U.S. protesters call for strike against Oakland

[seafan]

Source: Reuters

OAKLAND, Oct 27 (Reuters) - An Iraq war veteran hospitalized after being badly wounded in clashes between anti-Wall Street protesters and Oakland police had his condition upgraded on Thursday as activists called for a general strike against the California city.

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Occupy Oakland organizers said they had voted to stage the strike next week, intending to shut down the city following what a spokeswoman called the "brutal and vicious" treatment of protesters including former U.S. Marine Scott Olsen.

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"We mean nobody goes to work, nobody goes to school, we shut the city down," organizer Cat Brooks said. "The only thing they seem to care about is money and they don't understand that it's our money they need. We don't need them, they need us."

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The protesters are angry at government bailouts of big banks, high unemployment, and economic inequality in the United States.

Read more: http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/10/27/usa-wallstreet-protests-idUSN1E79Q1CP20111027

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This is the natural progression of a movement comprising people who are continually trampled by the wealthy corporatists that have commandeered our economy by way of harsh control over our government.

[slackmaster]

1. Fuck the Raiders

:nuke:

[zentrum]

2. Normally I would support this BUT

Oakland is not Wall Street. A general strike in Oakland would really really hurt small businesses and hurt the ordinary people of Oakland which just closed 5 schools.

How about if it's a targeted strike against 7-11, MacDonald's, Safeway, Whole Foods, Trader Joes, Staples, Home Depot, Chevron, the Banks, CVS, Walgreens--in other words, against the big guys.

And make sure the independently owned book stores, movie theaters, bakeries, therapist, etc are not harmed. The people who work there are often living pay check to paycheck and can't afford an action like this.

Hurt the right people--not the 99--if you want to make successful political points.

[Hotler]

3. Fuck that bullshit. General strike against all of Oakland.

Nothing is going to start to change until more feel the pain. Too many still have the attitude "I have mine. Fuck everyone else."

[lunatica]

4. this type of argument is a deliberate attempt to weaken the action

What do you think strikes are for? It's to get the message across. Do you really think the small businesses would rather have big corporations take over and drive them out? because that's what's happening.

[Taverner]

6. Not really. It will only hurt Kaiser, Sequoia Voting Systems and Dreyers

The small businesses down there ARE part of Occupy Oakland

[LanternWaste]

8. Social progression is rarely convenient

Social progression is rarely convenient. Even more rarely does it allow for a series of 30-second commercial breaks to allow us to get a beer from the fridge without missing the play-by-play.

[chrisa]

5. It's not going to work - Especially if you so much as inconvenience Americans.

Americans are much too selfish to actually care about something like this. They can't understand the protest as it is (Mostly because they heard on the TV that the protest has no goal and that this is just the work of bong-hitting liberals).

[randome]

7. It will also hurt the Oakland mayor...

...who has said she supports OWS and has ordered the police to maintain a minimal presence.

[mulsh]

9. do these people have any idea how large and diverse Oaland is?

We've got close to 400,000 people spread out over about 55 square miles.

Our downtown is ghost town most of the time but the out lying areas support thousands of small businesses. Hell most people don't even know about the truck farms out by the airport or herds of cattle in parts of the hills.

Most of the supermarkets have abandoned the ghetto areas so the only option for locals are smaller markets, corner stores and convenience stores. they probably won't shut down.

Oakland has always had fairly racially and economically diverse neighborhoods. Its school system was never officially segregated, just look at any class photos from the 1870's on and you'll see. ( you can find some on line at the Bancroft Library Archives)

we'd be more successful and make a bigger and better statement calling for a national general strike.