condescends to show up or not. The more he preens in his arrogance, the more votes crucial to his re-election he loses.
If he can be defeated in 2012, then whichever nut-case Republican (most likely) gets in, the already motivated backlash will be driven to new fury by a new government even more completely out of touch with reality. We could have a true Revolution on our hands.
The question is whether or not it will actually be an intelligent revolution or a chaotic series of rebellions and reciprocal police state crack-downs leading gradually to Balkanization. Our primary goal as authentic progressives should be to make it a well-organized intelligent revolution with policies that mutually, synergistically support each other and are built to be economically, environmentally and politically sustainable.
"The only thing we have to fear is fear itself!"
- FDR
Democracy Now is reporting that the 700 arrested on the Brooklyn Bridge "were given citations for disorderly conduct and a criminal court summons." So this is collective criminalization of non-violent protest where hundreds more innocent civilians are arrested for protesting criminal Wall Street activities than the bonus-pampered Wall Street ringleaders of those crimes themselves.
I'm surprised it took Mayor Bloomberg this long to pressure Brookfield Properties into giving their OK to the cops to clear the privately owned "public sanctuary" of Zuccotti Park. I suspect there must have been some heavy arm twisting--either that or they were dealing with an absentee landlord who was hard to get in contact with.
The police will no doubt be doing all they can to prevent citizens from making video of what unfolds when they raid the park, including illegal interference with or arrests of indie media reporters. They'll probably show up in force in the wee hours of the night when as many as possible are asleep.
Nothing in the Deep(ly Indoctrinated) South yet. Unions across the country are slow to wake up as well. We'll see what happens over the next month as these events crank up in D.C. and elsewhere.
I heard one perspective on the Brooklyn Bridge mass arrests by a NYC activist on the radio today who said there was an upcoming anti-poverty protest featuring several long-standing local NYC organizations including labor union support (all separate from the Occupy Wall Street protest).
He said he thought it was the Mayor and his police white shirts sending a message to those anti-poverty groups that they should leave anti-establishment street protests to young, often unemployed radicals because if they, as older activists with jobs and kids to take care of, show up in numbers on the street, then they'll be arrested en masse and get fined & possibly lose their jobs in the present bad economy, thereby depriving their own families of crucial income.
He said it showed the Establishment fears large numbers in the street and will try to make people afraid to participate in large protests because they know large enough protests sustained long enough could actually drive real change through the system.
As a person who grew up in the 60's and supported the protest against the Vietnam War, I cannot express my admiration for the young people who are pulling this off. For awhile there, I was beginning to wonder where the American sense of justice and protest had gone. These brave, young people have proven my doubts to be ill-founded.
Banksters and Big oil are involved in many violations because they obviously think law exists to protect the rich and punish the poor.
99% of the nation is fed up and will no longer tolerate this sociopathic 1%.
We will no longer tolerate the Banksters, oil and nuke pushers, and war-mongers.
We demand an end to ecocidal industries and oligarch owners.
And any politician who helps this sociopathic 1% becomes complicit in those crimes.
Indeed. Capitalism IS the problem.
The Declaration of Independence posted today by OccupyWS clearly states the need for a cooperative world.
The end of capitalism.
For information on the League of Revolutionaries for a New America:
RallyComrades.org
PeoplesTribune.org
damm i just love &admire the wallstreet protesters so much,these young folks have finally begun a revolution that shuld have started back when that idiot resgun started this country on the road to hell!!!! that said i will again try to get al the florida on C D to begin the process of getting together to get to know each other&start planning bour protests here in wacko florida!! come on fl. folks lets bring this beautiful revoluition to florida now!!! my email is cfmimsfl@yahoo.com ho ka hey/it is a good time to live
I hope everything goes well for the young folks standing up for this country.I never regreted growing old, but right now i would love to be there in New York. This has been comeing on for a long time,never wanted The New World Order to be true. I knew when Clinton said he would put 100,000 police on the streets, we would be in for hell. Sure enough, cheney got in and all the usual suspects.
When Bush anounced we were going to war, I felt sick. The patriot act is the final straw So now we must go to the streets. no matter how old we are. God bless us all.....Q
Time to educate the protesters. It was Bill "Slick Willie"
Clinton who deregulated the Banking system, that has led to the present system. It was the same Slick Willie Clinton who signed of on Nafta, the deal that oursourced our industrial base to China. Slick Willie is now worth more than $200 million dollars...The protestors should insist that we dump Nafta and re-install the Glass Steagle act that controls banking, that Slick Willie destroyed.The protestors should get an education on Slick Willie, Hillary and Obama. They all drink from the same cup and piss in the same pot. We need the protestors as we do not have
any representation in a congress that is controlled by the
Corporate Insiders.
The correct current site for Boston is OccupyBoston, which is holding an ongoing camp-in that has grown significantly, including contribution of provisions, and/or part-time participation, by many who cannot themselves commit to a camp-in.
Starting just within the last few days, this has become a major event that deserves to be covered right alongside the NYC original.
Probably going with the anarchist model of you bring what you can, do what you can.
