OCCUPY: What Should Be the Message?

When discussing the Occupy movement, there's one thing upon which we can all agree: it's unfocused. Not that there aren't a lot of admirable causes represented, but to be effective, I think that the movement must establish a clear set of goals. And they've even asked for help. I found this booth...

...at Occupy Philly. Organizers provided questionnaires asking what the salient points of the movement's message should be--on a local, state, national, and global level.

Here are my responses:

• Restore the Glass-Steagall Act of 1932. It's repeal (sadly under Bill Clinton's watch) was spearheaded by Sen. Phil Gramm (R-TX) and was probably one of the largest mistakes in US economic history. Without the act, a nmortgage lender and mortgage insurer can be owned by the same entity, allowing insurers to rate almost any loan, no matter how shady, as AAA.

• Grant Mortgage Amnesty. Stop the rampant fopreclosures, especially in cases where the lender was already compensated for the loss. Arrangements can be made to allow families to keep their homes, e.g., reassessing the property at a lower (fair) value and replacing variable rate mortgages with a low fixed rate.

• End Corporate Personhood. The whole idea that "corporations are people too" is an absurdity concocted by the railroad industru in the 1880s to augment its already substantial government influence. Supreme Courts for decades saw this power play for what it was and rejected it. Until now. This near hysterical movement to grant corporate entities stewardfship over government needs a slap in the face and a cold shower.

Well, I've showed you mine, now show me yours.

 

OCCUPY

WALL 

STREET

 

Comments

[Viki]

1. Get money out of the political system. No more lobbyists giving freebies. Also, another way to fund campaigns where everyone is on an equal footing. Spending millions of dollars to get elected is ridiculous.
2. Close loopholes in the tax system especially for corporations.
3. Find waste and fraud in the system. Just don't talk about it, do something about it when it's found.

I think there's no coherent message with "Occupy Wall Street" because there is so much wrong with the system. But these are a few of what I'd like to see fixed. I could probably come up with 100's more, ha.

[trainwatcher]

I agree with all of Viki's additions, but your "top three" are an essential start. The Occupy movement started over real and perceived economic injustice, and should zero in that. And we must keep demand HONEST remedies, so that we don't wind up with:

1. a restored but watered-down, toothless Glass-Steagall Act;

2. a Swiss-cheese mortgage amnesty that excludes more people than it helps;

3. legislation ending (gag) "corporate personhood" that's loaded with poison pills designed to give the corporate-bedfellow Supremes an excuse to restore those (gag some more) "rights" at the first hint of a corporate challenge.

In other words, REAL reform. Anything less is a fraud and a mockery.

Is that too much to ask? Yes. That's why we have to stop asking and start DEMANDING.

[CenCicaOrenda]

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