Turning Picket Signs into Policy. This paper does not in any way seek to minimize or brush over the enormous cleverness, heroism, and brilliance of the protestors on Wall Street and at the other Occupy Together sites. It seeks to build on the powerful foundation the movement has created. It is also meant to be discussed, improved, and critiqued.Any suggestions are warmly accepted!
Strategy for the Occupy Movement: Five Steps to Restoring Reason
About Demands
The central purpose of the Occupy Wall Street and mirror protests across the country is to restore the will of the American people the seat of power, where it has been usurped by multinational corporations pulling the strings of the federal government. There has been a mass awakening, recognition that the corporate takeover of the American political system is the root of the ninety nine percent’s daily miseries, including loss of jobs to outsourcing, loss of homes due to predatory lending, shrinking social programs, and endless deployments to endless wars. The movement has vowed to occupy everywhere until injustices are righted. Despite the main stream media’s misrepresentation of the crowds, the protestors are in fact well-educated, politically astute, and an organized movement with “demands” that have more or less been universally agreed upon and documented with the first official release (see footnote). http://occupywallst.org/...
Turning Picket Signs into Policy
This paper does not in any way seek to minimize or brush over the enormous cleverness, heroism, and brilliance of the protestors on Wall Street and at the other Occupy Together sites. It seeks to build on the powerful foundation the movement has created. It is also meant to be discussed, improved, and critiqued.
Gathering on Wall Street, the home of the New York Stock Exchange and corporate headquarters for many corporations, signals to the whole world that Americans know just which handful of people (the Forbes 400) are benefiting from policies that squeeze the 99% (http://www.forbes.com/...). The People have declared one-sided system is unacceptable, unjust, and they will not be passive or silent or go home until the system has fundamentally. CEOs will not forfeit their influence, and deep pocketed conservatives will use their large cash reserves, numerous think tanks with full time strategists, and every dirty trick invented to resist our efforts to redistribute the power and wealth they have looted and hoarded.
While we are greater in number, more creative, and highly educated, we are at a disadvantage when it comes to money and time, thus we must be efficient with our resources, tenacious in our pursuit of justice, and strategic in our approach.
The protests are a powerful, important, and an excellent start to meeting the primary goal to eject corporate influence from the capital, and they are the perfect platform from which to build a long term strategy that will transform the protesters’ signs, chants, and fists in the air into the actual policy governing this country. . The courageous protesters, spirited bloggers, passionate artists and others who wish to take a role in the next stages of the movement can have a longer-term, focused mark on the future of country by connecting street and online actions with policy making in Washington, D.C. Here’s how.
The Five Phases/Prongs Approach
The big picture strategy has a five-pronged approach, with its ultimate aim to restore reason to Washington. While they are referred to as “phases,” these prongs can actually run simultaneously, much like spinning plates, although the earlier phases will need to precede the later ones. In fact as the movement advances, we can and should continue Phase 1 and Phase 2 activities and so forth. Also note that due to the country’s two political parties being arguably different shades of the same right (conservative) policies due dependency on corporate contributions, I have taken the liberty of calling the Movement’s demands as “left” or “progressive.” However, the label should not misconstrued the demands of the protesters as extreme or fringe. The demands are in fact the view of the mass majority of Americans, otherwise one could not explain the phenomenally rapid and exponential growth in size, scope, and number of Occupy Together sites. While the demands listed may be “progressive,” they are the views of average American.
PHASE 1: Educate and activate
The activities of the first phase aim to increase the number of participants in the movement. This is achieved by connecting daily problems faced by the 99% with bad policies and bad politicians, and by revealing the truth hidden by the dishonest journalists of the mainstream media. Actions under this phase or prong range from easy to hard to achieve, depending on how much time and coordination each activity takes. The Occupy Wall Street and mirror protests across the country are in the “hard” category, so those on the frontlines are doing the most advanced form of education and activation. Note that coverage though media (alternative or mainstream) is an essential component, since new recruits cannot be attracted and educated without exposure to the signs and stories. This list also encourages those without the ability to travel due to physical or monetary constraints to be involved some other way. Communication with the uninformed masses and with policy makers is the aim of this phase, in the hopes the masses will join us, and the policy makers will know we are many.
