The Declaration of the Occupation of New York City - Th...

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The Declaration of the Occupation of New York City

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by the NYC general assembly 8.5 x 4.25 16 pages #80 recycled paper Preface I lost my job & found an occupation Injustice and oppression have haunted humanity for as long as history records. A privileged few have always been inclined to defy nature and exploit and commodify life, in all its varied forms. Conversely, there has always been resistance to these malignant forces, manifest in many dierent forms. Among these, occupation has proven an eective tactic to anchor the peoples steadfast zeal for righteousness amidst the turbulent waters of a social struggle. From The Diggers in England during the tumultuous 1640s, to the Paris Commune in 1871, to the workers militias in Barcelona in 1936, to the contemporary occupation movements rewriting the current political landscapes of North Africa, Europe, and Asia, everyday people have shown that the illusory power structure can be deed and defeated. Occupy Wall Street is the latest in this proud thread

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of human dignity; this generations seless contribution to the struggle for liberty and justice. We are honored and humbled to do our part in publishing and disseminating the Declaration of this noble peoples movement. In solidarity The Sparrow Project Publishers Note How to use this document The Declaration of the Occupation of New York City is a living document that is constantly growing and changing with time. As democratic, consensus-based decision-making assemblies continue to shape the declaration, we will publish new editions accordingly. The red pages in this document (pages 1-3, and 12) were composed by the Sparrow Project and may not reect the collective voice of the General Assembly of the Occupation of New York City. Pages 4-11 in this document contain The Declaration of the Occupation of New York City, in its entirety as transcribed and edited by Ryan Homan, Lex Rendon, and the Call to Action Working Group, as accepted by the NYC General Assembly, on Steptember 29, 2011. You own this document. Everyone owns it. The declaration, within, is a reection of every voice amplied by the peoples mic at the NYC General Assembly at Liberty Square, from September 17, 2011 to October 18, 2011. We encourage you to copy, reproduce, and distribute its contents. An interactive and downloadable .pdf of this declaration, along with additional resources, can be found below. If you would like to receive a box of printed declarations for your own GA please email us at info@sparrowmedia.net

http://www.sparrowmedia.net/declaration/

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The Declaration of the Occupation of New York City - Th...

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Declaration of the Occupation of New York City As accepted by the New York City General Assembly on September 29, 2011 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 prot 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 ones skin, sex, gender identity and sexual orientation. They have poisoned the food supply through negligence, and undermined the farming system through monopolization. They have proted o of the torture, connement, and cruel treatment of countless 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 inuenced 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

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police force to prevent freedom of the press. They have deliberately declined to recall faulty products endangering lives in pursuit of prot. 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, who are responsible for 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 peoples lives or provide relief in order to protect investments that have already turned a substantial prot. They have purposely covered up oil spills, accidents, faulty bookkeeping, and inactive ingredients in pursuit of prot. 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.* These grievances are not all-inclusive 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 oer support, documentation, and all of the resources at our disposal. Join us and make your voices heard!

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SHARE WITH > Facebook Twitter Digg StumbleUpon Email Print Anticopyright, Sparrow Media Project, 2011. Cross-posting for non-prot purposes is welcomed. RSS feed. This site uses the Basic Maths theme for WordPress, designed by Khoi Vinh & Allan Cole.

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