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