We need only one demand

I agree with all your demands, but the only problem is there are too many of them.

One question will be, does all these demands really represents the 99% of the people? A lot of these are social demands which probably would not be popular among the conservatives. Some will have different view about the war and the Medicare for example.

Why not just focus on one demand: Cut the influence of Corporation on our politicians. One demand, clear and simple. I personally cannot think of one group that will oppose to get corporation out of politics. Except perhaps the politicians and corporations themselves. This seems like a demand that will be acceptable to the general public, left wings or right wings, the true 99% of the people. A demand, people without even knowing the details, will wants to join.

I know it is not easy for all the groups and organizations, with their own concerns, to agree on one single goal. But think about this: once this single goal is reached, then can our other issues be heard without the interruption of the corporation.

There is one nice post regarding this issue:
http://occupywallst.org/forum/our-1st-demand-needs-to-be/

If you have an hour to spare, watch this. Its worth your time:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4gpbfY-atMk&feature=mh_lolz&list=LLu-lOP79o3J0Zj12Q75yy8w

J789 wrote:I agree with all your demands, but the only problem is there are too many of them.

One question will be, does all these demands really represents the 99% of the people? A lot of these are social demands which probably would not be popular among the conservatives. Some will have different view about the war and the Medicare for example.

Why not just focus on one demand: Cut the influence of Corporation on our politicians. One demand, clear and simple. I personally cannot think of one group that will oppose to get corporation out of politics. Except perhaps the politicians and corporations themselves. This seems like a demand that will be acceptable to the general public, left wings or right wings, the true 99% of the people. A demand, people without even knowing the details, will wants to join.

I know it is not easy for all the groups and organizations, with their own concerns, to agree on one single goal. But think about this: once this single goal is reached, then can our other issues be heard without the interruption of the corporation.

There is one nice post regarding this issue:
http://occupywallst.org/forum/our-1st-demand-needs-to-be/

I myself think that 20 demands seem overzealous. Cut it to 10 to appeal to more of the populace.

Actually I'd like to think it works positively for up to the top 0.5%,I've agreed with a lot of your stuff..but yeah..I've yet to find another issue/solution that directly addresses a fundamental driver of the disparity(99%), as effectively as mine."Lowered,Flatter,Open-ended,Progressive Tax Codes" beginning with Soc.Sec..Problem with the trying to get corps out is then you've gotta boot the unions and everyone else that has a lobby, a lot of headwinds for that...and, yet I applaud the cause and observation for the need to focus and make as Broad-base-able the approach....

J789 wrote:I agree with all your demands, but the only problem is there are too many of them.

One question will be, does all these demands really represents the 99% of the people? A lot of these are social demands which probably would not be popular among the conservatives. Some will have different view about the war and the Medicare for example.

Why not just focus on one demand: Cut the influence of Corporation on our politicians. One demand, clear and simple. I personally cannot think of one group that will oppose to get corporation out of politics. Except perhaps the politicians and corporations themselves. This seems like a demand that will be acceptable to the general public, left wings or right wings, the true 99% of the people. A demand, people without even knowing the details, will wants to join.

I know it is not easy for all the groups and organizations, with their own concerns, to agree on one single goal. But think about this: once this single goal is reached, then can our other issues be heard without the interruption of the corporation.

There is one nice post regarding this issue:
http://occupywallst.org/forum/our-1st-demand-needs-to-be/

If you have an hour to spare, watch this. Its worth your time:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4gpbfY-atMk&feature=mh_lolz&list=LLu-lOP79o3J0Zj12Q75yy8w

This resonates with me. The one demand that all appear to be expressing on the street is to get the money out of our government. There are many things that could be done to accomplish this.

My worry is that if there are too many demands (and I find them all very good) then it will be difficult to tell if the government has met the demands. It leaves us in a poor negotiating position.

Making the one demand and then laying out a plan of action to accomplish certain things which will lead to a solution might be a better way to go. Language like:

"Progress towards getting money out of our political process will be signified by the accomplishment of the following legislative and policy changes: banning all political donations, protecting voter's rights and access, etc.

I think a rewording of the Declaration which emphasizes the major demand would allow the listing of further issues.

uncommonfilth wrote:Actually I'd like to think it works positively for up to the top 0.5%,I've agreed with a lot of your stuff..but yeah..I've yet to find another issue/solution that directly addresses a fundamental driver of the disparity(99%), as effectively as mine."Lowered,Flatter,Open-ended,Progressive Tax Codes" beginning with Soc.Sec..Problem with the trying to get corps out is then you've gotta boot the unions and everyone else that has a lobby, a lot of headwinds for that...and, yet I applaud the cause and observation for the need to focus and make as Broad-base-able the approach....

Watch the video link above. It provides a solution on how this goal can be achieved.

Hi,

The only link I see is a text message. Would watch it if I could find it.

I think this question is central.

solidarity,

Stephanie

occupystephanie wrote:Hi,

The only link I see is a text message. Would watch it if I could find it.

I think this question is central.

solidarity,

Stephanie

It's in the opening post, but for your convenience, here's the link

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4gpbfY-atMk&feature=mh_lolz&list=LLu-lOP79o3J0Zj12Q75yy8w

I agree that we need to consolidate the demands. The root cause of virtually the entire list is that the financiers who own the central banks and the Fed have used the power to create money to take over the government, military and intelligence services, media, and voting processes. The answer is to create a network of public banks, from municipalities, counties, states, and at the top. This means nationalizing the Fed and bring it under the control of the Congress, as the Constitution says: "Congress shall have the power to coin money and regulate the value thereof." This is how we regain control over our money and sovereignty. The U.S., or any nation, should not have to borrow money to finance its operations. As long as the money created equals the value created through labor (including machines and computers that labor created), there will not be inflation. The money supply is currently $3 Trillion less than in '08.

