User talk:Mcktimo/take1/statement of purpose

Governance for the People

 * user:CWalsh323 Oct 14, 2011 12:12 pm

Below is a proposed statement of purpose that seeks to explain what we are (a collaborative effort to establish democratic governance) and subtly dispel myths that we are partisan. I strongly believe that the priority of the movement should be establishing a just form of government, and that resolution of our differences with the rest of the 100% comes when we have legitimate, functioning structures for resolving those questions (i.e. a democracy!):

We have convened in public spaces across the nation because we believe that the interests of 99% of Americans are not reflected in the halls of power. We believe that money buys results in government and that those who govern are not serving the interests of the public.

Those who Occupy have many different ideas about what should be done to put us back on track, and that diversity of ideas and passions is a source of strength. We invite all Americans to bring their wisdom and their voices to our encampments as we discuss how to reform a government that has lost the faith of the people and how to repair an economic system that pays off only for the top 1%.

We the people are sovereign, and we will have a government that reflects that fundamental truth.

re: Governance for the People

 * user:mcktimo Oct 16, 2011 6:47 pm

Nicely put. There is no need to all get under one banner. I agree that the 'diversity of ideas and passions is a source of strength.'

re: Governance for the People

 * user:MikeKiss Oct 17, 2011 5:03 pm

YES. Please no specific policy proposals yet.

re: Governance for the People

 * user:sterna12 Tuesday, 8:51 am

This is a great Statement of Purpose. Short, sweet, and to the point. Now is not the time for specific demands, we need to first all get behind one succinct statement of purpose.

One question: Is this a mission statement for Occupy Boston individually or for the national or even international Occupy movement?

I believe it is just supposed to be for Occupy Boston. Perhaps we need to rephrase "We have convened in public spaces across the nation because we believe..." to "We have convened in public spaces across Boston in solidarity with the international occupy movement because we believe..."

re: Governance for the People

 * user:MikeKiss Tuesday, 9:04 am

I like the feel, but I don't think we should limit it to Americans. We are global now :D

re: Governance for the People

 * user:sterna12 Tuesday, 2:53 pm

The occupy movement is global. However, for this statement of purpose I don't believe that we can speak for each and every occupy group. We can say that we stand with all the other groups but we cant speak for them because they are not participating in the writing of this statement.

re: Governance for the People

 * user:pcovery Wednesday, 4:28 pm

I agree with your assessment and like your approach. I shortened it further and redrafted somewhat to come to this draft:

"Occupy Boston is a collaborative effort to revive participation in our national governance. We believe that the interests of 99% of Americans are not being reflected in the halls of power.  We invite all Americans to bring their wisdom and voices to our encampment and media to discuss how to reform our national government and economic system.  Diversity of ideas and passions has been a source of strength in America and it is Occupy Boston’s source of strength also.  We the people will have a government that reflects our sovereign interests."

re: Governance for the People

 * user:Stewart76 Wednesday, 6:26 pm

Or Maybe...

"Occupy Boston is a collaborative effort to revive participation in our government and ensure our elected officials represent the interests of the common good. Diversity of ideas and passions has been a source of strength in America and we invite all people to bring their wisdom and voices to our movement.  It is our purpose to provide a public forum for the debate over the political and economic reforms that best reflect the interests of the people."

--don't think this should be limited to national government, when there is a lot that can be done at the state and local level. --we should invite all people because "illegal" immigrants are part of this movement, and I think the opinions of the international community are important too. --what exactly do you mean by "sovereign interests"?

re: Governance for the People

 * user:pcovery Yesterday 3:54 am

I like it, but I would rephrase "represent the intereats of the common good" to "represent the people's interests." Common good (vs individual liberty) sounds like a dog whistle for Democratic Party. I put sovereign interests to express the sense that gov't power derives from the people, but you're right that it sounds odd and probably implies border wars.

re: Governance for the People

 * user:Stewart76 Yesterday 8:41 am

Then "represent the people's interests" it is....

Proposed Statement of Being and Solidarity

 * user:Lexikon Oct 14, 2011 8:20 am

I think we can all agree we're badly in need of a statement that reflects the group, but isn't incendiary, at the same time offering support for the movement and making it clear that it's not a demand of any kind.

There were some statements floating around the SPP message board written by groups or individuals and I liked them, but since we need only one and we should all have a hand in crafting it, I combined them, and added my own 0.02 as well.

It's pasted below, feel very free to rip it apart, edit it, add to it, reject it, etc. etc.

