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 ...”
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welthar
New member. Have been watching from a distance since it is not covered on mass media, of course. The idea of the large protest, grassroots people driven, struggling and acheiving huge results like we have seen around the world is very inspiring. I'm sure there are millions of angry people lilke me who, when they learn of this event, feel deep down the desire to take part. But I am concerned, like previous comments, about the goal. We are not trying to take out our country's leader. We want many things (which are intrinsic to our culture, politics, and soceity) to be different. I fear that this movement will fizzle out and go nowhere, without one solid, specific attainable goal. What about something like: 1) Forcing corporations to pay up? (taxes, contributions, etc), or 2) Eliminating the electoral college and establising a 3rd peoples party (green not red-no china please) ? Maybe get "Americans Elect 2012" involved in establishing that party. We need something winnable to put in our pocket and take home. Possibly that would be a springboard for other, larger nationwide events to help move our leaders into action.
One thing is for sure, though. As a people (at least in my lifetime 43 years) we have never been angry. Not really. Not angry like we see in Egypt, or other countries who have recently felt that there is no way out but to fight against their leaders, and though their bloodshed, have won some incredible results.
The religious right wing (our current spreading evil) has been brilliantly and covertly working to infiltrate (I'm sorry for sounding conspiracy therory-like) our politics, through growing home schooled (hey-my kids are homeschooled too, but not religious driven) new generation leaders with a different set of beliefs and facts. Read how they are trying to change the voting rules so the democrats will have less votes available to them. Where is the anger, the rising up from the left to say STOP! NO FAIR!!!???
I would say, that I am ready to get angry. Where are my comrades?
welthar
New member. Have been watching from a distance since it is not covered on mass media, of course. The idea of the large protest, grassroots people driven, struggling and acheiving huge results like we have seen around the world is very inspiring. I'm sure there are millions of angry people lilke me who, when they learn of this event, feel deep down the desire to take part. But I am concerned, like previous comments, about the goal. We are not trying to take out our country's leader. We want many things (which are intrinsic to our culture, politics, and soceity) to be different. I fear that this movement will fizzle out and go nowhere, without one solid, specific attainable goal. What about something like: 1) Forcing corporations to pay up? (taxes, contributions, etc), or 2) Eliminating the electoral college and establising a 3rd peoples party (green not red-no china please) ? Maybe get "Americans Elect 2012" involved in establishing that party. We need something winnable to put in our pocket and take home. Possibly that would be a springboard for other, larger nationwide events to help move our leaders into action.
One thing is for sure, though. As a people (at least in my lifetime 43 years) we have never been angry. Not really. Not angry like we see in Egypt, or other countries who have recently felt that there is no way out but to fight against their leaders, and though their bloodshed, have won some incredible results.
The religious right wing (our current spreading evil) has been brilliantly and covertly working to infiltrate (I'm sorry for sounding conspiracy therory-like) our politics, through growing home schooled (hey-my kids are homeschooled too, but not religious driven) new generation leaders with a different set of beliefs and facts. Read how they are trying to change the voting rules so the democrats will have less votes available to them. Where is the anger, the rising up from the left to say STOP! NO FAIR!!!???
I would say, that I am ready to get angry. Where are my comrades?
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