why OCCUPY?

"We are the 99 %" is a great rally cry.

It is not a statement of principles, or a demand.

I got lead into this via Jim Wright : Stonekettle Station :
http://www.stonekettle.com/2011/11/occupy-wall-street-lessons-from-tea.html
http://www.stonekettle.com/2011/11/occupy-stonekettle-station-follow-up.html

And Jim had suggested taking a look another (opposing) viewpoint :

Eric Van Newkirk : Standing on the Shoulders of Giant Midgets :
http://shouldersofgiantmidgets.blogspot.com/2011/11/welcome-to-occupation.html

Go off and read all those. You might be gone a bit if you read some of the comments attached (I certainly took the time - and felt it was worth it).


The following list was placed in the comments to Eirc's article 'Welcome to the Occupation':

OCCUPY WALL STREET OFFICIAL DEMANDS PASSED, AS OF OCT. 21, 2011



1. Repeal of the Patriot Act


"The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated, and no Warrants shall issue, but upon probable cause, supported by Oath or affirmation, and particularly describing the place to be searched, and the persons or things to be seized." -- Fourth Amendment to the Constitution

Forty-five days after 9/11, Congress passed the USA PATRIOT Act without reading it. This new law was supposed to protect you from terrorism, but it has really left you unprotected against lawless federal agents. The Patriot Act contains numerous violations of the Fourth Amendment. It gives federal agents vast new powers that have been abused to investigate innocent Americans.



2. ELIMINATE "PERSONHOOD" LEGAL STATUS FOR CORPORATIONS



3. Forced Acquisition of the Federal Reserve for $1Billion


No Congress, no President has been strong enough to stand up to the foreign-controlled Federal Reserve Bank. Yet there is a catch - one that President Kennedy recognized before he was slain - the original deal in 1913 creating the Federal Reserve Bank had a simple backout clause. The investors loaned the United States Government $1 billion. And the backout clause allows the United States to buy out the system for that $1 billion. If the Federal Reserve Bank were demolished and the Congress of the United States took control of the currency, as required in the Constitution, the National Debt would virtually end overnight, and the need for more taxes and even the income tax, itself. Thomas Jefferson was concise in his early warning to the American nation, "If the American people ever allow private banks to control the issuance of their currency, first by inflation and then by deflation, the banks and corporations that will grow up around them will deprive the people of all their property until their children will wake up homeless on the continent their fathers conquered."

Article I, Section 8, Clause 5, of the United States Constitution provides that Congress shall have the power to coin money and regulate the value thereof and of any foreign coins. But that is not the case. The United States government has no power to issue money, control the flow of money, or to even distribute it - that belongs to a private corporation registered in the State of Delaware - the Federal Reserve Bank.


4. Re Investigate the Attacks of 9-11-2001


More and more evidence is being released to the public surrounding the suspicious circumstances surrounding 911. This measure would be included in the list of demands to show that the original investigation was significantly flawed.

5. What to name the Occupy Wall Street "Demands"



6. CONGRESS ENACT LEGISLATION TO PROTECT OUR DEMOCRACY BY REVERSING THE EFFECTS OF THE CITIZENS UNITED SUPREME COURT DECISION


which essentially said corporations can spend as much as they want on elections. The result is that corporations can pretty much buy elections. Corporations should be highly limited in ability to contribute to political campaigns no matter what the election and no matter what the form of media. This legislation should also RE-ESTABLISH THE PUBLIC AIRWAVES IN THE U.S. SO THAT POLITICAL CANDIDATES ARE GIVEN EQUAL TIME FOR FREE AT REASONABLE INTERVALS IN DAILY PROGRAMMING DURING CAMPAIGN SEASON. The same should extend to other media.



7. End the War On Drugs


The war on drugs has been going on for more than three decades. Today, nearly 500,000 Americans are imprisoned on drug charges. In 1980 the number was 50,000. Last year $40 billion in taxpayer dollars were spent in fighting the war on drugs. As a result of the incarceration obsession, the United States operates the largest prison system on the planet, and the U.S. nonviolent prisoner population is larger than the combined populations of Wyoming and Alaska. 21 Sep 2011 - 15:17 21 Oct 2011 - 17:17 6570


8. Require all Corporations to have Labour Representatives on Company Boards




9. National Repeal of Capital Punishment 



10. Nationalize Health Care
(ALSO SEE "REAL HEALTH CARE REFORM" BELOW, VOTE STILL OPEN)



11. Free education Kindergarten through college


Redraft education financing legislation. Lower educational expenses for students instead of raising tuition costs. Pull money form the "WAR" system to refund education and continuing education. Forgive Student Loan Dept or restructure the Student Loan System so that students are not punished for self improvement and made into corporate slaves upon educating themselves. Standardized testing does not account for stereotype effect or cultural differences in learning styles in elementry schools. Reform education to make it either free or affordable to all. Reappropriation of tax to focus on educations subsidies.




12. CONGRESS PASS HR 1489 ("RETURN TO PRUDENT BANKING ACT)

http://www.govtrack.us/congress/bill.xpd?bill=h112-1489 ).
THIS REINSTATES MANY PROVISIONS OF THE GLASS-STEAGALL ACT. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Glass--Steagall_Act --- Wiki entry summary: The repeal of provisions of the Glass--Steagall Act of 1933 by the Gramm--Leach--Bliley Act in 1999 effectively removed the separation that previously existed between investment banking which issued securities and commercial banks which accepted deposits. The deregulation also removed conflict of interest prohibitions between investment bankers serving as officers of commercial banks. Most economists believe this repeal directly contributed to the severity of the Financial crisis of 2007--2011 by allowing Wall Street investment banking firms to gamble with their depositors' money that was held in commercial banks owned or created by the investment firms. Here's detail on repeal in 1999 and how it happened: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Glass--Steagall_Act#Repeal . 




13. Outlaw flash trading



14. End Gender Discrimination - Equal Pay for Women 



15. Office of the Citizen



16. The United States must sign and ratify all human rights agreements with all other countries



17. USE CONGRESSIONAL AUTHORITY AND OVERSIGHT TO ENSURE APPROPRIATE FEDERAL AGENCIES FULLY INVESTIGATE AND PROSECUTE THE WALL STREET CRIMINALS

There is a second set of 'demands' listed, via the Huffington Post. This has been compiled by on the street interviews. Its a lot less structured, not surprisingly:
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/ali-hayat/occupy-wall-street_b_1089079.html




I realize that as a 'movement' - Occupy Wall Street has virtually no structure. Sorry, since there *is* not any structure, no leadership, no agreed to principles - its just a flash mob. No one really should be surprised there is no control, and that things get out of hand. It is more remarkable how little violence there has been, the lack of command and control taken into account.

You Canadians involved with the Occupy Movement!

Read that list again. See anything that even applies to Canada? 

Maybe a couple of the most vague human rights related clauses. Almost all of which are actually ongoing processes already.

Its hardly surprising why most of the rest of us in that '99%' don't understand what this is all about, when the PARTICIPANTS don't even have much of an idea....


(and yes Steve, I know you warned me about political commentaries!)