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The occupation movement, coming soon to city near you.
Been following the occupation since day two or three of Wall Street, and Los Angeles after they went up on Saturday; realizing something vital going on but not fully putting words to it, I sprung it on people as "coming soon to a city near you, the occupation has begun. I thought it was amusing.
Yesterday took my day off and a bus into L.A. to check it out in person; particularly interested in how it would manifest in the midst of day one of the workweek. It was amazing.
After a day of hanging out, helping here and there, meeting some participants, walking a sign, chatting up with people on the street, mid-afternoon, the Monday General Assembly convened. That was amazing. I had already concluded that in the occupation concept was an unprecedented opportunity to surmount corporate power and domination of the megaphone and message; that as the occupation grew and sustained over time “We the People” could back the megaphone and the message-an amazing thought.
Today, mulling over the events of yesterday, I realized that at that General Assembly, I was also witnessing the birthing of a cell of “direct democracy” and in this case an additional cell, struggling to get to its feet like a new born doe, struggling with language, as well as awareness of competing interests and priorities. They will be successful.
I sense there is a conclusion to the foregoing thought for which I haven’t yet found words but in any case, there was a man present from New York, a participant there from the outset; he left for L.A. just prior to the bridge incident. He talked, answered questions about the nascent days of New York, small numbers, the process of learning and evolving effective strategies as numbers grew. There I was in the midst of the Los Angeles nascent moment as it tested its own ideas and some of the solutions New York had found.
A moment in history, I think it will prove to be pivotal.
So it looks like the First Amendment is suddenly a little inconvenient for the right wing big-heads seeing how the protestors aren't a small group of tea-baggers screaming and fighting hard for the right to be jobless, poor, and gullible. How refreshing to see a group stand up for the rights of 99%, as opposed to those who fight for the greedy nonsense of the top 1%. Will somebody please tell Christie and the rest of the tea-baggers the Kochs don't need their help. What in hell are they gonna do with all their money anyway, build a Great Pyramid and fill their tomb with gold? How frigged up can you be? The endless pursuit of money at the expense of every other living thing is so freaking ignorant, and then for a bunch of ordinary citizens like Christie to fall over themselves to lend the Kochs a hand is beyond me.
The TWU will win, peaceful assembly has been a right since 1791!
OCCUPY CONGRESS! I suggest that the Occupy Wall Street protests expand to the very halls of Congress. Any thoughts on moving forward and organizing this would be most appreciated. Perhaps, if you can't get to D.C., you can get to your local representatives' offices. It is time to expand the protests to those responsible and move against the political corruption that has allowed Wall Street to freely engage in criminal actions that threaten the entire country.
GOP Bagger scam plan is to take US back to the "Gilded Age' when Robber barons rulled us all ! Seems to me Tea Baggers in COngress are pods from outer space who hatched while we all slept
Scarrino....We have much to do welcoming home this generation. I heal by helping others, and not by sitting on a shrink's sofa. Less than a week ago, I lost my dear friend and our combat medic from Nam at only 61 years old to cancer. Nam, the gift that keeps on giving; just like PTSD. It is a fine line to tread in hating the current occupations and wars for oil and the military industrial complex stockholders, and convincing those returning vets that I support them and not the war. Many will not sort that out for years, or even decades. I just stick to welcoming them home and helping them gain VA benefits, and leave politics and religion out of it.
They're already not putting up with it. All these, "occupy" protests are just the beginning. I think the Republi-cons have bit off more than they can chew this time. They should have learned from Scott Walker what their limits are. The other side of that is maybe they are just grabbing for all they can get before they loose it.
don’t think it’s a case if the transport workers Union will win, the system is failing society, the actions of the system/authorities has the potential to do what nothing else has, it creates a sense of solidarity, a shared cause, so take the Union out of the equation, The whole US of A, is a Union of People ,never forget it
Good news to see the unions joining these peaceful protests guaranteed by our Constitution. Any real change has to start at the bottom. Most Americans realize their elected representatives have betrayed them and our country. When the leaders of the Republican party state their number one priority is to defeat Barack Obama, they are committing treason. We are in two shooting wars, the economy is bankrupt and tens of millions of Americans are out of work and are getting zero help from the Congress. I am looking for opportunities to join in and protest against the political betrayal of our country. Americans deserve better. Let's take to the streets and stay there as we've seen millions of others do around the world this year.
Thom ...... The time machine is grinding out the repeat of history once again. Only this time ...... we've got internet speed. Where exactly are we ? I hope we are not as lost as the republicans.
Yeah, Transtar, too bad for you'se. You can't even call out your armed Pinkertons.