When a people become beholden to a broken form of governance, they will rise up and fight for the rights appropriated to them as human beings, even as an empire crumbles around them. The American people’s pursuit of life, liberty and happiness has become impeded by a government that no longer operates in the best interests of its people.

Once the land of freedom, opportunity, free thought, and growth, the United States sits besieged by economic calamity and oppression, the results of an inept system controlled by a fiscally influential minority that allowed corporate and personal greed to place priority on profits over people.

We, Occupy Boston, stand together with all Americans and in solidarity with the growing Occupy movement, here and abroad, as the beginning of a global, echoing, chant of dissatisfaction and dissent with these policies.

The current system can no longer be trusted to reform itself, as it was wrought to do, as those elected to lead us have neglected their duty to the people by failing to address the crises we face today.

When 1% of the population controls the destinies of the other 99%, great and fundamental changes must be made in order to preserve our civic well-being. We believe in the creative ability of the people to look beyond paradigm and systemic prejudice to address and solve the problems we face.

Therefore, Occupy Boston is engaging a dialogue to foster a national debate using a directly democratic model, which will identify problems and manifest solutions.

The path toward a just society is clear and we, the people, declare our intent to stand and demand a relief from oppression and a regress for grievances levied against a government that has allowed a subversion of the rights of the citizens of this democracy.

Whereas we are a diverse group but cannot yet represent all people in all places, and whereas our democratic process is both pure and thorough, we intend to issue future statements, but will make no further announcements on our collective purpose until a time when we are able to reach a consensus reflective of all individual issues, concerns and ideas of this body.

We stand united. We are the 99%.

re: Proposed Statement of Being and Solidarity

 * user:mikemellor Oct 14, 2011 8:48 am

Some reservations...

"When a people become beholden to a broken form of governance, they will rise up and fight for the rights appropriated to them as human beings, even as an empire crumbles around them."

The ending phrase seems disjointed from the previous two. Why is the collapsing empire relevant to people rising up against their broken form of governance?

"Once the land of freedom, opportunity, free thought, and growth..."

For whom? Certainly not Indigenous peoples, multitudes of people of color, etc.

"Therefore, Occupy Boston is engaging a dialogue to foster a national debate..."

Why are we limiting it to national? Many of us oppose the global oppression that dehumanizes billions of people across all inhabited lands.

"The path toward a just society is clear..."

Really? I think most can agree that the path that led us away from a just society is clear, but how many of us can agree on the details of the right path moving forward?

Thanks you to all who started this ball rolling. The hardest part is starting and you have given us a good structure to begin with.

-MM

re: Proposed Statement of Being and Solidarity

 * user:mcktimo Oct 16, 2011 6:59 pm

I'm just rooting for the general assembly to keep itself together

re: Proposed Statement of Being and Solidarity

 * user:rkerver Oct 17, 2011 11:54 am

suggested edits: 1> .. no longer operates in the best interests of its people or life on this our only planet. 2> instead of "and a regress for grievances", its "redress of grievances" 3> eliminate the second to last paragraph: " Whereas we are a diverse group but cannot yet represent all people in all places, and whereas our democratic process is both pure and thorough, we intend to issue future statements, but will make no further announcements on our collective purpose until a time when we are able to reach a consensus reflective of all individual issues, concerns and ideas of this body. "

re: Proposed Statement of Being and Solidarity

 * user:pcovery Wednesday, 4:36 pm

A soundbite version of the same thing is in the "Governance for the People" thread: http://occupyboston.wikispaces.com/message/view/statement+of+purpose/44278356

I think a short marketing blurb is the best Statement of Purpose, to be immediately followed by work on more detailed topics that hashes out positions and demands. It's important to invite the entire 99%+ to join in cooperative democracy before stating any opinions or demands.

S.O.P Occupy Boston

 * user:a.c.a.t. Tuesday, 10:15 pm

DEMOCRACY

re: S.O.P Occupy Boston

 * user:pcovery Wednesday, 4:29 pm

I like it! Said in more flowery language, take a look at the latest draft in this thread: http://occupyboston.wikispaces.com/message/view/statement+of+purpose/44278356

Babel

 * user:pcovery Oct 16, 2011 5:32 am

I think that tweetlike slogans and lack of organization will distort our perception of ideas. It is one avenue of collectiong ideas, but I want an area where clear thought and organization can be applied to each topic. Call me old-fashioned, but I think education on each topic is essential.

