Posts Tagged ‘take’

Wall St. Protesters Suing City of New York

Wednesday, October 5th, 2011

Activists from the movement to Occupy Wall Street are striking back against the police state, suing New York City for violating The Constitution while arresting 700 people on the Brooklyn Bridge.  Five of the arrested, representing the entire group, filed a civil rights complaint yesterday in Manhattan federal court, claiming officers from the NYPD lured them onto the bridge’s roadway to trap and imprison them.

Law enforcement are notoriously slippery when it comes to holding them accountable for violating civil rights, especially those of activists. But the litigation might, at least, make police brass think twice before their next unprovoked mass arrests.

Plus anything that fights back against authority (in non-violent ways) is a great thing. There is no one single path to a world without injustice. It will take countless faucets of freedom, each being pried open by humanity’s independent struggles for a brighter future to emerge. This lawsuit, just like the Occupy Protests themselves, are another way to take the power back.

For those of you who don’t know what these demonstrations are about, there is a great struggle taking place all over the world. Our global economy is structured so that a tiny few people – less than 1 percent – control a vastly disproportionate amount of wealth and power. Meanwhile the other 99 percent are left to fight over the scraps, with the bottom 20 percent literally starving to death.

Voting doesn’t change this, as the majority of politicians have been bought by corporations and bankers. Silence doesn’t change this – it only lets the problem grow worse. Therefore, the only solution is revolution, which is what the 99 percent must do to reclaim their lost voice. And it must happen in every city, in every country, everywhere on earth.

This will be an uphill battle all the way, but it is by no means impossible. Sure, security forces will step up their crack down as the uprising gains strength, but that will only draw more to the streets.

It will be a chaotic process, but in the end, the 99 percent will claim control over the planet. A massive redistribution of wealth and power will take place, the industries which perpetuate war will be dismantled, and humankind will be free to chase down new priorities, like building peace and eliminating poverty.

So keep it up, protesters. A more just civilization awaits!

Transport Workers Union To Help Occupy Wall Street

Thursday, September 29th, 2011

Just twelve days in, and the movement to hold bankers and corporations accountable to the public is picking up some serious momentum. A massive organization – New York’s Transit Union – just voted to help the movement to Occupy Wall Street. With tens of thousands of members, the activists on Wall St. can expect a surge in bodies, come Friday at 4pm.

Like freedom fighting figurehead Michael Moore believes, the revolution ignited on Wall St. will spread like wildfire. Moore describes the “army of Americans who are just waiting for somebody to do something”, and because of the demonstrations in New York, “the something has started.”

If your wondering why the so-called 99% are so upset, we can turn to eloquent words of wisdom from the man himself – Noam Chomsky:

The banks are bigger and richer than before with corporate profits reaching record levels, and unemployment is about the level of the Great Depression – I mean real unemployment. These people are saying, let’s blame the culprits and the institutions behind them – fiscal policies like taxation, rules of corporate governance, deregulation – it does set in motion a vicious cycle that is getting worse and worse.

If you walk down the streets of New York you can see very serious poverty and phenomenal wealth side by side, very much like a Third World country. Meanwhile, infrastructure is collapsing, schools are collapsing and all that keeps this cycle going.

And one factor contributing to these problems are the big money interests, which have been allowed to undermine democracy. Chomsky:

Each [presidential] candidate spends over US $1 billion. Where does that money come from? A lot of it comes from financial institutions. What gave Obama the election were primarily financial institutions’ contributions. They preferred him over McCain, they expected to be paid, and they were. It has become increasingly difficult to distinguish between elected officials and concentrated capital.

So, unless you are in the 1% who benefit the most from our distorted distribution of wealth and power – and face it, you’re not! – you should be out there protesting too. Get out there and let your voice be heard. Take to the streets and be part of a movement for greater social justice, because that is what democracy looks like!