Have we lost the battle with the American public on the health care issue though? The tea partiers believe universal health care is a "threat to freedom." Even Elizabeth Warren has had difficulty languaging the reasons why... People don't seem to get it, except intuitively, and that's not proving good enough. So here it is as best I can make out: The honest reality, which every libertarian and every Republican wants to deny, is that the free market will always determine an entire class of people too poor to afford health care and probably too poor to put money away for retirement. It remains a hard fact that in the fierce competition for good paying jobs, there will always be losers. And just because the vagaries fo the market dictate a wage too low for them to afford health care, doesn't make that wage "right." No kidding about this. Look - we need people to stand at the cash register, pick grapes and lettuce, pump gas, flip burgers and so on. Those are good and necessary services. It is preposterous to say that those workers "can go to college if they want better pay." Because A. most of them can't. and B. even if we did send everyone to college, the market competition will simply again run its course, and we'll end up with college grads bringing in the harvest. A stupid waste of money.
Conservatives are people want to take advantage of low prices at the grocery store, but not afford a living wage to the people who did the hard work of getting the products there. I say rather that if those workers don't earn enough to afford health care and retirement planning, then we aren't paying enough for their efforts. And of course we can't adjust their wages as that messes with the market dynamics too much, so taxation and social net benefits are the common sense solution.
But of course, conservative will never understand that. They think "hey that's not my problem and sure glad I'm not one of them." Conservatives adopt any interpretation, no matter how dishonest or ridiculous, just so long as it suits their pocketbooks or makes them rich. The fierce hatred they exhibit towards "Obamacare" reflects the desperate greed and selfishness by which they live their lives. I say if conservatives want to live the every-man-for-himself let-the-losers-die-in-the-gutter Wild West ethic, they can go live in some third world country, and live like the vicious animals they really are.
everybody pull it from b of a and go join your credit union. after the screw job they just gave folks with the $5 dollar debit fee. Hey have you done the math? As if they haven't pilaged us enough? the sheer amount of free money they just raked in is criminal and i can't for the life of me figure out why congress isn't doing anything about it. time to go back to cash only living adn start bartering?
ahh so the crow now doth call
that we march and prey
on what shall soon be
the carrion men of the glass spires
on the walled street....
its about time...to bad i am a 2 jobs working stiff trying to keep my kids in mac and cheese and my self in pabst. I would love to just hop in my hippie mobile and go join in.....life sucks! American is not what is use to be....
Vote!
Just an aside: Norton Anti-virus blocks the website http://www.occupywallst.org/ as a "Malicious Website." Can we say "censorship"?
The movement on Wall Street is long overdue. Keep it up until we see some change in Washington. Another great way to send a message to the banksters is to remove any money that you may have in one of their banks and move it to a locally owned small financial institution, something like a state or county bank or better than that a credit union. You will have fewer fees, most likely a better interest rate and people that actually appreciate you business. As far as the stock market I found an investing firm that is a subsidiary of the Royal Bank of Canada, now that is someone I can trust. Canada actually regulates the bankers and financial institutions.
If we follow the Citizens United decision and conclude that corporations are people and money is speech, can we then consider the Kochs or their corporations to be "domestic terrorists" for doing business or having contact with countries that the U.S. considers as "enemies"?
The way to get single payer is to challenge Medicare as "unequal protection". However, the cost problem is not in who pays, but in how the product is packaged through insurance. We need to obliterate all insurance terms and concepts from medical and healthcare services payment mechanisms. Alternatives are entitlement, charity, procurement, contracts for outcomes, etc.
There is a good chance that the "OWS" could morph into something like the "SDS" of 1969 ..... if they are able to weather the storm. The "Weathermen" also come to mind. I just hope they don't get goofy like the Yippies in 1967 hoping to levitate the Pentagon by chanting "out demons out". Students had the military draft to fight then ....... now they must fight the poverty draft.
WE the people MUST Stand up to this opression !! We MUST FIGHT BACK !! They are thugs and bullies , stoming on peacefull protesters!! Worse than Egypt or
These treacherous old farts will do anything for a buck. Can we just send them to the moon?
Thanks growin!
If it takes mass "Occupy Wall Street" protests nationwide to facilitate communication of the PLAIN TRUTH then so be it. With government takeover and essential shut down by Koch-deluded individuals in the house of reps, the protests might be the only hope we have to reverse this outrage on DEMOCRACY. This movement isn't going away, history is unfolding. PEACEFUL PROTEST as a communication tool could in fact end the ECONOMIC VIOLENCE being co-sponsored by mass media UNTRUTHS and deceptions. Wake up "Merica" this aint no Fox alarm clock either!....it's "WE THE PEOPLE" armed with TRUTH!
This is just the beginning. The protests will grow larger and their will be a list of demands. The revolution has begun.
Obama is just as much full of hot air as he was before he was first elected. He's just making more campaign pretensions that he is only making because he is trying to sucker his jilted base back into voting for him again. He will be just as committed after being re-elected as he was after he was elected the first time. We need to Primary Obama and get someone in there that will have some commitment in favor of most Americans instead of the Banksters and Wall Street. They are counting on your belief that "you have no other choice". The Republicans sure don't want another Obama term but the Banksters and Wall Street know that Obama is still their man who will give them what they want and keep the "believers" (in the Democratic Party--even as corrupt and effete it currently is) hoping for a change that will never be in their favor. The current corrupt system counts on you believing that you have no other choice. Obama doesn't deserve our support anymore. He blew it and will continue to stab us in the back once he gets what he wants.