I hope the tweet-like collection of redundant topics is not going to promote "voting" by repetition for certain ideas. Just because we have data-mining tools doesn't mean that they should take over our conversation, especially in something as far-reaching as a statement of purpose.

re: Babel

 * user:ndmc Oct 16, 2011 12:39 pm

I agree and I don't think it's anyone's intention to fit our entire statement in a single tweer or to turn over our message to computational software. That said, I think encouraging people to contribute "tweetable" ideas help will help people to express themselves clearly and concisely as well as help others understand what the landscape of ideas looks like, without reading through 100 manifestos and distilling out the main points of each.

re: Babel

 * user:pcovery Wednesday, 3:52 pm

Glad we agree that tweeting shouldn't dominate our discussion process. I'll go ahead with trying to separate the "tweet" areas from the "logical discussion" areas.

Occupy Boston Declaration of Occupation

 * user:JSkeet Oct 14, 2011 7:33 am

This is a work in progress that will hopefully be submitted, with any friendly amendments and corrections the authors find appropriate, to GA in a few days. Does anyone know if this is the right place to post it? Here goes...

Occupy Boston Declaration of Occupation

The times in which we live confront us with a combination of crises the likes of which we in the United States have never seen before: a toxic mix of financial, economic, social, and environmental messes that demands a radical clean-up. While each of these crises has its own determinants, they also all share a common root cause: the domination of our social, economic, and political order by a system designed to serve a wealthy elite, at the expense of the vast majority of the population, here and around the world, not to mention other living creatures on this planet. In light of these interlocking crises, the stench of which we can no longer stand, crises which threaten our lives, our livelihoods, our liberty, our human values, and our common future, We, the General Assembly of Occupy Boston, believe that "business as usual" is no longer an option. The corrupt order, and the intolerable crises amidst which we live demand a profound, collective response, a popular and participatory response of the sort the ruling elite can neither allow, nor even imagine:

Whereas, the problems of economic inequality, unemployment, crushing debt, as well as corporate personhood, greed, and unaccountability, are all symptomatic of the larger corrupting influence money has on our political and social lives,

Whereas, this influence has consistently been used to impede progress toward a more just and sustainable society, and has often perpetuated crisis and war at home and abroad in furtherance of its own undemocratic agenda,

Whereas, those wielding this influence also own and control the media we require to inform ourselves about their many abuses of money and power,

And whereas, our peacefully gathered democratic assemblies are amongst the last uncorrupted arenas we have to educate ourselves and plan resistance,

Be it resolved that we, the General Assembly of Occupy Boston, acting in solidarity with occupations across America and with peoples' movements worldwide, do hereby declare our opposition to all systems of power that function to maintain these oppressive and undemocratic arrangements, just as we declare our affirmation in the belief that a better world is possible, and that it is our right and responsibility to begin creating it.

re: Occupy Boston Declaration of Occupation

 * user:mikemellor Oct 14, 2011 8:55 am

My only criticism of this document is that the sentence beginning "In light of these interlocking crises..." is a little difficult to follow upon first reading.

My suggested edit:

"In light of these interlocking crises which threaten our lives, our livelihoods, our liberty, our human values, and our common future, We, the General Assembly of Occupy Boston, believe that 'business as usual' is no longer an option."

re: Occupy Boston Declaration of Occupation

 * user:JSkeet Oct 14, 2011 11:29 am

Agreed! Also, I just realized that we promised the inner city youth, in a consensus decision at an earlier GA, that we would recognize the different plights of different segments of the 99% in our statement. With that in mind, here is a slightly revised declaration, with the revision happening in the 3rd whereas statement:

Occupy Boston Declaration of Occupation

The times in which we live confront us with a combination of crises the likes of which we in the United States have never seen before: a toxic mix of financial, economic, social, and environmental messes that demands a radical clean-up. While each of these crises has its own determinants, they also all share a common root cause: the domination of our social, economic, and political order by a system designed to serve a wealthy elite, at the expense of the vast majority of the population, here and around the world, not to mention other living creatures on this planet. In light of these interlocking crises, which threaten our lives, our livelihoods, our liberty, our human values, and our common future, We, the General Assembly of Occupy Boston, believe that "business as usual" is no longer an option. The corrupt order, and the intolerable crises amidst which we live demand a profound, collective response, a popular and participatory response of the sort the ruling elite can neither allow, nor even imagine:

