This was unanimously voted on by all members of Occupy Wall Street last night, around 8pm, Sept 29. It is our first official document for release. We have three more underway, that will likely be released in the upcoming days: 1) A declaration of demands. 2) Principles of Solidarity 3) Documentation on how to form your own Direct Democracy Occupation Group. This is a living document. you can receive an official press copy of the latest version by emailing .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address).

Declaration of the Occupation of New York City

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.

They have taken our houses through an illegal foreclosure process, despite not having the original mortgage.

They have taken bailouts from taxpayers with impunity, and continue to give Executives exorbitant bonuses.

They have perpetuated inequality and discrimination in the workplace based on age, the color of one’s skin, sex, gender identity and sexual orientation.

They have poisoned the food supply through negligence, and undermined the farming system through monopolization.

They have profited off of the torture, confinement, and cruel treatment of countless nonhuman animals, and actively hide these practices.

They have continuously sought to strip employees of the right to negotiate for better pay and safer working conditions.

They have held students hostage with tens of thousands of dollars of debt on education, which is itself a human right.

They have consistently outsourced labor and used that outsourcing as leverage to cut workers’ healthcare and pay.

They have influenced the courts to achieve the same rights as people, with none of the culpability or responsibility.

They have spent millions of dollars on legal teams that look for ways to get them out of contracts in regards to health insurance.

They have sold our privacy as a commodity.

They have used the military and police force to prevent freedom of the press.

They have deliberately declined to recall faulty products endangering lives in pursuit of profit.

They determine economic policy, despite the catastrophic failures their policies have produced and continue to produce.

They have donated large sums of money to politicians supposed to be regulating them.

They continue to block alternate forms of energy to keep us dependent on oil.

They continue to block generic forms of medicine that could save people’s lives in order to protect investments that have already turned a substantive profit.

They have purposely covered up oil spills, accidents, faulty bookkeeping, and inactive ingredients in pursuit of profit.

They purposefully keep people misinformed and fearful through their control of the media.

They have accepted private contracts to murder prisoners even when presented with serious doubts about their guilt.

They have perpetuated colonialism at home and abroad.

They have participated in the torture and murder of innocent civilians overseas.

They continue to create weapons of mass destruction in order to receive government contracts.*

To the people of the world,

We, the New York City General Assembly occupying Wall Street in Liberty Square, urge you to assert your power.

Exercise your right to peaceably assemble; occupy public space; create a process to address the problems we face, and generate solutions accessible to everyone.

To all communities that take action and form groups in the spirit of direct democracy, we offer support, documentation, and all of the resources at our disposal.

Join us and make your voices heard!

*These grievances are not all-inclusive.

Via reddit

I think these folks are wonderful and noble and all, but good lord, this wordy skreed has the revolutionary power of a laundry list.  I had to smile at the post scriptum. It might as well have said “Additional grievances available on request.”

We are with you.  We are ready!!!

Man, I really can’t stop laughing..

This reminds me of the Revolutionaries from Woody Allen’s “Bananas.”

Except this is <i>much</i> more comical.

ifthenwhy:

choke on your laugh while this movement becomes unstoppable

Hello!  Arent there Forbes lists for the top %.00001 dynastic aristocrats?  Arent there Google maps?  Arent there flash mobs?  Arent there public records that list the board of directors for the top 500 corporations?  Arent there Google maps?  Arent there flash mobs?  500 people sitting on a street may have one impact.  500 people showing up at some ones house might have another.  Then your list might get more specific, and have more of a narrative and more of an impact…  peace ya’ll

Hey Paul Morris and ifthenwhy:

Ever read the Declaration of Independence?

http://www.ushistory.org/declaration/document/

Now tell me that didn’t look like a washing and sundries list to the Redcoats.

How about the Declaration of the Rights of Man from the French Revolution?

I’m sure the fine folks at Versailles had some hearty, hearty laughs over that one.

You see comedy. I see classical manifesto construction.

