By Christina Fermin
Politics & Society Columnist
This past Saturday, October 8, 2011 our very own Fort Lauderdale, Florida held its first General Assembly meeting for Occupy Fort Lauderdale and I was there. When I first found out about the meeting, I did not know what to expect, who to expect or what to do, but I was determined to go in solidarity with Occupy Wall street and their movement against corruption, greed and the injustice that has touched every one of us. I must say upon arriving I felt nervous, tense, excited, happy, overwhelmed and fearful all at the same time. In the end, I was glad I went and I look forward to what we as a collective will do.
Because of the rain and the nasty weather, I was not expecting much of a turnout even though the advertised event on the Facebook page: Occupy Fort Lauderdale, said over 300 people would be coming. I was expecting less but the turnout was between 250-300 people of all races, ethnicities, backgrounds, beliefs, ideologies and faiths. We first began with Rules, a speech and the Declaration of the Occupation of New York City. Afterward we moved to another space where the acoustics were better and it gave a bit more room than from where we began. After a few speeches and claps from the crowd, people began telling their stories. Just as in NY, we used the "people's mic" so all could hear; this is when speech is broken up into pieces so that those who around the person talking repeat what is being said in unison for all to hear, and may I just say, how wonderfully awesome this technique is.
The stories were different, but similar in many ways. Many of us in the crowd could relate. A women who had recently finished her graduate degree and was a doctor with over $1000 per month in interests fees alone for her student loan debt, with no hope of ever paying down her principle. Another woman who had worked on Wallstreet and never fully understood what was going on, but knew it was shady. A man who had read an email from his best friend whose wife worked for a CEO who was part of the 2%, this CEO had sacrificed dozens of workers just to receive a paycheck for a week’s worth of work, when he could have easily gone without pay and never have missed it. She said he was so disconnected from reality and the 98% of the people, she had been disgusted by her boss and his friends behavior. A women with two degrees who could not find work. A man who had to travel over 1000 miles just to find work.
Aside from the stories of injustice and helplessness, a gentleman spoke about free energy and the suppression of such technology. He told me about how his father had created a device in the 1950s that allowed his car to run off water and 9 cents of gas to travel around the country. The oil companies sued him when he began installing these devices in other peoples cars. Not wanting to lose his home, he gave up in the 1960s and walked away from all the litigation. We also spoke of Nikola Tesla and his electromagnetic machine as well as his wireless energy he created and how J.P. Morgan, J.D. Rockefeller and H. Ford shut him down and hid away his technology in the turn of the century because they could not make money off his inventions.
The following day, October 8, the General Assembly held another meeting at a different location down the street. This time we had broken into groups: Media, Facilitation, Outreach, Legal, Mission Statement and Direct Action. Naturally I joined the media group and we introduced ourselves and what we could contribute. Afterward we reconvened and all the groups declared their goals and purpose. We also decided to have another meeting Wednesday, October 12 at 7 pm at Huizenga Plaza at Bubier Park. I encourage all of you to come out, support the movement and get involved in a wonderful process. If you cannot make it, please clear your calendars for Saturday October 15 at 11 am for a demonstration in solidarity with the World for global change, location to be determined. Already there are Occupy movements in over 1,100 cities and by this weekend it will spread to hundreds if not thousands of international cities. We are the 99%, join us.
Peace & Harmony,
Christina
About the Columnist
With a bachelors degree in political science from Florida Atlantic University, Christina Fermin has always cultivated her love for history, politics, sociology, ancient knowledge and teachings, the outdoors, the ocean and the environment. Christina strives to make our world better by helping us all create a new reality and understanding of all taking place here and now.
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Let's compare the NY Occupy statements vs the Soviet Union, which before it's collapse was the "Model" government of Socialists around the world.
They have taken our houses through an illegal foreclosure process, despite not having the original mortgage.
USSR: Wouldn't even allow the private ownership of homes, everything belonged to the State, and everyone, except for the Elites, lived in a dump.
They have taken bailouts from taxpayers with impunity, and continue to give Executives exorbitant bonuses.
USSR: Yeah, they would have done the same thing, since all companies in the USSR were "Taxpayer funded". Most conservatives were AGAINST the Bailout, this is what drove the first Tea Party Protests.
They have perpetuated inequality and discrimination in the workplace based on age, the color of one’s skin, sex, gender identity and sexual orientation.
USSR: Zero recourse when this happened, at least in the U.S. if you have a case, you can take them to court.
They have poisoned the food supply through negligence, and undermined the farming system through monopolization.
