Towards an Enlightened & Sustainable World

Statement of Solidarity

Disclaimers:

** This was all written at the start of Occupy, when I felt confident to throw in my full support. The sentiment remains, however I am no longer posting under the Occupy moniker.

** All views expressed herein are those of Occupy Online and not necessarily reflective of the Occupy Movement as a whole. However, all views expressed herein are in full support of the Occupy Movement.

** Occupy Online does not officially support or subscribe to any other movements, -isms, or political parties/agendas (though some of the views expressed herein may happen to be in-line with one view or another). While Occupy Online might share particular articles or videos produced by other parties or movements, Occupy Online is in no way endorsing those parties, -isms, or movements as a whole. Some information is shared for informational purposes or as topics for further discussion and are not to be taken as an endorsement by Occupy Online.

** Be warned, Occupy Online publishes works of wit, satire, parody, sarcasm, commentary, and editorial opinion.

** I always attempt to give credit where due. Unfortunately in the digital age, that is not always possible. I ask you to give me benefit of doubt and recognize that this is a movement dependent on the collective sharing of ideas and discourse. I hope most will agree that the conveyance of information is more important than personal credit or attribution. That said, I do try my hardest to provide accurate facts and due credit.

Personal “I am the 99%” Statement:

Simply going out and working hard is no longer sufficient. The American Dream now remains only a dream.

I started university at 16, graduated with a 4.0 in an honors program, was dedicated to my church, volunteered, was part of clubs and programs, created a series of technology training seminars, worked during school, I taught myself Russian in a single summer, I graduated law school at 23, I have the best full-time job I could find. I can’t afford my student loans even with scholarships. I live paycheck to paycheck, often struggling and budgeting tightly. I do not have a child, a car nor a home, nor could I dream to afford any of the above. I don’t party, I don’t spend money as if I had it, I have always been a bit of a frugal miser and nazi-budgeter. Yet, in this world of expensive necessities and no healthcare, I have horrible credit (from moving to go to school, paying electricity, groceries and medical bills - did I mention I do not have health insurance?) and no longer have the option of a credit card. I do not drink, I don’t do drugs, and I have no mental illness (though many people treat my introversion as one). I am not asking for handouts. I am FAR from entitled. I am principled and passionate. I am intelligent and capable enough to make more money and be more “successful”; however, I am not willing to sacrifice my principles in order to do so. I am not envious. I do not care for riches. I do not care for fancy. I do not care for acclaim or prestige. I do not care for power. I do not care to control others.

I do care about harmony, fairness, justice, accountability, responsibility, hard work, ethics, compassion, empathy, creativity, and open-mindedness.

I’m fully aware that I am one of the lucky ones. I have been gifted in ways many people have not. I’m not crying a river of personal grievances nor applauding my achievements nor claiming to be more deserving because of those achievements nor am I taking a stand because I can see how a movement such as this might benefit me and my middle class compatriots.

Rather, I share my personal story to illustrate one example of how there is something wrong with our system. I freely admit when I am wrong. I freely admit when I have contributed to my own failures. But this is one area where I will not take the blame. I bought into the American Dream. I work hard. I use my gifts to the full extent possible (within my principles). I followed all the rules. And I am exactly where the system designed me to be - struggling and desperate, constantly treading water, constantly afraid of the next unexpected expense, constantly afraid of losing my job, constantly filled with ulcer-inducing guilt at my failure to financially support those I love.

Why? Because the system is rigged. It isn’t fair. I’m tired of sitting quietly ashamed in paralyzing self-flagellation. Because frankly, following all the rules for the chance of maintaining prideful austerity is absolute bullshit.

The moment it becomes profitable to bet against the futures and financial stability of the working people of this country, there is a problem. The moment you deregulate a financial system or give personhood to a corporation that has no morals, no compassion, no empathy nor humanity…no motivation beyond financial profit at all human cost, capitalism ceases to serve the People.

Mission Statement:

I created Occupy Online to use my voice, not to manipulate or wrongly influence, but because, in my heart, I feel it is genuinely a conscious movement towards the betterment of humanity. I will not badger you, I will not force ideas down your throat, but I will ask everyone to take the time to self-educate, self-reflect, and become an informed participant, rather than simply a consumer, in our society.

Many people resist change. Just as people resisted the end to slavery at cries that it would ruin the economy. Just as people resisted a woman’s right to work, for it would take away opportunity from men. People are scared of change, because even if life is shit, at least it is stable and predictable shit. If we work for change, it is a calculated risk - things might get better, they might get worse, but I can guarantee you that if we stay complacent on this yellow arrow train towards a broken bridge, things will definitely get shit for a whole lot of us.

