Declaration of the Occupation of New York City

[kpete]

Declaration of the Occupation of New York City
Posted on September 30, 2011 by NYCGA
As we gather together in solidarity to express a feeling of mass injustice, we must not lose sight of what brought us together. We write so that all people who feel wronged by the corporate forces of the world can know that we are your allies.

As one people, united, we acknowledge the reality: that the future of the human race requires the cooperation of its members; that our system must protect our rights, and upon corruption of that system, it is up to the individuals to protect their own rights, and those of their neighbors; that a democratic government derives its just power from the people, but corporations do not seek consent to extract wealth from the people and the Earth; and that no true democracy is attainable when the process is determined by economic power. We come to you at a time when corporations, which place profit over people, self-interest over justice, and oppression over equality, run our governments. We have peaceably assembled here, as is our right, to let these facts be known.


They have taken our houses through an illegal foreclosure process, despite not having the original mortgage.
They have taken bailouts from taxpayers with impunity, and continue to give Executives exorbitant bonuses.
They have perpetuated inequality and discrimination in the workplace based on age, the color of one’s skin, sex, gender identity and sexual orientation.
They have poisoned the food supply through negligence, and undermined the farming system through monopolization.
They have profited off of the torture, confinement, and cruel treatment of countless nonhuman animals, and actively hide these practices.
They have continuously sought to strip employees of the right to negotiate for better pay and safer working conditions.
They have held students hostage with tens of thousands of dollars of debt on education, which is itself a human right.
They have consistently outsourced labor and used that outsourcing as leverage to cut workers’ healthcare and pay.
They have influenced the courts to achieve the same rights as people, with none of the culpability or responsibility.
They have spent millions of dollars on legal teams that look for ways to get them out of contracts in regards to health insurance.
They have sold our privacy as a commodity.
They have used the military and police force to prevent freedom of the press. They have deliberately declined to recall faulty products endangering lives in pursuit of profit.
They determine economic policy, despite the catastrophic failures their policies have produced and continue to produce.
They have donated large sums of money to politicians supposed to be regulating them. They continue to block alternate forms of energy to keep us dependent on oil.
They continue to block generic forms of medicine that could save people’s lives in order to protect investments that have already turned a substantive profit.
They have purposely covered up oil spills, accidents, faulty bookkeeping, and inactive ingredients in pursuit of profit.
They purposefully keep people misinformed and fearful through their control of the media.
They have accepted private contracts to murder prisoners even when presented with serious doubts about their guilt.
They have perpetuated colonialism at home and abroad. They have participated in the torture and murder of innocent civilians overseas.
They continue to create weapons of mass destruction in order to receive government contracts. *

To the people of the world,

We, the New York City General Assembly occupying Wall Street in Liberty Square, urge you to assert your power.

Exercise your right to peaceably assemble; occupy public space; create a process to address the problems we face, and generate solutions accessible to everyone.

To all communities that take action and form groups in the spirit of direct democracy, we offer support, documentation, and all of the resources at our disposal.

Join us and make your voices heard!

*These grievances are not all-inclusive.
http://nycga.cc/

[Greybnk48]

1. It's starting, and about time.

There may be hope after all.

[Tansy_Gold]

2. K&R

I shall print out a copy of this and drop it somewhere strategically this morning.


Tansy Gold

[Raster]

3. Power to the people!

[fascisthunter]

4. where is Nadin?

she was right again.

[nc4bo]

5. Excellent! K&R! nt

[yodermon]

6. needs a line about climate change IMO n/t

[MadrasT]

7. K&R, but...

"Education" is not a "human right" -- and even if it is -- there are many ways to become educated without the current formal system of universities, etc.

But I digress and am otherwise on board with this.

[emcguffie]

8. Many folks would disagree with you.

Unfortunately, the US is not a party to the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, but most countries are and the treaty is in force, with 160 States parties. The United States signed the treaty in 1977, but has never ratified.

