Patch Blog: What I'm Learning About the Occupy Movement

Recently, I printed Vol. 1, Edition 1 of the Occupy Los Angeles Movement newspaper—OCCUPIED Los Angeles Times.

I've come in contact with many people who are confused as to what the Occupy Los Angeles Movement is about. Myself included, particularly since the Los Angeles Times, New York Times, CNN and Fox News tend to show pictures of—or feature stories based on interviews with—college-aged youth playing bongos and smoking pot. Which, according to my particular taste, is a bit off-putting for a new political movement.

After printing their paper, I decided to leave the comforts of Eagle Rock, my wife and our two kids, for the center of the Occupy L.A. Movement in downtown L.A. at City Hall. I attended a few GA (General Assembly) Meetings held nightly at City Hall. I also spent a couple of long nights during last month’s shutdown and removal of the protesters and their tents camped on the lawns of City Hall. Since then, I have become involved in the Occupy L.A. ("OLA”) media meetings.

What follows is a personal journey—my journey into what the Occupy L.A. and National Occupy Movement is about, as I learn and attempt to understand it. I hope you'll join me!

So, what exactly is the Movement about, what is its platform, who is the leader? It seems The Movement is a myriad of ideas, beliefs and dreams based on a certain set of shared beliefs and disappointments with the American Dream and what those in the movement perceive as the failure of American capitalism. There is no leader—I haven't quite figured out why—but I believe it's pure genius: Without a leader, it is difficult for the media or special interest groups to dismiss and thereby diminish the movement. There is no possibility of character assassination without a leader.

The movement’s platform is a “living document,” which is evolving as the movement grows and changes. The gist of it is reflected in a document that I downloaded at the Occupy Wall Street site. Posted online on September 29, it leaves little doubt as to what people in the Occupy L.A. movement are angry about:

Declaration of the Occupation of New York City

This document was accepted by the NYC General Assembly on September 29, 2011.

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 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, who are responsible for 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 or provide relief in order to protect investments that have already turned a substantial 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.

In upcoming posts, I'll continue down this path of what the movement is and what it's becoming.

If you're interested in reading the OCCUPIED Los Angeles Times Newspaper, click here.

If you're interested in donating to their next edition, click here.

If you're interested in Occupy Los Angeles, click here.

If you're interested in reading more on Occupy Wall Street General Assembly (OWS GA), click here.