Town Hall to Discuss the Declaration of Occupy Portland Summary

This PDF is a summary of a town hall held in 2011 by Occupy Portland and the Occupy Vision Working Group to discuss the possibility of ratifying a Declaration of Occupy Portland, a statement of vision and values to call the full 99% to join us in action. It was recently taken down from the Occupy Portland website, so here it is for posterity's sake. 

Project Vision Post 1

Question: What your vision is for the Occupy movement and for your local Occupy chapter? What do you hope it will accomplish? How will this change the world?

Answers:

"My vision is that...

Thousands of Occupiers around the country will continue to Occupy their cities, awakening and educating the 99%. As each small group works out its own unique vision these brave idealists will create the energy to bring about the necessary changes.

Tens of Thousands of Activists, inspired by the Occupiers, will work nationally to decide on a handful of the most important changes that need to be made at once, changes that the majority of Americans already recognize as injustices, e.g. corporate money controlling political decisions and elections, and tax dollars supporting big corporations rather than universal health care and education. The Activists, guided by the Occupiers, will organize national occupation and marches, (and TV ads during football games!) to get these messages out to everyone. Celebrities, even though they are the 1%, will start to support Occupy goals which will awaken even the deepest sleepers. (The celebrities can fund the TV ads!)

Hundreds of Thousands of Americans will join the Occupiers and Activists to march and protest unceasingly until the President and Congress realize that laws need to be passed and constitutional amendments need to be made immediately that return power to the people.

This could be accomplished in a couple of years. It is far from perfect, but it would establish a truly democratic foundation in which other changes could be made. The local Occupy groups could continue to work on their visions of a society based on love, not greed. I know they would all dislike my vision. 

Thanks for giving me the opportunity to tell you my vision!" --Christine Ehlert

"Occupy embodies the best way to go forward, without encumbrance by any particular political Parties' dogma or ideology. Occupiers cannot be dismissed as yet another 'special interest group' because they spring up spontaneously everywhere, speaking on behalf of the People. The resonance of Occupiers's messages comes from being unabashedly idealistic yet somehow still the most reasonable goals out there to increase democracy in America, by recapturing it from the plutocracy that's taken over.

My vision for the Occupy Movement is to remain the voice of truth against propaganda. As far as I'm concerned, the 60's saw The Dawning of the Age of Aquarius, and what has been occurring since 2008 is The Age of Aquarius, where abrupt rectification of The System is now reasonable simply because people have unified to demand it, in the face of such egregious entrenchment of failures within The System. For instance, everyone has always hated the influence of big money on political representatives via campaign contributions and industry lobbyists, but now astoundingly it seems we will be taking the short path to rectification, simply because nothing less than that will be accepted. 

The way forward is for Occupy never to go away, and to always remain sympathetic to the populace at large. Occupying the front lawns of forclosured family's homes retains the hearts of the nation, and such good-hearted acts will always keep people on our side. I feel the money Occupy raises ought to go toward renting warehouses, paying for insurance and utilities, where Occupiers can set up their tents. Strict non-tolerance of public inebriation will send out the homeless drunks and drug abusers. 

In contrast, the portion of the Movement that aims at tearing down The System is misguided and foolish enough to believe that anarchy brings good results. It doesn't: it creates a power jumble where vested and well-funded interests naturally gain even greater entrenchment, due to The System's nominal safeguards being no longer in place." -- Timolin Burke  

"My vision: occupy movement is one of those manifestations that arrise when the image we make from society (movies, tv, etc.) is so far from the reality that people starts rebelling.

I don't believe it will achieve anything significant now, but if this image we make keeps going further away (if people keeps getting poorer), things will heat and we will see real change." --Jonatas Ribeiro Barbosa 

"'You cannot help the poor by destroying the rich.
You cannot strengthen the weak by weakening the strong.
You cannot bring about prosperity by discouraging thrift.
You cannot lift the wage earner up by pulling the wage payer down.
You cannot further the brotherhood of man by inciting class hatred.
You cannot build character and courage by taking away people’s initiative and independence.
You cannot help people permanently by doing for them, what they could and should do for themselves.'
by William J. H. Boetcker

What’s my vision?

Can one visualize a vanishing act?

Snafum, Tarfum, Fubaris -- We know it's bad, but if we keep quiet about it, nobody will notice." --William E Lanning Jr

 

"My vision for 'the big shift' movement (aka 'Occupy') is to unite individuals around recognizing the reality that hierarchical governments have mostly failed because they have mismanaged money through corruption and developing war-making machinery, which they use to destroy resources and human life. Nationally-based, terrestrial governments do not provide solutions to the problems we face; in fact, their politicians exacerbate problems by borrowing money to enact laws for specialized constituencies, which impede productivity and reduce competition, in order to get re-elected. 

