state what you want

I've been hearing over and over, both online and off, that the Occupy peeps "don't know what they are about", that "there is no clear message" that they are "a bunch of hippies".

Here in Dunedin New Zealand there seem to be more Dunedinites in favor of removing the tents of the Octagon because it's "unsightly" and doesn't allow the public to mozy over the grass at lunchtime. One protester was headbashed on national TV by an aggressive IT-entrepreneur and the council had trouble dealing with the Occupying situation in a switched on manner from day 1. Now there are about 15 tents remaining on the public lawn, representing a hardcore group and according to the council: allowed to display a symbolic representation of their right to protest as a larger group. (The police surprisingly decided not to honour the council's warrant to have the protesters removed as they wisely stated removing them by force was not the best course of action considering freedom of speech and so forth. Naturally the council was furious the police didn't back them up.)

So yes what do these mostly young people care about? Why are they up in peaceful arms? "Can't they just go and get a job" as they hear shouted to them from car windows?

According to the now released Declaration of the Occupation of New York City, their sentiments certainly incorporate the following:



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.
source: Daily Kos

This statement if far from chaotic rambling and a very far cry from stoned out hippie dom. The people know what they want: no more bullshit and an actual democratic system which is fair and true to sustaining people and planet in a cohesive sustainable and long term viable way. It sounds perfectly clear to me. The status quo just has problems hearing it. An existing system must crumble first by losing support before it can be replaced by another which is desired by many. The sheeple may have to let go of watching television in order to comprehend this turn of events.

The way I see it: some may not like it, yet a tidal wave coming can't be sidestepped. It's just physics really. State what you want and try to understand the different elements at play.