USSR: Actually here, you ARE talking about the USSR, the U.S. on the other hand has the lowest rate of Cancer and nutrutional diseases out of almost every country in the world.
They have profited off of the torture, confinement, 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.
USSR: Didn't care about animals period. As for better pay??? Once the Communist were in Power, the FIRST thing they did was to abolish ALL Unions and had the Union leaders shot.
They have held students hostage with tens of thousands of dollars of debt on education, which is itself a human right.
USSR: The Government would choose who could go to school, the VAST MAJORITY of you students out there, would be out of luck.
Also, I don't understand why students are not protesting the UNIVERSITIES that keep increasing tuition by up to 25% per year. That's just insane, but somehow WALL STREET is at fault???
They have consistently outsourced labor and used that outsourcing as leverage to cut workers’ healthcare and pay.
USSR: Never created a Tenth of the industries we have here in the U.S. While they supposedly had full employment, only the top 10% made anything better than poverty wages.
They have influenced the courts to achieve the same rights as people, with none of the culpability or responsibility.
USSR: Simply wouldn't allow private enterprise to begin with. Look at how the government runs everything, now imagine McDonalds being run that way. HELLO!!!!
They have spent millions of dollars on legal teams that look for ways to get them out of contracts in regards to health insurance.
USSR: If the Government decided you didn't get treated, then you didn't period.
They have sold our privacy as a commodity.
USSR: No right to privacy.
(Continued from Previous Post)
They have used the military and police force to prevent freedom of the press.
USSR: We ARE talking about the USSR here right?
They have deliberately declined to recall faulty products endangering lives in pursuit of profit.
USSR: No recall prodedures, unless there was a SERIOUS public outcry.
They determine economic policy, despite the catastrophic failures their policies have produced and continue to produce.
USSR: Things got so bad, that when they would produce a TV, the worth of that TV was actually LESS than the ingredients used to make it.
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.
USSR: Would have laughed at you and put you in Jail if you suggested that the USSR could go on without Oil.
They continue to block generic forms of medicine that could save people’s lives or provide relief in order to protect investments that have already turned a substantial profit.
USSR: Simply wouldn't spend the Billion dollars or so that it would have taken to develop a drug, instead they would wait for the U.S. to develop it, then simply steal the patent.
They have purposely covered up oil spills, accidents, faulty bookkeeping, and inactive ingredients in pursuit of profit.
USSR: Had the dirtiest oil practices in the world, whereas the U.S. has the CLEANEST oil practices of the world. No other country does more than the U.S. to protect the environment from oil spills.
They purposefully keep people misinformed and fearful through their control of the media.
USSR: The Government owned all the media, do I really need to go on?
They have accepted private contracts to murder prisoners even when presented with serious doubts about their guilt.
USSR: Ever heard of the Gulags?
They have perpetuated colonialism at home and abroad. They have participated in the torture and murder of innocent civilians overseas.
USSR: Starved and Murdered Millions of their own and tens of millions in the eastern bloc countries. Additionally they built a wall to keep their own citizens from leaving to freedom.
They continue to create weapons of mass destruction in order to receive government contracts.
USSR: Spent nearly half the GDP of the entire country on the Military, and sent them all over the world to cause turmoil and revolution, leaving millions dead.
So as you can see, we should leave the failed policies of the past Socialist exactly where they belong, in the past!
Let me know when you realize you are also part of the 99% and when you do, we'll accept you with open arms. Some advice, stop watching the Corporate owned media and stop drinking the cool-aid.
You talk about stop watching the Corporate Owned Media, while supporting Media Outlets practically owned by George Soros. Is he one of the 99%? If you or me gave more than $2500.00 to any Candidate, it's considered Illegal, yet between the 2004 & 2008, Soros spent over 34 Million buying elections. He funds over 100 groups to support EXTREME leftist Democrat Candidates, like Obama, and now he's cashing in by getting projects funneled to the very companies HE invests in.
He's making BILLIONS off your efforts to keep BIG GOVERNMENT in Power. His wealth has increased nearly 3 fold since Obama got Elected. Where's the criticism?.
I'd rather have a smaller Government, where I keep most of my cash, instead of having it taxed away and I make the decisions as to where my life and my charity money goes. Instead of having an overbearing government taking my money and giving it to Soros, Solyndra and anyone else who is overly "Connected".
Tell me, how does taking money away from thousands of small businesses, the countries BIGGEST employers, at a rate of 35 PLUS%, and giving it to Solyndra and others who piss it away. HOW DOES THAT HELP THE 99%?
Truth is you guys could never explain your positions, it's the reason why 54% of Americans don't know WHAT the occupyers want.
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