OccupyTucson Declaration
On Saturday, November 12, 2011, participants of the General Assembly of Occupy Tucson came to consensus and passed the following Declaration of the Occupation of Tucson as a working document. This is a living document and will be updated with new additions as the process continues.
We will not tolerate discrimination in the workplace, or in our governmental institutions, or within our own movement based on age, race, sex, class, gender identity, sexual orientation, developmental ability, physical ability, religious belief, and non-belief.
We condemn and consider illegitimate the acquisition of houses through an illegal foreclosure process by banks and other financial firms.
We condemn and consider illegitimate the massive bailouts that have been passed by Congress on terms unacceptable to the majority of Americans.
We condemn the media’s performance in keeping people misinformed and fearful. We condemn governmental and corporate manipulation of the media for the purpose of spreading disinformation and concealing incriminating or embarrassing information.
We recognize that financial corruption and failure are practiced with impunity under the slogan “Too Big To Fail.” In the midst of their devastating failures, we condemn the rewarding of massive bonuses to financial executives and elites.
We condemn the pressure to limit workers’–including migrant workers’–pay and access to healthcare in order to inflate profits, and overcompensate managers and executives. We demand the recognition of workers’ rights as human rights.
We oppose the systemic orientation of outsourcing more and more jobs, and condemn its use to exert further pressure on workers.
We condemn the scapegoating of the poor, and in particular the scapegoating of immigrants, including those who enter the US, often out of desperation, illegally.
We will not tolerate the torture, confinement, and cruel treatment of nonhuman animals, and we condemn those who actively hide these practices.
We condemn the “structural adjustment” policies of the IMF, WTO, World Bank, et al. which have disrupted and degraded developing economies throughout the world. Consequently, we demand the forgiveness of the crushing debts imposed by the above bodies.
We condemn the use of legal teams, lobbyists, and other means to circumvent the spirit of our laws.
We condemn the universal commodification of our culture.
We condemn the practice of blocking generic forms of medicine that could save people’s lives in order to protect investments that have already turned a substantial profit.
We condemn the execution of persons, and oppose the privatization of prisons.
We condemn colonialism in all its forms.
We condemn torture, and we condemn dismissing the killing of civilians as “collateral damage”.
We condemn the creation of weapons of mass destruction, and the profits derived from their creation.
We demand accountability to the people and will not tolerate corruption in government and transnational corporations.
We demand the dissolution of the legal absurdity of corporate personhood.
We demand deeper investment in alternative, renewable forms of energy, and condemn policies that keep us unsustainably dependent on oil and other fossil fuels.
We demand the conversion of the perpetual war economy into an economy that supports peace and sustainability.
We demand accountability of transnational corporations that have purposely covered up oil spills, accidents, faulty bookkeeping, and faulty products—endangering lives and health—in pursuit of profit.
We demand the recognition of a worker’s right to negotiate for better pay and safer working conditions, and the right to negotiate in association with other workers.
We demand a reevaluation of the food supply—including a reevaluation of agribusiness and federal food policies and subsidies—with an emphasis on correcting negligence and dissolving monopolies.
We demand the end of all privatization of the commons such as water, seeds, genetic materials, et al.
We demand education as a right, and we condemn massive student debts as an abridgment of that right.
We demand publicly-financed campaigns, and condemn the use of money to buy disproportionate and undue influence in government.
We demand the end of the revolving-door lobby system between Congress and corporations.
We demand instant-runoff voting to supplant the winner-take-all system in elections.
We demand transparency in the tabulating of ballot returns.
*This list is not all-inclusive and may be amended at any time by consensus of the General Assembly.
We, the Occupy Tucson General Assembly, are asserting our first amendment rights, as well as our power as citizens. We are peaceably assembled; occupying public space; creating a process to address the problems we face, and generating solutions accessible to everyone.
To all communities that take action and form groups in the spirit of direct democracy, we offer support and resources.
Join us and make your voices heard!
I love you Occupy. I am with you all the way. But I fear that you are doomed to failure. Your broad reaching idealism has left you without specific policy goals. And without specific policy goals, you will fail. Please pick one problem that all occupy movements can agree on and propose specific legislation that would correct the problem. Otherwise you’ll marginalize yourselves and run out of momentum as months pass and nothing changes. I believe in you and what you are doing. And so I urge you to move this bus forward in a specific direction. And quick – while it’s still got momentum.
