Misconceptions about OWS

 As support for OWS is waning, the main stream media continues to ignore, ridicule and discredit OWS (Occupy Wall Street). Let's clear up some misconceptions about OWS:

1. OWS doesn't know what they want

Yes, they do. See Declaration of the Occupation of New York City. They know our democracy has been hijacked and corrupted by the elite. They know that the Democrats are just as corrupted by political donations and lobbyists as the Republicans. They know that the will of the people is no longer relevant. They know that many in the financial industry were able to get away with fraud, looting the US Treasury and forging foreclosure documents on homeowners in order to grow profits and bonuses to record levels. They know that the mainstream media has also been corrupted. See this. They know that the rule of law no longer applies to those in and close to the government. See this. They know that the psychopathic behavior of the elite is extremely self-destructive and that it will destroy the United States, the environment and the world. They also know that the only recourse that they have left is to take to the streets.

2.OWS protesters are shutting down bridges and subway stations

Nope. See this:

And this (from The Fox/NYT nexus on OWS):

Yesterday’s NYT article on the various OWS protests by reporter Katharine Seelye “reported” as follows: “There was much confusion throughout the day in New York as protesters caused disruptions at the New York Stock Exchange and at Zuccotti Park before they moved in the afternoon to shut down subway stations” (h/t sysprog).
The current version of that article does not contain that passage, and there is no editorial note or correction noting that it had been removed, nor is there anything about this error on today’s Correction page. The NYT‘s own media critic apparently thought this reporting error was significant enough to warrant a long critique — when the error was Fox’s (and indeed, he noted that “other stations in New York City briefly suggested that the protesters might try to shut down the transit system”) – but the NYT, which likely played at least some role (if not the key role) in spawning this erroneous reporting, simply deleted the passage from its article without any acknowledgment of its error, even as its media critic bashed Fox for the same error. It’s like it just never happened (a not uncommon way of dealing with significant errors at the NYT).

This is straight out of '1984' where changes to the status quo were made retroactively as if it were always that way. It is, it was and always will be. Welcome to the end of history brought to you by the Ministry of Truth.

4. OWS doesn't have to disrupt normal business operations


Yes they do. The whole point of protesting is to get people to notice you. It wouldn't do them any good to protest on Antarctica.

5. OWS protesters are violent

I've never seen more peaceful protesters. All the Occupy protests have been incredibly non-violent. Why? Because they know that they can't win that battle. The police, on the other hand, have been, at times, extremely violent. See this. I am personally appalled that we the People are not giving the same shock and outrage to protesters as when the police are caught beating an unarmed person such as the Rodney King beating.

6. The crackdowns on the occupy movements are not related

Probably false. Although mayors have the final word, for now, on the crackdowns, there is some evidence that they are being coordinated through conference calls with PERF (Police Executive Research Forum). From their website:

PERF is dedicated to improving policing and advancing professionalism through research and involvement in public policy debate.

This is what we know: Oakland Mayor Jean Quon has admitted that she was on conference calls with 18 other mayors. (source). PERF, for its part, has stated that it was a part of some of at least two of the conferencde calls. (source). Also see Confirmed: Police Executive Research Forum (PERF) coordinating Occupy raids.

Happiness is freedom from fear

There is a reason that the police are violently cracking down on protesters: fear. The government wants you to think that if you protest then you are fair game to be pepper sprayed, beaten, kettled or arrested. We must refuse to be afraid any longer. See Freedom from Fear By Sheila DeButler.

