#occupy something

[she-melaninmonroe]

Occupy Poetry!

[supervelma]

everybody needs a sign

[slavap]

An Open Letter To Warren Buffet

Unnamed Location

Dear Warren,

Why don't you go fuck yourself. How dare you sit in your ivory tower trying to give me advice on what to do with my money. While not all of us may have been born with the talent to build fortunes from scratch, I pride myself on being very good at what I do. You see, I'm a super villain, and without giving too much away I can tell you that I've been responsible for two 'natural' disasters and one successful presidential run (not Barack's; too expensive) in the last 3 years. So how about you take a step back before something bad happens, okay grandpa? You ask for a 'shared sacrifice' from the ultra-rich and that's very cute in theory, but I have an army to equip and a lair to furnish. What do you expect me to do, give back my riches and move this fortress to Detroit? They may be cheaper, but 'attack canaries' don't instill the same fear in the hearts of my enemies. Have you ever considered that I enjoy my money just as much, if not more, than your precious middle class? I take care of it Warren! Look at how high my credit rating is, while the average peasant's is lower than your ball sack.

Last year my federal tax bill was $6,166,376 which may not seem to high to you, but I feel that it could be lower. Way lower, like nonexistent. I'm not feeling the recession, but I definitely don't want to start now.A recession may be bad news for you, but here's some math that you'll be able to understand without the aid of an abacus; high unemployment, plus low employment confidence equals a surplus of henchmen. Do you know how difficult it is to find good peons in a good economy when everyone is full of self esteem? I haven't hit numbers like this since '99! In fact, I've been able to rape twice as many acres of foreign soil this year thanks to all the extra manpower. 

Your main problem seems to be with people who make money from money, which means that you and I have no beef. I make my money off evil schemes, manipulating the stock market and white slavery, but I haven't been in the business of printing money for years. That's what you meant, right? You think many of the mega-rich are very decent people, but you forgot to include the ultra-mega-rich like I who are also ultra-mega-douche-bags. One doesn't simply become a super villain by sitting around signing Giving Pledges and participating in philanthropy all day. You gotta crack some skulls if you want to make an omelette.

You may think it's my duty to give back to the country, but what if you're wrong? What if the only way to get rid of the economic problem is through getting rid of the burden. I know you're probably not interested, but I've been working on something called an 'Impoverished Impaler'. Why don't you stop by my lair after you're done getting your vagina reupholstered and signing all your pledges? Cheers,   

[arrestedmotions-blog]

We have long known that the first response to any public mobilization is to neutralize it with a litany of suspicions and mockeries: ‘What are you protesting?’ ‘It’s inconsistent to fight capitalism with MacBook.’ ‘Look at all the funny costumes.’ What is truly embarrassing is an entire culture, your local news anchor no less than your fascist aunt, geared toward eradicating all possibility: Nothing will be accomplished, please get off the streets. All organization and expression is futile, as long as you make it to work on Monday. It is also not uncommon, in the same spirit of stupidity, to hear your petit-liberal friends bemoaning the lack of ‘action’ as if eagerly awaiting the moment when the police-state finally puts an end to the spectacle. If there is one lesson to be learned from all this it is all these shows of force – the lines of baton-swinging police and the processions of city busses carrying away detained and beaten protestors – are there to remind an entire society that ‘public’ or ‘common’ space has always belonged to someone else. It is that same fiction that props up a space of ‘free and democratic dialogue’: call whatever you want into question as long as it’s not out in the open. – If there is any hope in the present situation, it is the clarity that people are no longer convinced. If you don’t think the ‘time is ripe,’ get out of the fucking way. If there are a thousand people standing between you and your dinner reservation or your 8am work-commute, take the alley. If we leave callousness and unimaginativeness to CNN commentators, then maybe we can take back the common space that has been stolen from us. As Paul Virilio notes, “it will be less a matter, when the time comes, of occupying a given building than of holding the streets.”

[setthatshitonfire]

ATHENS, Ga., Oct. 7 -- It is the start of the second day of protesting; a quiet morning as commuters drove through Downtown Athens, Georgia at 10 a.m. Varying signs that communicate grievances ranging from the “The crisis is Capitalism” to “We are the 99%” surround the historic University Arch. A rotating of 20 Occupy Wall Street demonstrators are putting together more posters - posters that outnumber the number of protestors at present. Pamphlets are available for anyone interested. Embedded in them, it states that the “demonstration will continue for as long as the occupation of Wall Street in Manhattan lasts.” Despite the efforts of the demonstrators to make their movement known, passersby only glance and smile upon seeing the signs as a few students stop to ask questions. Two police officers casually walk near the location, while students throw a football on the North Campus lawn as a family settles down for a leisurely picnic. Sitting in a foldout chair, knitting, is Patty Freeman-Lynde, an unemployed social worker who previously helped the homeless in Athens. Like many other protestors, she has a long list of complaints that she wants addressed, though she admits that change will probably take its time before the movement will cease. “I am here because I think that the corporations have too much power. I think the government hasn’t done enough to limit their power,” Freeman-Lynde said. “I think the bulk of our tax money is going to loopholes that are allowing these organizations, like oil companies, to make money while people are starving because they aren’t working and are not able to make a living.” The Occupy Wall Street literature offers 22 grievances against the “corporate forces of the world” that range from failure to recall faulty products to secretly misinforming people through the media and killing innocents abroad for monetary gain. “Obviously we here are here with the Occupy Wall Street movement, but not everyone can go to Wall Street to be supportive. We believe in the same thing they believe in. And different people have different aspects that are most important to them. I’m an environmentalist, that’s one of my biggest concerns,” Freeman-Lynde said. Sympathizers of the movement are starting to realize that their lack of common goals are scattered, which can be a major weakness in their cause, as is evident from comments on their Facebook group “Occupy Wall St Athens, GA.” University of Georgia students Mehreen Sultana, a sophomore studying pre-med, and TJ Alfonso, a senior majoring in history, were present to help make more signs and support the movement. “Right now, I just want to help support,” Sultana said. “I don’t want this to be just about workers’ rights… [or] avoiding foreclorsures. This is about changing values.” Sultana contends that currently, “money has more valuable than people.” Unlike those rising up in foreign countries against regimes, Sultana said, “We have rights here and we should be aware. We are being robbed of our rights and robbed of our money.” “Part of the reason why [the movement is] here is to make sure it lasts long enough to mobilize a change,” said Sultana. Alfonso emphasized that major cities all over the country had similar demonstrations going on. “We can make this accomplish things,” he said. Demonstrators may not have swayed spectators to join, but they have started a discussion throughout suburban America. The grassroots movement spreads its rhetoric through public demonstrations but primarily uses social media to inform followers of its operations. Carter Adams, organizer of the OWS demonstration, has been updating Facebook statuses and Twitter feeds regularly since the start of the demonstrations. The group’s last assembly meeting was announced to have begun at 9:30 p.m. tonight.