Further, my vision is to heighten awareness that we are currently participating in the best way to bring about equality of opportunity and optimize individual creativity and societal innovation: self-organizing, interconnected, electronic networks in which individuals of similar passions identify and solve problems without regard to arbitrary national boundaries. 

I'd love to see increasing numbers of free-thinking individuals say bye-bye to corrupt national governments, which maintain power through violence or threat of violence, and hello to empathetic networks of sovereign individuals who hold in the palm of their hand via their mobile communications devices access to a greater and expanding knowledge database than any single government has ever held." --Brad Acker 

"In my hometown here in Sonora, we call ourselves a "collective conscience encampment", because we try to set the alarm off for the people that we are a poor country tied to other's interests and not the needs of our brothers and sisters.   

We go to the periferia [poor neighborhoods] of the city and talk to the poor children and their families. Bringing them artistic projects is our main activity. The change we want to see is the recognition of ignorance and the realization that we must struggle for a better world for our children. Sorry for my English." --Liliana Orozco Camacho 

"1. Stop asking a very corrupt system to fix things for you and be accountable to itself. It's not going to happen.

2. Learn to withhold support for a system that corrupts, enslaves and destroys.

3. Stop believing that love will stop the corruptors. It will not. Save it for your comrades and the earth and critters and sky.

4. Create alternatives to this system using permaculture and self-determinism and cooperation with each other, not with the enslavers." --Dawn Ti

"This sounds terrible, but I wish we could get over with our distrust and in fighting within our Occupy chapter. There are so many brilliant people here, and it is sad to see the stress worming its way through us. However, we just keep gettin' to it....  

I hope our accomplishments we have made presently will be acknowledged, and that we continue to connect and make community, through which more conversation, leading to more education, leading to more action, back to more conversation, all should become as a snowball. More connection with the folks who have already been enacting change, like the towns in transition movement, for one example." --Deborah White

Imagine, by John Lennon describes it all.... -- Bryan Borich

"To get change in this country we need to get the money out of politics; for the donations from corporate PACs and unions force the elected to do favors for these special interest groups. It is the reason that health care could not be fixed; the insurance companies give big donations. 

It also effects regulations and oversight in banking and other sectors. That is why you had a financial meltdown. Food manufacturers are telling us that their products to schools are balanced meals but they are low grade dog food; I've tried them. They make a profit of junk that you should not eat. Drug companies have been making bad drugs and getting away with it. 

I believe in order to fix our problems we need to have publicly funded elections. It will never be a perfect world; people will still commit fraud, as will corporate and elected officials. I think the movement should stage a rally nationwide outside congressional offices and Congress to demand the end of special interest money in our elections, and no more buying and selling, or holding of stocks for congressional and presidential positions. They are there for public service, not personal gain. If you want change, don't just change the guard, change the system." --Frank Brown

"I envision complete regime change. Democracy and capitalism are diametrically opposed." --Angel Wings 

"Can you guys occupy the IRS next... That would be great." --Paul Hilton

"I think that unless the Occupy movement can do that chant that has been a mainstay of American protest for the last 4 or so decades, they will remain in most Americans view feckless wastrels. “what do we want? _____! When do we want it? Now!” Fill in the blank." --Stephen Lowe 

"Personally I think until the Occupy movements start focusing on the central banks control of the money supply & manipulation of it and the massive problems they cause and the government’s role in allowing the big banks and corporations to benefit at the tax payers’ expense and how the government is basically wrecking the economy, it's going to be difficult to get positive change. 

I think the logical next step would be some kind of public discussions so people can learn about different viewpoints. There’s not much point being angry if it’s not directed at the right people." --Dbudlov Johnson

"A general agreement that the system is not broken, they designed it this way. I'd like to see more activist involvement at all levels of government. A concerted effort to infiltrate and saturate the political system with the types of ideas and policies that were given consensus in General Assemblies." --Jason Occupier Chambers 

"I would like to see MORE direct action. The occupy movement has received much attention and had significant impact. I'm not sure in what ways exactly I'd suggest more action to be taken.... but I know action gets the best results." --Nick Bryce

"Among other items:  Neither public nor human service is high on the GOP’s agenda. It is a 'cautionary tale' that the ANGER that motivated many voters in the last election cycle, made matters worse. We must define goals, elect advocates and put economic 'control and consequences' back into our government. Those who don't believe in such things should not be on the ballot." --Pahl Scharping 

Michael Moore's Vision Statement

For those of you who haven't seen it yet, this is from Michael Moore's blog:

"This past weekend I participated in a four-hour meeting of Occupy Wall Street activists whose job it is to come up with the vision and goals of the movement. It was attended by 40+ people and the discussion was both inspiring and invigorating. Here is what we ended up proposing as the movement's "vision statement" to the General Assembly of Occupy Wall Street:

