They Just Won't Go Away

When the Occupy Wall Street demonstrations began a few weeks ago, some of the richest 1% gathered on balconies above and drank champagne while watching the demonstrators. For them it was nothing more than a good show, and I'm sure they believed it would go away after a few days and things would return to normal. After all, there was money to be made.

But that didn't happen. They didn't go away. Instead, the demonstrations grew. And when some were arrested more showed up to take their place. Then it started to spread to other cities (where people who couldn't go to New York City wanted to show their own anger and their solidarity with the NYC demonstrators). A spark seems to have been struck, and with a little more perseverance that spark could grow into a raging fire.

Now several unions have stepped forward to back the demonstrators. The NYC bus drivers union has gone to court to prevent the police from ordering them to haul the arrested demonstrators to jail. And the Communications Workers of America (CWA), a union that has over 700,000 members, has sided with the demonstrators. CWA leadership said it "strongly supports the Occupy Wall Street Movement" and "it is an appropriate expression of anger for all Americans, but especially for those who have been left behind by Wall Street". And they are encouraging "all CWA Locals to participate in the growth of this protest movement".

And the Wall Street money men may finally be getting a little bit nervous. Yesterday Wall Street's favorite presidential candidate Mitt Romney, who has received the biggest share of campaign donations from Wall Street by far, spoke out against the demonstrations. He said, "I think it's dangerous, this class warfare."

Class Warfare? Romney can call it that if he wants to. But it really is just self-defense. The people are finally beginning to defend themselves from the economic warfare that has been directed at them for many years now by Wall Street, the corporations, and their lackeys in Congress. They have had enough of this plutocracy, and now are demanding a return to democracy.

Dangerous? Yes, but not to the country or its people. The danger is to the Wall Street money men, the corporations, and to their henchmen like Romney (who helped teach them how to downsize, outsource, and hide their profits in off-shore accounts). The danger is that they might actually be forced to follow the rules, pay their taxes, and treat their workers (and other Americans) like human beings. And they might be prevented from buying and owning crooked congressmen (of both parties).

I urge all Americans to support the Occupy Wall Street demonstrators. If you're not one of the richest 1%, then you are getting screwed and have no voice in your own government. Stand up for your rights. Stand up for your country and fellow citizens. Stand up against greed and corruption.

For your edification here is a declaration from Occupy Wall Street -- voted on and approved by the people putting themselves on the line to fight Wall Street -- the people actually taking part in the demonstrations:

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!