On Saturday, October 29, 2011, I had the honor of addressing a gathering Occupy Tacoma supporters in Lincoln Park, Tacoma. My remarks were a part of a longer statement. Several people asked me to post the entire statement here. Above is a video of the speech as it was presented on Saturday. Following is a full statement, including the parts I left out when speaking, slightly edited to make it suitable for posting purposes.
Hello all!
My name is Alan OldStudent, and I love what I am seeing here today. You are great! You are amazing!
In my long life, I have seen many amazing things. I saw how a mass nonviolent movement ended the infamous Jim Crow laws, — laws that legalized racial segregation, — laws that made it a crime to marry outside of your race. And now, I am seeing a how a mass nonviolent movement is ending laws against marrying the person you truly love, even if that person is the same sex as you.
In the 1960s, many years ago, I saw how a mass nonviolent movement, which even included many military people, ended an unjust war in Vietnam.
In fact, it was mass movements, not politicians, not corporations, which brought about every social change that has benefitted the 99%. That includes:
- The right of women to vote, a right only gained in 1920.
- The right to join a union.
- The right to be able to use birth control, to plan your family size, and many other rights.
- The abolition of child labor laws.
- Universal education from kindergarten through high school.
- Social Security and Medicare, as well as many others.
It even was mass action that caused the founding fathers to add the bill of rights to the constitution, including the democratic right we enjoy to assemble here today.
Young people, such as so many of you, seized those rights and social gains and others like them. The 1% did not give them to the people. No, it was the people, especially the youth, who wrested those rights from the 1%.
HOW can we win against the most powerful ruling class in world history, the 1%?
We 99 percenters have no armies, no air force, no navy. but we have the power of our bodies, the power of nonviolent mass action.
The 1% know that their power is doomed as soon as the majority of the 99% mobilize.
THEY tremble when they see us out here.
THEY know they’ll lose their power to squash democracy, and:
- TO RUN our lives,
- TO STEAL our tax money.
- TO SEND our fathers, mothers, brothers sisters, sons, and daughters TO KILL and be killed IN FIGHTING wars for oil and money SO THEY can profit by poisoning our mother,THIS green and watery planet we call earth.
TO make us powerless to speak and to mobilize the rest of the 99%, the 1% want to discredit us so we can’t mobilize a mass nonviolent movement to make a real democracy.
In many cities in this country, they are infiltrating troublemakers into our movement to make us look bad. They are infiltrating internet moles into our online communities. We must guard against that trap.
- WE must not listen to the infiltrators who would urge us to engage in illegal or violent acts.
- WE must not feed the internet trolls by responding to their taunts.
(Those are clickable links)
ANOTHER trap to avoid is the sandbox of electoral politics, of Republicans versus Democrats.
IF various capitalist politicians want to support us, fine. But we simply must not, as the Occupy Movement, endorse any particular capitalist politician because it only causes disunity amongst ourselves and cuts across building a mass movement, our only road to power.
Instead, we need to mobilize our fellow 99 percenters, no matter what party, into mass nonviolent action to seize power. Let’s not permit the corporate-bought and sponsored parties to coopt us.
TO THE young here, I have a special message:
WE OLDER people support you.
BUT we are yesterday and you’re tomorrow.
IT IS you who can and must change the world.
Believe! Believe!
- BELIEVE, that together, we can change the world!
- BELIEVE that together, we can fight injustice, war, racism, exploitation, AND create a decent world!
- BELIEVE, we can clean up the environment!
- BELIEVE we stop imperialist wars.
- BELIEVE in the power of unity, of nonviolent mass action!
It is we, not the 1%, who can build a new world on new foundations. The 1% won’t do it simply because building a decent world fit for us and our children is not a profit-making enterprise.
IF THE 1% could make as much money doing these things as they can make killing people in wars and exploiting us, they’d have done that 100 years ago. As a famous German opponent of Hitler once said:
““What is the crime of ROBBING a bank
Compared to the crime of Founding a bank?”
So young people, do not let your elders say you’re naive and unschooled in the ways of the world because you believe in this revolutionary change and nonviolence. Don’t listen to them when they tell you that you just have to come to terms with injustice and violence.
Don’t let them make you believe that their rule is inevitable, that there’s no use in resistance! That you must accept their rule!
No! No! No!
