From Occupy Atlanta — Facebook:
What does the Occupy Movement stand for?
We are a nonviolent community of individuals concerned with the widening gap between rich and poor in America, corporate involvement in our political system, and unregulated corporate greed. Join us, the 99% in envisioning a society free from foreclosures, homelessness, bank bailouts, golden parachutes, endless wars, corporate personhood, political corruption, and rampant unemployment. Together, we can create a world where compassion for all beings and for the planet are more important than the accumulation of money.
One of the main goals of the Occupy movement is to bring awareness as to how previous administrations have loaned or credited trillions to the too-big-to-fails banks bailing them out even after they gambled away our homes, our pensions, and our national economic strength. Now, homeowners are facing record losses in homes often by illegal foreclosures supported by those same institutions. Tax breaks and loans are provided to the big auto companies and big banks, but nothing is done to help the unemployed or homeless. Democracy has taken a backseat to saving capitalism. [...]
from the
NYC General Assembly
On September 17, 2011, people from all across the United States of America and the world came to protest the blatant injustices of our times perpetuated by the economic and political elites. On the 17th we as individuals rose up against political disenfranchisement and social and economic injustice. We spoke out, resisted, and successfully occupied Wall Street. [...]
It is from these reclaimed grounds that we say to all Americans and to the world, Enough! How many crises does it take? We are the 99% and we have moved to reclaim our mortgaged future. Through a direct democratic process, we have come together as individuals and crafted these principles of solidarity, which are points of unity that include but are not limited to:
- Engaging in direct and transparent participatory democracy;
- Exercising personal and collective responsibility;
- Recognizing individuals’ inherent privilege and the influence it has on all interactions;
- Empowering one another against all forms of oppression;
- Redefining how labor is valued;
- The sanctity of individual privacy;
- The belief that education is human right; and
- Making technologies, knowledge, and culture open to all to freely access, create, modify, and distribute. (amendment passed by consensus 2/9/2012)
We are daring to imagine a new socio-political and economic alternative that offers greater possibility of equality.
And from the Wikipedia page on OWS:
Occupy Wall Street (OWS) is the name given to a protest movement that began on September 17, 2011, in Zuccotti Park, located in New York City's Wall Street financial district, receiving global attention and spawning the Occupy movement against social and economic inequality worldwide.[7] It was inspired by anti-austerity protests in Spain coming from the 15-M movement. [...]
The main issues raised by Occupy Wall Street were social and economic inequality, greed, corruption and the perceived undue influence of corporations on government—particularly from the financial services sector. The OWS slogan, "We are the 99%", refers to income inequality and wealth distribution in the U.S. between the wealthiest 1% and the rest of the population. To achieve their goals, protesters acted on consensus-based decisions made in general assemblies which emphasized direct action over petitioning authorities for redress.[8][nb 1]
The protesters were forced out of Zuccotti Park on November 15, 2011. Protesters turned their focus to occupying banks, corporate headquarters, board meetings, foreclosed homes, and college and university campuses.
On December 29, 2012, Naomi Wolf of The Guardian newspaper provided U.S. government documents which revealed that the FBI and DHS had monitored Occupy Wall Street through its Joint Terrorism Task Force, despite labeling it a peaceful movement.[9] The New York Times reported in May 2014 that declassified documents showed extensive surveillance and infiltration of OWS-related groups across the country.[10]
[...]
Crackdown
On December 29, 2012, Naomi Wolf of The Guardian newspaper provided U.S. government documents which revealed that the FBI and DHS had monitored Occupy Wall Street through its Joint Terrorism Task Force, despite labelling it a peaceful movement. The crackdown on protesters was coordinated with the big banks on Wall Street.[207] The FBI used counterterrorism agents to investigate the movement.[208]
Lest we forget where the current/continuing Citizens Revolution, really got started.
One of these days, were going to get our MANY ISSUES heard and acted upon, by our Stone-walling, Grid-locking, Do-Nothing, So-called “People’s Representatives” in the Lobbyist’s Government.
WE are not going away. But maybe they are? The Reps and their status-quo, disrespectful, elitist, corporate ways.