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Whatever your opinion on whether Occupy Wall Street should be allowed to pitch tents, sleep in Zuccotti park and generally take over the park to the exclusion of the general public, we should all be upset at the inhumane way the police cleared out the park:

1. The police raid came without notice.
2. The police raid came in the middle of the night while the protesters were sleeping and disoriented. Those familiar with 'Shock Doctrine', know this trick of ramming through their agenda while the people are in a state of shock.
3. The police raid gave the protesters 10 minutes to gather their belongings and exit the park.
4. The police came in full riot gear; aka stormtrooper or robocop suits.
5. The police cut off all access to the park including access by reporters.
6. The police assaulted and arrested reporters who refused to leave.
7. The police used excessive force in evicting the protesters including the use of pepper spray, batons, head butting with helmets. They had a sound machine ready to go.
8. Some of OWS's property was packed up. Much of the property was destroyed and thrown into dumpsters for the owners to claim later.
9. The police dumped all the remaining property in a dumpster.
10. Some of OWS's library was packed up for later retrieval. Many of the books were ruined when they were thrown into the dumpsters. 79% of the books from the Occupy Library are ruined or missing. (source).
11. The OWS medical tent was torn apart with patients still in the tent. Medicine was apparently destroyed.

Visit msnbc.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy

Update:

From Occupy Wall Street to Occupy Nation in just two months

Police officer pepper sprays line of U-Cal protesters

UC Davis launches probe after pepper spray video

Three visions of the future

Guest blogger Mindsweeper writes:

In rereading/relistening to some of Paul Craig Roberts, Michael C. Ruppert and Chris Hedges, I'm struck by the similarity of their 'perception of reality' and their vastly different visions of the future.

Roberts doesn't seem to have much vision; he accurately points out the massive citizen complacency in the face of overwhelming hypocrisy, domination and corruption. He maintains the American 'people' have no chance of surviving. He predicted the Occupy shutdowns here: Western Democracy: A Farce and a Sham.

Hedges shares Roberts' view of terrible state of affairs, but is hopeful (deliriously?) that OWS is 'the revolution' that will save us. Ruppert seems to have the most dire vision of imminent collapse and sees OWS as 1 means to help re-establish a non-unlimited growth paradigm after the collapse. He seems more than a bit out there claiming that a looming Supreme Court decision will facilitate ironfisted HSD control over states+municipalities-->directly to civil war.

Of course the NY Times (‘Exceptionalism’ Argument May Prove Potent for Republicans) continues along in typical "vote in our rigged political theater" (CHedges This Is What Revolution Looks Like/)

Robert Scheer's column on Bloomberg is pretty good: The Villain Occupy Wall Street Has Been Waiting For

It seems to me that Hedges places undue hope in OWS. Yes, OWS has gotten the status quo a bit worried and has changed the main stream media dialogue some. More power and growth to it! Having identified a major symptom (Wall Street) of the problem, it now has to pivot and move to the only means for peaceful change: Congress, state and local legislatures. The status quo will only change peacefully if and when the Legislative branch at every level (local, state, Federal) becomes directly responsive to the 99% and hostile
to the 1%. We need: Occupy the Senate, Occupy the House, Occupy the NY Senate, Occupy the NY House.... Expecting the foxes to voluntarily give up guarding the hen house is absurd. You have to either shoot them or put up a huge (legislatively-electrified) fence around the hen house to keep the foxes out.

It's nice to long for the 60's and how the 'movement' ended the Vietnam War. Yep, it sure did, but what did the foxes do? They licked their wounds for awhile and abolished the draft so that the perpetual war state could move forward at an accelerated pace, immune to draft protest. Those foxes are very clever and get better and better at feeding their insatiable appetites. Look at the Civil Rights movement and its progress: Barrack Obama as President? Cruel joke! As of 2003, 10.4% of the entire African-American male population aged 25-29 was incarcerated. In 2000 there were 791,600 black men in prison and 603,032 enrolled in college. In 1980 there were 143,000 black men in prison and 463,700 enrolled in college. (Source: Prison Population Exceeds Two Million).

As of 2009, African-Americans account for slightly over 10% of the total U.S. population. They also account for nearly 50% of the total U. S. jail and prison population. Of the estimated 36,500,000 crimes reported annually in the U.S., African-American's are involved in less than 9% but have the highest conviction and incarceration rate annually of any other group. This evidences the unspoken rule within the U.S. justice system to hold minority American's accountable to a different code of justice than the majority population.
The average annual cost of caring and housing a prisoner in the U.S. is nearly $29,000. This is a 300% increase over the past 10 years and is out pacing every governmental agency spending cost except for Medicare. It is accounting for an average 6.7% of most states general fund expenditures. The incarceration of America has become big business and very expensive. Extrapolating the current rate of growth over the next 20 years, by 2030 nearly 15% of the U.S. population will be accountable to the American correction system. If that occurs, the FEMA prisons the conspiracy theorists have been talking about for years will become reality.