INSTEAD, have the wisdom to understand that THE FATE of humanity rests on your shoulders today, that each and every one of you is a part of a world-wide revolt OF THE YOUTH against injustice, war, dictatorship intolerance, ignorance, and economic oppression.
SEIZE THE POWER because the 1% use power to oppress,
AND POWER takes a backward step only in the face of power.
SEIZE the power of liberation, THE POWER of freedom, OF democracy, OF nonviolent mass action.
IN THE words of an old anarchist and socialist hymn:
Arise, you prisoners of oppression!
Arise, you wretched of the earth!
For justice thunders condemnation!
A better world’s in birth!
Regards,
Alan OldStudent
The Unexamined Life Is Not Worth Living — Socrates
My Web Site
An Open Letter To The So Called Occupy Wall Street Protestors Across America:
by George Ray on Monday, October 31, 2011 at 3:02am
I AM one of the 99%ers as you call yourselves. The biggest difference between me & you is, I have respect for myself, my family, my friends & my America. I know that change comes from the ballot box, change comes from prosecuting those who have done wrong, positive change comes from learning conservative values. Respect for authority, respect for police, fire and other first responders.
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It does not come from “twinkling” like a child, it does not come from trashing public parks, it does not come from using drugs, it does not come from raping the women who are among your protestors. It does not come from beating senseless drums at all hours of the day & night like some stoned fool who cares not for those who reside nearby, especially those who have children who need rest to be able to focus while in school the next day. It does not come from shoving police officers off their motorcycles, from kicking officers, spitting on them, calling them names that you would not dare call your parents. It does not come from destroying private or public property, shouting above those trying to talk and reason with you. It does not come from being so disorganized that you cannot tell people why you are protesting without spouting rhetoric that you have heard instead of creating a platform that can be shared with those you are protesting against to prove you have some worthy views worth sharing.
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From the lazy protestors of the 60′s who did not get his/her way back then, to the student who is being taught by the very same lazy liberal protestor who has spent the last 40 to 50 years spewing views to the youth that have never worked in the history of this planet, in any country, state, nations, or town, you do not even know who created your so called movement, you have no idea what it is really about. Each person or small group of person has an entirely different reason as to why you are protesting. You have let the very thing which you appear to be protesting against become a part of your movement, you have less than 1% controlling you, controlling the hundreds of thousands of dollars that has been sent in to support you. You have let thieves steal food, computers, personal belongings, & other items in your camps. You have allowed drug abusers to disrupt your intentions by getting stoned & warping your message, by allowing alcohol & drug abuse to destroy whatever chance you had to be heard & have reasonable people support you. You allow sexual predators to prey among the young women who came to support you. You defy the very laws the rest of us 99%ers use to get our points across & try to make changes necessary to make a better society to live with.
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Most of all, you have gone after the wrong people who are responsible for what is wrong with this country. Someone decided that you would target those who work on Wall Street [you did not make this decision, it was made for you by people who want to topple America as we know it & they are using you as pawns in an international chess game of power & control] & make the money this nation needs to survive, when all along you should be sitting in the offices of almost every member of Congress who have done everything they can to destroy America with their greed. They have created the rules, regulations & laws which now over govern our nation. They have destroyed any chance you have for a good education, a good job even a sound future.
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Yet, you walk mindlessly in the direction that your handlers guide you. You have no leadership to guide you with your goals, yet those who are truly behind your movement enjoy pulling the puppet strings on each of you from the safety of their apartments high in the sky overlooking the mess below that they have created. They get together several times a week & laugh at how they have been able to manipulate each of you, to pull your strings to make you do exactly what they want you to do.
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Even the president of our nation relishes in pulling your strings. Yet his goal is quite different from those who handle you, he wants you to re-elect him into POWER so that he can continue to pretend that he knows what he is doing while he and his cronies continue to dismantle our nation. He, like all the members of Congress, do not care about you & has his agenda to turn America into a Islamic territory of the Muslim Brotherhood and like the others in Washington, he will do everything he can to mindlessly manipulate you to do whatever he wants you to do & you will continue to blindly follow his & the members of Congress who have aligned themselves with his agenda.