Nation wide protests and hundreds of arrests in the US. But in Australia, the default Google news view reports nothing but a spate of sad tales of unfortunate incidents of granny being hit by a train at a level crossing, a toddler killed by 4 wheel drive There appears to be a new one every day. These accidents must happen frequently. A news search has to be done to locate references to current history making events in the US. At a last real grass and weed roots rebellion. It must be real, and no accident, because no media organisation wants it front page. It must be a weed roots protest because the government does not want it to grow. But the roots of this are surely deep and have been growing a long time.
"Lessons from Seattle: Big city police are not your friends ". I saw the WTO protests in Seattle and that is very true.
Also, another lesson: Violence is what the 1% want. Just like the NYPD probably wanted to provoke a violent response when they pepper sprayed those innocent non-violent girls. I do not think you have seen anything yet from New Yorks finest! The so called " Battle in Seattle" was only a battle because that was the way the SPD wanted it. Even though 99% of the thousands of protesters were non-violent that was not deemed relevant, the MSM loved the violence as they played it over and over again ad nauseum. But never any reporting about the economic violence of the WTO!
The student protests against the vietnam war were ended by the kent state and jackson state massacre/state murders. many were killed imprisoned ruined and forced to suicide by co-intel-pro, mlk was murdered by the state...malcolm x and paul wellstone too, to say nothing of 9/11, or the kennedys..mubarak has gone, but the u.s. bought and paid for military still rule, nato did not even pretend to follow the u.n. resolution, and so libya is being re-colonized, the protests in greece have had no effect... empty concentration camps wait in every state in the u.s.,... the pieces are moving on the board, but it is one side that is winning..
Yes, very good idea to remove all incumbents from the congress, senate, president and State Government to! And then the Judges! Oh maybe Bernie Sanders would be Ok. But better he drop out and then re enter again. Imagine that!
http://youtu.be/TGQb-Sl3D8s Voices from #OccupyMaine answer the question: Why are you here?
You should stop accepting dollers for your work, because your work is effectively diluted, because the dollers are diluted. The elites fabricate dollers out of thin air to suit themselves, thereby diluting the dollers you earn. So the number of dollers in circulation is far more than represented by the number of hours you work. Each time the elites fabricate another wad of dollers out of thin air, your buying power is further diluted. Notice that they can't fabricate local currency. So you should trade with local currency. Trade in all your dollers for local currency. And then thump the elites on the head for good measure, by joining protests, raising your voice in public restaurants, etc.
There has been no discussion of the USA politician's sworn oath to Israel. It sure looks more and more as if 9/11 was a Mossad operation with US military nanothermite at the WTC and missiles everywhere else. This false flag event has made Congress eager to "go along to get along". The City of London bankers, the same who have offices in Washington D.C., control our financial condition, and are bankrupting the US for their NWO plan. It is the Federal Reserve. This tells us more about why the political class cannot understand our demands: it is against their interest; it does not support their plan, which has been set in motion by the 9/11 coup. It isn't Wall Street so much as it is the financial debt based system that the cabal illegally formed in 1913. It is not Capitalism, it is cronyism by the banksters and their partners in crime, the Congress and the administrations of either party. They all are traitors to our Constitution.
The chickens are coming home to roost: time for regime change in the USA!
Obama has failed from A to Z!!! He should have grown a spine before swearing the oath of the presidency. What a sorry spectacle.
Use the system we have, to fix the system we have... and demand one simple law: make it a misdemeanor NOT to vote in federal elections.
"I think it would be a good idea."
--- Mahatma Gandhi, when asked what he thought of Western civilization
"When I despair, I remember that all through history the ways of truth and love have always won. There have been tyrants, and murderers, and for a time they can seem invincible, but in the end they always fall. Think of it--always." --
M.K. Gandhi, "Non-Violence in Peace and War
M.K. Gandhi:
"You must not lose faith in humanity. Humanity is an ocean; if a few drops of the ocean are dirty, the ocean does not become dirty."
"LONDON"!! London freakin' England!! "When" will they protest the Bank of England? The City of London is today a major Business and Financial Centre, ranking above New York City as the leading Centre of Global Finance. London came top in the Worldwide Centres of Commerce Index, published in 2008. The other major Financial District in London is Canary Wharf. The UK's second-tallest building (and tallest completed), is One Canada Square in Canary Wharf.
Well over 1,000 marched on the Strip in Las Vegas last Thursday, Oct. 6 in the "99% March". The police had two lanes closed down for us as we walked between Tropicana and Flamingo and back to the NY NY -- and had to shut down the whole Strip when we crossed from one side to the other at Trop. and Flamingo. Created a great traffic jam, the casinos hated it with the entrances blocked and their shills out front unable to do anything. (From my vantage point a taxi and a limo that did try to cut through the demonstrators to get into a casino driveway were promptly halted by the police. Also, earlier before the crowd got so big, a walk down the sidewalk goes through a corner of the Bellagio -- the looks of the employees' faces there were priceless.) There was lots of support from tourists and passers by....but most driving past just gave us a blank stare (were they that clueless?) and tried hard not to look (preferring denial?).
One thing was quite obvious: how easy it could be to shut this economy of corporate capitalism down.