DC GA Declaration

The Declaration of the Occupation of Washington D.C.

Consented to in committee November 15th, 2011

We have been captives of corrupt economic and political systems for far too
long. The concentration of wealth and the purchase of political power
stifle the voices of the increasingly disenfranchised 99%. Corporate
dominance subverts democracy, intentionally sows division, destroys the
environment, obstructs the just and equitable pursuit of happiness, and
violates the rights and dignity of all life.

Occupy D.C. is an open community of diverse individuals, founded on
equality for the common good. We are peaceably assembled at McPherson
Square, practicing direct democracy on the doorstep of K Street, the center
of destructive corporate and governmental relationships. We insist that our
political and economic systems serve the people’s interests. Now is the
time to advance and complete the struggles of those who came before us.

We are assembled because:

It is absurd that the 1% has taken 40% of the nation’s wealth through
exploiting labor, outsourcing jobs, and manipulating the tax code to their
benefit through special capital tax rates and loopholes. The system is
rigged in their favor, yet they cry foul when anyone even dares to question
their relentless class warfare.

Candidates in our electoral system require huge sums of money to be
competitive. These contributions from multi-national corporations and
wealthy individuals destroy responsive representative governance. A system
of backroom deals, kickbacks, bribes, and dirty politics overrides the will
of the people. The rotation of decision-makers between the public and
private sectors cultivates a network of public officials, lobbyists, and
executives whose aligned interests do not serve the American people.

The entrenched 2-party system overlooks public interests by pursuing narrow
political goals. This climate encourages candidates to polarize voters for
individual power and personal gain. Citizens’ meaningful input has been
compromised by gerrymandering, voter disenfranchisement, and unresponsive
politicians. Residents of Washington DC continue to lack autonomy and
legislative representation.

Those with power have divided us from working in solidarity by perpetuating
historical prejudices and discrimination based on color of skin, perceived
race, immigrant or indigenous status, gender identity, sexual orientation,
and disability, among other things.

Corporations broke the financial system by gambling with our savings,
property, and economy. They needed the public to bail them out of their
failures yet deny any responsibility and continue to fight oversight. They
loot from those whose labor creates society’s prosperity, while the
government allows them to privatize profits and socialize risk.

Corporate interests threaten life on Earth by extracting and burning fossil
fuels and resisting the necessary transition to renewable energy. Their
drilling, mining, clear-cutting, overfishing, and factory farming destroys
the land, jeopardizes our food and water, and poisons the soil with near
impunity. They privilege polluters over people by subsidizing fossil fuels,
blocking investments in clean energy and efficient transportation, and
hiding environmental destruction from public oversight.

Private corporations, with the government’s support, use common resources
and infrastructure for short-term personal profit, while stifling efforts
to invest in public goods.

The U.S. government engages in drawn-out, costly conflicts abroad. These
operations are often pursued to control resources, needlessly overthrow
foreign governments, and install friendly regimes. These wars destroy the
lives of American soldiers and innocent civilians and are a blank check to
divert money from domestic priorities.

Government authorities cultivate a culture of fear to invade our privacy,
limit assembly, restrict speech, and deny due process. They have failed in
their duty to protect our rights. Exacerbated by profiteering interests,
the criminal justice system has unfairly targeted underprivileged
communities and outspoken groups for prosecution rather than protection.

Corporatized culture warps our perception of reality. It cheapens and mocks
the beauty of human thought and experience, while promoting excessive
materialism as the path to happiness. The corporate news media furthers the
interests of the very wealthy, distorts and disregards the truth, and
confines our imagination of what is possible for ourselves and society.

Leaders are trading our access to basic needs in exchange for handouts to
the ultra-wealthy. Our rights to healthcare, education, food, water, and
housing are sacrificed to profit-driven market forces. They are attacking
unemployment insurance, Medicare, Medicaid, and Social Security, creating
an uncertain future for us all.*

A better world is possible.

To all people,

We, the Washington D.C. General Assembly occupying K Street in McPherson
Square, urge you to assert your power. Exercise your right to peaceably
assemble and reclaim the commons. Re-conceive ways to build a democratic,
just, and sustainable world. To all who value democracy, we encourage you
to collaborate, and share available resources. We stand with you in
solidarity.

This is amazing. I love it.

:face: