The Occupy Movement is still active—but a slow movement for now

 

Lately I’ve wondered if Occupy Wichita is really doing that much compared to other Occupy groups in other cities. So I took the time to check that out.

What I found was kind of surprising. Wichita has been taking up a case of police brutality. But so is Occupy Oakland. Oakland is a much bigger city than Wichita, and it is known for being one of the most active. I do know they have occasional marches in Oakland. For its size, Wichita is doing a lot of the same things that Occupy Oakland is doing. 

Occupy Oakland is also taking up a Strike Debt initiative aim to leverage the debt collection system, and they have a Bay Area Marxism Conference, Nov. 17. For those who don’t know Wichita, such a conference would be lucky to turn up three people—so that idea is out for now.

There is an Occupy Kansas City and from their website it looks like they do a lot of the same things Wichita does. Their stated goal of their web site is;

“Occupy KC is a movement of citizens who have come together to reclaim our democracy from the 1% who have hijacked it.

We engage in a horizontal, transparent, consensus-based process during our General Assemblies, and you are encouraged to participate.”

All the Occupy websites seem to have a similar goal. Wichita’s Occupy site says;

“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.”

And in Occupy Oakland;

“We are reclaiming public space to use as a forum for the people to come together, meet one another, listen to each other, and build power for ourselves. Occupy Oakland is more than just a speak out or a camp out. The purpose of our gathering is to plan actions, mobilize real resistance, and defend ourselves from the economic and physical war that is being waged against our communities.”

Then there is always the original OccupyWallStreet (New York City);

“OccupyWallSt.org is the unofficial de facto online resource for the growing occupation movement happening on Wall Street and around the world. We're an affinity group committed to doing technical support work for resistance movements. We're not a subcommittee of the NYCGA nor affiliated with Adbusters, anonymous or any other organization.
Occupy Wall Street is a people-powered movement that began on September 17, 2011 in Liberty Square in Manhattan’s Financial District, and has spread to over 100 cities in the United States and actions in over 1,500 cities globally. #ows is fighting back against the corrosive power of major banks and multinational corporations over the democratic process, and the role of Wall Street in creating an economic collapse that has caused the greatest recession in generations. The movement is inspired by popular uprisings in Egypt and Tunisia, and aims to fight back against the richest 1% of people that are writing the rules of an unfair global economy that is foreclosing on our future.
The occupations around the world are being organized using a non-binding consensus based collective decision making tool known as a "people's assembly". To learn more about how to use this process to organize your local community to fight back against social injustice, please read this quick guide on group dynamics in people's assemblies.

What do we stand for?

Here are some documents published in New York that have been well received by the movement:

• Principles of Solidarity
• Declaration of the Occupation
• Everyone has the Right to Occupy Space, Safely”

So for me it is frustrating that it takes so long to take on the 1% directly. I would love to seriously go after the Koch Brothers, in Wichita, if I could get the time, people and resources. But it may take a lot more patience to continue with the Occupy Movement. It has survived and it is active in many cities, including Wichita. So we must trod along and patiently do what we can to bring down the empire of the 1%. -សតិវ អតុ