A few weeks ago, I met with a group of Occupy Dallas protesters about how we can attempt to crystallize a message that can’t be boiled down to a soundbite. With a seemingly infinite number of symptoms and evidences of the problems with our system, how do you tell a naysayer or a fence-sitter why you’re protesting?

So we decided to arm ourselves with facts. They won’t explain the whole movement in a sentence or two, but they can each—on their own—represent a part of the problem. So here are some facts, as discussed by some of the wonderful, beautiful, passionate people of Occupy Dallas.

This Movement Is Bigger Than a Sound Bite

The Power and the Wealth has been concentrated in such a way that 1% of the population has taken all hopes of the American Dream away from the other 99%.

The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has allowed pharmaceutical companies to further maximize their profits by preventing the approval and release of cheaper, generic drugs.

There is no profit in the cure of diseases, only in their treatments. Government (FDA) and Corporations (pharmaceutical/insurance) control the way we heal ourselves

ANECDOTE: When Jonas Salk developed the polio vaccine, everyone expected it to make him a rich man. When asked who owned the patent for the vaccine, he responded “There is no patent. Could you patent the sun?”

One reason we don’t have universal health care is because it would take away a lot of the profit from pharmaceutical and insurance companies. Their Big Money influences too many politicians for any solid bill to be passed.

ANECDOTE: A recent TV commercial shows people from Louisiana, Alabama, Mississippi and Florida good-naturedly arguing about which state is more attractive to tourists. It seems like a bold effort for 4 states to promote each other for the greater good. Until you realize that the commercial is really for British Petroleum (BP), whose oil spill wrecked the eco-system of all 4 states.

Chevron (which has bought out many of its competitors) owns the patent on an electric car battery that can run for over 100 miles on a single charge. They will not allow the battery to be used in any EVa (electric vehicles).

Citizens United v. the Federal Election Commission was a case brought before the US Supreme Court that found that corporations have a First Amendment right to spend unlimited (and unreported) amounts of money to influence the outcome of elections. It popularized the term “Corporations are People”. Citizens United is a conservative advocacy group that campaigns against Democratic candidates.

Karl Rove, who was a senior adviser to George W. Bush, has a political action committee (PAC) called American  Crossroads, which has pledged to raise $240mm to support whichever candidate wins the Republican nomination in 2012.

The billionaire Koch (pronounced “coke”) Brothers have pledged to raise $200 million to support whichever candidate wins the Republican nomination in 2012.

Barack Obama, whose largest contributor is Goldman Sachs, has appointed several former GS executives to positions within his administration. He has repeatedly looked to investment banks for economic guidance and leadership.

Both Republicans and Democrats play one-upmanship with how much they spend on their election and re-election campaigns, and members of Congress frequently spend at least a year or more of their term campaigning for re-election.

Dozens of corporations (including Coca-Cola, Citibank, AmEx, Bank of America, Wal-Mart and Disney) have taken out life insurance policies on many of its workers (called “Dead Peasants Insurance”) which name the company as the sole beneficiary. When the workers die, their families receive no benefits from the policies.

The 1% have enjoyed around 30 years of amassing and hoarding their wealth and political power, but the 99% are finally awake. We know they have overplayed their hand, and we must call them to task, undo the damage they have done and restore the voice of the American People to our political and economic process.

The 1% have consolidated the wealth into as few hands as possible, and they have manipulated the system to the point where it is completely broken for those outside their limited sphere.

Lobbyists engage in bribery, paying off politicians on behalf of special interest groups. Who is lobbying for OUR interests?

The “Bush Tax Cuts” were supposed to be temporary tax cuts that would expire in 2010. They favored the rich, with the thought being that the additional wealth would “trickle down” to the middle and lower classes. They were extended by Congress and are now schedule to expire just after the 2012 election. If they expire or are repealed, the top income tax bracket would go from 35% to 39.6%.

From the beginning of my involvement in the #Occupy movement here in Dallas, I have said that the only time we will have problems (whether it’s with a protester, police officer or a group) is when personal ego is involved. Anytime we forget that this movement isn’t about us, it’s about ALL of us, we begin to stray from the reason we’re fed up in the first place.

A recent decision by the General Assembly at Occupy Denver backs up this point. When officials in Denver insisted that the protesters “elect” a “leader” to speak with the city and the mayor’s office, the GA chose Shelby, a three-year-old border collie.

On the surface, it might seem silly and petulant. When you really sit back and think about it, however, it’s quite brilliant. One of the touchstones of the #Occupy movement is that we are all leaders, but the movement itself is leaderless. Want to talk to someone about an issue? Fine, talk to anybody at the camp. Want a contact number? Here’s five different numbers for people you can call. But don’t force us to color inside the narrow lines society has created, just because that’s all you can understand.

But there’s another side of this: it removes personal ego from the equation. I understand the frustration with a leaderless movement. Elected officials and the media have to work a little harder. Sometimes they get a slightly less polished answer to their question than they might want. But mark my words: the ONLY way #Occupy will continue to succeed is if the needs of ALL surpass the needs of one.

