Why should we protest in America?
Recently I told a coworker I wanted to film the ongoing protests, and his response was to ask what protests I was referring to. I said the occupy protests and other related activities (like the NATO, or Anaheim protests) and my coworkers said... oh what's occupy? We need to spread the message better. We need to reach out better. We need to get wiser. There are people who haven't noticed that we've been protesting for the last whole year.
One issue people have is it's hard to identify why we are protesting. There are many reasons that people come to protests, and the fact that we have some many different issues with our government has been used to say we lack focus and direction. It should be eye opening that there are so many important issues that our country is currently failing to appropriately address that there are many people massing in protest. I can't speak to every reason people have for protesting but I can give a general blueprint for what I am protesting about and why I believe many others are involved in the protests as well.
We are protesting because:
The economy is a crashing- we've been in a recession since 2009. Economic abuses and runaway greed is the major culprit. Greed has become the culture norm for our country and it is unchecked at the highest levels. Over the past three decades the gape in wealth (and power) has widened to unsustainable margins- the result is the collapse of our economy.
The problem is multifaceted and the solution therefor is complex as well. Here is a rundown of problems dealing with the extreme greed culture of the 1%:
The 1% have corrupted our government, and have used the government to pass laws in their favor at the expense of the 99%. It takes money to get into office, and special interests donate to every major campaign (and both parties) leaving our representation indebted to the groups of already wealthy people. Additionally the already indebted members of government (which is every member) need to continue to collect funds to get reelected. Governmental power is therefor beholden to special interests (or to put it nakedly the wealthy elites) and not to the people. The greed culture is worsened by the fact that it is now the same wealthy elite who get into the so called “revolving door” between lobbyist, executive, and member of government. The revolving door is named such because of the frequency with which elites shift between those three roles. Our government has become of the elite by the elite and for the elite (and the 99% can F*ck off).
Why is this bad and how does it ruin our economy- and what can we do to stop it? It's bad because we have lost all say in our governance which flies in the face of our constitution and everything that America stands for. It's bad because we have lost any ability to regulate greed- greed has become legalized through this coup. The passage of legislation like Citizens United that allows unlimited corporate funds to be used in campaigning is the embodiment of the greed culture. How does greed ruin our economy? In 1996 Clinton suspended the Glass/Steagall act which removed the legal separation between investment and mortgage banks- the economic collapse on wall-street and in our real estate was directly due to this breakdown. Subsequently our government bailed out the banks (in a direct blow against capitalism). These are naked abuses by the government which benefit only the excessively wealthy while ruining the lives of the 99%.
The excessively wealthy have led a very successful campaign to limit and restrict unions- most recently in Wisconsin. They are breaking all forms of restriction on greed. The government is now a wing of the 1%- and the laws are now in their favor. Unionised voices are being silenced too, and more and more industries are being left to “self regulation” or as it should be called “no” regulation. This lack of any way to work within the system is a great reason to protest, and the seven demands here are simple and would dramatically improve the situation for the 99%.
1. Protest to reinstate Glass/Steagal- end the mad banking schemes.
2. End bank bailouts, and demand the money back- foreclose on banks if they fail.
3. Overturn Citizens united, Corporations are not people, and should not have the freedoms people have.
4. Change campaign finance laws. It is simply the only way to limit corruption. Either create campaign pools that all candidates on the ballot have equal access too- and track expenses of the candidates. End superPACs and restrict third party campaigning, or stop ad campaigning altogether and only allow tv appearances by candidates in the form of debates- or interviews (where every candidate gets interviewed).
5. End the revolving door. Make it illegal to have conflicting interests.
6. End positive interest on money. Money that is sitting in banks making money while not being used to create jobs is doing the 99% no good and we have such little money in comparison in our accounts that the only group who makes anything appreciable off of interest is the 1%.
7. Set ultra low interest rates for borrowing to go to college or to start a business.
Reason 2 to protest in America- Our government is restricting our civil liberties. They are doing this rapidly and very openly. The first massive assault on freedom was the Patriot Act under Bush, but recently Obama and the present congress has dismantled most of the constitution. This is not an overstatement- it is fact.
The NDAA provided provisions for a wartime curtailment of rights for citizens of the United States on an unparallelled scale. Remember the “war on terror” is legally a perpetual war thus all wartime powers granted to the government apply... perpetually. The NDAA has a few serious issues- one it defines US soil as a battlefield (IE the military can conduct operations in America), and it calls for military internment of anyone “suspected” of being a terrorist, or aiding a terrorist organization indefinitely without trial... or rights. This very specifically includes US citizens. Our constitutional right to due process has been suspended because now anyone can be held forever without any rights or a trial based on “suspicion.”