They have taken our houses through an illegal foreclosure process, despite not having the original mortgage. (incentivized by government policies)

They have taken bailouts from taxpayers with impunity, and continue to give Executives exorbitant bonuses. (granted by government officials)

They have perpetuated inequality and discrimination in the workplace based on age, the color of one’s skin, sex, gender identity and sexual orientation. (interesting)

They have poisoned the food supply through negligence, and undermined the farming system through monopolization. (even more interesting, but I’ll play along: alongside government subsidies of farming)

They have profited off of the torture, confinement, and cruel treatment of countless nonhuman animals, and actively hide these practices. (non-human animals? heh)

They have continuously sought to strip employees of the right to negotiate for better pay and safer working conditions. (I hear working conditions in the financial service industry are abysmal compared to historic standards)

They have held students hostage with tens of thousands of dollars of debt on education, which is itself a human right. (incentivized by government policies)

They have consistently outsourced labor and used that outsourcing as leverage to cut workers’ healthcare and pay. (yes, because we all want to pay the costs of PhD students doing menial labor)

They have influenced the courts to achieve the same rights as people, with none of the culpability or responsibility. (I’m down with you here.  They should be responsible for their actions.  Nothing special to them though.)

They have spent millions of dollars on legal teams that look for ways to get them out of contracts in regards to health insurance. (Do you seriously think financial firms are the most qualified to be deciding which health care plan is right for you?  The problem here is the way government incentivizes health care.)

They have sold our privacy as a commodity. (ok, which industry hasn’t?)

They have used the military and police force to prevent freedom of the press. (ah, yes cause they control the military and police… wait, no, that’s government again.)

They have deliberately declined to recall faulty products endangering lives in pursuit of profit. (yes, I had a mutual fund once, it was recalled along with my Toyota and social security check)

They determine economic policy, despite the catastrophic failures their policies have produced and continue to produce. (nope. government officials have the final say in economic policy too.)

They have donated large sums of money to politicians supposed to be regulating them. (yep.  And then the politicians make all these decisions that you seem to be upset with.)

They continue to block alternate forms of energy to keep us dependent on oil. (yes, cause if alternative energy were the cash cow that everybody knows it is the last group of people to try to exploit that would be those lazy bastards on wall st.)

They continue to block generic forms of medicine that could save people’s lives in order to protect investments that have already turned a substantive profit. (viagra cock block!)

They have purposely covered up oil spills, accidents, faulty bookkeeping, and inactive ingredients in pursuit of profit. (and the regulators have let them slide.  boo!)

They purposefully keep people misinformed and fearful through their control of the media. (are you also upset with the way government limits access to spectrum?)

They have accepted private contracts to murder prisoners even when presented with serious doubts about their guilt. (that’s f’d up man!)

They have perpetuated colonialism at home and abroad. (“colony earth, just a bunch of ants in wall streets pants”)

They have participated in the torture and murder of innocent civilians overseas. (f’d up too. they really seem to be everywhere.)

They continue to create weapons of mass destruction in order to receive government contracts. (is it just me, or does it feel like your just listing all your complaints about everything in this list?)

———

P.S.  You might want to take the comments of dissonance seriously here.  It’s possible your message is not as tight as it could be if you’d like it to succeed.

P.S.S.  Beautiful photo up top!

I’ve noticed plenty of people are willing to pick apart this document, but the fact of the matter is that everything it says is true.  AND nothing will change until enough of us trust each other to make these changes happen.  Turn off your televisions, get off your ass, get over your ADD and do focus!

Yes the list is a good start and all sounds true, but please get a real editor to tighten it up. To be taken seriously it needs to read properly.  Thanks a bunch y’all!