We Envision: [1] a truly free, democratic, and just society; [2] where we, the people, come together and solve our problems by consensus; [3] where people are encouraged to take personal and collective responsibility and participate in decision making; [4] where we learn to live in harmony and embrace principles of toleration and respect for diversity and the differing views of others; [5] where we secure the civil and human rights of all from violation by tyrannical forces and unjust governments; [6] where political and economic institutions work to benefit all, not just the privileged few; [7] where we provide full and free education to everyone, not merely to get jobs but to grow and flourish as human beings; [8] where we value human needs over monetary gain, to ensure decent standards of living without which effective democracy is impossible; [9] where we work together to protect the global environment to ensure that future generations will have safe and clean air, water and food supplies, and will be able to enjoy the beauty and bounty of nature that past generations have enjoyed.

The next step will be to develop a specific list of goals and demands. As one of the millions of people who are participating in the Occupy Wall Street movement, I would like to respectfully offer my suggestions of what we can all get behind now to wrestle the control of our country out of the hands of the 1% and place it squarely with the 99% majority.

Here is what I will propose to the General Assembly of Occupy Wall Street:

                                                                 10 Things We Want
                                                       A Proposal for Occupy Wall Street
                                                           Submitted by Michael Moore

1. Eradicate the Bush tax cuts for the rich and institute new taxes on the wealthiest Americans and on corporations, including a tax on all trading on Wall Street (where they currently pay 0%).

2. Assess a penalty tax on any corporation that moves American jobs to other countries when that company is already making profits in America. Our jobs are the most important national treasure and they cannot be removed from the country simply because someone wants to make more money.

3. Require that all Americans pay the same Social Security tax on all of their earnings (normally, the middle class pays about 6% of their income to Social Security; someone making $1 million a year pays about 0.6% (or 90% less than the average person). This law would simply make the rich pay what everyone else pays.

4. Reinstate the Glass-Steagall Act, placing serious regulations on how business is conducted by Wall Street and the banks.

5. Investigate the Crash of 2008, and bring to justice those who committed any crimes.

6. Reorder our nation's spending priorities (including the ending of all foreign wars and their cost of over $2 billion a week). This will re-open libraries, reinstate band and art and civics classes in our schools, fix our roads and bridges and infrastructure, wire the entire country for 21st century internet, and support scientific research that improves our lives.

7. Join the rest of the free world and create a single-payer, free and universal health care system that covers allAmericans all of the time.

8. Immediately reduce carbon emissions that are destroying the planet and discover ways to live without the oil that will be depleted and gone by the end of this century.

9. Require corporations with more than 10,000 employees to restructure their board of directors so that 50% of its members are elected by the company’s workers. We can never have a real democracy as long as most people have no say in what happens at the place they spend most of their time: their job. (For any U.S. businesspeople freaking out at this idea because you think workers can't run a successful company: Germany has a law like this and it has helped to make Germany the world’s leading manufacturing exporter.)

10. We, the people, must pass three constitutional amendments that will go a long way toward fixing the core problems we now have. These include:

a) A constitutional amendment that fixes our broken electoral system by 1) completely removing campaign contributions from the political process; 2) requiring all elections to be publicly financed; 3) moving election day to the weekend to increase voter turnout; 4) making all Americans registered voters at the moment of their birth; 5) banning computerized voting and requiring that all elections take place on paper ballots.

b) A constitutional amendment declaring that corporations are not people and do not have the constitutional rights of citizens. This amendment should also state that the interests of the general public and society must always come before the interests of corporations.

c) A constitutional amendment that will act as a "second bill of rights" as proposed by President Franklin D. Roosevelt: that every American has a human right to employment, to health care, to a free and full education, to breathe clean air, drink clean water and eat safe food, and to be cared for with dignity and respect in their old age.

Let me know what you think. Occupy Wall Street enjoys the support of millions. It is a movement that cannot be stopped. Become part of it by sharing your thoughts with me or online (at OccupyWallSt.org). Get involved in (or start!) your own local Occupy movement. Make some noise. You don't have to pitch a tent in lower Manhattan to be an Occupier. You are one just by saying you are. This movement has no singular leader or spokesperson; every participant is a leader in their neighborhood, their school, their place of work. Each of you is a spokesperson to those whom you encounter. There are no dues to pay, no permission to seek in order to create an action.

We are but ten weeks old, yet we have already changed the national conversation. This is our moment, the one we've been hoping for, waiting for. If it's going to happen it has to happen now. Don't sit this one out. This is the real deal. This is it."

The truth about the current economic crisis

Money in politics

How to unite and mobilize the full 99%: Get money out of politics and reduce income inequality by taxing the 1%

Americans are frustrated with their government more than they have ever been since the first American Revolution. According to Real Clear Politics, Congress’s approval rating is currently at 12%, meaning that 9 out of 10 Americans disapprove of Congress. What is the root of the problem? If the Tea Party is to be believed, it is that the government is too large and has too much power. But the vast majority of Americans have a different perspective. They see corruption in government—not the size of government—as the true root of all political evil.