The NDRP allows the government (again in times of war) to seize any resources, utilities or foodstuffs deemed necessary (by the government)- it also allows the government to seize any personnel. This is a suspension of every right and every freedom we have. Anyone and anything can be taken as government property at any time legally with no oversight.
Our government has been working on ending free speech on the internet. CRISPA ACTA are the latest iterations of these attempts PIPA and SOPA having already failed. This is a first amendment issue. As is the nationwide often violent crackdown on protesters. The anti protest activity by our government is a suspension of the right to peaceful assembly and free speech. The anti protest legislation called the Trespass act bans many types of protests- and gives the government the ability to arrest detain and imprison protesters at will (for example the government can declare any site a critical site which makes it illegal to protest at- and then can scoop up protesters and imprison them for years).
We have no functional rights, not ability to challenge authority for our rights (because our right to due process has been removed), we do not have the right to talk about it (ACTA and CRISPA), and we cannot protest our lack of rights (Trespass). This is a great reason to protest. Yes it's dangerous, but it is so important because we are losing every right rapidly.
Every member of congress and the President has broken their oath of office (because the oath of office states that they will defend the constitution). They have either actively broken their oaths, or they they failed, and in either case they should be held accountable- none of them should remain in office.
Our demands on this point- restore our civil liberties
1. Overturn NDAA provisions for detention, and home soil battleground
2. Overturn trespass bill
3. Cease crackdowns on peaceful protests
4. overturn ACTA and suspend all further Internet censorship bills.
5. Overturn NDRP.
6. remove the oath-breakers from office (recall elections or impeachment) or regular elections.
Reason three to protest- We are in the longest continuous war in the history of our country. I'm not even talking about the government's declaration of forever war here- the war in Afghanistan is the longest war in our nations history. Why are we there? We are bleeding money into the military industrial complex to gain... nothing? Worse we are sending our young men and women to die for... nothing. Our army is being misused in Afghanistan and in Iraq, Armies exist to win battles and to defeat enemies. When they are used to do anything other than that they are being misused- they are not peacekeepers they are not nation-builders. This must end in both countries we are occupying.
Our demand:
End the wars.
Reason four to protest our President, and government, are war criminals. We must hold our leadership accountable for their actions because they reflect on our whole culture. It is not legal to carry out assassinations especially not internationally, but under the direct command of our president our military is doing just that around the globe. This is a war crime. President Obama's Kill list (and the fact that he has been actively assassinating people worldwide should have him impeached and put on trial at the Hague.
Our government considers cyber-attacks an act of war, yet at the direction of Obama our government carried out a cyber attack on Iran (a country we are not at war with). By our governments definitions we have carried out war operations against an government we are not at war with without the approval of congress and without declaring war. This is vastly illegal.
Demands:
Immediate cessation of assassinations, and cyber attacks.
Impeachment of Obama and trials for him and anyone else who is directly involved at a high level in these illegal acts. Willingness to extradite them to face any charges from the Hague.
This is not an all inclusive list of reasons to protest, but they are the reasons that I find most compelling. Without protests we will not exert any pressure on the system at all (it's designed to keep us powerless and isolated). We must protest because we have no direct way to make changes in our government- and our government must be changed due to the myriad reasons mentioned.
The other thing people say is that Occupy is not effective... and it pisses me off- especially when it's cited as a reason why it's okay that police are violently cracking down on protesters (this was the argument two college students tried to make). A single protest alone does not instantly change a situation, but it does publicly air grievances and bring together people who push changes. We have no other way to show our dissent with the current situation, and we have raised awareness about income inequality. This is a success. Beyond that we are continuing to protest because the situations we are protesting against haven't been corrected. By all measures Occupy and the general protests are exerting pressure on the system with is exactly what we want to do. Political candidates must discuss issues we care about, and have been. Without continued protests we will lose our voice again to the special interests.
It will take a lot of work and a long time to achieve many of the goals mentioned in this article, but continuing protests are the beginning of a process of change for the betterment of the 99%. some of these goals are very achievable- ending the wars, ending drone strikes, repealing Citizens United, Trespass, ACTA, NDAA, and NDRP , and reinstalling Glass/Steagall could all be done by putting increasing pressure on the system. We need to start voting angrily. We need to start pulling people out of office. The more we protest, and the more we show that we can and will fire members of our government who support/are part of the greed culture the faster we will regain control of our country.
Don't sit on the sidelines. Spread the word, and get into the streets. Talk about the issues, and plan marches and rallies. Show the world, and the 1%, that we are the 99% of true Americans and we do not accept greedy rule, we do not the suspension of civil our rights, we will not fight their wars, and we will not see this country disgraced though illegal war-crime policy. Do not turn your back on us while we are facing violent suppression by our government.