If you’ve got a problem with the document, offer your services as editor. Don’t sit on the sidelines and nitpick.

ifthenwhy: Let them eat cake, right?

good Start!!!!!!!!!!
A little editing might help…but like others have said its all true!!!!!!!!!...
Ignore the detractors… what you are doing is awesome and you got the Transit workers, Cornell West, Frances Fox Piven and more and more each day.
Sweet dreams protestors!!!!!!!!!! Sleep wewll and fight another day

I like it, and I don’t necessarily disagree with any of the allegations. But I found it interesting how well they sidestep the question of who “THEY” are. They make a vague reference to corporations early on, but that’s about as specific as it gets.
Still, I am very interested in seeing where this all goes.

@ifthenwhy

Let’s see YOUR LIST.  Oh, you don’t have one?  Ineffectual twat.

@Noah

Really… Comparing a rather lazily worded anti-corporate rant that looks (at it’s very best) to be cut and pasted from AdBusters to the (wait for it) US <i>Declaration of Independence</i>?

Sorry, and I have many a grievance with our current form of crony Capitalism, but this silliness is just another act in summer stock protest theatre.

All we really need is the filth covered “anarcho-syndicalist commune” from Monty Python Holy Grail screaming “SEE THE VIOLENCE INHERENT IN THE SYSTEM!” over and over again.

Feh. And Radiohead didn’t even play the damn thing. Useless!

I fear for the lack of focus.  I don’t want this movement to turn into something like the teaparty where people are justing chucking random idealogical statements into the fold like trying to mix pro life messages with tax cuts and all other assorted redneck shit you find at a teabagger gathering.

The message should just stick to corruption, fraud, and unethical behavior and flaws of the banking system.

I align myself with the OWS movement.

I have a problem with

“They have held students hostage with tens of thousands of dollars of debt on education, which is itself a human right.”

Whose keeping young people from educating themselves? Fuck the institutions of learning. Pick up a book and start reading. Travel. Talk to people older than you who have some life experience. Go to a museum. Watch some documentary films. Surf the Internet. Who needs to go to college when there is so much information at your disposal.

And education is NOT a human right. You have the choice to remain stupid and no one owes you an education.

Make friends with an unemployed teacher.

Training is another thing entirely. I want my doctor, mechanic and webmaster to be well-trained.

@Lacy

You trace most of the problems described in the list to the government.  But who has the most influence over government decision-making right now?  Corporations or “The People”? 

The act of recognizing corporations as individuals has distorted the political process.  Now instead of appealing to the human individuals they govern, government officials are far more beholden to the superhumans pumping billions of dollars into what equates to a political industry.

The members of our government sell their power to corporations.  The corporations use it to govern us.  They make the decisions.

Don’t blame the puppet, blame the hand.

here here! unite! occupy!

This is hilarious. You guys have grown up in a country that has prospered and been able to sustain the freedoms, like free speech and the right to peacefully assemble, because of our economic and military might.

You people really are a waste of oxygen. Don’t worry, the rest of America will continue to work hard everyday, all while you guys complain about any and everything instead of seeking real solutions to your problems.

@ JC, this country is very different from where it was in the haydays. I dont know how many big cities you have visited, but there is extreme poverty and government supported drug addiction. In Florida doctors just give prescriptions away like candy. No laws are made, bc the govt is in bed with the pharmaceutical companies. There is some truth to your statement, but the truth is that the rich control the country and the laws being passed. Maybe your old, or live in a small city or town and dont know it. But get with the program. And by the way many of us have seen our parents and grandparents work their entire life for the govt to leave them hanging. So just so you know many of us work, but more importantly we want this for our parents. So maybe you individually were not affected but as whole, our country is in deep trouble. Its not complaining when we see our possible future. Did you vote for GWB? Because we knew, Micheal Moore knew, people knew that if he was elected this would happen. Not only that, don’t you know that it has been public, that they through away peoples votes, this has made it to the senate floor..They rigged the election!! There is a difference between complaining and making a stand for whats right. Not to mention (assh*le) your probably older and cynical, but When Its time for me to retire, there will probably not even be social security.
Even rappers like Immortal technique predicted this stuff. So where your mind is, actually makes me feel a little disturbed. The media controls what you think.
SO seriously wake up.