The land of the free and the home of the brave a prison colony, well that is one way to halt illegal alien immigration. I am sure when this information is translated into different languages it will force immigrants to rethink resettlement in America. The only way to truly halt this growth is to return to the original Bill of Rights and reinstitute Habeas Corpus. A crime is only committed when there has been injury to another person or property. Victimless consensual crime laws must be removed from the U.S. judicial code of laws. (See: U.S. Prison Population is the Largest on Earth).

Recent American history proves this 'movement stuff' is 'kumbaya crap' even if they save a few hens, integrate some schools, end a war, get a shorter work-week and pensions. The freakin' foxes come back harder and stronger than ever, waging a perpetual 'war on terror' killing millions, cutting off funding for education so as to privatize schools for profit, busting the unions and stealing their pensions while outsourcing their jobs, locking up minorities at rates several times greater than whites while privatizing the prison system for profit at taxpayer expense.

While I remain proud of those who participate in #Occupy and hopeful for 'their miracle', haven't the foxes come through the past 5 years wealthier and more powerful than ever? Isn't the political hypocrisy, corruption and greed more dominant than ever at all levels of government? Aren't this nation's policies both domestically and abroad more murderous, fascist, and destructive than ever before? And #Occupy will somehow dramatically alter those trajectories? Call me cynical and pessimistic for thinking "no way". If #Occupy is really persistent, the foxes will back off from some token hen houses for a short while and then - BACK WITH A VENGEANCE !!!

A Call to Occupy

Posted 52 minutes ago on Nov. 15, 2011, 8:23 a.m. EST by OccupyWallSt

#OccupyWallStreet Convening 9 a.m. Sixth Avenue and Canal Street.

New York, NY — We are a global movement that is reclaiming our humanity and our future. We have stepped into a revitalizing civic process, realizing that we cannot fix our crises isolated from one another. We need collective action, and we need civic space. We are creating that civic space.

To occupy is to embody the spirit of liberation that we wish to manifest in our society. It is to exercise our freedom to assemble. We are creating space for community, values, ideas, and a level of meaningful dialogue that is absent in the present discourse.
Liberated space is breaking free of isolation, breaking down the walls that literally and figuratively separate us from one another. It is a new focus on community, trust, love and hope. We occupy to create a vision of equality, liberty and social justice onto the blank paving stones of public parks, in the silent hallways of abandoned schools, banks, and beyond. Public space plays a crucial role in this civic process and encourages open, transparent organizing in our movement. As we have seen in Liberty Square, outdoor space invites people to listen, speak, share, learn, and act.
Last night, billionaire Michael Bloomberg sent a massive police force to evict members of the public from Liberty Square—home of Occupy Wall Street for the past two months. People who were part of a dynamic civic process were beaten and pepper-sprayed, their personal property destroyed.
Supporters of this rapidly growing movement were mobilized in the middle of the night, making phone calls, taking the streets en masse, and planning next steps. Americans and people around the world are appalled at Bloomberg's treatment of people who peacefully assemble. We are appalled, but not deterred. Liberty Square was dispersed, but its spirit not defeated. Today we are stronger than we were yesterday. Tomorrow we will be stronger still. We are breaking free of the fear that constricts and confines us. We occupy to liberate.
We move forward in the grand tradition of the transformative social movements that have defined American history. We stand on the shoulders of those who have struggled before us, and we pick up where others have left off. We are creating a better society for us all.
Occupy Wall Street has renewed a sense of hope. It has revived a belief in community and awakened a revolutionary spirit too long silenced. Join us as we liberate space and build a movement. 9 a.m. Tuesday morning at Sixth Avenue and Canal we continue.
Global actions will be posted on this page.