A Letter to the Media from Occupy Wall Street
October 10, 2011 in World
After more than three weeks, the mainstream media is now covering Occupy Wall Street. The major networks have tried to make this a leftwing version of the Tea Party. They have tried to link it to the unions. They have reported that the Democrats support it. The Republicans don’t.
Here is a response to the media, written by Derrick Kardos, a participant in the movement.
you’re still not getting it.
your reporters are lazy.
traditionally, protests have been the culmination of a movement organized by a hierarchy of leaders who determined demands and then held public protests to promote those demands.
old way:
injustice–>organization–>demands–>protest.
but we aren’t a traditional protest.
our way, the protest comes first and serves as its own organizational tool.
the protestors determine their own demands.
messy, but much more democratic, yes?
the problem with the old way is the protest ends, the protestors go home, and the demands are ignored. repeat.
but our protest never ends.
that is why we call it an occupation.
new way:
injustice–>occupation–>self-organization–>revolution
what you reported as disorganized and rudderless
was actually in the process of self-organizing.
you were too blind to see it.
you were looking for an end at the beginning.
in just 3 weeks we’ve grown to over 60 cities.
we are ever 10000 strong today in new york alone.
we are occupying.
we are organizing.
we are growing.
we are not going to stop until our demands are met.
it is we who are too big to fail.
We are the People.
We hold this Truth to be self-evident:
A government which represents only the interests of banks, media conglomerates, corporations and the richest 1% is no longer democracy. It is oligarchy.
A new form of democracy has come to rescue the old:
a democracy by, for, and of the People again.
I’ve followed this event from the beginning. In fact, I began to tell my friends and family about it several weeks before the September 17 start date. My opinion is that Mr. Kardos, as part of “The 99%,” understands that something is wrong. However, as I have written previously, he may not know the details of fixing it yet. Therefore, he is participating in the movement.
He and the rest of those in the movement are setting aside the urgent to take time to look at the important, while trying not to get high-jacked by some of those who are currently in power. That is the core of the Occupy Together Movement.
Don’t let the mainstream media fool you into believing otherwise.
What is your perspective? Have you taken the time to understand the Occupy Movement? What do you suggest as a resolution to these issues?