No JC, I will continue to work hard everyday at my job and also lend myself to this cause of standing up for the 99%, which includes you. Now get back to your job.

Make all the cynical comments you want. THey serve only to cover the horrible reality that this list exposes.  They are trying to save our country, our world and the Earth. Support them.

Hey JC…can you explain why the govt gave leahman brothers 187,000,000,000$. thats 187 BILLION..

@JO, or anyone, I’m still not clear on how it is the financial industry’s fault when it is the government officials who have the last say in the way government money is spent?

I completely agree that there are serious moral and legal concerns with some business owners who feel they are entitled to public money, and I sure wouldn’t want to be friends with people who were so comfortable accepting such handouts, nor would I want to own a company that accepted such handouts, but I can’t get my head around why it is their fault entirely?  Isn’t the person in government who is not strong enough to say no to the bribes and pressures of the public equally as weak and depraved and deserving of blame?

hey lacy! it is the government, but with citizen’s united(Supreme Court decision) we get the government corporations want NOT the government the people need

This is said to be coming from Wall St. yet there is nothing on the Occupywallst.org website…. why is that do you suppose?

i think the people in the protest should have a dress code such as dressing up in a formal suit for the guys and formal dresses for the ladies to confuse cops and to mock the bankers, and everyone in the “corporate professional” field… airline captains aren’t getting any beating b/c of their uniforms, so why not dress up??

TL;DR
But I’m with you guys!

I find this to be a bit more cohesive: http://warmowski.wordpress.com/2011/09/26/submitted-to-occupywallstreet-for-consideration-new-and-improved-messaging/

Stop The persecution of my people by the republican party !! No more election victories for republicans on the backs of Gay Americans !!!

These aren’t “Demands”  these are “grievances”  and while it’s nice to know why these fine people are protesting and taking the brooklyn bridge right now—what in the world do they want?  Who are they targeting this stuff to?  Republicans?  All politicians?  The president? Bankers?  Corporations?  I mean, even all these celebrities are coming out and saying they want to be taxed more (Russell Simmons did this week), but this whole thing seems so ... lacking in actual goals and action plans and a targeted audience. Why aren’t people THIS passionate about voting?  Or running for office and making change from within? We’ve been doing this stuff to ourselves for the last 20 years.

Remember reading about a time when these people would have hung for treason? Now they just get to keep doing it to people all over the world. It’s time for a revolution.

Animal Rights
Affirmative Action
Organic Food  

These issues are not root causes of today’s economic crisis.  I write this as someone who believes in equality, likes animals, and eats mainly organic food.  Why are these 3 items at the top of the list (in the top 5)?

I wager that if spies for the 1% had infiltrated OWS, they would have put those three demands at the top.

To quote a old film we must rasie up our voices and say i,m mad as hell and i,m not gonna take it anymore…...........

Everyone is welcome to edit the collaborative online American People’s Charter for Change, inspired by OWS and started yesterday, at http://bit.ly/pg5PN7

It’s a public Google doc

Crowdsource the demands of the Occupation

For those who think the document needs editing, I invite you to google the Declaration of Independence Images (of th ereal document) AND READ IT!.

It seems those who 1) thought this too wordy and 2) had too many issues, are those who 1)can’t handle more than a Fox soundbyte and 2) are unable to wrap their heads around the interconnected issues. This is actually pretty well written considering the collective nature of the debate.

Interesting and highly contradictory statement.  I think it would hold much more power if, like your demands, you disclosed who was funding your movement.

There is finally the tiniest chance to change the world we live in and people are dismissing it as if they are watching American Idol and the next shitty singer is about to pop up on the TV any minute. If you want to improve upon the document it is right there for you to fix.

If you think this is poorly written, you should see the second Amendment. How many times has that been argued over?

Please see the voting to participate in the democracy formed by the #occupy movements and the Soveriegn peoples movement. http://coupmedia.org/occupywallstreet/occupy-wall-street-official-demands-2009

Wouldn’t it be fun to see who was actually posting these “negative” responses. My guess is things are not what they appear to be.