When CBS asked Americans who members of Congress are most interested in serving, 80% said special interest groups; 70% said people like them have little say in what their government does; and 75% said large corporations have too much influence in politics. What is the common thread that ties all three polls together? All three of the problems mentioned are directly caused by the fact that large corporations and special interest groups provide the majority of funding for virtually all federal and state political campaigns. This obligates lawmakers to spend about three quarters of their time fundraising, which means they spend the majority of their time talking to and hearing the concerns of special interest groups and corporations. As a result, lawmakers typically don’t listen to the voices of the American people, who they are supposed to represent. Not only that, they’re so overwhelmed with fund raising that they delegate the task of writing the bills they introduce to corporate lobbyists!

Indeed, the problem runs even deeper. There's an episode of Futurama where's there a presidential debate on TV. The two candidates are identical clones. One says something like "My opponent's position on the color orange is unconscionable." The parody strikes sadly close to home. Because corporations, special interest groups, and the 1% are the only ones with enough money to fund a successful federal election campaign, they get to decide who is able to run for office in the first place! Ever wonder why all political candidates wind up catering to Wall St. and corporations in the same way once in office despite superficial differences in their political stances and their political affiliation? Now you know.

What do you replace the current corrupt campaign finance system with? Public financing of elections. In his book Republic Lost: How Money Corrupts Congress—and a Plan to Stop It, Lawrence Lessig outlines a system where every taxpaying citizen would get a $50 rebate on their taxes that they could donate to any political candidate or party. Citizens would be able to divide their money between different campaigns however they wished, and would be allowed to donate up to an additional $100 of their own money. It would be illegal for corporations and other special interest groups to donate to political campaigns or parties at all. Under this new system politicians would still spend a good part of their time listening to their funders, but the funders would be the people.

If we wish to bring real change to this country, we must get money out of politics and implement public financing of elections so the politicians start listening to the people.

For some politicians, this won’t be enough to make them change their ways. In these cases, we the people must run candidates to unseat them. But the only way we’ll have a real chance of winning is if we first get corporate and special interest group money out of politics.

But we can’t just consider how broadly people agree on an issue; we must also consider what their priorities are. According to all polls on Americans’ current priorities, an overwhelming majority think that jobs and the economy are the most important issues. However, people disagree on what should be done about them, with many citing the need to cut government spending, and even more saying we need to pass a new economic stimulus package. We should tell the American people that we want to regain our voice in government so we can cut government spending on corporate welfare and perpetual war for profit, raise taxes on the wealthiest 1% of Americans and Wall St. speculators, and use the money saved to pass a new economic stimulus package large enough to create jobs for every single American who’s currently unemployed or underemployed. This will have the added benefit of reducing income inequality, which according to Robert Reich's book Aftershock: The Next Economy and America's Future is the root of the current economic crisis. Perhaps the new slogan should be "Occupy: Get money out of politics and tax the 1%". But to do it, first we have to get money out of politics so everyday citizens have a chance to win public office and politicians are forced to listen to the people.

The naysayers will charge that giving Occupy clarity this way ignores the concerns of marginalized communities. I disagree. To the contrary, the smartest way to help marginalized communities is to regain the people’s control over the government. Once we have power in government, we can do whatever we like to help marginalized communities. But as long as corporate money controls politics, we don’t have a chance in hell of accomplishing much of anything worthwhile on the state or federal level.

The naysayers will also say that we must turn our backs on the current system and simply ignore it until it goes away. I disagree. Saying we must turn our backs on the system ignores the fundamental question of why the system has failed us. It has failed us for many reasons, but the root of the problem is that corporate money controls the government.

On no other key issues are the American people as united as they are about getting money out of politics, fixing the economy and creating jobs. Combine all three into one interdependent main political campaign for Occupy, and the full 99% will join the movement.

Owen's Declaration of Occupy Portland draft 1

Here's my first attempt at writing a Declaration for Occupy Portland. Let me know what you think!

 

The Declaration of Occupy Portland

                    In times of great crisis, it becomes necessary for We the People to take back our Democracy by exercising our first amendment right to petition our Government for a redress of grievances. We, the People of the United States of America have occupied our cities for this purpose. This is our petition to the Congress, the Supreme Court, and the President of the United States of America.

