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%