Yahoo was already caught censoring emails on OccupyWallstreet. My guess is thats the tip of the iceberg as far as “perception management” goes.

THE REVOLUTION HAS BEGUN!!

We must force a national conversation about basic fairness in all public and corporate policies and regulations.

Santa Barbara is with you! We love what you are doing! Please keep it up.

You are all heroes and I love each of you.

They have supported and financed misogyny and rape culture.

Hope this is a work in progress and you all remain patient and let natural leadership within your group rise, refine and define your goals.  Good start! You have a lot of folks that want too be on your team and show that this is what tea party folks are scared shitless of .  You have our attention !!

Free Pvt. Bradley Manning!!!

Who the hell is “They”?  They sound like some sort of evil super villain.

let it be understood that there are no leaders, only organized structure for the purpose of optimizing teamwork benefits shared by the team of the 99%

there are some great demands in here, like better food quality, but it seems that most of these demands are not the fault of corporations, but of the government. and when they are the fault of corporations, it’s usually a very small percentage of them. 

there are great corporations out there, like Tesla, who are successfully selling green automobiles - don’t you want them in business?

and let’s not forget that corporations by definition are creating jobs for us right now, and if we don’t like a particular corporation, no one is forcing us to work their or buy their products.

Here here for organized structure !! Mr. Hue

This is insane. Every one of the ills cited are caused by government, not Wall Street.

The success of the leaders of this cult would have us living in caves and earth floor mud huts, to the ripe old age of maybe thirty.

“Oct 01, 2011 JC says:

This is hilarious. You guys have grown up in a country that has prospered and been able to sustain the freedoms, like free speech and the right to peacefully assemble, because of our economic and military might.”

This is indeed hilarious as the rest of the world have been feeling that “economic and military might” as tough deadly love. Starting so to say with the Dutch in New Amsterdam murdering the Wapingers and later subverting the Kingdom of Hawaii. Now letting private armies “prosper” in the (Middle) East

BTW What do you mean “prospered”? All built on bubbles as you can see right now!

Just curious as to where the other 99% of the country (all part of the 99%) can have their voice heard? http://coupmedia.org/occupywallstreet/occupy-wall-street-official-demands-2009

“They” are corporations and banks such as Enron, Halliburton, Goldman Sachs, Blackwater, Bank of America, Author Daniels Midland, AT&T, and the list goes on and on. These are the ones that really rule the world and it stops now!!!

Gimme a friggen break, you are either for or against. I am for.

You can find this statement formatted and ready to hand out at http://bitly.com/CanWeYes

We need to break this down to a simple message, 3 things:

1 - amend Citizens United and get the money out of our political system

2 - Regulate Wall Street so they can no longer gamble with tax payer money

3 - Regulate corporations so they can not destroy our planet for profit

I’m fully supportive of OccupyWallStreet, but you need to get a simple clear message that people can understand.  Break it down to the basics, get these things fixed and then we can solve the rest of it!

@Wayne Grantham

“This is insane. Every one of the ills cited are caused by government, not Wall Street.”

I fail to see the distinction anymore.

@Peter, productive honest business is not the problem. If you think the protesters do not include such people, you are mistaken. It the rest which is a problem and this includes those who are in the business of devaluing the worth of people and what they produce via wrongful control and manipulation of the value representing but abstract tool called money. There is a great deal of evidence of such wrongs having happened along with suppression of technology, including energy and medicine. there is also a great waste of resources in man power, knowledge and natural resources via the military industrial complex which is comprised of GOVcorps, as we have identified politician connections to corporate interest in various fields.

ignore my point restate yours

At last count, which was yesterday, over 500,000 people were occupying Wall St and their numbers grow every day. This is an occupation not just a protest march. People from D.C. are joining them on October 6th. There are other protests and occupations around the world to support the occupation of Wall St. This is what Freedom and Democracy looks like and I support this with every ounce of my being.

