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SternSkipper -> RE: Stupid protestors and percentages (10/10/2011 8:36:19 AM)
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quote:
http://coupmedia.org/occupy-vote.html?limitstart=20
Our protestors are trying to get their act together and protest something besides just, well, everything. The above link will take you to their proposed list of demands. Taz, I think originally posted it.
So here's the challenge. Go there and vote. Keep a tally on your yes/no votes. Report your percentage here. If you feel strongly about a given point, feel free to discuss.
Now I know these folks are evolving, and the movement will probably end up in a place the original groups don't like a lot, but hey, if this is the movement, figure out where you stand. Note, you can support things they demand without supporting them or their methods.
There are a couple of the issues that are internal to the organization, like what to name the demands, and whether or not to create a board to manage them. I ignored those, and ended up with 25 potential demands. I'm split, slightly on the negative side, as in can and would support 12 of those, while not supporting 13.
Ya know... this whole Demands thing ... I know the whole notion is that there is NO PLAN at all and that a protest is supposed to have a formal list of demands. But in applying that to this movement, the bystander misses the entire point. The biggest of all purposes of the movement is to identify those who feel that corporations have too much influence in their lives, don't live up to the social they enter into with the consumers that support them, have stolen from them, and continue to take advantage, manipulate our political system to a point where we cannot even avail ourselves of any kind of Representative Government, or just that 99% of the population is paying the dues of 1% of the population. The list goes on, it doesn't matter... In any political movement, people must first identify with each other (or have the Koch Brothers do it for them in the case of the Tea Party). That is happening now... and when you go to the sites, you meet these people and they usually have an average of about 4 big issues with the way things are. And I have YET to meet a person I would describe as 'inarticulate' or 'ignorant' (I take that back ... In South Station, there was one guy who was from the 'tea party' according to the transit cops that escorted him out of the station after he accosted us). But among the protesters, I found they were intelligent people of a vast range of ages. Yeah, there is a smattering of people who come to support what I feel are not issues germane to the apparent core values. The most prevalent 'demand' seems to still be get the banks and large corporations out of politics.
Now, as the movement settles in across the country (REMEMBER, a significant number of these groups are less than a week old)... the list of 'demands' will narrow and an actual platform will emerge. Most of us supporting this remotely (and part-time onsite) are pretty sure that what will emerge is one of two things... A third party (not in my opinion... not yet anyway) or a tea party-like wing, though probably larger if public reaction is any indicator... people pour out of stores, and even banks and largely applaud and give thumbs up when they march and a lot of people just hop into the marches rather arbitrarily. It's the weirdest thing I have ever seen, I saw the peace marches when I was a child and it just wasn't like this. There was a polarization that just isn't there. When you encounter opposition, it's one of two types... either some completely ignorant guy trying to start a shouting match or it's one of these smug guys who 'toast' you from the sidewalk cafe. Funny thing is, as the days I've spent marching passed, you see more and more people in the crowd on the sidelines say "shut up" or something to that effect.
And I happen to think that it's very telling of a movement's impact when lead players from the opposition (namely Eric Cantor and Paul Ryan) make the mistake of going on meet the press for the purpose of calling them a mob and condemning free speech. There is all this talk of 'permits'... the first rallies of the Tea Party and in particular, their bogus reenactment of the original event, I believe were permit-less and there was a good deal of garbage dumped into Boston Harbor by the attendees (paper, plastic bottles and styrofoam cups mostly) and the wooden box constituted a violation of environmental law. I have a friend on the Harbor Master's staff who described them as pretty cagey once they figured out there was a $1k ticket awaiting the proud dumper).
Anyway, when the press coverage is so poor and so many thousands of people are in the streets protesting every day, yet the mouth pieces get the coverage, you know you have something the 21st century political system is afraid of.
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