We’ve grown up bombarded with propaganda and a superiority complex. Americais better. Americais the land of the free. Americahas civil rights and cares about its People. America wouldn’t fall into the same traps of old – Hitler, Stalin, Mussolini, dictatorships, fascism, plutocracy, aristocracy, monarchy, all born from some ideal or some fear over the flaws of unregulated human behavior and eventually perverted, tainted, abused and corrupted. Why? Because the people who seek and attain power WANT power. Inevitably people make way for charismatic sociopaths who wield power as their weapon of choice. Unfortunately for everyone else, there weapon controls millions, kills millions, enslaves millions. This is a problem of the human condition and fallibility. This is not a national problem. This is a worldwide problem that we are stupid to ignore.

The only reason Americahas avoided (arguably) these historic traps is that it is a young country that had the benefit of starting anew. It had the luxury of shaking off years of traditions that shackled progression. It was born off of lessons learnt from past mistakes. Well, this is a wake up call that it is time for a reboot and re-evaluation. We have a choice. We can either change things now or cling to an outdated machine, waiting until it is a rusted broken heap before waking up to a dystopian police state in 20 years.

So let go of all the immediate connotations you have built up over the years. Try to shed the propaganda and shame you have been bred on. It is really unpatriotic to want to preserve your country and take it back from the clutches of corruption? It is crazy to question and demand answers from those who claim to be public servants? Who is your loyalty to? Why cling so fervently to ‘experts’? Why not become an expert yourself and see if what you are being is fed is really true? These are not conspiracy theories one should keep to themselves for fear of social retaliation, this is rational logic. No one ever learns simply from plugging variables into a mathematical equation. A machine can plug numbers into an equation. What makes you human is your ability to ask why, ask how, to discover, to confirm, to work out the equation for yourself. You might discover something new. Or you might discover the very same equation, but it isn’t the result that is so vital to your self development, it is in the journey of questioning that you discover true wisdom.

So this is not about “democrats” vs. “republicans”. This is not about “rich vs. “poor”. This is not about “capitalism” vs. “socialism”. This is about corruption. This is about allowing the very worst in humanity to rule, when we have the capacity and capability for so much more. Socialist ideals, at the heart, are commendable ideals. Capitalistic ideals, at the heart, are commendable ideals. Unfortunately, both can be corrupted. Humans, like water, will find weak points and cracks, and without safeguards, a watchful eye, or accountability, inevitably those weak points will be “capitalized” upon and breached. When that happens, you can either ignore the problem and allow it to continue until the entire system is mired in corruption and everything we once held as ideals in this nation has crumbled to our feet…or we can stand up, point out the breach, spread the word, and join forces to fix the breach and safeguard against it in the future. Socialism abused –Soviet Union. Capitalism abused – currentUnited States. Two extremes, lessons should be learned. Things are not black and white. Things are not red line. Life is compromise.

Some percentage of the population remains ignorant to the breach against our land of the free. They want to believe their country would never succumb to the sorts of corruptions they hear about beyond our borders. To these people, pleasantries aside, you are a tool of corruption until you wake the fuck up and think for yourself. Again, I won’t tell you to believe what I believe. But I am informing you that there is an enlightened, evolving, progressive movement underway…not controlled by me or you or anyone. Rather, it is the natural result of a growing collective conscience due to accessibility of information and communication without borders. I kindly ask you to join us…or move out of the way of history.

To those of you who are scared, hopeless and overwhelmed by the enormity of the problems they see – you’re right, it is enormous and no one can change this country alone. Lucky for you, some brave people stood up in NYC and yelled loud enough for others to hear. Suddenly what was once a prison of insight in a world of walls opened up and people scattered everywhere are discovering they are not alone, this is not the best we can do, and that we are not powerless or voiceless. So they assembled atZuccottiPark and as their numbers grew, so did the volume of their collective voices. We are the microphone. We embody an idea and a progression. We are an inevitability.

SOLIDARITY, COMMUNICATION, EDUCATION, CHANGE

We are in PHASE ONE.

Editorial Posts by Occupy Online:

http://occupyonline.tumblr.com/post/13559200284/innovative-ideas-who-does-capitalism-really-serve

http://occupyonline.tumblr.com/post/11710431176/how-about-you-start-feeling

http://occupyonline.tumblr.com/post/11782959399/constant-reminder-of-the-watchful-eye-of-the-people

http://occupyonline.tumblr.com/post/11687748295/a-reminder-to-have-hope

http://occupyonline.tumblr.com/post/11625182304/lets-find-a-new-dream

http://occupyonline.tumblr.com/post/11587826849/tom-morello-interviewed-at-occupy-wall-street

http://occupyonline.tumblr.com/post/12523641592/whakahekeheke-listen-kids-you-can-learn

http://occupyonline.tumblr.com/post/12498949354/getting-all-facebook-furious

http://occupyonline.tumblr.com/post/11584530055/both-are-at-fault-we-all-are-at-fault-the-people