Easy actions can be done alone, then shared in a Facebook post/Twitter message, to encourage others to replicate:
signing online and paper petitions
registering to vote (and actually voting)
boycotting the worst corporations (ex: leaving banks for credit unions, purchasing unbranded gasoline)
Medium actions are those take a little more time and thought and require good communication skills:
calling and emailing Congress (calling and following up with email is most effective)
writing blog posts
writing letters to the editors of local or national papers
sharing your opinions with first-person narrative videos
Hard actions are those that cannot be done alone and take coordination action with others:
Protests (of any size and target; filming and photographing and providing our own media coverage is essential)
Flashmobs (coordinated song and dance or skits, again, must be filmed)
Viral videos (short, funny, and entertaining with a broad audience appeal). See the “It’s the evil thing” Koch Brothers song: http://www.youtube.com/...
PHASE 2: Leverage our Power
The main goal of Phase 2 is to leverage our power: use existing mainstream, powerful figures, shows, and institutions to broadcast our message and fight for demands in arenas where the movement can have an immediate and amplified impact. Some of them area using our Occupy Wall Street of them have already aligned themselves with us publicly and . Three conduits have been identified: the Congressional Progressive Caucus, left-leaning television and online media, and local and state government.
Congressional Progressive Caucus. In short, we must identify the voices in Congress which most closely align with our own and use those figures to reshape Congress and US law. We can force Congress to respond to us if we become a permanently active progressive force on the political landscape. One of the fastest ways to transform our picket signs into policy and get the People’s agenda on the House and Senate floors is by reaching out to the handful of existing Congress members which are CONSTITENTLY progressive, anti-war, and populist and have never wavered in their support of progressive values. They can bring our demands onto the floor, translate them into legislation, and force votes on the issues the Movement wants addressed. As of 2011, I estimate there are approximately ten, and they include: Barbara Lee (CA-D), Bernie Sanders (VT-I), Dennis Kucinich (OH-D), and Al Franken (MN-D). Three out of four listed here are members of the Congressional Progressive Caucus (Franken is not), so carefully screening CPC members—looking at all voting records, interviews, and articles—is one way of finding our leverage. Besides membership in the CPC, another shortcut is ThatsMyCongress.com. http://thatsmycongress.com/... and http://thatsmycongress.com/.... Again, this is a short cut, and reviewing all available materials is ideal. CPC members placed the label of “progressive” on themselves. It is our duty to verify their claims before we endorse them. I have only listed these four because I have verified these four for myself.
Our demands will become law. Those progressive Congress members can introduce our legislation, then we must force the rest of Congress to fall in line and vote yes to our government reforms and to end the wars. The Movement can turn its demands into United States law by applying continuous pressure to Congress members in the form of constant feedback. We can show them the 99% are watching their every vote, revised bill, and floor speech with feedback. Politicians, regardless of which congressional district they represent, should learn to expect calls into their offices with expressions of gratitude for standing in solidarity with the 99% on the issues when they speak out—economy, corporatism, education, jobs, the environment. They should expect unhappy phone calls and picketing outside their offices and homes if they brush off our demands. The most critical factor is to call in and identify yourself as, “The energized, activated, and permanent member of the 99%, and we have 99 times more votes than the 1%”. Those who do right, most notably as Bernie Sanders who consistently gives floor speeches promoting our causes, should be given constant praise, promotion, and funds. In sharp contrast, anyone showing themselves as a conservative or backstabbing blue dog should expect a barrage of reprimands, recalls, and challengers. 2012 looms close, and this should be used to our advantage. Note: There is no law to prevent you from donating to someone in another state. Elizabeth Warren could benefit from support of the 99% and effectively become the first politician we are elect as a movement. With the power of the 99% behind them, the progressives will keep their seats, and “moderates” (aka sell outs) and conservatives will lose. With the ranks of progressives growing, the People will warn the ‘moderates’ that selling out is no longer an option, and conservatives do not stand a chance. Our demands will become law.
Progressive Media and Celebrities. Press coverage, particularly television, is essential to communicating with corporate heads, congressional leaders, and those not yet activated. Television not only gives coverage to the Movement’s actions, but the demands of the People can be heard, debated, and likely, endorsed on progressive shows! Television plays a major role in shaping the cultural discourse, and offers a vehicle to sway opinions. Those of us in New York can try getting some signs or wear printed t-shirts on the Today Show, or other mainstream shows. True journalists and active investigative reporters should be rewarded with subscription, coverage, promotion, and viewership. MSNBC’s Chris Matthews has been excellent lately, and Amy Goodman’s DemocracyNow has always been great. Cenk Uyger of The Young Turks, Keith Olbermann on CurrentTV, and so forth. If a paper publishes a positive story about the movement, buy it. Progressive celebrities bring the cameras, as well, so their involvement is encouraged and should be rewarded. Kanye West, Susan Sarandon, Naomi Kline and Michael Moore and others have already brought mainstream media attention—television cameras and newspaper photographers—with them. These people are doing their job to ensure that we cannot be ignored. Reward them. If a celebrity is bashing the Movement, drop them—publicly.
