09 October 2011

What does the Occupy Movement want

“What does the Occupy Movement want?” This question has been asked of me many times in the last few days. I understand it in a visceral way that speaks to my core not in a logical or political way. For me it is about taking back the power that “we the people” have ceded over the years. It is an expression of the belief that there is a better way to live in all aspects of my life. It is about restoring belief that the dreams of the past are not dead. So what can I do? In any movement there is an evolution of goals and ideas but here is a good start – by expressing ourselves in a way that the multi-national corporations that have put the screws to us for the past 40 years will understand – start with your money!

  • · Take any money that you have in a national or multi-national bank and move it to a local credit union. Make sure that you let the bank you are moving from and the credit union you are moving to know that you are doing this as a way to gain control and express your frustration with the status quo.
  • · Buy local. Always patronize businesses that are owned by local folks. If you want a nail, buy it at a local owned hardware store, if you want clothes buy at a local retailer not at a big box store.
  • · Buy American – always demand to buy American. It won’t be easy, but it is important. It is our ignorance of the fact that our not insisting on “American made” on the label we have hurt all Americans. In Germany, a country of 1/3 our size, they export more manufactured goods then the US. One big reason is that the German people understand that buying German is a good thing for their country as a whole, by supporting countries industries, they are sustained and grows as a society. We need to realize this.
  • · If you have to buy imported goods look for fair trade goods with the closest connection (shortest supply chain) to the producers of the goods you can find. Fair trade ensures a living wage for the workers in other countries.

If we all start doing these simple things today, we will begin to make the change. Our political leaders have forsaken us for multi-national corporations. We need to take the power back and restart our economy ourselves by taking responsibility for our decisions we make with our money. This is more important than you may think, the 99% has power, it just needs to wield it.

2 comments:

  1. I agree businesses need to stop thinking that what they do with their business won't affect others. One less worker from one company affects many others. Our goverment needs to tax heavier companies that move jobs out of America to replace lost income. They also need to tax heavier companies that employ out of country people. Then they need to have a bigger import tax so its not so cheap to import. Companies need to realize if they want to grow or at least keep the doors open in America it take working people to do that. The mega rich need to realize if they made a little less now and create more us jobs what they would loose in income they would make up years of making money in the future.

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  2. Companies need to realize that working people here in the USA is who buys their stuff. So the goverment needs to help create more jobs in the USA by taxing heavier companies that move jobs from USA to other countries to suppliment that lost income. Companies need to stop thinking that their few lost jobs won't effect any one elses business. One less wage earner affects another. The goverment needs to tax heavier companies that employ people in other countries and they also need to have an import tax that makes it not so cheap to import. Business owners need to realize that what they would loose in higher paid USA workers they would make up in continued years of income coming in from the working USA people. People in the USA need to do more to buy American products when possible. People in the USA need to make the elected officials listen to them and lets get rid of the way the elected officials take advantage of those how voted them in. Make them pay into their retirements like all of us. Make them have the same health care with cost like all of us. With the internet they could find out what we think about bills and laws they are going to vote on to see if we really like what they are doing for us.

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Thanks,
AJ