Whereas, the problems of economic inequality, unemployment, and crushing debt, as well as corporate personhood, greed, and unaccountability, are all symptomatic of the larger corrupting influence money has on our political and social lives,

Whereas, this influence has consistently been used to impede progress toward a more just and sustainable society, and has often perpetuated crisis and war at home and abroad in furtherance of its own undemocratic agenda,

Whereas, the perusal of this agenda has had profound detrimental effects on all working and middle class communities - and particularly on communities of color, youth, and other marginalized segments of our population – as well as on the environmental systems upon which we as a species depend,

Whereas, those pursuing this agenda also own and control the media we require to inform ourselves about their many abuses of money and power,

And whereas, our peacefully gathered democratic assemblies are amongst the last uncorrupted arenas we have to educate ourselves and plan our resistance,

Be it resolved that we, the General Assembly of Occupy Boston, acting in solidarity with occupations across America and with peoples' movements worldwide, do hereby declare our opposition to all systems of power that function to maintain these oppressive and undemocratic arrangements, just as we declare our affirmation in the belief that a better world is possible, and that it is our right and responsibility to begin creating it.

re: Occupy Boston Declaration of Occupation

 * user:monicapoole Oct 15, 2011 10:41 am

Cool! JSkeet, mikemellor, I've copied this document to the collection of SOP ideas on the main SOP page. If that format doesn't work for you, please, of course, feel free to modify/delete as you like.

re: Occupy Boston Declaration of Occupation

 * user:panagiotis1 Oct 15, 2011 2:32 pm

The following statement was written as a complement to Skeet's declaration, and is thus in the same spirit. There are elements in both that can be incorporated into a powerful declaration of the occupation.

We, Occupy Boston, are building a broad alliance of the discontented, the dispossessed, the alienated, and the exploited. As the 99%, we declare that the 1% will not make us pay for their crisis and will no longer corrupt the democratic process, depriving it of its significance. It is the democratic process that we seek to broaden and strengthen, letting people affirm their dignity by taking their lives and the wealth they create into their own hands, for the liberation of labor and humanity and for the progression to a more equitable and just society. As a precondition for the real democracy that we seek to establish, it is necessary that all individuals are secured a decent level of healthcare, education, housing, employment, and income – irrespective of their race, sex, creed, skin color, or immigration status – so that they may participate meaningfully in the popular processes that we are developing in occupied squares throughout the United States.

We thus declare the urgent need for a society in which priority is placed on the free social and cultural development of all individuals, not on the maximization of capitalists’ profits, and in which workers democratically control the process of production, so that decisions regarding the allocation and distribution of our resources are made in a participatory and inclusive manner in the broader interests of our society.

In solidarity with Occupy Wall Street, the peoples of Egypt, Tunisia, Syria, Libya, Spain, Greece, Italy, and Chile, and all those participating in this global uprising

Equality – Justice – Dignity The General Assembly of Occupy Boston

re: Occupy Boston Declaration of Occupation

 * user:pcovery Oct 16, 2011 5:45 am

Dammit, I posted a comment on this concept in one of its several locations and now I can't even find the comment to copy here. It is very frustrating to have redundant posts. People get cut out because there's no clear place to discuss a topic. For the first time, I'm really frustrated with Occupy Boston. Please look and link to existing areas and make an effort to not marginalize already-existing content.

re: Occupy Boston Declaration of Occupation

 * user:pcovery Oct 16, 2011 6:12 am

PLEASE CONTINUE THIS DISCUSSION ON THE PAGE CREATED FOR THIS DECLARATION: http://occupyboston.wikispaces.com/OccupyBoston+Declaration+of+Occupation

Use the Discussion tab there to comment on this draft declaration. Thanks.

re: Occupy Boston Declaration of Occupation

 * [[user:

]] bm_inboston

Hell All,

We cannot hope to successfully address critical problems such as Wall Street reform, environmental concerns, health care reform, jobs, etc. as long as OUR (not “the”) Federal Government remains exclusively responsive to the 1%.

The SOP, therefore, ought to clearly and explicitly hold campaign finance reform [and/or a Constitutional Amendment (such as Sen. Kerry's or Rep. Edwards - Maryland) to permanently patch the gaping hole left by the Citizen's United] as a prerequisite, and as preparatory to addressing the myriad aforementioned policy concerns of average Americans.

We can plea for decades about housing, student loan debt, jobs, Wall Street reform, but until we cleanse our own governing process of heavy undue influence, we can be assured that NO ONE in D.C. will be listening.