It regards education as a human Right. (I think that treaty also says that access to drinking water is a human right.) It says elementary education should be free, compulsory and available to all, and treats higher forms of education separately (see article 13, below).

Article 13

1. The States Parties to the present Covenant recognize the right of everyone to education. They agree that education shall be directed to the full development of the human personality and the sense of its dignity, and shall strengthen the respect for human rights and fundamental freedoms. They further agree that education shall enable all persons to participate effectively in a free society, promote understanding, tolerance and friendship among all nations and all racial, ethnic or religious groups, and further the activities of the United Nations for the maintenance of peace.

2. The States Parties to the present Covenant recognize that, with a view to achieving the full realization of this right:

(a) Primary education shall be compulsory and available free to all;

(b) Secondary education in its different forms, including technical and vocational secondary education, shall be made generally available and accessible to all by every appropriate means, and in particular by the progressive introduction of free education;

(c) Higher education shall be made equally accessible to all, on the basis of capacity, by every appropriate means, and in particular by the progressive introduction of free education;

(d) Fundamental education shall be encouraged or intensified as far as possible for those persons who have not received or completed the whole period of their primary education;

(e) The development of a system of schools at all levels shall be actively pursued, an adequate fellowship system shall be established, and the material conditions of teaching staff shall be continuously improved.

3. The States Parties to the present Covenant undertake to have respect for the liberty of parents and, when applicable, legal guardians to choose for their children schools, other than those established by the public authorities, which conform to such minimum educational standards as may be laid down or approved by the State and to ensure the religious and moral education of their children in conformity with their own convictions.

4. No part of this article shall be construed so as to interfere with the liberty of individuals and bodies to establish and direct educational institutions, subject always to the observance of the principles set forth in paragraph I of this article and to the requirement that the education given in such institutions shall conform to such minimum standards as may be laid down by the State.

[lunatica]

9. Wait! Wait! That's more than 15 words!

The trashers sure are quiet today.

[Kurovski]

10. K&R

They bad.

King Louis bad.

Give-or-take.

[StarsInHerHair]

11. kickety

[chillspike]

12. This beautiful

[w0nderer]

13. k&r for reading later n/t

[socialist_n_TN]

14. OK, I hate to dash cold water on this, BUT

this document is nothing but a list of grievances. Which is fine as far as it goes (you have to analyze what's wrong before you can fix it), but the "action" part of it consists of nothing but platitudes. You're NOT going to redress these grievances by "peaceably assembling" or "occupying public space". And "creating a process to address the problems we face and generate solutions accessible to everyone" is worthless if the people who have the power TO implement those solutions, don't WANT to implement the solutions.

I have a question for the New York City General Assembly. The abuses you listed cross a WIDE range of economic sectors, industries, and companies. And of course government complicity WITH these corporations across those sectors, industries, and companies. Why someone would be led to believe it was a SYSTEMIC problem. :sarcasm: If this is the case, why should anyone reasonably expect these corporations to go along with your solutions? ESPECIALLY when these corporations not only allowed, but actually ENCOURAGED the abuses.

I like the list of grievances, but the "action" part leaves a lot to be desired.

[kdtroxel]

15. Systemic Failure of Government

Ever since the 2003 “Help America Vote Act” gave all the states money to buy electronic election fraud machines, your singular role in our government has been stolen; as a result, the atrocity of our corporate & banker complicit government has mounted. We the people are the only true way to straighten this mess out. We the people are the only way to create the form of government that is best promotive to our happiness. The very definition of a peaceful revolution is a federal constitutional convention. Why are we hardwired not to accept that possibility? A constitution not being followed, whole or in part, is a dead document.

“Each generation…has a right to choose for itself the form of government it believes most promotive of its own happiness.” – Thomas Jefferson (1743-1826)

“The basis of our political systems is the right of the people to make and to alter their constitutions of government.” – George Washington (1732-1799)

"The two enemies of the people are criminals and government, so let us tie the second down with the chains of the Constitution so the second will not become the legalized version of the first." - Thomas Jefferson