Recently I told a coworker I wanted to film the ongoing protests, and his response was to ask what protests I was referring to. I said the occupy protests and other related activities (like the NATO, or Anaheim protests) and my coworkers said... oh what's occupy? We need to spread the message better. We need to reach out better. We need to get wiser. There are people who haven't noticed that we've been protesting for the last whole year.
One issue people have is it's hard to identify why we are protesting. There are many reasons that people come to protests, and the fact that we have some many different issues with our government has been used to say we lack focus and direction. It should be eye opening that there are so many important issues that our country is currently failing to appropriately address that there are many people massing in protest. I can't speak to every reason people have for protesting but I can give a general blueprint for what I am protesting about and why I believe many others are involved in the protests as well.
We are protesting because:
- The economy is crashing due to unrestrained greed culture lead by the elites
- Our government is restricting our civil liberties
- Our country is in the longest continuous war in its history
- Our president is a war criminal
The economy is a crashing- we've been in a recession since 2009. Economic abuses and runaway greed is the major culprit. Greed has become the culture norm for our country and it is unchecked at the highest levels. Over the past three decades the gape in wealth (and power) has widened to unsustainable margins- the result is the collapse of our economy.
The problem is multifaceted and the solution therefor is complex as well. Here is a rundown of problems dealing with the extreme greed culture of the 1%:
The 1% have corrupted our government, and have used the government to pass laws in their favor at the expense of the 99%. It takes money to get into office, and special interests donate to every major campaign (and both parties) leaving our representation indebted to the groups of already wealthy people. Additionally the already indebted members of government (which is every member) need to continue to collect funds to get reelected. Governmental power is therefor beholden to special interests (or to put it nakedly the wealthy elites) and not to the people. The greed culture is worsened by the fact that it is now the same wealthy elite who get into the so called “revolving door” between lobbyist, executive, and member of government. The revolving door is named such because of the frequency with which elites shift between those three roles. Our government has become of the elite by the elite and for the elite (and the 99% can F*ck off).
Why is this bad and how does it ruin our economy- and what can we do to stop it? It's bad because we have lost all say in our governance which flies in the face of our constitution and everything that America stands for. It's bad because we have lost any ability to regulate greed- greed has become legalized through this coup. The passage of legislation like Citizens United that allows unlimited corporate funds to be used in campaigning is the embodiment of the greed culture. How does greed ruin our economy? In 1996 Clinton suspended the Glass/Steagall act which removed the legal separation between investment and mortgage banks- the economic collapse on wall-street and in our real estate was directly due to this breakdown. Subsequently our government bailed out the banks (in a direct blow against capitalism). These are naked abuses by the government which benefit only the excessively wealthy while ruining the lives of the 99%.
The excessively wealthy have led a very successful campaign to limit and restrict unions- most recently in Wisconsin. They are breaking all forms of restriction on greed. The government is now a wing of the 1%- and the laws are now in their favor. Unionised voices are being silenced too, and more and more industries are being left to “self regulation” or as it should be called “no” regulation. This lack of any way to work within the system is a great reason to protest, and the seven demands here are simple and would dramatically improve the situation for the 99%.
1. Protest to reinstate Glass/Steagal- end the mad banking schemes.
2. End bank bailouts, and demand the money back- foreclose on banks if they fail.
3. Overturn Citizens united, Corporations are not people, and should not have the freedoms people have.
4. Change campaign finance laws. It is simply the only way to limit corruption. Either create campaign pools that all candidates on the ballot have equal access too- and track expenses of the candidates. End superPACs and restrict third party campaigning, or stop ad campaigning altogether and only allow tv appearances by candidates in the form of debates- or interviews (where every candidate gets interviewed).
5. End the revolving door. Make it illegal to have conflicting interests.
6. End positive interest on money. Money that is sitting in banks making money while not being used to create jobs is doing the 99% no good and we have such little money in comparison in our accounts that the only group who makes anything appreciable off of interest is the 1%.
7. Set ultra low interest rates for borrowing to go to college or to start a business.
Reason 2 to protest in America- Our government is restricting our civil liberties. They are doing this rapidly and very openly. The first massive assault on freedom was the Patriot Act under Bush, but recently Obama and the present congress has dismantled most of the constitution. This is not an overstatement- it is fact.
The NDAA provided provisions for a wartime curtailment of rights for citizens of the United States on an unparallelled scale. Remember the “war on terror” is legally a perpetual war thus all wartime powers granted to the government apply... perpetually. The NDAA has a few serious issues- one it defines US soil as a battlefield (IE the military can conduct operations in America), and it calls for military internment of anyone “suspected” of being a terrorist, or aiding a terrorist organization indefinitely without trial... or rights. This very specifically includes US citizens. Our constitutional right to due process has been suspended because now anyone can be held forever without any rights or a trial based on “suspicion.”