We will eventually have to move to the leadership question, if we want to effect real, permanent change. But now isn’t the time. The whole U.S. #Occupy movement is barely two months old. This is the vulnerable time where co-opting is most likely. We’re still formulating the best ways to fix the System that we all know is severely broken. And we have to break down the personal ego. It ain’t easy to do, especially in The Land of ME. But it will happen.

How did our politicians get corrupted? Because they saw how lucrative the special-interest teat could be if they sucked from it liberally. How did our Corporations get corrupted? Because the “MOAR MOAR MOAR” mentality meant they could keep all their marbles and most of everybody else’s as well.

Ego = GREED. Plain and simple. You should absolutely be able to amass great wealth, if you do so honestly and transparently. But the Greed that has led to the greatest income inequality in our nation’s history has finally reached the tipping point.

But I digress…

Watch when someone from a camp appears on the news to speak about #Occupy: it’s pretty obvious whether they speak from a place of passion or from a place of ego. You can see it at GA, as well.

What we ALL have to remember, as we go through our growing pains, is that this movement is bigger than any one of us. Everything we do must come from a place of selflessness, or we become that which we are protesting against.

And I look forward to Shelby’s first press conference. I’m sure they’re…grooming her…as we speak. (sorry, couldn’t resist)

Whew…

I meant to update this more often, but most of my energy has been “on the ground”, in General Assemblies and FB/Twitter when I’m in front of the computer.

It was a busy, trying week at Occupy Dallas. Several days of rain left those who occupied overnight wet, tired and…well, really tired. Discussion over the move to City Hall has been heated, passionate and necessary. More importantly (to me) than continuing to occupy Pioneer Plaza or moving to City Hall is that we make sure the message is getting out properly. The local news coverage of this week’s events has been pretty much fair, but some of the most important aspects have been left out, for some reason. So I’d like to clear them up…

The City of Dallas told us that, if we wanted to insure the safety of our participants by providing them with close, 24-hour places to use the bathroom, we would have to get a permit to occupy overnight. The permit they “offered” us came with the demand of $1 million in liability insurance coverage (we were, rightfully so, reticent to pay an insurance premium to the very kind of company whose greed we are protesting). We were also told that the permit would only be good from Tuesday until Friday (the 14th).

After negotiations and wrangling from an interesting pair of lawyers (one with an authentic Texas drawl and another with dry, British wit), the City DROPPED the demand for the permit AND the insurance. Oh yeah, and they agreed to stay out of our hair for 60 days. 60 DAYS!!! All we would have to do is move our tents to a park near City Hall. If we wanted to return to Pioneer Plaza (or ANY other city park) from 5am to 12 midnight any day of the week…we would not be hassled.

How is this not a complete win for us? Why has the local MainStream Media focused on the angle that “the City told us we had to move”? How can we control the message? (he asked, rhetorically)

So we’re moving camp today (Sunday). There are those who will stay behind, to defy the City’s one demand. I respect their decision; it is certainly their right. My only concern is the same concern I’ve had from the beginning: this isn’t about us, it’s about ALL of us. And I want every move we make to be for the GREATER good of the movement.

Personally (and I stress that this is only my personal opinion), I don’t see how making a stand over where the tents are between midnight and 5am is firing a volley for our 1st Amendment Rights. We have much more important business than getting arrested because we want our tents in Park A instead of Park B. I know that those who stay behind at Pioneer Plaza believe they are doing it for the cause, but Occupy Dallas has been virtually unique in its complete peacefulness. We’ve been in the news every single day for 10 days, yet not one arrest has gone down. Is the Park A/Park B issue really the time to make our civil disobedient stand? Or should we save our strength in numbers for a more important battle? Why is THIS the issue on which to make a point?

Some of those who stay behind WANT to get arrested. They want to shout about police brutality. Others are doing it because they believe we should never back down or compromise on any issue. I can’t tell you which ones are which, because I don’t know what’s in each individual’s heart. I just hope that each and every one of them thinks about what’s best for the entire movement before they choose to make their stand.

This is bigger than any one of us. This is as big as all of us, across the country and across the world. We are the 99%. 

Me, Howard Beale-ing it up at our march to Goldman Sachs on October 15th.

The crowd prepares to march to the Fed!

I hate mornings. Almost as much as I hate walking. And I will have to do both today. I can’t NOT do both today.

I should be sleeping right now, since I set my first of 3 alarms for 6am, an hour-and-a-half from now.

But I can’t sleep. Because my mind is racing over so many things. How many will show up at 9am? How are the 99% doing in San Francisco and St. Louis after last night’s reports? How is Dallas as a whole going to receive us? How well will we conduct ourselves throughout the march and occupation? How will the #EndTheFed campaign help or hurt our cause at 6pm tonight? WHERE AM I GOING TO PARK??!?

I am so proud at the preparatory work that has been done on this effort. I am so proud of the passion and dedication that everyone has shown already. Even though things got heated at the General Assembly last night, I remember that this isn’t about me. This isn’t about us. This is about ALL of us.

The great work begins.

Solidarity, #OccupyWallStreet #Occupy Dallas #OccupyAustin #OccupyHouston #OccupySanAntonio #OccupyTogether

All the pertinent info on joining the protest can be found here: http://my.firedoglake.com/iflizwerequeen/tag/occupy-dallas/ and at http://occupydallas.org/. I’d rather point to Liz’s blog than steal her hard work :)