Yesterday in the messages stream for the Occupy Wall Street group a reporter asked for interviews and provided an email address. Taking the bait I emailed him and said I would do one.
Since He will have to edit my statements for brevity I thought it might be a good idea to put my complete responses here for comparison.
So after the fleur de Kos his questions will be blockquoted.
1. Many mainstream media accounts point to an aimless, goalless movement. How would you and the organization (to the extent that there is one) define your goals?
First off the concept that this is an organization is not accurate. What accurately portrays this movement is the fact that 99% of Americans are playing a game called life in which the other side has been cheating to their detriment. They are waking up to that fact and since the advent of the Citizens United decision and the resulting disenfranchisement of voters voices caused by that there is a realization we must do something. That is why you are seeing these groups forming in every state they feel their vote, their contacts to political leaders are unwanted and unheeded. For example we have unemployment that is tenacious right now and we have a Congress that is ignoring any bill that would remedy that. Our goals are a fair and just society where every American has a chance of supporting themselves- That would be the singular meme you would find asking any of the OWS supporters.
2. What do you expect to come of this movement? Will it grow into a semi-permanent political group, the way the tea party has? Does the movement have staying power, at least through the 2012 elections? What about beyond?
What do I expect of this movement is the realization by our elected officials that catering to campaign donors and corporations destabilizes society. That the voters need to have the ability to thrive. I personally like this movement and it's non-violent emphasis because we can make our voices heard- if we continue to spiral down this road of income inequality historically violent uprisings are the end result. This movement is trying to encourage changes to occur before society degenerates to the point of violence. As to permanence I certainly hope that the ideals themselves- non-violence, social and income parity, justice, and economic stability do carry on from this movement. We as a society have faded away from the gains we had when labor groups and social groups a the primary voice of the average American. That has resulted in the conditions we see now, conditions not seen since the Great Depression. We know the rules, laws, and regulations put in place during and after the Great Depression are what catapulted out society to greatness in the twentieth century we need those controls on capitalism again for the benefit of everyone. Including corporations, who are they going to sell to if there is no household money to buy their products? Who can they find for skilled labor if schools are underfunded? How will they get their product to market of the roads and bridges are not passable, if hijackers can outwit underfunded police forces? We are a society and we have to make an effort to maintain that society.
3. I've seen now several unions come forward to join the cause, as well as noted progressives like Michael Moore. Is the movement concerned with being perceived as a "left wing tea party"? (The media loves those black/white dichotomies).
Since the Teabaggers (their original chosen name) were a subsidiary of the Koch empire funded through front groups by them and promoted by the media that is controlled by less that a dozen corporations, to compare this actual grassroots movement to the Teabaggers is actually quite insulting. That said, the economic distress felt by the people engaged in that group and mis-focused by the organizers of that group to the current administration and the grab bag of lawmaking that would only benefit corporations at the expense of tea party members and the general public alike is something they actually could support if they are able to realize who is actually causing them economic harm.
4. Have you received any lawmaker support? Any politicians step forward to give heft to your cause?
There is a raft of politicians that have given support to this movement as they too see that the system is broken for the majority of Americans
5. What is your personal story behind joining the movement? Were you always an activist? Did something spur you into action here? What keeps you going?
I'm active in the LGBT movement for my own personal survival. The same forces that want to criminalize my existence and have used that as a wedge to divide and conquer the American public are also promoting policies that hurt those same Americans. It is the fact that issues such as the LGBT issues are emotional triggers that has allowed the corporate take over of our political system. What keeps me going is the knowledge that we could be a better society and we have forgone that betterment for distractions.
6. What are your personal goals here? Do they differ slightly from the group? (I've seen some environmental activism, for example, when that isn't necessarily the main thrust of the group overall.)
As you may have noticed there is very many goals of this movement but they can be distilled into some general ideas; social and economic parity, non-violence on a personal and national level, justice, and economic stability. I want a working society, to do that we must have the former.
7. Where does the movement go from here? We're seeing 130+ cities pop up with similar movements. I've seen some worldwide as well. What happens next, especially once winter sets in? Does the occupation go from physical to something else? If so, what?
They will occupy these venues until those in power start to listen and act on returning our society to it's potential. That works locally,nationally, and globally.
8. I've read that Anonymous is a supporter of the movement. In what ways can they help, short of perhaps hacking and destroying the entire financial infrastructure?
Anonymous is involved as a means of transmitting information. Those involved in acts of hacking are a small minority and they do not make their acts known until after they are successful. For the most part those involved in the Occupy Wall Street movement are interested in working within the system to effect change. We see that the direction society is going leads to civil unrest and our occupy efforts are and attempt to make needed changes before that occurs.
9. Have you had any personal interactions with the police? Have you witnessed, for example, the macing of those women or the massive Brooklyn Bridge arrests? If so, what was it like? What did you see? Does it have the feel of a confrontational, police-state or is it something less than that?
I'm not able to attend the protests in NYC so I do not have first hand
knowledge of those events. I find the militarization of our police forces something that will continue to cause problems in our society thus something else that needs to be changed. Protection of whistleblowers in the ranks, changing the requirements for hiring to Bachelors degrees, and more active inclusion of women and minorities in those forces will go a long way in correcting the problems with social integration our police now have. All to often the phrase"To Serve and Protect" does not represent the public's impression of the police and I find that to be unsettling due to the implications regarding cooperation in crime solving.
10. Do you have any other personal stories or anecdotes related to the movement that you want to share?
Not really, other than I now get hate Tweets due to my publicizing this effort. But that can happen in any emotional issue.
11. How would you like to be cited in the article? If you want your full name, please spell it out here. If you prefer a pseudonym, I can do that. If you have a title you want used (media relations for Occupy Wall Street, for example) list that. If you have a personal title you want listed (24-year old plumber from Kansas) list that as well. Basically, however you want to be cited in the article, whatever details you want included, share those here.
My screen name is Horace Boothroyd III that will do fine. Any other questions or clarification let me know.