                    This Republic had its beginning, and grew to its present strength, under the protection of certain inalienable political rights, among them the right of free speech, free press, free worship, trial by jury, and freedom from unreasonable searches and seizures. These were our rights to life and liberty. As our nation has grown in size and stature however, these rights have proven inadequate to guard against the unwarranted influence of moneyed interests in the halls of government which have undermined equality under law in the pursuit of happiness. Big Banks, multinational Corporations, and a small super-wealthy group of power elites we call the 1% have seized control of our Democracy by means of using their concentrated wealth to influence and corrupt our elected officials, which amounts to legal bribery. They have perpetrated a covert coup d’état against the sovereign People of the United States of America not with guns, but with the insidious influence of lobbyists and legal bribery in the form of campaign contributions. The 1% have surreptitiously hijacked our Government and used the power they have usurped from the People to wreak havoc on this great nation for the sake of selfish short term profit, regardless of the increasingly dire social and environmental consequences.

                    Banks, corporations, the 1% have gambled our money away on risky investments, crashed our economy, decimated our savings, stolen our pensions, eliminated our jobs, and caused the most extreme wealth stratification in American history. They have taken our houses through an illegal foreclosure process, despite not having the original mortgage and engaging in deceptive trade practices. They have taken bailouts from taxpayers with impunity, and continue to give executives exorbitant bonuses using the money we gave them after their reckless investments failed. They have held students hostage with tens of thousands of dollars of debt on education, which is itself a human right. They have influenced the courts to achieve the same rights as people, with none of the accountability or responsibility. They have spent millions of dollars on legal teams that look for ways to release themselves from health insurance contracts when access to affordable health care is also a human right. They have deliberately declined to recall faulty products and paid-off Congress and regulators to do so; thereby endangering lives in pursuit of greedy profit. They have discriminated against people based on their skin color, gender, gender identity, sexual orientation, and religion. They have exploited indigenous peoples and stolen their land and resources. They continue to block alternative forms of energy to keep us dependent on oil from which they alone profit, despite the devastating impact on our economy, environment, and foreign policy. Out of greed, they have purposely covered up oil spills, accidents, and faulty bookkeeping. They purposely keep people misinformed and fearful through their monolithic control of the media. They have divided the 99% with wedge issues. They have aided and abetted the torture and murder of innocent civilians overseas and perpetuate endless war for profit. They have eroded our civil liberties. They have waged class war against the poor and what remains of the middle class. They have repeatedly blocked attempts to regulate their criminal actions. These are just some of the crimes they have committed against the common good in the name of their greed. We reject the amorality and complete lack of American values in our institutions that allow such atrocities to be committed every day.

                    We have come to a clear realization of the fact that true individual freedom cannot exist without a Government that is controlled by the People, nor without economic security and independence for every citizen. People who are in constant economic survival mode, living from paycheck to paycheck, are not free. People who are denied the opportunity to improve their position in life, no matter how hard they work, are not free. The American dream is being systematically destroyed by the machines of rapacious war and profit.

                    We have a dream of a New Liberty founded upon this insight. This New Liberty is freedom from fear, ignorance, unemployment, poverty, untreated illness, discrimination, and inequality. It is freedom from governmental and corporate invasion of privacy, freedom from Corporate Tyranny, and freedom from corruption in our Government.

                    We the 99% of the People are united behind the moral precept that human need, not greedy short term profit, should always be governments’ and businesses’ highest priority. For too long, it has been the other way around. We know there is a better way, and we demand it. Originally Corporations were trusts contracted into existence to provide a public service, and if they violated the public good, they were terminated. Originally our Government was of the People, by the People, for the People. The root of the problem is that our elected representatives are bought by corporations, banks, and the 1%. This system, which posits the accumulation of capital as the highest good, is not Democracy. We hold this truth to be self-evident, that people matter more than money. Together, we will fight for laws founded upon this essential moral principle.

                    By the sacred power vested in us by the United States Constitution, We the People demand our sovereignty back. We demand our New Liberty. First, get money out of politics. Next, fix our broken economy. Outlaw criminal banking practices. Make the tax code fair so everyone, including the wealthiest 1%, corporations, and Wall St. speculators pay their fair share. Stimulate the economy sufficiently to create full-time jobs for all Americans. End the Federal Reserve and transfer its powers to the Treasury Department. End perpetual war for profit. Forgive student loan debt. Confront global climate change and eliminate our dependence on foreign oil. Stop wasting our tax dollars on war and corporate welfare. Restore our constitutional liberties.

                    In order to turn the dream of a better world contained in this petition into a reality, we will speak the truth until every American has heard the call. We will work to place the language of this Declaration in city and county charters. We will identify and work with allied lawmakers on writing bills that are faithful to this dream, on introducing them to the state legislatures and Congress, and on building bipartisan support to vote them into law. We will put pressure on lawmakers that have been bought by the 1% to vote in accordance with the will of the People with massive direct action and public awareness campaigns, marches, and general strikes, and by calling on our allies in the faith, labor, nonprofit, and business communities. If any lawmakers continue to oppose the will of the People, we will run candidates of our choosing against them. As proven throughout history, when good people can no longer stand idly by because their consciences compel them to act, it is the will of the People that eventually prevails. We the People shall overcome; we will prevail.

