WG/Strategies/SOP/Statement of Purpose (2)

On 10/23/11 the GA reached consensus on the following Statement of Purpose for Occupy Boston:
 * "We the people who have occupied Dewey Square, under the name Occupy Boston, have done so in order to maintain a place, where all voices are welcome for the open discussion of ideas, grievances, and potential solutions to the problems apparent in our society. We are and will be holding general assemblies where proposals may be brought to the group as a whole, to be consented to. We have and will continue to occupy this space for the purpose of DEMOCRACY."

CURRENTLY BEING DISCUSSED: Roadmap to Economic Justice and Horizontal Democracy- (use Discussion tab on this linked page to discuss.)

History about the development of draft SOPs is retained below.
 * On 10/13/11 the GA reached consensus to:

"Start gathering submissions for the official statement of purpose (SOP) of Occupy Boston and get them on the wiki"
 * see full proposal
 * DISCLAIMER: The space below contains unapproved drafts and ideas that DO NOT reflect the consensus of the General Assembly.

=SOP proposals=

Short Statement Drafts
(A short Statement of Purpose can act as an inclusive umbrella to draw many participants. A variety of issues and demands can be worked on as separate reform statements/demands by interest groups within the large Occupy Boston purpose.)

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

"Occupy Boston is a peaceful, collaborative effort to revive participation in our government and ensure that our elected officials represent the interests of the people. Diversity of ideas and passions has been a source of strength in America and we invite everyone to bring their wisdom and voices to our movement. It is our purpose to provide a public forum for exploring and promoting the political and economic reforms that best reflect the interests of the people." - from the discussion thread "Governance for the People;" please continue discussion in that thread.

A proposal of a statement less verbose and highfalutin than some of the long ones:
 * Because the world's wealth is in the hands of a few,
 * because banks and CEOs profit while the poor suffer,
 * because our tax structures favor the rich,
 * because corporations control our politics,
 * and because our way of life is destroying the earth,
 * we are here to protest,
 * and to dream of a more just society.

10/22/2011 I like what OccupyBoston has posted on the General FAQ page ] as guidance to all supporters of this non-partisan movement - to communicate why most people regardless which party they vote for support this movement: "What are you protesting? Most people who support Occupy Boston call for reforming Wall Street and removing special interest from government, but there no one single issue or demand that summarizes our movement. People are dissatisfied with how our country is being run and want fundamental, lasting change of many kinds."

Very nice OccupyBoston - thank you for communicating this!

(anonymous-observer)

Long Documents
Original Other Message Statements & Versions of Current Option

[[SOP1 SOP - Direct Participation] - A demand for Direct Participation within government, acting as the Fourth Branch

SOP - Federal Reserve - A statement focusing on the role of the federal reserve in the economic crisis

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

SOP - Banking Culture - Dismantling destructive discriminatory culture of scarcity that enabled the financial oligarchy in the first place

Proposed OccupyBoston Declaration of Occupation (use Discussion tab on this linked page to continue this topic)

also check out the ideas and join the conversation on the Strategies, Proposals, Positions page

Ways to contribute
Offline Online
 * SOP working drafts are posted in the library tent for people to read and comment on. The comments will be transcribed and added to the discussion tab of the SOP submission
 * Go to discussion. Read and comment on proposals listed.
 * To post your SOP...
 * Click on the Discussion tab.
 * click 'new post'
 * In the subject field put your short, "tweetlike" summary of your Statement of Purpose.
 * Write a more extensive exploration of your idea in the message box.
 * create a page - once the discussion of the idea is reaching some consensus create a page for it, leaving a link at the end of the discussion

SOP Inspiration

 * This is where we can put other statements (i.e. OWS, Declaration of Independence) as well as editorials, pieces of theory, etc. that we might find useful to think with. Sometimes it's good to rub our ideas against other people's ideas--then sparks fly in interesting ways.
 * The education page of the wiki has a wealth of interesting articles and sources.
 * Ron Paul Defending Occupy Wall Street - Republican National Debates 10/18/11

Questions to think about:

 * Why do we occupy?
 * Why is the world messed up? What specifically is messed up about the world?
 * We chant, "Another world is possible." What would your ideal world look like?
 * If you could do just one thing to make the world better, what would you do?

--- Based on: statement of purpose at wikispaces