Is America Ripe for a Tahrir Moment?
Hey you rebels, radicals and utopian dreamers out there,
Our call to #OCCUPYWALLSTREET on September 17 shook up a tsunami of spontaneous enthusiasm. Jammers from all over the nation (and a few Canadians!) have sent word that they will be there. Meanwhile various activist organizers have realized the potential of this event, rolled up their sleeves and gotten to work. While some techies have teamed up to build an indie open source website for organizing carpools to the event (occupywallst.org), others are thinking through the logistics of feeding everyone and defending the first days of the occupation. Through it all, a deluge of solidarity messages have been pouring in from Spain, Egypt and elsewhere.
Will you be there?
Imagine … the dawn of the 13th day of the occupation … you're tired, not sleeping or eating too great … you've been harassed, maybe tear gassed and beaten. Bloomberg is threatening to call in the National Guard, Obama is hemming and hawing, but you are sitting tight because much of the nation is cheering you on. Al Jazeera and the BBC are beaming your struggle to a captivated world and the tension is building for Obama to break his silence. It feels much like it did in Tahrir Square moments before Mubarak caved. You've never felt so alive!
What had the power to inspire all this?
It was our one simple demand that Barack Obama must ordain a Presidential Commission tasked with ending the influence that corporate money has over our representatives in Washington. Our one simple demand is: STOP THE MONIED CORRUPTION AT THE HEART OF OUR DEMOCRACY!
Achieving this Presidential Reform Commission will be the crucial first step towards opening a political space for a flurry of further people's demands like, total transparency in all government affairs, a Tobin Tax on financial transactions, a grand strategy for reducing America's carbon footprint …
September 17 could be the beginning of an American Spring … the moment we the people turn the tables on our would-be corporate masters and start acting like free empowered citizens once again.
Are you with us? Bring a tent.
for the wild,
Culture Jammers HQ
Get Involved:
Call to Artists:
We call on Helmut Smits, Darius and Downey, Mark Jenkins, JR, Bansky and cultural creatives everywhere to create pieces that embolden the September 17th revolt. Send to [email protected]
Call to International Jammers:
We call on jammers across the world to occupy financial districts on September 17:
#OCCUPYBAYSTREET in Toronto, Canada
#OCCUPYCANARYWHARF in London, UK
#OCCUPYMARTINPLACE in Sydney, Australia
#OCCUPYMARUNOUCHI in Tokyo, Japan
#OCCUPYBANKENVIERTEL in Frankfurt, Germany
… and elsewhere!
98 comments on the article “Is America Ripe for a Tahrir Moment?”
Displaying 71 - 80 of 98
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Anonymous
Sounds Great!!! If only it could be that way...but our government is way too corrupt to allow anything beneficial to the people to take place.
Anonymous
Sounds Great!!! If only it could be that way...but our government is way too corrupt to allow anything beneficial to the people to take place.
Anonymous
Here's an idea, you won't like it because you must exist outside of it all, but hear me out.
I run an investment fund, we gather people together from all over the country and invest in companies, green companies, organic companies, righteous companies. Companies you would like to exist in your new model. we jam these companies with straight liquid cash via the stock market. my investors aren't out for a 4% gain, they're out to vote with there monies, to get these companies cash flow and encourage others to do so as well.
imagine if the scale of such a thing grew...Organic, Green, Good comapnies could see millions of capitol dollars roll in, allowing them to take on controlling companies that hold a controlling share. Sugar will reappear in our food, maybe even nutrients as well.
the free market/stock market system allows for thousands of ways a critical mass of people could effect change. its a turnable rudder on a ship.
the system/state/insert term thrives on the fact that real revolutionaries stay marginal at best because the system has weaved this idea of total seperation into the fabric of rebellion. When the vulnerabilities of the system are glaring.
Maybe you believe my idea is weak, but were doing it, taking action on a different front. Working from the inside out. The free-market system is built for this and as corrupt as it has become and still maintains very simple vulnerabilities.
No one even trades on the floor anymore. So while I believe you actions will be marginalized and downplayed (if even outright unreported)by the media, on that day my fund will see $100,000 more dollars being funneled to quality companies, organic companies, companies ran by decent people. Not for the purpose of making a % of gain, but to funnel capitol into the change we want to come.