This primary purpose of creating a more open and responsive Federal Government should be placed at the absolute center of the SOP for three critically important reasons:

1)It is something that Democrats, Conservatives, Libertarians, Socialists, and most others can agree upon. The movement will be killed (and ignored) if it is simply a list of demands from the left that plays like a broken record.  The SOP needs to clearly invite all political views for a fair competition of ideas, and needs to fight for the same in DC.   This ought to be an American Movement,  not a Noam Chomsky, or Ron Paul movement.

2)It is a logical prerequisite to addressing ALL other concerns.  One must clear the wax out of government's ears before we expect it to be able to listen and respond.

3)It is highly actionable.  An Amendment is already drafted, and floating behind the scenes of congress.   This is “shovel ready.”  If fighting the fight means marching out day in day out, across the country, collecting millions of signatures, one by one, pledging citizens to vote down members of Congress that fail to vote to send the  Amendment through Congress to the states, then THE FIGHT IS ON – starting immediately.  This is clear, actionable, and foundational to all other serious concerns.

Thanks, Brian M.

re: Occupy Boston Declaration of Occupation

 * [[user:

]] tfaing Hi Everyone,

I am getting together a new website that may help everyone to draft the document together by using a process that is similar to that of the GA.

I put the Declaration of Occupation into the site here: http://main.wirite.com/documents/17/

I also proposed the first edits from the current version. These are the changes that were make from the 10:33am to 2:29pm version on Oct 14th that JSkeet put in: http://main.wirite.com/documents/17/vote_packages/. Maybe you can vote it up if you like it. Also, I know that there were a lot of new proposed things that were discussed last night at GA when the Statement was brought up. You can make any changes that you want concerning those discussions as well.

if you go here: http://main.wirite.com/documents/17/doc_settings/ you can tell Wirite to let you know when the new version of the document has been made, or when edits have been made so you can check them out and vote on them. You can also say how much time, or edits, or votes should happen from version to version, to get things moving to your liking.

If you send the link for the document to your friends that are in Boston that cannot make it to the GA, but that want to be include in the document, this might be a good first step to see what everyone needs in the document.

If you have any questions or comments, please feel free to email me at andrew@flighthings.org. I will be very happy to get Wirite to work with what we are all doing at OB.

Thanks, Andrew I.

Raodmap to Economic Justice and Horizontal Demcracy

 * user:AriaLItthous Oct 13, 2011 3:58 pm

Occupy Wall Street’s Road Map To Economic Justice and Horizontal Democracy “the truth is always simple”

OWS Mission Statement:

Our mission is to give birth to a just and compassionate body politic that treads lightly upon the Earth.

Our mission will be accomplished when these goals are met: 1. The US has a sustainable peace time economy. 2. The voices of the 99% are heard and acted upon. 3. The Earth’s rights are recognized as being on par with human beings. 4. In allocating resources, the US government priorities the needs of the 99% who are not wealthy.

We ask that all elected officials pledge to support these objectives and methods:

5. The immediate creation of a National Single Payer Non-Profit Healthcare System 6. The End of Corporate Personhood. 7. The implementation of a “cradle to grave” social safety net. 8. To end the assault on workers' rights 9. To support the end of institutionalized racism, sexism, homophobia and attacks on immigrants. 10. To end the current wars and vow to not engage in another. 11. To facilitate the creation of a new tax code, written from scratch, that supports our goals 12. To pass the Obama jobs bill. 13. To extend the pubic education system through all levels. 14. To direct government spending away from the military and towards social programs. 15. To convene a Constitutional Convention to implement Proportional Representation 16. To repeal all anti-union laws.

It is not the role of OWS to craft legislation. We look forward to commenting on our legislators plans on how to implement the Roadmap.

re: Raodmap to Economic Justice and Horizontal Demcracy

 * user:mikemellor Oct 14, 2011 9:00 am

While my own political beliefs are completely in line with this document, I fear that it is not at all representative of the consensus values of the 99%.

Libertarians and self-described Tea Party members would certainly not agree with much of this, yet both are represented in the 99% and within our occupation movement. I do not see a way to encourage unity with the 99% and pass this document.

re: Raodmap to Economic Justice and Horizontal Demcracy

 * user:AriaLItthous Oct 14, 2011 10:30 am


 * 6,11, & 15 should appeal to Libertarians and might also appeal to TP's.

