Exploring #Occupy 2.0 – Part 4 – Model Community Bill of Rights and the Simultaneous Policy
Here is another example of the potential of the Occupy movement.
A major focus of Occupy is the need to radically reduce the toxic impact of corporations in our society and on our shared environment. Although corporations have a very valuable role to play, the form and actions of large multinationals and speculative financial institutions, in particular, have become increasingly toxic, and this needs urgent correction.
There are limits to what nations individually can do about this, given the way things are set up at the moment. However, there is great promise in both global action and community level action.
For global action, I find the Simultaneous Policy fascinating: http://www.simpol.org. This is a global network of activists working to design and promote economic and environmental policies that can then be pushed into law all over the world simultaneously. To the extent they are successful, business interests will have a harder time finding places to operate where they can profit at the expense of human and natural communities.
At the other end of the scale of activism – the local community – we find the Community Bill of Rights described below. It “can be used by Occupy cities to begin using lawmaking activities in cities and towns to build a new legal structure of rights that empowers community majorities over corporate minorities, rather than the other way around.”
As we gather energy to rework our economic and political systems so they are truly responsive to the needs of Life, the Simultaneous Policy and the Community Bill of Rights are two potentially very powerful tools we can use together to make a difference.
Coheartedly,
Tom
Model Community Bill of Rights Template for Occupy Communities
Prepared by Jeff Reifman, Envision Seattle and Thomas Linzey, Esq.
The Future of Occupy, December 11, 2011
