Pundits criticize the Occupy Wall Street movement for not having any ideas or demands. The same can easily be said for the mainstream political class in Washington and New York, beginning with the Democrats and Republicans.
Flash in the Pan
Ted Rall
Ted Rall is a syndicated political cartoonist for Andrews McMeel Syndication, WhoWhatWhy.org and Counterpoint. He is a frequent contributor to The Wall Street Journal, a graphic novelist and author of many books of art and prose, and an occasional war correspondent. He is, recently, the author of the graphic novel "The Stringer."
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They want our money.
Nah, those three, or people just like them will be around forever.
The Occupy movement has far more concise and directed demands, ideas, and grievances than the Tea Party ever did, yet the Tea Party was seen as a truly American movement, it was hailed as a great symbol of the power of populist Democracy.
Fact is, the Occupy movement is incredibly articulate about what they want. The mainstream media and right wing just own the microphone, and can say whatever they want….so they say the Occupy movement is incoherent…and this makes it OK to gas them in public spaces…..
Aggie_dude, name one d emand that almost all occupy movement folks agree on besides big business sucks…
I could ask the same about the Tea Party…..and we could both come up with a list of vague statements that probably all members of either movement would support…so it’s a bravo sierra kind of question to even ask and you know it.
I think the important question is not “What do they want?”, since they all really want the same thing anyway. The important question is “Who do you want to draw for the next four years?”
To patron002:
Below is the OWS “Declaration of Occupation of New York City.” This is the third or fourth time I’ve posted it here. Perhaps you haven’t seen it.
It has been presented in response to various nay-sayers of the occupy movement who also post on this site with no more original or substantive gripes about OWS than can be heard on the FOX Domestic Terrorist Network.
I don’t remember those other nay-sayers responding to this declaration but IF you do, please include the list of demands the founders of this country presented to George III.
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Declaration of the Occupation of New York City
This document was accepted by the NYC General Assembly on September 29, 2011
Translations: French, Slovak, Spanish, German, Italian, Arabic, Portuguese [all translations »]
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.
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http://www.nycga.net/resources/declaration/
All members of the Tea Party agree that they want the *black* guy out of the *White* House and that Romnich is their man. The Tea Party is all about ending the status quo.
Thanks for the list, Falco. It was beneficial to me to see it. I don’t expect Patron will ever respond or care…his challenge to me is just typical “nonresponse response” tit-for-tat bravo sierra. I’ve lived this kind of thing my whole life. There is no room for compromise in America anymore.