Preliminary two pages from NYC General Assembly Working Group on Politics & Electoral Reform, date of information 27 October 2011.
The centralization of political power in the hands of two narrow factions at all levels of government is neither democratic nor republican. No party system whatsoever is mandated by the U.S. Constitution. Today, government of the people, by the people and
for the people has been transformed into government of the people, by the parties, for the corporations.
Faced with a forced choice between a Republican and a Democrat, when there is any choice, the majority of Americans no longer vote in the majority of elections. The current party system has brought about a crisis of democracy.
The question confronting the Occupy Wall Street encampments and their offshoots in scores of cities and towns around the country is quo vadis? Where is it going?
This decentralized, leaderless civic initiative has attracted the persistent attention of the mass media in the past five weeks. Television cameras from all over the world are parked down at Zuccotti Park in lower Manhattan, two blocks from Wall Street.
But the mass media is a hungry beast. It needs to be fed regularly. Apart from the daily pressures of making sure the encampments are clean, that food and shelter are available, that relations with the police are quiet, that provocateurs are identified; the campers must anticipate possible police crackdowns, such as that which has just occurred in Oakland, and find ways to rebound.
In combination, the brutality and obliviousness of the Chicago and Oakland police departments, no doubt egged on by nakedly amoral “leaders” such as Rahm Emmanuel and his Oakland counterpart, have moved portions of the Occupy movement toward contemplating a General Strike.
The Occupy Electoral Reform elements will do what they can to keep the General Strike in reserve for 16 February and thereafter – the only thing actually worth dying for at this point is Electoral Reform, everything else is a nit.
In our judgment, absent some extraordinary leadership from the sitting politicians in the Executive and Legislative branches, the USA will see a General Strike in February.
After four years constructive unemployment, largely due to the illegal and abusive practices of DIA and DOHA that are being taken to court–I feel called to focus on Electoral Reform.
Here is the short URL for a campaign to raise $10,000 to take Electoral Reform hand-outs and stimulate electoral reform dialog across America, visiting each of the Occupy sites and where desired, stopping to help organize new Occupy sites.
The calculated cost per state is $200 for gas and oil and very occasional repairs, using a 1964 MGB for visibility and because it is my remaining car and daily driver.
I think we can do this. My objective is to achieve a Statement of Demand from across the Occupy movement, with a 15 February 2012 deadline for passage of the Electoral Reform Act of 2012, in time to assure open ballot access and other Phase I reforms for November 2012.
In passing I will try to inspire a BigBatUSA, where every eligible voter contributes $10 a year to protect the Electoral Reform Act, elect non-partisan honest citizens, and move toward a Constitutional Amendment that takes electoral corruption out of the realm of possibility into the future. Basic Math: 100 million x $10 = $1B a year. 200 million x $10 = $2B a year. 300 million x $10 a year = $3B a year. Not extrapolate that out to the rest of the world paying $1 a year for Panarchy with Autonomous Internet, OpenBTS connecting the five billion poor, and it is GAME OVER on predatory capitalism, virtual colonialism, and unilateral militarism.
In passing, where there is an interest, I will discuss my concept of demanding a Coalition Cabinet and a balanced budget as preconditions for candidates desiring to be elected President–anyone who cannot choose a Coalition Cabinet and come up with a semblance of a balanced budget at least 60 days prior to Election Day is simply not qualified to be President–at the same time that any average American willing to do this is qualified–better qualified even–by virtue of integrity combined with collective intelligence.
Here is are some short URLs that I hope all of you — good people trapped in corrupt system — will pass on and or take independent action on.
It merits comment that KickStarter rejected the campaign for reasons that are not at all clear. If you would like to restore the integrity of the US electoral process and consequently the integrity of the US Government, this is a good place to start.
I am a member of the Politics & Electoral Reform Working Group of OccupyWallStreet, and am briefing them on this electronically now and personally next Sunday in NYC. In my mind, electoral reform is not only the singular demand that must be made prior to 15 November, it is also the foundation for a nation-wide fund-raising campaign, BigBatUSA, to raise no less than 500 million and more likely 1-2 billion as an annual subscription for Democracy USA–$10 times 50 million is where we want to start. The same site that handles the fund-raising–and I anticipate it will be IndiegGOGO–will also provide for citizen intelligence, citizen policy-making, and citizen budget oversight across as many local, state, and national levels as are called for.
This is a selective directory of items from the Rolling Update. Day to day stories are not included. Use the Rolling Update for current snap-shot, use this Directory to think about OWS in deeper terms.
GeneralStrikeUSA