—Occupy America and the 99%

Tactics that will attract Oregon's 99% to Occupy

                As of the end of 2011, Occupy Portland is just beginning to take root in the community as a true movement of the people. As a member of Occupy Portland, my goal is to get Occupy Portland to the point where it takes hold within the entire state of Oregon. The way I see it, the part we play in this movement is primarily to mobilize the majority of Oregonians to the cause. So the resulting question is: how do we mobilize them?

                We’ve already gotten off to a good start with our direct action campaign, which is the backbone of any social movement. However, 42% of Portlanders support us, but 58% don’t yet. This raises two questions: why do six in ten Portlanders say they oppose us; and why is our movement so small if four in ten Portlanders say they support us? The answer to both is that the majority of the public disapproves of our tactics and is thus unwilling to join the movement as active members, even though many of them recognize that they support what we stand for. Others are simply afraid of joining because they think the only way to help is to participate in direct action, which conjures aversive images of riot cops and pepper-spray violence.

Occupy Portland and other Occupies could modify their direct action campaigns in several ways to mitigate these effects: we could avoid confrontations with the police entirely from now on; and we could avoid doing anything that could be construed to be impeding our fellow 99 percenters’ right to work. However, these steps taken on their own could diminish our public visibility unless we also diversify our actions.

One way to do this is to create a spectacle that will capture the public’s and media’s attention with comedy, music, street theater, and infiltration of the artistic sphere.

Another is to target our actions so they directly affect a person or entity which has wronged us. I think Occupy Portland’s bank shut down was a great example of this.

Another good idea would be to occupy the sidewalk outside politicians’ houses, which will infuriate them, as well as their neighbors, who will blame the politician. (This approach has the added benefit of being a good way to put pressure on politicians to vote in accordance with the will of the people.)

Another tactic is to aim for relatively easy victories, such as passing city ordinances against corporate personhood, and to snowball these small victories into larger and larger ones. Combined with the appropriate media coverage and spin, this gives the public the impression that we’re a force to be reckoned with and that change is possible. This will motivate them to join us.

What we need most of all is a triggering event, like the Rosa Parks incident which sparked the Civil Rights movement. I think this is tough because it’s hard to demonstrate the unjustness of the laws we’re fighting against with actions. I think the best we can hope for is occupying the centers of power, including state legislatures, Congress, and the White House. 

Ultimately, the success of our movement depends on how effectively we can mobilize the full 99% to our cause. We must be smart and use tactics that will inspire them to act. 

Welcome to Occupy Vision, your source of Occupy Portland related news and opinion

Greetings fellow 99 percenters,

I’m starting this blog to keep people updated on legislative action, direct action, and events. I and other occupiers will also editorialize about Occupy Portland’s actions and the media narratives that give meaning to them for the general public. I will also write about the direction I believe the Occupy Portland movement should go, meaning that I will try to provide my own personal answers to questions like “What do you want to accomplish with the Occupy movement?” “How do you plan to get what you want?” and “What are your values?” Please note that these are just my personal opinions, and do not speak for Occupy Portland.

Please click on the links to the side of the page! For some reason, Google gives me money every time you click on a link, and as a perpetually poor 99% percenter, I could really use the help.

You can contact me at owensanders@gmail.com.

A National Occupy Strategy

Here's a strategy that the folks at Training, Education, Strategy and Tactics for Nonviolence (TESTN) team have come up with. It's a work in progress, so let us know what you think of it!


National Strategic Plan (plan for all Occupies):

Stage 1 - Jan-May 1, 2011

1. Build Neighborhood Assemblies and begin outreach to communities on local and state issues, and issue of "corporate personhood", publicly-funded elections, and instant runoff voting.
2. Hold local campaigns on issues that can easily be won, and then tell it to the world.  That will begin to build public credibility for Occupy as a force to be counted on to push for change.
3. Hold several Direct Action Days on theme of "corporate personhood" pointing toward a constitutional amendment.  Use humor to ridicule of the concept "corporate personhood".
4. Decide on wording of the amendment (possibly to include all 3 issues in step 1.1).
5. Media campaigns in support of the amendment begin in each state.  Online campaign begins to raise money for "Occupy on the Road".
6. Begin "Occupy on the Road" resulting in occupations of state capitols to lobby as long as it takes for legislatures to pass supporting resolutions for the amendment.  The idea here is to prepare in advance for a quick endorsement process for an amendment passed by Congress.
1. All Occupy on the Road units should be from 50-200 persons each.  Every participant should have nonviolence training,
2. Occupy on the Road campaign involves travel by "greenest" methods possible to state capitols.  
3. Occupy Expo:  Each occupation should reflect "best practices" learned from original encampments, and should showcase and teach the public about alternative economics with emphasis on localization and supporting local organizations already working on alternatives. The campaign should introduce the idea of living without benefit of corporate credit arrangements, and build the idea that a return to local credit structures is needed.
4. When Occupy leaves the capitols, the public should have a much greater understanding of the dire economic times we are facing, and how alternatives will help us get through in better shape.

