Dear Dirty America

Many people have been asking what the demands / goals are of those wishing to Occupy Los Angeles, in solidarity with Occupy Wall Street. Here is some insight, straight from the source:

More threads are popping up asking about demands, so I would like to address this again. If you scroll down on the tab of Occupy Los Angeles’s updates, you will see a post clarifying that a finalized list of demands is still being discussed. We have a shared identity of the 99% who have been subordinated by the richest 1% of this country, who control almost 40% of this country’s wealth. The important aim of this movement for now is to be in solidarity with the occupiers of Occupy Wall Street, gain numbers and call attention to the heavy influence corporations have in all aspects of society. From 2007-2009, the people of Wall Street had their profits grow 720%, while the unemployment rate went up 102%.

This movement was started by people of different ideologies, different backgrounds, different threads. To demand a list of demands after only five days of this group having General Assemblies is asking too much, in my opinion. As a group that works on the principles of true, direct democracy, we value diversity and our time to discuss issues, formulate shared points of unity and then finalize demands.

This occupation is not simply to occupy a space. It is an act of disobedience, a stepping away from the country that has been bound by a corporatocracy, a statement that we are fed up with the current system. We are our own people and it is time that we stand up and demand control over our lives. I hope everyone can see that standing up united against a nation that has taken our jobs; our social safety; our education; our adequate access to healthcare; our essential security of feeling that tomorrow or the next day, our lives won’t be screwed over, is reason enough to–at the very least–join us in solidarity, attend our General Assemblies and help us formulate concrete demands that will bring change to a system that is so broken for the people.

If you’re looking for statistics on how screwed over we really are, there are some infographics here: http://motherjones.com/politics/2011/02/income-inequality-in-america-chart-graph

Occupy Wall Street needs more celebrities