Regarding pass-ability: think: LEADERSHIP.

re: Raodmap to Economic Justice and Horizontal Demcracy

 * user:mcktimo Oct 16, 2011 6:56 pm

This is a done deal by OWS NY? Huh. Don't we want more that a pledge from those bums in Washington and the state house crooks?

re: Raodmap to Economic Justice and Horizontal Demcracy

 * user:Stewart76 Oct 16, 2011 7:11 pm

I am not sure if this is from really from OWS. I am pretty sure a Boston person wrote it and it's just here to be discussed like all of the other proposals.

re: Raodmap to Economic Justice and Horizontal Demcracy

 * user:Stewart76 Oct 16, 2011 7:12 pm

But if it isn't from OWS, that should be corrected on the main page

re: Raodmap to Economic Justice and Horizontal Demcracy

 * user:AriaLItthous Oct 16, 2011 8:33 pm

I heard in GA that we could decide ourselves whether to speak locally, nationally, etc. So I did! I didn't add OWS to the link title though. The flyer I made clearly said "draft" and I thought the post did too. I did not intend to deceive.

re: Raodmap to Economic Justice and Horizontal Demcracy

 * user:rkerver Oct 17, 2011 11:47 am

I believe this is a good start in the right direction. My primary goal, as stated here & elsewhere: "A universal appeal to "Protect the Planet" with deep green resistance to the destruction of ecosystems and habitat so as to preserve the life of ALL species now and for the future, human AND non-human."

This, in recognition that we're in the 6th great mass extinction event on earth, human causation, and we won't have a living planet, never mind a "sustainable economy" if we stay on the road we're on.

Blessing & high regards Richard Kerver

re: Roadmap to Economic Justice and Horizontal Demcracy

 * user:AriaLItthous Oct 17, 2011 12:20 pm

Thanks. I think it's best to keep things simple and somewhat measurable. "Healthy" might not be a very specific term, but using it in a simple declarative sentence is useful. (All the Earth's ecosystems are healthy)

List all and any demands here

 * user:occupyboston4ever Oct 13, 2011 1:46 pm

End Corporate Personhood

re: List all and any demands here

 * user:mcktimo Oct 16, 2011 7:00 pm

and replace it with what?

re: List all and any demands here

 * user:AriaLItthous Oct 17, 2011 2:12 am

Why would you have to replace it with anything?

re: List all and any demands here

 * user:mcktimo Oct 17, 2011 7:22 am

You would need a new way to conduct business

re: List all and any demands here

 * user:rkerver Oct 17, 2011 11:04 am

A universal appeal to "Protect the Planet" with deep green resistance to the destruction of ecosystems and habitat so as to preserve the life of ALL species now and for the future.

Nothing to lose, everything to win

 * user:panagiotis1 Oct 14, 2011 11:50 am

The statement put out collectively, in preparation for the 15 October global day of rage, by the Spanish social and political groups taking part in the occupation movement. I think there are a lot of positive elements in it other than the positions that are specific to Europe (but can be adapted to the US situation), and we should definitely think of incorporating some of their ideas in solidarity.

http://15october.net/how-we-see-it/nothing-to-lose-everything-to-win/

re: Nothing to lose, everything to win

 * [[user:

]] mcktimo Thanks, it was very worth reading. I like the different perspective on what we need to see as worldwide challenge. Also the reference to commonwealth is cool, that the job of government is to protect the commonwealth. Aren't we a commonwealth

re: Nothing to lose, everything to win

 * [[user:

]] mcktimo Thanks, it was very worth reading. I like the different perspective on what we need to see as worldwide challenge. Also the reference to commonwealth is cool, that the job of government is to protect the commonwealth. Aren't we a commonwealth

Proposal for demands

 * user:bweckbacher Oct 16, 2011 12:51 pm

Ok, I've already handed copies of these demands out to people and had literally hundreds of conversations about them. They go over well, including with those visiting the camp. I will be proposing them at General Assembly tonight.

In solidarity with the Occupy movement, and the mass movements in Tunisia, Egypt, Europe, and Wisconsin, we demand:

•END CORPORATE DOMINATION!

•Make Big Business Pay! For major tax hikes on the richest 1% and Big Corporations! End the Bush-Obama tax cuts for the wealthy.

•No more bailouts of banks and corporations! Instead, bail out owners of foreclosed homes and working Americans struggling to make ends meet.

•Hands off social security, Medicare, and Medicaid! These are good, sustainable, hard-won programs relied upon by the elderly, the disabled, and the poor. We demand jobs, not cuts!