Great Declaration! I would like to propose adding that access to health care is a human right, and should not have any involvement of for-profit companies, agencies, or providers. Currently, almost 50,000 people in this country die every year because they do not have enough money to pay for health insurance. By far the most efficient way to provide full coverage for every person in this country, is through a universal single payer health care system, such as improved, expanded Medicare for All, which would actually save the U.S. over $400 Billion per year (about $1,400 per person) while covering everyone. So I propose adding a demand for implementation of a universal single payer nation-wide health care system.
I would also like to see an election of delegates from here to participate in the Philadelphia GA planned for next year (see the 99% Declaration petition at the link below):
https://sites.google.com/site/the99percentdeclaration/
Great declaration. I disagree with the comment below! Keep it broad! Overwhelm the offenders with the truth of the ubiquitous wrongs they have done to society. If we narrow Occupy then we enter their game. If we play their game they will win. The spirit of Occupy is sincerely “outside the box” demanding all the changes above because they are intricately tied. If we narrow to one focus the movement risks losing momentum because the greatest thing about this movement is that all Americans can identify at least one wrong the corporate-political economy has done to them and express their anger through Occupy. Keep it broad! If we narrow none of our problems will get solved!
I agree. We claim to represent the 99% but we have yet to hear from most of them. Solutions are better when more people have input. Besides upgrading the quality of solutions, consensus gives them power. These myriad statements need refinement and reworking and distillation. I have some core essence distilled in my own mind and universal agreement on it. Not. Universal agreement is highly unlikely but the broader the consensus the better the solutions are likely to be and the more buy in they will have for acceptance and implementation. You who want to narrow and focus are charged to do so. Just know that consensus is the victory, acquiescence is still slavery.
too wordy
and too much of what you dislike
[...] who have forgotten why the Occupiers are out there– or never understood the movement. Here is Occupy Tucson’s Declaration… On Saturday, November 12, 2011, participants of the General Assembly of Occupy Tucson came [...]
WOW–At my first reading of this 99% Declaration, with great admiration, I simply exclaimed WOW! A lot of good and cooperative thought went into this historic document–mostly wonderfully correct, sometimes too idealistic, perhaps, and therefore improvable–nevertheless worth working and fighting for.
Now I would like to re-read most of it and make a few practical suggestions based on my 81 years of experience of our capitalistic system in a representative republic. Two important, basic and improvable areas that stand out at this early stage have to do with term limits and tax reform.
If we could extend the length of Congress’ terms in such a way that they would be allowed only ONE longer term, they would not have to be enslaved to the lobbyists’ big moneyed demands (as they are now).
Secondly, we can bring even more power back to the people, if we could get Congress to overcome their bias against current H.R. 25 and S. 13 and pass this FairTax (www.fairtax.org) into law, we would successfully eliminate tax on the poor altogether, tax the luxury spending of the very wealthy, spread the tax burden to include the current underground economy and tax cheats, thereby permitting everyone except the very wealthy to pay less tax–this same FairTax would attract corporations to return their offices and profits to America and lead quickly to full employment.
WOW is right! Great job, everybody!
[...] of Occupation – Tucson – 2011-11-12: many condemnations and demands. Much more a policy guidelines document than a [...]
[...] of Occupation – Tucson – 2011-11-12: many condemnations and demands. Much more a policy guidelines document than a [...]
We condemn . . .
We demand . . .
What do you supply?
Whoa, so u 99% sure do NOT like a whole bunch of things! I gather that by some of thse proposals the majority in your group is highly opposed to our military, and since when did going to college become a right? Higher education is great but should be at the persons expense.
On another note, open up the borders and let everyone who comes here have access to our benefits that us AMERICANS have worked so hard for? I think not. How about you focus on the wall street stuff and forget about world peace and saving the animals, your getting way out of line
[...] me from even spending time at Occupy Tucson. This does not mean that I don’t support the Declarations of Occupy Tucson. I do. I am all for the principles outlined therein, even the wackier ones that rather detract from [...]
[...] me from even spending time at Occupy Tucson. This does not mean that I don’t support the Declarations of Occupy Tucson. I do. I am all for the principles outlined therein, even the wackier ones that rather detract from [...]
[...] OccupyTucson Declaration [...]
[...] of Occupation – Tucson – 2011-11-12: many condemnations and demands. Much more a policy guidelines document than a [...]