‘OCCUPY WALL STREET’
GREAT PEOPLES STRIKES THE WALL OF THE EMPORER
“Anyone with eyes open knows that the gangsterism of Wall Street -- financial institutions generally -- has caused severe damage to the people of the United States (and the world). And should also know that it has been doing so increasingly for over 30 years, as their power in the economy has radically increased, and with it their political power. That has set in motion a vicious cycle that has concentrated immense wealth, and with it political power, in a tiny sector of the population, a fraction of 1%, while the rest increasingly become what is sometimes called "a precariat" -- seeking to survive in a precarious existence. They also carry out these ugly activities with almost complete impunity -- not only too big to fail, but also "too big to jail." The courageous and honorable protests underway in Wall Street should serve to bring this calamity to public attention, and to lead to dedicated efforts to overcome it and set the society on a more healthy course”…Noam Chomsky
"So its really about the courage to ask questions which we don’t have the available answers for." … Naomi Klein
THE award-winning journalist and author Naomi Klein, who came to New York to participate in and address the Occupy Wall Street encampment. Her best-selling book, "The Shock Doctrine: The Rise of Disaster Capitalism," focuses in part on Chile, where the shock doctrine produced world changing events after Augusto Pinochet’s coup in 1973. One of the biggest transformations of his dictatorship was to privatize education. Now, almost 40 years later students are protesting in the streets. We speak with Klein about the student’s demands, and what they feel is broken with the Chilean educational system. She also dismisses the critique that the related Occupy Wall Street protest lacks a clear set of demands. "What the demands should be to effect a system this pervasive and complex are by no means clear," Klein says. "So its really about the courage to ask questions which we don’t have the available answers for." She adds that the Tea Party and political parties have failed to offer their own reasonable alternatives. "It’s a great irony in an economic crisis created by deregulation, privatization, and corporate rule, that the solutions to the crisis become further destruction of the public sphere and more deregulation," Klein says…. DEMOCRACY NOW
“It’s the Makings of a U.S. Autumn Responding to the Arab Spring….” Cornel West
"It’s impossible to translate the issue of the greed of Wall Street into one demand, or two demands. We’re talking about a democratic awakening," said Dr. Cornel West when he spoke with Democracy Now! host Amy Goodman during a visit Tuesday night to the Occupy Wall Street encampment. Some critics have expressed frustration at the protest’s lack of a clear and unified message. But the Princeton University professor emphasized that "you’re talking about raising political consciousness so it spills over all parts of the country, so people can begin to see what’s going on through a set of different lens, and then you begin to highlight what the more detailed demands would be. Because in the end we’re really talking about what Martin King would call a revolution: A transfer of power from oligarchs to everyday people of all colors. And that is a step by step process." Dr. West also called on President Obama to apologize for calling on members of the Congressional Black Caucus to “stop complaining, stop grumbling, stop crying” when unemployment among African Americans has reached record highs and two of five Black children live in poverty. …DEMOCRACY NOW
“RESULT OF SOCIALIZING LOSSES AND PRIVATISING GAINS” --
Nobel Prize winning economist Joseph Stiglitz showed up at “Occupy Wall Street” this week to show his support for the protest and clearly outline what he sees as the worst crimes of the American financial sector.
In a brief speech amplified by an “echo chamber” of protesters (who shouted Stiglitz’s own words as a group because they’re banned from using megaphones), the Colombia University professor said that Wall Street had become wealthy by “socializing losses and privatizing gain,” calling it a scheme that’s “not capitalism.”
“After the bubble broke, they continued in their way of disobeying the law, in a sense. Throwing people out of their houses, even in some cases when they didn’t owe money…
“We bailed out the banks with an understanding that there would be a restoration of lending. All there was was a restoration of bonuses. Unless we deal with the anti-competitive practices with the reckless vending and speculative behavior, with the anti-competitive practices, unless we restore demand to the function it should serve, we won’t have a robust recovery.” JOSEPH STIGLITZ {DEMOCRACY NOW}
CORNEL WEST
[ Professor of religion and African American studies at Princeton University and the author of numerous books on race.]
ADDRESSING THE WALL STREET PROTESTERS
There is a sweet spirit in this place. I hope you can feel the love and inspiration...Of those Sly Stone called every day people... Who take a stand with great courage...
And compassion... Because we oppose... The greed of Wall Street oligarchs... And corporate plutocrats... Who squeeze the democratic juices...
Out of this country... And other places around the world...I am so blessed to be here... You got me spiritually break-dancing on the way here...
Because when you bring folks together... Of all colors... And all cultures... And all Genders...And all sexual orientations... elite will tremble in their boots... Yeah...
And we will send a message... That this is the U.S. fall... Responding to the Arab Spring...And it’s going to hit Chicago... And Los Angeles... And Phoenix, Arizona...
And A-Town, itself... Moving on to Detroit... We going to hit Appalachia...We going to hit the reservations with our red brothers and sisters...
And Martin Luther King Jr. will smile from the grave... And say, we moving step by step...And say, we moving step by step... For what he called a revolution...
And don’t be afraid to say revolution... Because we want a transfer of power...We want a transfer of power...From the oligarchs... To ordinary citizens...
To ordinary citizens... Beginning with the poor children of all colors... And the orphans and the widows... And the elderly... And the working folk...
That we connect the prison-industrial complex... With the military-industrial complex...With the Wall Street oligarchy complex... And the corporate-media complex...
So, I want to thank you and it’s a blessing to be a small part of this magnificent gathering.This is the general assembly, consecrated by your witness and your body and your mind.
Yeah. God bless you. God bless you. God bless you.
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