Hey President Obama ...
Dear patriots, rabble-rousers, revolutionaries,
On Saturday thousands of us will occupy Wall Street. We will wave our signs, unfurl our banners, beat our drums, chant our slogans … and then we'll get down to business and hold several people's assemblies to decide what our "one demand" will be.
Shall we demand that President Obama reinstate the Glass-Steagall Act; outlaw flash trading; impose a 1% tax on all financial transactions?
These are good ideas but not very energizing.
How about we demand the revocation of corporate personhood?
Feels a bit too abstract. Many Americans don't fully grasp what's at stake with this one. And besides, even if he wants to, President Obama cannot deliver this immediately. In the wake of the recent Supreme Court ruling, a reform project like this requires a constitutional amendment that would take a few years and a whole movement to achieve.
We could demand Obama set up an American Democracy Reform Commission tasked with ending the monied corruption in Washington? Or perhaps a Presidential Commission to rethink the American banking system?
Most Americans know that Washington is awash with corporate money and undue influence and would like to see democracy vibrant again. And most would also love to see the "too big to fail" banks broken up, downsized and made to serve the people, the economy and society again. A demand along those lines just might capture the public's imagination.
What if, try as we might, we just can't come up with only one demand? Well, then maybe we can decide together on an END THE MONIED CORRUPTION OF AMERICA MANIFESTO – a rousing compendium of our most urgent demands. And on the seventh day of our occupation we publicly deliver our manifesto to the White House and to the American media, letting Obama know that we won't leave Wall Street until he responds.
If thousands of us hang in there day after day, week after week, we may be able to create a spectacular revolutionary experience that fires up the public imagination and eventually maneuvers Obama into doing something that he has so far not had the guts to do: agree to a bold, decisive stroke against the financial corruption of America. Now that would get the American people behind us and cheering us on from coast to coast.
If we can achieve that, the sky will be the limit … further demands will follow and a new America will be born.
On Saturday, our Tahrir moment begins … strength, courage, nonviolence!
for the wild,
Culture Jammers HQ
PS.
This Saturday at Noon, meet in Bowling Green Park at the Charging Bull statue in Lower Manhattan. Then at 3pm, join your fellow compatriots at One Chase Manhattan Plaza for the first of many people's assemblies. Check out occupywallst.org/article/lead-up-to-occupation for additional information that you should know before the occupation begins.
For those who cannot attend one of the global solidarity occupations happening in Milan, Madrid, Valencia, London, Lisbon, Athens, San Francisco, Santander, Madison, Amsterdam, Los Angeles and now Algeria and Israel, there will also be a live stream of #OCCUPYWALLSTREET at: livestream.com/globalrevolution
occupywallstreet.org / occupywallst.org
Reddit / Facebook / Twitter
322 comments on the article “Hey President Obama ...”
Displaying 141 - 150 of 322
Page 15 of 33
Anonymous
There is no opposition to revolution here, but rather opposition to a protest that appears to be a protest against nothing. Fair enough if they had set out a reason to take action against something but they`re just going to decide on the day? What the fuck is that?
This is not the way revolutions begin, and lets not delude ourselves with grandeur, maybe Adbusters will sell some more issues (only a good thing, sincerely) but even if Obama cares about whatever it is they go for how much difference do you really think he will be able to make? What has more power in America, the president? or the Dollar? or even the banks?
If anything it sends the message that these people don`t care about any ideals they just want to be known as radicals and different; in it for the glory. How can you say that people who have gone somewhere without knowing what they`re going to be doing there have gone there for a reason? Confused? I am!
Anonymous
There is no opposition to revolution here, but rather opposition to a protest that appears to be a protest against nothing. Fair enough if they had set out a reason to take action against something but they`re just going to decide on the day? What the fuck is that?
This is not the way revolutions begin, and lets not delude ourselves with grandeur, maybe Adbusters will sell some more issues (only a good thing, sincerely) but even if Obama cares about whatever it is they go for how much difference do you really think he will be able to make? What has more power in America, the president? or the Dollar? or even the banks?
If anything it sends the message that these people don`t care about any ideals they just want to be known as radicals and different; in it for the glory. How can you say that people who have gone somewhere without knowing what they`re going to be doing there have gone there for a reason? Confused? I am!
rockslut666
I believe that this is exactly how revolutions begin. Large groups of people who are unhappy with the state of things, standing up, and being heard. Weather it be one clear goal, or many waiting to be recognized. Because theres so many individuals who arent necessarily affiliated with one another theres bound to be differences in what needs to be accomplished first, and no, not everyone will have pure motives, but thats no reason to discredit the people who're there for the right reasons. I was also under the impression that this was a protest to remove the rights of corporations to act as people, and whatever else was proposed was people representing their own individual struggles. Wich is a good thing.
rockslut666
I believe that this is exactly how revolutions begin. Large groups of people who are unhappy with the state of things, standing up, and being heard. Weather it be one clear goal, or many waiting to be recognized. Because theres so many individuals who arent necessarily affiliated with one another theres bound to be differences in what needs to be accomplished first, and no, not everyone will have pure motives, but thats no reason to discredit the people who're there for the right reasons. I was also under the impression that this was a protest to remove the rights of corporations to act as people, and whatever else was proposed was people representing their own individual struggles. Wich is a good thing.
Anonymous
Thank you Rockslut666,
I agree that even the idea that corporations holding any form of rights is a most heinous crime indeed, let alone that they actually should in reality, but alas myself and i`m sure many others were not aware that this was a unifying topic of the protest, However you see the problem with the individual struggle is that the government, or whoever it is being protested against, understands already that people have individual struggles. Protesters, or more rightly, protestants are brought together to fight a point of social injustice already understood by all, or else they would not be there (that would lack integrity and give the right wing/capitalists/media the excuse to label protesters as nothing more but angsty directionless thugs out looking for a touch of violence) and the fact that a point of protest needed to be decided once the protest had begun, to me shows that it is a farce.
I would be in complete support, I would potentially even be there myself had it not been for the un-clarity of reasoning for being there in the first place (that and the conglomeration with Anonymous)
Anonymous
Thank you Rockslut666,
I agree that even the idea that corporations holding any form of rights is a most heinous crime indeed, let alone that they actually should in reality, but alas myself and i`m sure many others were not aware that this was a unifying topic of the protest, However you see the problem with the individual struggle is that the government, or whoever it is being protested against, understands already that people have individual struggles. Protesters, or more rightly, protestants are brought together to fight a point of social injustice already understood by all, or else they would not be there (that would lack integrity and give the right wing/capitalists/media the excuse to label protesters as nothing more but angsty directionless thugs out looking for a touch of violence) and the fact that a point of protest needed to be decided once the protest had begun, to me shows that it is a farce.
I would be in complete support, I would potentially even be there myself had it not been for the un-clarity of reasoning for being there in the first place (that and the conglomeration with Anonymous)
Go Rockslut 666
You are absolutely right. Revolution only comes from struggle. History proves this. We need to organize all of the various groups that are attending. Rid ourselves of the racists among the protestors and get the real revolt going!
Go Rockslut 666
You are absolutely right. Revolution only comes from struggle. History proves this. We need to organize all of the various groups that are attending. Rid ourselves of the racists among the protestors and get the real revolt going!
rockslut666
Thank you SO MUCH! Im surprised at the level of opposition Im seeing here. {
rockslut666
Thank you SO MUCH! Im surprised at the level of opposition Im seeing here. {
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