•End the wars and occupations! Stop spending billions of dollars on wars abroad that only destroy human lives. We need fully funded public education and social services; a massive jobs program to put the millions of unemployed back to work with a living wage and union rights; a repairing of the country’s crumbling infrastructure; and developing alternative energy technology.

•Single payer health care now! Repeal Obama's health care "reform," which only takes more money from working Americans to give to corporations. For-profit health care is bad for the health of the people and the economy.

•No deportations, racial profiling, or exploitation of immigrants! Reject the Secure Communities Act. Amnesty for all undocumented immigrants. No worker is my enemy!

•Respect the collective bargaining rights of all union workers and all non-union workers organizing to form unions! Pass the EFCA and stop union busting.

•Stop the defunding, closure, and privatization of public schools! Here in Boston, 18 public schools, primarily in low-income and minority neighborhoods, are slated for closure. Equal access to a quality public education is a right, not a privilege!

•Stop police brutality! We are demonstrating in peace. Any act of police violence against peaceful demonstrators is a violation of our civil rights. We represent the 99% of people without a say in the society we live in. This occupation is an expression of outrage at a political and economic system that does not represent the interests of young people, working people, or minorities.

•Occupy Boston will coordinate mass action to achieve the above demands and to struggle against the two parties of Wall Street.

re: Proposal for demands

 * user:mcktimo Oct 16, 2011 6:42 pm

good luck tonight. Nice document- clear and comprehensive

Let's get to the FOUNDATION

 * user:bm_inboston Oct 16, 2011 11:16 am

Hell All,

We cannot hope to successfully address critical problems such as Wall Street reform, environmental concerns, health care reform, jobs, etc. as long as OUR (not “the”) Federal Government remains exclusively responsive to the 1%.

The SOP, therefore, ought to clearly and explicitly hold campaign finance reform [and/or a Constitutional Amendment (such as Sen. Kerry's or Rep. Edwards - Maryland) to permanently patch the gaping hole left by the Citizen's United] as a prerequisite, and as preparatory to addressing the myriad aforementioned policy concerns of average Americans.

We can plea for decades about housing, student loan debt, jobs, Wall Street reform, but until we cleanse our own governing process of heavy undue influence, we can be assured that NO ONE in D.C. will be listening.

This primary purpose of creating a more open and responsive Federal Government should be placed at the absolute center of the SOP for three critically important reasons:

1)It is something that Democrats, Conservatives, Libertarians, Socialists, and most others can agree upon. The movement will be killed (and ignored) if it is simply a list of demands from the left that plays like a broken record.  The SOP needs to clearly invite all political views for a fair competition of ideas, and needs to fight for the same in DC.   This ought to be an American Movement,  not a Noam Chomsky, or Ron Paul movement.

2)It is a logical prerequisite to addressing ALL other concerns.  One must clear the wax out of government's ears before we expect it to be able to listen and respond.

3)It is highly actionable.  An Amendment is already drafted, and floating behind the scenes of congress.   This is “shovel ready.”  If fighting the fight means marching out day in day out, across the country, collecting millions of signatures, one by one, pledging citizens to vote down members of Congress that fail to vote to send the  Amendment through Congress to the states, then THE FIGHT IS ON – starting immediately.  This is clear, actionable, and foundational to all other serious concerns.

Thanks, Brian M.

re: Let's get to the FOUNDATION

 * user:mcktimo Oct 16, 2011 6:38 pm

Citizen's United is surely a egregious ruling worthy of our action. Yet that alone will does not even get a the core. CU happenned a couple a years ago but this undo financial sector influence control has been going on all through our history.

re: Let's get to the FOUNDATION

 * user:mcktimo Oct 16, 2011 6:40 pm

the graph above is from the '5 things..' article in the wiki under general education. Nice collection of articles.

And on That Sppp wiki space too

 * user:AriaLItthous Oct 13, 2011 3:57 pm

There's another more active space, call SPP, please post and comment there too. I have a feeling this will be migrated shortly.

re: And on That Sppp wiki space too

 * user:pcovery Oct 16, 2011 5:40 am

At last night's GA we convened a small discussion about the shared interests of SPP and the new "Ideas" concept. We decided that they are one and the same, and that "Ideas" is more appealing and easier to understand than SPP. Comments on that choice are welcome, but I've started changing the language and pointing links to the (formerly) SPP page, which can be relabeled "Ideas." Make sense?

re: And on That Sppp wiki space too

 * user:AriaLItthous Oct 16, 2011 6:04 am

The statement on the front page of former SPP should have started with, "At last night's unannounced meeting it was decided that...."

