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Understanding the Occupy Movement

Understanding the Occupy Movement

 

“The Ballerina and The Bull”–the image that launched Occupy Wall Street in September 2011. This photo was featured on a pull-out poster in Adbusters magazine, and apparently was noticed by quite a few people!

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Daily news dose: Democracy Now! The best Mon-Fri daily national/international news program in the United States, hosted by Amy Goodman, available online 24-7 with searchable archives going back to 1996: http://www.democracynow.org

–and the network Democracy Now is based at, KPFA / Pacifica Radio, 94.1fm in the Bay Area–totally listener-supported radio:
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What is “Occupy” / “Occupy Wall Street”? –some helpful links

Declaration of the Occupation of New York City–mainly a list of grievances.
Occupy Wall Street: FAQ (frequently asked questions, answered by The Nation magazine’s Nathan Schneider)
Video:  Media analysis:   The Young Turks tell it like it wasn’t reported:  30-50-100,000 people marched to blockade the Port on Nov. 2 —although many outlets in MSM reported 4,500 down to 3,000.
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Here’s an early (October 2011) ‘report’ on what Occupy Wall Street was asking for from an conservative outlet’s perspective:
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Here’s a more accurate list of the priorities for Occupy, written by progressive documentary filmmaker Michael Moore:
And here’s Moore with Naomi Klein and others, in a panel discussion focused on “the movement against corporate power”:
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Money Out of Politics! This pro-capitalist investment-news guy speaks the language of non-partisan disgust with financial governance:
Dylan Ratigan began his Get Money Out / United Republic campaign for a Constitutional amendment to get money out of politics with this ‘rant’–which gets really good about one-third of the way through:

–and here’s the website for the Get Money Out campaign:

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Video:  Mic-Check!!!  When Wisonsin’s union-busting governor gave a speech at Chicago’s Union League Club the morning of Nov 3rd, he had some unexpected guests:  an organization called Stand Up! Chicago

 Occupy Oakland’s homepage—with tabs for Calendar, Public Forum, General Assembly, etc.:

“Why Isn’t Wall Street in Jail?” Matt Taibbi on Democracy Now!

http://www.democracynow.org/2011/2/22/matt_taibbi_why_isnt_wall_street

MATT TAIBBI:We have two-and-a-half million people in jail this country, you know, more than a million who are in jail for nonviolent crimes. And yet, we couldn’t find a single person on Wall Street to do even a day in jail for losing 40 percent of the world’s wealth in a criminal fraud scheme? …this goes beyond the cliché that rich people have better lawyers and they have an advantage. This is a step beyond that. This is a situation where the system is completely corrupted, and it’s true regulatory capture. The SEC and the Justice Department are essentially subsidiaries of Wall Street.

Taibbi’s article at Rolling Stone: http://www.rollingstone.com/politics/news/why-isnt-wall-street-in-jail-20110216

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  Host of The Young Turks says,
The Revolution Begins in 2012
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/cenk-uygur/the-revolution-begins-in-_b_1178201.html 
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Brief interview including EIGHT DEMANDS

Rev. Jesse Jackson
Excerpts:
“We have so much room to fight, that we must not fight each other.
 We can learn from each other how to best organize, but let’s not get carried away with our perfect strategies.
 All our ideas have to find common ground for us to win.
We all want to end corporate greed.
We all want to end corporations as a person with a vote.
We all want to end voter suppression.
We all want to end student loan exploitation.
We all want to end unnecessary, expensive war.
We all want to wipe out malnutrition without wiping out the malnourished.
We all want women’s rights to self-determination.
We all want racial justice and gender equality.
–Now y’all, that’s a lot to grill.  So for one thing, right now, let’s keep Occupy so big that it can’t be ignored!  Occupy streets, jail cells, voter booths!”
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Harvard Business School talks “RUNAWAY CAPITALISM”

Even Harvard’s Business School is talking about how American capitalism is wrecking itself:
http://hbr.org/2012/01/runaway-capitalism/ar/1
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