I was once right there with you, I have tear gas can scars, it was great fun. But at the end of the day reality is always going to be reality. there are 10,000 ways to effect real change. your just going to have to stop reading the propaganda that tells you it can only be done from outside.
best of luck
Anonymous
Here's an idea, you won't like it because you must exist outside of it all, but hear me out.
I run an investment fund, we gather people together from all over the country and invest in companies, green companies, organic companies, righteous companies. Companies you would like to exist in your new model. we jam these companies with straight liquid cash via the stock market. my investors aren't out for a 4% gain, they're out to vote with there monies, to get these companies cash flow and encourage others to do so as well.
imagine if the scale of such a thing grew...Organic, Green, Good comapnies could see millions of capitol dollars roll in, allowing them to take on controlling companies that hold a controlling share. Sugar will reappear in our food, maybe even nutrients as well.
the free market/stock market system allows for thousands of ways a critical mass of people could effect change. its a turnable rudder on a ship.
the system/state/insert term thrives on the fact that real revolutionaries stay marginal at best because the system has weaved this idea of total seperation into the fabric of rebellion. When the vulnerabilities of the system are glaring.
Maybe you believe my idea is weak, but were doing it, taking action on a different front. Working from the inside out. The free-market system is built for this and as corrupt as it has become and still maintains very simple vulnerabilities.
No one even trades on the floor anymore. So while I believe you actions will be marginalized and downplayed (if even outright unreported)by the media, on that day my fund will see $100,000 more dollars being funneled to quality companies, organic companies, companies ran by decent people. Not for the purpose of making a % of gain, but to funnel capitol into the change we want to come.
I was once right there with you, I have tear gas can scars, it was great fun. But at the end of the day reality is always going to be reality. there are 10,000 ways to effect real change. your just going to have to stop reading the propaganda that tells you it can only be done from outside.
best of luck
spanishrevoluti...
Greetings from Puerta del Sol, Madrid, Spain.
Inspired by you, we´re preparing our actions to support September 17th. Because we´re not puppets in the hands of bankers and politicians.
Good job! Best luck!
spanishrevoluti...
Greetings from Puerta del Sol, Madrid, Spain.
Inspired by you, we´re preparing our actions to support September 17th. Because we´re not puppets in the hands of bankers and politicians.
Good job! Best luck!
Anonymous
Beware of the Spanish ¨revolution¨. It is not clear what they want but mostly they want free housing, free this and that and we, middle class workers to pay for with our taxes. Poor people do not pay taxes because they are poor, rich men do not pay taxes since they have smart CPA´s who know how to evade them, middle class is getting taxed and getting poorer.
No Communism please. It was a failure in the Eastern European countries, China, etc, so it does not work. Look at North Korea. Communism does not work. I am a worker and monthly pay my mortgage, my taxes, everything. Please do not copy the Spanish ¨revolution¨. All they want is a free ride.
Anonymous
Beware of the Spanish ¨revolution¨. It is not clear what they want but mostly they want free housing, free this and that and we, middle class workers to pay for with our taxes. Poor people do not pay taxes because they are poor, rich men do not pay taxes since they have smart CPA´s who know how to evade them, middle class is getting taxed and getting poorer.
No Communism please. It was a failure in the Eastern European countries, China, etc, so it does not work. Look at North Korea. Communism does not work. I am a worker and monthly pay my mortgage, my taxes, everything. Please do not copy the Spanish ¨revolution¨. All they want is a free ride.
to the 10 Core ...
Answer to the 10 Core Demands: in no. 7 you wrote: 7. Establish true Universal health care.
Are you ready to pay a 18% of US$1,000/per month wages, plus 23% sales tax on any item, 8% sales tax on food, in order to have Universal health care like we do in Europe? The employer pays about 28% of your wages (which of course, comes out of your wages) to support this universal health care.
Not to mention the years long waiting list if you need surgery of any kind and about one year waiting list if you want to see a specialist doctor of any kind. Good luck!
to the 10 Core ...
Answer to the 10 Core Demands: in no. 7 you wrote: 7. Establish true Universal health care.
Are you ready to pay a 18% of US$1,000/per month wages, plus 23% sales tax on any item, 8% sales tax on food, in order to have Universal health care like we do in Europe? The employer pays about 28% of your wages (which of course, comes out of your wages) to support this universal health care.
Not to mention the years long waiting list if you need surgery of any kind and about one year waiting list if you want to see a specialist doctor of any kind. Good luck!
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