If I had known about the meeting and been able to attend I would have pointed out that this a bad time to change structure; it's confusing.

Subcategories are good. Please add "Tactics" and "Next Meeting Time" to Strategies, Issues, Finished Proposals.

on organizing this page

 * user:mcktimo Oct 15, 2011 9:07 am

George Orwell said 'If it is possible to cut a word out, always cut it out.' This page is getting to be too much work to bother reading. Consider a rewrite SOP rewrtie

re: on organizing this page

 * user:SOP rewrtie

Point! "Brevity, clarity, poetry," as one speechwriter said. Thank you--I love the reorganization!

Structurally, I'm starting to feel like the uploading of a collection of separate drafts isn't going to get us to a unified statement that everyone can live with. There is so much rich and developed thinking there that it's getting hard to find the points of convergence--and I just see it getting harder and harder as we get more and more drafts. I've inserted an area for participants to put short, text-message sized ideas for what our purpose might be. I'm hoping this might work better. What do you think?

re: on organizing this page

 * user:Oct 15, 2011 10:50 am

mcktimo: wonderful

monica: great point. consider creating a google doc with public permissions (with a backup saved occasionally in the case of malicious behavior) and then embedding that doc on a drafting page.

re: on organizing this page Seems that there is a lot of good stuff in the discussion section and that maybe works best as a place for ideas/discussion. Maybe its not worth putting them on the page

 * user:Oct 15, 2011 3:39 pm

Seems that there is a lot of good stuff in the discussion section and that maybe works best as a place for ideas/discussion. Maybe its not worth putting them on the page. I wonder how long the subject line can be could it be 140 characters... lets see

re: on organizing this page

 * user:Oct 15, 2011 7:14 pm

OK so it seems that the subject line can be long. I'm gonna try moving a SOP from the page to the discussion

re: on organizing this page

 * user:Oct 15, 2011 7:15 pm

I moved an SOP to discussion the subject line gets shortened but comes back when you click on itit seems to preserve the wiki markupit does not seem to be editableyou can add comments more easilyactive topics stay on top

re: on organizing this page

 * user:Oct 15, 2011 7:25 pm

I started another discussion thread when I probably should have added here, so here it is. I don't think I can delete my other topic.

pcovery 3 minutes ago

I think that tweetlike slogans and lack of organization will distort our perception of ideas. It is one avenue of collectiong ideas, but I want an area where clear thought and organization can be applied to each topic. Call me old-fashioned, but I think education on each topic is essential.

I hope the tweet-like collection of redundant topics is not going to promote "voting" by repetition for certain ideas. Just because we have data-mining tools doesn't mean that they should take over our conversation, especially in something as far-reaching as a statement of purpose.

Democracy based upon an informed public acting in its own interest can wrest control of the USA from the 1%

 * user:mcktimo Oct 15, 2011 7:18 pm

proposed SOP: Democracy based upon an informed public acting in its own interest can wrest control of the USA from the 1% who now control it.

The biggest threat to the corporatocracy is representative democracy. One person one vote can actually defeat the moneyed interests. The trick is figuring out what we need to do to be an informed public. -  mcktimo Oct 13, 2011 1:56 pm And what are our own interests? What are we like now? We're Americans; we all want to be millionaires, think we have a shot at it. Its in our DNA. So we support programs that benefit the rich since we hope to be rich soon. How do you change that? That requires having people in the political apparatus to vote for. See Lawrence Lessig's new book Republic, Lost for a description of how even those with the best of intentions end up serving the moneyed interests once they are in power. (review and summary available here.) People with very little hope prefer long odds: it's a cognitive bias that lets us have hope when such hope is irrational. It is why people are acting rational when they buy lottery tickets despite the odds: the point is not which behavior leaves me with more money tomorrow on average. The point is which behavior gives me the chance to believe I might not be poor tomorrow. We must first convince people that a better world is possible. That we have enough to go around, and they don't need to spend their lives afraid and anxious. That everything their neighbor gets isn't at their expense. It isn't just about informing the public of the current state of affairs; it is about convincing them that they have the capability to change things (which I don't think we've illustrated yet) and that we can support a culture of sufficiency.

meeting to discuss statement of purpose
can anyone do Sunday at 5 at Dewey?