First 'official' statement from Occupy Wall Street

In short - very disappointing.
No wonder the Wall Street people were able to watch from balconies sipping champagne and laughing.

These are the comments by Michael Ruppert - 

“Until Occupy Wall Street makes a clear statement on the way money works and ending infinite growth it will be leading people into a cul de sac and betraying their hopes. There is no other problem that needs to be identified because until you change the way money works, you change nothing. Every grievance they list arises from the mandate for infinite growth. Fiat currency, fractional reserve banking, and compound interest will always recreate the same end results, no matter how much enthusiasm is mustered or how exciting it may be to see people uniting. The Powers That Be know this. That's why they can sip champagne from balconies and watch the demonstrations with laughter. "Sure, let them have their little venting fest!"

So, I would have to say that the leaders of the movement are misinformed and naive at best, or intellectual and moral cowards at worst, until they name, challenge and focus on the only real issue there is. Half measures do not avail 50% benefits. They avail nothing and we no have five decades of protest history to prove that. Not one progressive or populist movement has changed the world. The world we live in is living proof of that. Human beings have neither the energy or the ability to participate in something like this that will ultimately leave them hungry, beaten, defeated and poorer.

It is simple arithmetic that cannot be challenged. That is why until I see a clear commitment and vision to something that will produce change I can applaud the non-violent power that is being exercised, but I cannot tell our readers with confidence that this will produce anything more than millions of people in the street protesting the invasion of Iraq did. We either get what the issue is or the slow campers will have expended precious energy on nothing... And this may be the last window of opportunity that comes along”. -- MCR

These are comments forwarded to me by Robert Atack of oilcrash.com:

"Sorry to rain on your parade. 

I will not be there, partly because I live in New Zealand. But mainly because you are not seeing the big picture, which is that we are passed peak oil/energy, this doesn't mean just that lots of people will have to find alternative transport or walk, but that 9 out of every 10 calories you consume each day are 100% dependent of fossil fuels. If you can get by on an average of about 200 calories a day, then all will be ok. Even though there are a lot of good intentions from this 'movement', there simply isn't enough energy left to maintain the present system, let alone build a new one, though the new one will just be the old one 'gutted' or beheaded, but even then you might only buy a few more months/years (at best) before the new/old system dies, along with the food supply. 

You need to have photos of the food lines outside soup kitchens during the depression, to hammer home to people that things can/are going to get worse. Probably the fastest way to change is to just let 'the system' carry on under its own steam, it is fast killing itself, we are just in the opening stages of this clusterfuck. 

The best advice I think is for as many of you as can to get out of New York, the place is going to be a desolate place to starve, and I'm sure very violent as the lights go out, and the food stops coming, GET OUT while you can. 

We are 4-5 years passed peak crude oil extraction, the world is at the same point the USA was in 1971-76 when it went into terminal decline, except we now have 7 billion people. What will happen if the cops stay home tomorrow?         

 I've spent the best part of 8 years (1999 - 2007) trying to educate the public on the issues surrounding peak oil, now all I can do is offer my website as a place to start to understand how very alone we all are, and how dependent we are on fossil fuels to maintain the global population. 

Good luck, but be careful, you may get what you are asking for. "      

THE STATEMENT

This was unanimously voted on by all members of Occupy Wall Street last night, around 8pm, Sept 29. It is our first official document for release. We have three more underway, that will likely be released in the upcoming days: 

1) A declaration of demands.

 2) Principles of Solidarity 

3) Documentation on how to form your own Direct Democracy Occupation Group. 

This is a living document. you can receive an official press copy of the latest version by emailing c2anycga@gmail.com.

Declaration of the Occupation of New York City

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.