Local and state government. Perhaps more symbolic but in a language that cannot be mistaken by the 1% or the politicians, you can pass city ordinances which condemn misuse of corporate power and state level propositions which penalize corporate misues of power. See movetoamend.org for more. This is your opportunity to by pass ALEC and corporate dollars by reforming government one city at a time.
PHASE 3: Move to Amend
In the third phase of the Movement, which could foreseeably occur before 2012, the political pressure will have been built high enough to force Congress to pass a series of reforms which will pry the hands of Wall Street from Washington. The general concept of these reforms is to eject the mouthpieces of the corporate class from governing this nation. The result will be closing the wealth gap, funding social programs, and The most fundamental reforms we need are listed below, and in order of which could be passed most easily.
Trust Bust the Media – ban conglomerates, limit the number of outlets a single entity can hold.
Mandatory Federal Holiday on Election Day– except for emergency service providers.
Close Tax Loop Holes –funds government programs that close the wealth gap (education, infrastructure, AmeriCorps, etc.)
End Subsidies For Corporations –save tax payers money by ending welfare for the rich.
Penalties for corporate favoritism –Penalize Congress members work to serve corporations and hurt their own constituents.
Require relevant PhDs and relevant non-profit experience for federal agency heads-- corporatists cannot lead agencies which are supposed to regulate them.
Clean Money– Special interest groups cannot anonymously fund initiatives and television advertisements
Publicly Funded Elections – Truly equal playing field. No borrowing jets or similar gifts. Equal television air time.
Impeach Antonin Scalia and Clarence Thomas—put them on trial for corruption, then force them to resign
End Corporate Personhood – Constitutional amendment to end protection of human-made legal entities.
PHASE 4: End the Corporate Agenda
For over a decade, the People’s work has not been done in Washington. We the People recognize that corporations have stolen our democracy. Until we purge the system of corporate money and influence and the politicians representing the 1%, the People cannot get the changes we demand. The legislative agenda needs to be put back where it belongs: in the hands of the People’s true representatives.
Phase 4 assumes that we have begun to push through reforms to campaign funding, have begun trust busting the media, and have begun closing the loopholes for the wealthy. Based on these preceding changes, we should have a real ability to raise the profile and increase the numbers of progressive Congress members who will genuinely fight for the demands of 99%, including members Congressional Progressive Congress with verified track records.
How do we ensure the ability to increase progressive voices in Washington turns into a reality? We must be strategic and play to win our country back from deep pocketed corporations. We will have to identify, shame, replace and eject the politicians who work for corporations instead of citizens. To be effective in presidential elections, will need to focus on swing districts in swing states to prevent a Republican victory. We will have to carefully analyze how to win sufficient electoral votes we need to secure the 2012 presidency. For all elections, including for the senate and house, we should use international election monitoring techniques and exit polling. Lawyers and specialist should be prepared to challenge election fraud for corruption will be blatant and hidden by the Right.
Phase 5: Restoring Reason
Once we have taken control of the House and Senate, work can begin on the issues of the 99% of the American People of the United States once again. We will turn this country back into a first world nation. No more parodies of the political process, no more discussions about light bulb instead of making millionaires and billionaires to pay their fair share. No more wars instead of healthcare and higher education. No more placating oil companies that caused the largest toxic spills in our waters with apologies. Instead, we will be discussing how to ramp up production of clean energy from non-fossil fuel sources, and be holding polluters accountable. No more funding the wars and cutting funding for global humanitarian crises, no more no-bid contracts to Blackwater, Halliburton, and their subsidiaries. We will have policies without partisanship, without delay tactics, without meaningless arguments designed to protect the 1% and rob the middle class and poor. We will audit the Federal Reserve and change the monetary system to serve the citizens, not the banks. Our priorities include:
• Fully funded education for qualified students
• Free basic national healthcare system
• Reinvestment of infrastructure including public and mass transit systems
• End or reform fractional banking system
• Eliminate dependence on fossil fuels (coal, oil, and natural gas) by 2020
• No corporate favoritism: no tax breaks and no
• Eliminate ALEC
• End the wars
• Shrink the military budget
• Shut down US military bases on foreign soil
• Require appointed federal agency heads to have PhD relevant to the agency mission, plus relevant non-profit experience with a proven track record of achieving a comparable mission.
• Ban ALEC
• End the Patriot Act
• Reinstate Glass-Stegall