Some are saying the the problems listed above are caused by government not corporations. The fact is that corporations use our government, in some cases helping to right the laws that favor their bottom lines at the expense of
the rest of us. What do u think lobbyists do? They buy influence over our elected officials. if u ask me, we live and in a facsist state, because government and corporations are intertwined and as a result our standard of living on going down.

How many of these snarky critics posting work at Wall Street firms?

The document sums up the anger in the US, run with it.

@ Marc Campbell

Because sadly you need a degree to be taken seriously and get a foot in the door of said corporations. We can be as educated as we want but with no proof it’s like having a bad credit score. You’re screwed.

The “Let them eat cake” moment. They laughed at
Marx, and Mao and Uncle Ho too. They laughed at Castro and Chavez and Walesa. Keep laughing!!
There are 250 million people in this country at least who have been screwed by the banks, I’m one of them. When the tipping point is reached as the
“occupy” movement may do, the revolution will be unstoppable. The movement won’t just bring down
the banks, it will bring down the government too.
If the government continues to respond with crude
force like they are doing, the crowd will run the NYPD over like a steam roller. The people are all focused on one thing, injustice. That crosses all ethnic, religious and social lines. The government cannot drive a wedge into this to divide the people…The grievance is real and the
purpose absolutely resolute. Obama had better
think long and hard about what he is going to do about this or he may not have to worry about the
election next year because a revolutionary government will be in the White House…. The
United States IS NOT Immune from a popular revolution.

JC:

Yes, the role of some in this revolution will be to keep working shit jobs, not have time to protest wildly and openly. I accept that. I will support those protesting for a better America. I’m glad they’re doing it.

You don’t have the balls to speak out except from behind the anonymous Internet, huh? I’m glad these protestors do.

We need to Change some laws too, is there any chance that will be addressed?  NCP FORCE

House gone, car gone, no job. Need a ride to protest.

You can trace all this back to the basic human trait of Greed. That’s the real enemy.

OWS is only happening because things got bad, right?

It’s interesting to read some people comment that it’s government’s fault, not Wall Street.  Do they not understand the connection? 

Our government officials are BOUGHT by the financial industry who want SOMETHING IN RETURN! Namely, they pay huge contributions to those politicians who they believe can influence, write and pass into law government policies in favor of the industries from which Wall Street profits!

There is only one way out——-  It’s Time to GET MONEY OUT of Politics!  Sign Dylan Ratigan’s petition at…...  www.getmoneyout.com !!!

FOOLS! You take a perfectly good idea and muck it up with a litany of demands!! Why the hell Occupy Wall Street if you’re including EVERY problem facing humanity? Making it specific. Make it on simple demand so there is NO forwarding address!!! I am so bloody disappointed after looking at this stupid long list of demands. This will put all anxiety on Wall Street to rest. They’ve probably ROFLMAO by now!!!

Aaaarrrgghhh!!!! I am so pissed off by this!!

@Lacy .... maybe you didn’t read the preamble .... but the fact that government actually facilitates this is the problem the writer has ... and why they are protesting.

Governments should not be bailing out, or using corporations for public duty. Public service should remain public. Health Care, being one cardinal example ...

5 Suggestions for the Occupy Wall Street Protest along with a recap of yesterday and some photos

http://www.facebook.com/notes/kimberly-c-blozie/5-suggestions-for-the-occupy-wall-street-protest-my-recap-and-some-photos/10150332064529763

Yes, I agree this is a laundry list.  But it is totally true.  The list and movement does need to define itself in the same way as the right has defined it’s citizen reaction as “Tea Partiers” or the Mideast freedom fighters as the “Arab spring”  The movement needs a name and more focus: “Progressives” or whatever, in order for it to go national and stick!

Hey Bruce…what are you doing about it?  A FOOL will sit by and watch everyone else try while he does nothing to support the cause.  Your commentary is supposed to help and not derail the effort?  At a time when people are finally speaking out, I will kindly ask you to shut the hell up!