The NDRP allows the government (again in times of war) to seize any resources, utilities or foodstuffs deemed necessary (by the government)- it also allows the government to seize any personnel. This is a suspension of every right and every freedom we have. Anyone and anything can be taken as government property at any time legally with no oversight.
Our government has been working on ending free speech on the internet. CRISPA ACTA are the latest iterations of these attempts PIPA and SOPA having already failed. This is a first amendment issue. As is the nationwide often violent crackdown on protesters. The anti protest activity by our government is a suspension of the right to peaceful assembly and free speech. The anti protest legislation called the Trespass act bans many types of protests- and gives the government the ability to arrest detain and imprison protesters at will (for example the government can declare any site a critical site which makes it illegal to protest at- and then can scoop up protesters and imprison them for years).
We have no functional rights, not ability to challenge authority for our rights (because our right to due process has been removed), we do not have the right to talk about it (ACTA and CRISPA), and we cannot protest our lack of rights (Trespass). This is a great reason to protest. Yes it's dangerous, but it is so important because we are losing every right rapidly.
Every member of congress and the President has broken their oath of office (because the oath of office states that they will defend the constitution). They have either actively broken their oaths, or they they failed, and in either case they should be held accountable- none of them should remain in office.
Our demands on this point- restore our civil liberties
1. Overturn NDAA provisions for detention, and home soil battleground
2. Overturn trespass bill
3. Cease crackdowns on peaceful protests
4. overturn ACTA and suspend all further Internet censorship bills.
5. Overturn NDRP.
6. remove the oath-breakers from office (recall elections or impeachment) or regular elections.
Reason three to protest- We are in the longest continuous war in the history of our country. I'm not even talking about the government's declaration of forever war here- the war in Afghanistan is the longest war in our nations history. Why are we there? We are bleeding money into the military industrial complex to gain... nothing? Worse we are sending our young men and women to die for... nothing. Our army is being misused in Afghanistan and in Iraq, Armies exist to win battles and to defeat enemies. When they are used to do anything other than that they are being misused- they are not peacekeepers they are not nation-builders. This must end in both countries we are occupying.
Our demand:
End the wars.
Reason four to protest our President, and government, are war criminals. We must hold our leadership accountable for their actions because they reflect on our whole culture. It is not legal to carry out assassinations especially not internationally, but under the direct command of our president our military is doing just that around the globe. This is a war crime. President Obama's Kill list (and the fact that he has been actively assassinating people worldwide should have him impeached and put on trial at the Hague.
Our government considers cyber-attacks an act of war, yet at the direction of Obama our government carried out a cyber attack on Iran (a country we are not at war with). By our governments definitions we have carried out war operations against an government we are not at war with without the approval of congress and without declaring war. This is vastly illegal.
Demands:
Immediate cessation of assassinations, and cyber attacks.
Impeachment of Obama and trials for him and anyone else who is directly involved at a high level in these illegal acts. Willingness to extradite them to face any charges from the Hague.
This is not an all inclusive list of reasons to protest, but they are the reasons that I find most compelling. Without protests we will not exert any pressure on the system at all (it's designed to keep us powerless and isolated). We must protest because we have no direct way to make changes in our government- and our government must be changed due to the myriad reasons mentioned.
The other thing people say is that Occupy is not effective... and it pisses me off- especially when it's cited as a reason why it's okay that police are violently cracking down on protesters (this was the argument two college students tried to make). A single protest alone does not instantly change a situation, but it does publicly air grievances and bring together people who push changes. We have no other way to show our dissent with the current situation, and we have raised awareness about income inequality. This is a success. Beyond that we are continuing to protest because the situations we are protesting against haven't been corrected. By all measures Occupy and the general protests are exerting pressure on the system with is exactly what we want to do. Political candidates must discuss issues we care about, and have been. Without continued protests we will lose our voice again to the special interests.
It will take a lot of work and a long time to achieve many of the goals mentioned in this article, but continuing protests are the beginning of a process of change for the betterment of the 99%. some of these goals are very achievable- ending the wars, ending drone strikes, repealing Citizens United, Trespass, ACTA, NDAA, and NDRP , and reinstalling Glass/Steagall could all be done by putting increasing pressure on the system. We need to start voting angrily. We need to start pulling people out of office. The more we protest, and the more we show that we can and will fire members of our government who support/are part of the greed culture the faster we will regain control of our country.
Don't sit on the sidelines. Spread the word, and get into the streets. Talk about the issues, and plan marches and rallies. Show the world, and the 1%, that we are the 99% of true Americans and we do not accept greedy rule, we do not the suspension of civil our rights, we will not fight their wars, and we will not see this country disgraced though illegal war-crime policy. Do not turn your back on us while we are facing violent suppression by our government.
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