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I read the following from the OWS in New York and I think maybe

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mmonk Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Wed Oct-05-11 07:53 AM
Original message
I read the following from the OWS in New York and I think maybe
it should be the basic model.

Official Statement from Occupy Wall Street - this statement was voted on and app...roved by the general assembly of protesters at Liberty Square: 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.
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Mira Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Wed Oct-05-11 08:14 AM
Response to Original message
1. Bookmarked and recommended. Thank you! n/t
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CrispyQ Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Wed Oct-05-11 08:22 AM
Response to Original message
2. That seems pretty coherent to me.
Not sure what it is the media doesn't get. :eyes:

k&r

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mmonk Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Wed Oct-05-11 08:54 AM
Response to Reply #2
3. They are paid not to get it.
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whoohoo24 Donating Member (2 posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Wed Oct-05-11 09:07 AM
Response to Original message
4. BEST OCCUPY WALL STREET RANT!!! (Complete Speech)
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malaise Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Wed Oct-05-11 09:09 AM
Response to Reply #4
5. Thanks for this link
Welcome to DU :hi:
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FarLeftFist Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Wed Oct-05-11 09:41 AM
Response to Reply #4
8. Are you kidding?! That guy is advocating FOR Ron Paul.
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ClassWarrior Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Wed Oct-05-11 09:12 AM
Response to Original message
6. Thanks for posting this. Do you have a link?
Edited on Wed Oct-05-11 09:15 AM by ClassWarrior
Maybe it's my j-school background, but I always like to source material before I pass it around. And this I WILL pass around.

NGU.

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mmonk Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Wed Oct-05-11 09:36 AM
Response to Reply #6
7. I got it from Occupy Raleigh under Erik Morningstar's photos
http://www.facebook.com/OccupyRaleigh

I'm sure there is a better link. I'll try to find it.
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mmonk Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Wed Oct-05-11 09:45 AM
Response to Reply #6
9. Here is the declaration from Dkos
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ClassWarrior Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Wed Oct-05-11 09:48 AM
Response to Reply #9
10. Cool. Thanks. Will be passing it around tonight.
NGU.

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mmonk Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Wed Oct-05-11 09:53 AM
Response to Reply #6
12. From the General Assembly in New York
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Whiskeytide Donating Member (128 posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Wed Oct-05-11 09:50 AM
Response to Original message
11. Sorry folks, - but that is WAY too much...
... to be an effective message - as true as it all may be. If there is any hope this will make any difference at all, the message has to be parred down to soundbite size. The target has to be mostly the money. If we can stop the influence of the money, most of the rest will eventually fall into place.

1. Seriously prosecute Wall Street corruption;
2. Real Campaign finance reform - and seriously prosecute violations;
3. Citizen's United? WTF?;

It has to stay above the fold ... er.. jump,.. whatever.
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EFerrari Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Wed Oct-05-11 10:03 AM
Response to Reply #11
13. Not really. This movement is about breaking out of corporate structures
Edited on Wed Oct-05-11 10:04 AM by EFerrari
such as those that have reduced our discourse to "sound bites". If it's uncomfortable, it's because we've lived like trained seals and are used to the ring.
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Whiskeytide Donating Member (128 posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Wed Oct-05-11 10:08 AM
Response to Reply #13
14. I don't disagree with that...
... but the utopia of an informed public is unrealistic at the moment because the sources of information are polluted. If you want to make the message resonate with enough people to make a difference, you have to fashion it to the delivery system the audience responds to.
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FarLeftFist Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Wed Oct-05-11 10:11 AM
Response to Reply #14
15. It seems to be working for them.
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ClassWarrior Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Wed Oct-05-11 10:11 AM
Response to Reply #14
16. I agree that the message needs to honed and truncated for media consumption.
I was actually heartened to hear last week that OWS realizes it isn't media-savvy, and have asked for help in that area.

NGU.

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EFerrari Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Wed Oct-05-11 10:49 AM
Response to Reply #14
18. They seem to be dong fine with that, judging from the response.
Edited on Wed Oct-05-11 10:49 AM by EFerrari
:)
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mmonk Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Wed Oct-05-11 11:24 AM
Response to Reply #11
20. I have no problem with that.
I have no problem with enumerating the other things that have produced a failed state either though.
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Auntie Bush Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Wed Oct-05-11 04:18 PM
Response to Reply #11
24. I personally agree. I was going to send it to someone...then didn't because
I know they don't like to read or sink their minds in politics. Remember KISS (Keep It Simple Stupid) It's much to long for the mass public and less educated.
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kctim Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Wed Oct-05-11 10:12 AM
Response to Original message
17. This is why
this is nothing more than another political rally and not a huge protest against corruption.
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Avalux Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Wed Oct-05-11 10:54 AM
Response to Reply #17
19. I'm sorry you see it that way, and hopefully your assessment will change.
What I see and hear is not about politics; it's about people being DONE with the status quo.
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kctim Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Wed Oct-05-11 12:49 PM
Response to Reply #19
21. I wil gladly change my assessment
IF these protests become truly representative of the 99% of people and they start joining in.

And that won't happen until they drop the progressive wish list and make it so that 99% of Americans support them.
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Avalux Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Wed Oct-05-11 02:42 PM
Response to Reply #21
22. What about their list doesn't represent the 99%?
Please tell me what 'wish list' you'd like to see.
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kctim Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Wed Oct-05-11 03:58 PM
Response to Reply #22
23. Make it as it was meant to be
a protest against the corruption of actual Wall Street criminals.

Throwing in animal rights, the death penalty, torture etc... does nothing but dilute the important message and turn people off.
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