May 1st - 3rd:  3-Day Nationwide General Strike Against Corporate Greed.

1. Target corporations that engage in massive campaign contributions.  Encourage public to boycott those companies, but to shift money to the local economy by buying from locally owned businesses that also support the local economy. Encourage workers to call in sick or just stay home.  They should not strike locally owned businesses.  They should not strike if they are likely to be fired, but can participate as in #2 below.
2. Encourage general public to participate by:
1. Working, walking, driving slowly all 3 days.
2. Engaging in a nightly "banging of pots" between 8pm-10pm in a show of support for the strike.
3. The strike will not have to be completely successful in halting corporate business.  That is not its purpose at this point.  The point is to send a "shot across the bow" of Wall Street and corporate America to show them we have considerable strength and support from the public.  The strike will be on everyone's mind.
4. Begin an Occupy Your Debt campaign that encourages the public to think of their vast numbers and their debt as strengths to be used for systemic change.  The campaign will lay the groundwork for a "debt strike", if needed to force the financial sector to respond to the public's will.  The public will need to have adopted the idea that local credit is superior to corporate credit. 

Stage 2 - May 4 - July 4:  National Occupy on the Road

1. Begin a phased migration from all parts of the country, some units traveling toward Philadelphia to arrive by July 4 in time for the Occupy National Convention.  The rest should arrive in Washington, DC by July 7.  Occupy on the Road units (maintaining size limits as much as possible) will travel to towns and cities along their route to bring the Occupy Expo to as many people all over the country as possible.  As more people join Occupy on the Road, new units will be trained and sent out on their own.
2. Upon arriving in Washington, DC, Occupy on the Road will occupy the Capitol Mall and hold a National Occupy Expo while pressuring Congress to pass legislation approving the amendment(s) to the Constitution.  The threat of a "debt strike" will be used to encourage them to drop all the stall tactics.

Stage 3 - July 4 - Election Day:  Campaign Season

1. All of this will be happening during the 2012 Presidential Campaign, and hopefully will distract the public from "business as usual".  There will without doubt be many ways that we will be able to take on the Republicans and Democrats around campaign issues, but my hope is that we will be able to shape the nature of the national debate.
2. A possible outcome of the Philadelphia Convention will be a new Occupy Party.  If that is the case, local campaigns can use the national action to their advantage.
3. It is critical that the Occupation of the Capitol Mall be as peaceful as possible.  We should teach the public about what happened to the Bonus March.  That must not happen to us.  That is one reason for having continual nonviolence training.  If there is violence, let it come from the opposition.  The "blow back" would be devastating.
4. Everything that Occupy does, particularly during this stage, but also earlier, should be lighthearted and fun.  The public should look forward to each new thing we do.
5. Occupy will give Congress a generous amount of time (until Election Day) to pass the amendment legislation.  

November 17, 2011:  Debt Strike

1. If Congress has failed to act on amendment legislation (or has passed a significantly weakened amendment), Occupy will launch the Debt Strike.  Three pillars support the economy:  credit card debt, student loan debt, and mortgage debt.  Without their support, the economy will tank.  The Debt Strike will encourage the public to abandon corporate credit all at once through refusal to pay any of the three kinds of debt to the debt holders.  They will be encouraged instead to pay it (or what they are able) into their local economies to support the development of new businesses: collectives, cooperatives, and employee owned.
2. To be determined:  It might be useful to phase in the Debt Strike, beginning with student loan debt.  That might cause the economy to collapse more slowly.  We will only know the truth of that when we see how the NYSE reacts.
3. Reminiscent of the signs I have seen of the Monopoly figure looking despairingly at the words "Game Over", I like the idea of a campaign theme like "I've Left the Game.  Have You?"
4. The Debt Strike will only be successful if we are able to convince enough people to abandon the consumer credit economy.  That can only happen if Occupy is able to promote a viable alternative economy.

End corporate personhood in Portland

Please sign this petition to the city of Portland to end corporate personhood. We the People must demand an end to the dangerous legal fictions that corporations are people and money is speech. Please help restore our democracy by signing this petition:

http://www.change.org/petitions/city-of-portland-to-congress-we-the-people-not-we-the-corporations

Here's the text of the email that is sent to the mayor and city commissioners when you sign:

Support the City resolution to End Corporate Personhood

Dear Mayor Adams and City Commissioners:

Thank you for your leadership in proposing a resolution supporting a federal constitutional amendment making clear that corporations are not people and money is not speech. This resolution is a huge step in the right direction to ensuring We the People regain control of our democracy.