This elder appreciates your help!

I watched it and am 100% onboard with this Is there anyway I can help with this process here?

I am on my Demands Working Group here in my local Occupy and will further it here.

Simple and beautiful!

solidarity,

Stephanie

With all due respect, campaign financing or corporate personhood are not the root cause of our problems. The root cause is the control over our money. The financiers who own the banks that own the Fed have used the power over our currency and credit to buy the government, military and intelligence services, media, and voting processes. As long as the U.S. pays interest on creating what should be its sovereign currency, we will be debt slaves to the financiers. The solution to the root cause is to take back control of our money by creating a network of public banks--municipal, county, state, and national. This means bringing the Federal Reserve under the power of the people. See our website www.publicbankinginstitute.org and our latest video.

Is this thread primarily about the Federal Reserve and its problems/issues? If so, I'd like to merge it with the Federal Reserve thread to coalesce discussion in one place.

Dealing with money in politics is important, as is reversing Citizens United. But if that's all we focus on, then we basically become in effect the protest wing of Common Cause, a long standing nonpartisan good government group that is also very alarmed by Citizens United. They have a Web site.

I think we also need to try to reverse some of the damage done to the 99% by the influence of money in politics.

-Insurance companies have blocked meaningful healthcare reform with their lobbying and campaign contibutions
-We have a bloated military budget courtesy thanks to lobbying of military contractors
-Our energy policy has been shaped by oil, coal and natural gas companies; we are falling behind the rest of the world in shifting from fossil fuels to clean energy. If we don't innovate and spend money on R & D, it will hurt our economy
-banking industry lobbying and contributions led to disastrous deregulation of banks. Elected officials have let Wall Street greed run wild; the resulting financial crash has harmed millions of the 99%.
-Tax cuts (on capital gains and earned income) pushed by corporations and lobbyists for the 1% have created enormous deficits and have increased wealth and income inequality, which reinforces the power of the 1%.

I think we have to address the damage that's been done and provide some relief for the 99% who have lost their homes and their jobs, who are uninsured and facing mountains of medical debt, who are declaring bankruptcy at record levels, who are overloaded with student loan debt as federal support for college students has been cut.

Molly Carmody wrote:Is this thread primarily about the Federal Reserve and its problems/issues? If so, I'd like to merge it with the Federal Reserve thread to coalesce discussion in one place.

No. I believe it is about having one overriding demand as all we need, rather than a laundry list of grievences. Political donations from the 10% have corrupted the dependence of the Congress on the People so they serve the 10%. (Video in first email in thread)

Quote from RAB:
"I agree that we need to consolidate the demands. The root cause of virtually the entire list is that the financiers who own the central banks and the Fed have used the power to create money to take over the government, military and intelligence services, media, and voting processes. The answer is to create a network of public banks, from municipalities, counties, states, and at the top. This means nationalizing the Fed and bring it under the control of the Congress, as the Constitution says: "Congress shall have the power to coin money and regulate the value thereof." This is how we regain control over our money and sovereignty. The U.S., or any nation, should not have to borrow money to finance its operations. As long as the money created equals the value created through labor (including machines and computers that labor created), there will not be inflation. The money supply is currently $3 Trillion less than in '08."

Excellent information, RAB. Thank you so much for the links--I have connected with a State Bank group in my state now and am already active in Move Your Money Project. However, the People appear to be able to do this ourselves without including this in any demand. If we have the one demand, it will be far easier to garner widespread support and negotiate. If we can get the money out, then the government should work for us and we can get to our lists.

I agree that we need to consolidate the demands/goals, and get at the root of the problem instead of looking for remedies to secondary symptoms. Dennis Kucinich has introduced legislation called the NEED act that will do this by integrating the Federal reserve bank into the Treasury Department (effectively nationalizing the Fed), abolishing fractional reserve banking, and restoring exclusive the sovereign right of issuing our national currency to Congress, as mandated by article 8, section I of the constitution. I believe that this should be one of three core issues or goals that we need to focus on, along with constitutional amendments to assert that corporations do not possess the rights of people, and remove the corrupting influence of concentrated wealth on our political system.

RAB wrote:I agree that we need to consolidate the demands. The root cause of virtually the entire list is that the financiers who own the central banks and the Fed have used the power to create money to take over the government, military and intelligence services, media, and voting processes. The answer is to create a network of public banks, from municipalities, counties, states, and at the top. This means nationalizing the Fed and bring it under the control of the Congress, as the Constitution says: "Congress shall have the power to coin money and regulate the value thereof." This is how we regain control over our money and sovereignty. The U.S., or any nation, should not have to borrow money to finance its operations. As long as the money created equals the value created through labor (including machines and computers that labor created), there will not be inflation. The money supply is currently $3 Trillion less than in '08.

This movement will need focus to be ambitiously succesful. 1 simple demand that most everybody can agree with. Once the influence of money is out of politics, all other issues can be adressed in the newly-cleaned political process.

And that is an issue that can be solved fairly easily, compared to the other issues. It does not require complicated policy and it will not generate controversy, so it will be very effective.

The precise solution/demands could be something like this:
a) all federal elections must be fully financed by public money, no candidates can accept any campaign donations;
b) lobby activities must be highly regulated;
c) any person holding public office is prohibited of receiving any contribution or donation or conducting any private business during their tenure;
d) strict regulation imposed on business/financial activities of any person in public office for a number of years before and after their tenure;
e) a specialized, independent bureau of investigation dedicated to corruption and conflicts of interest;
f) zero tolerance and stiff criminal sentences to crimes of corruption.