Please include language in the resolution making clear that corporations are not entitled to ANY constitutional rights and remove references to the amendments proposed by Senator Merkley and Representatives Schrader, Blumenauer, and Defazio as they deal only with the regulation of money in politics and not the issue of corporate personhood.

The City should support a constitutional amendment that explicitly addresses the issue of corporate personhood AND regulation of campaign donations and expenditures.

In addition to passing a strong resolution, the City Council should refer this issue to the voters so that we can make our voices heard. This is the language that should be included on the ballot:

RESOLVED, the People of the City of Portland, Oregon call for amending the United States Constitution to establish that:
1. Only human beings, not corporations, are entitled to constitutional rights, and
2. Money is not speech, and therefore regulating political contributions and spending is not equivalent to limiting political speech

Change.org|Start an Online Petition »

http://www.change.org/petitions/city-of-portland-to-congress-we-the-people-not-we-the-corporations

The Radical Caucus's Declaration of Occupy Portland Draft

A crisis is haunting humanity — the crisis of social inequality. The power elite, from the streets of Tunisia, Cairo, Tripoli, Athens, London, New York and elsewhere across the globe to the streets of Portland, have entered into an unholy alliance to defend this crisis. Where has this elite, through the consolidation of wealth and political power into the hands of the few, not actively sought to maintain and expand its control? Where has this elite, through the application of violence or the threat of violence, not engaged in the repression of voices seeking to undermine their control of wealth and power?

 Two truths are thus evident:

 I. People around the globe stand in common opposition to a culture of austerity for the masses with impunity for the rich. Their wish to defend our rights against domination by corporations and the super-rich over political and economic life has been acknowledged by the power elite of all nations as a threat to its continued power.

II. The time has come for students and working people as well as all people materially disenfranchised by existing systemic social oppression to openly, in Portland and all over the world, put forward their views, aims, and tendencies in order to find the points of unity in our common struggle for freedom from global corporate hegemony.

 To this end, Occupy Portland puts forward the following declaration:

 We, Occupy Portland, condemn the unwarranted and continual acquisition and consolidation of political and economic power in the hands of the few. Further, we seek reparative action against this elite few to benefit the many upon whom great material deprivation has been inflicted. We stand against the manipulation of society's institutions of governance for the benefit of the few and seek to establish new practices, where necessary, to ensure that these institutions operate with a focus on the public interest. We additionally seek to defend against the devastation of our planet and its people resulting from the misapplication of human wealth and power. We seek a future in which we may live sustainably in a robust and harmonious society.

 Statement of Autonomy:

 Occupy Portland is a people’s movement. It is party-less, leaderless, by the people and for the people. It is not a business, a political party, an advertising campaign or a brand. It is not for sale.

 We welcome all, who, in good faith, seek political and social change through non-violence. We provide a forum for peaceful assembly of individuals to engage in participatory as opposed to partisan debate and democracy. We welcome dissent.

 We wish to clarify that Occupy Portland is not, never has been and never will be affiliated with any political party, candidate or organization. Our only affiliation is with the people.

 The people who are working together to create this movement are its sole and mutual caretakers. If you have chosen to devote resources to building this movement, especially your time and labor, then it is yours.

Any organization is welcome to support us with the knowledge that doing so will mean questioning your own institutional frameworks of work and hierarchy and integrating our principles into your modes of action.

 SPEAK WITH US, NOT FOR US.

 Occupy Portland values collective resources, dignity, integrity and autonomy above money. We do not make endorsements.

 The Aims of Occupy Portland:

 Since some months before the start of the Occupy Movement in North America as spearheaded by Occupy Wall Street in New York, the following question was posed:

 What is our one demand?

 Our response to this must be clear: Equality, predicated upon a foundation of universal liberty in solidarity with all humankind. Toward that end, we seek to work toward the following aims:

 1. We aim to promote the public interest instead of the narrow interests of profit through the elimination of corporate personhood and the establishment of universal access to education, health care, water, food, housing and information.

 2. We aim to promote social equality by abolishing the artificial scarcity caused by the profit-driven privatization of the commons.

 3. We aim to promote a fair, stable, and equitable system of finance by ending the monopoly of credit in the hands of the banks, abolishing interest and forgiving all debts accumulated through illegitimate means.

 4. We aim to defend our natural habitat through the abolition of practices which are detrimental to a sustainable future and the establishment of practices, both new and old, to reconcile human activities with our environment.

 5. We seek to end perpetual war for profit by putting an end to the national security state, scaling back the military-industrial and prison-industrial complexes, and establishing practices of local, regional and global discourse that are conducive to human rights, human dignity and social integrity.

House-keeping

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