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You go ahead & continue to falsely believe that your foolish acts have some real affect on the real world. As winter sets in & you find your way back to places that are warm & safe from harm, the puppet masters, the president & many members of Congress will continue to spoon feed you lies upon lies, making you think & believe what you did was correct & that when the election comes they will strongly suggest that you vote them back into power, all the while, they will continue to laugh & scoff at you & your blind obedience to their ability to make you do exactly what they want you to do, making you think it is what you have wanted to do all this time.
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Play puppets, play… For your foolish actions will be your own downfall & you will live in the house of the puppet masters forever.
DrRayas post is an insane rant, and was also posted to the Occupy Denver facebook sight, so it’s not even local. Also the bit about President Obama wanting “to turn AMerica into a Islamic territory of the Muslim Brotherhood” practicaly qualifies as hate speech. Post like this should be promptly deleted. Thoughtful criticism is one thing, but this just basically qualifies as trolling, and possibly spamming to since it has been posted at *at least* one other occupy website, probably more.
I found some mistakes in my post and felt obliged to put it up again for clarity since I couldn’t edit it after posting. Sorry for the redundancy/double post.
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DrRayas’ post is an insane rant, and was also posted to the Occupy Denver facebook site, so it’s not even local. Also the bit about President Obama wanting “to turn America into a Islamic territory of the Muslim Brotherhood” practicaly qualifies as hate speech. Posts like this should be promptly deleted. Thoughtful criticism is one thing, but this just basically qualifies as trolling, and possibly spamming too, since it has been posted on at *at least* one other occupy website, probably more.
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Hello Jeff
I understand exactly how you feel about Dr. Raya’s comment. I actually posted an analysis of what Dr. Raya said and what we can learn from it, which you can see by clicking here.
One could say that Dr. Raya’s comment borders on hate speech. And Occupy Tacoma web masters have the right to take down any comment they want. But I’m glad they left it there.
The best way to deal with hate speech is more speech. It’s much better to post a thoughtful analysis than remove the comment, because I bet if the web masters took it down, Dr. Raya would be trumpeting about “the left” engaging in “censorship.” At least with the analysis, we show ourselves to be rational.
Regards
Alan OldStudent
My Web Site
No that adicve is dumb, WHY would you think being leaderless is a good thing? The people already on power don’t elect leaders for your, they just corrupt them with bribes or some form of leverage. A leader worth his salt would be some one who was willing to sacrifice on a personal level for the greater good. As an example I give Martin L. King, as a leader the man did great things he helped his movement and those who followed him achieve their goals without violence.
I not sure if anyone has done this but I invite Dr Raya’s to come down to the Occupation Site and Voice his opinion to the peope he are addressing his comment. We want to here what you have to say in person agree or disagree. If you fell you have valid points it is only right to give us a chance to debate this issue with you face to face hope to see you there …. Occupation Park 21st and Pacific Downtown Tacoma
Hi Dennis,
Yes, that would be good if he came and talked to people there. However, I suspect he’s not a local. I think he’s posted the same statement elsewhere. I saw it on the Occupy Denver Facebook page. I suspect he was venting and wanted to tell others with his political outlook how he bravely went into the den of the lion and pulled it’s whiskers.
Regards,
Alan OldStudent
The Unexamined Life Is Not Worth Living — Socrates
My Web Site
Hello Dr. Raya,
Thank you for taking the time to visit our site. You certainly took a lot of time and effort writing your thoughts. Although I respectfully disagree with your sentiments, I’m glad the moderators did not take it down.
If you don’t mind, I won’t address the attacks on my character or the character of the other Occupy supporters other than to say they’re untrue and ask you to read a few statements of occupy supporters here. I’d rather address what our issues are, why we occupy, than to defend ourselves from personal attacks.
You know, it seems all to human to label our opponents as a substitute for looking at their position. This is the logical fallacy of ad hominem. (Please click that link for an explanation).
An example of that would be calling a Tea Party activist a “knuckle-dragging Neanderthal“. Such labeling dehumanizes them and prevents us from considering the issues are that lead one to become a Tea Party activist.
With respect, when one labels us as being shiftless, puppets, foolish, lazy, dirty, violent, and so on, one commits the logical fallacy of ad hominem. That might discourage one from considering the issues and facts that lead us to occupy.
If you would, please look at this very short, very professional video, which explains with facts and numbers why we occupy. Before considering us to be people not worth listening to, please check out grievances and stated reasons for our legal, nonviolent occupation.
Regards,
Alan OldStudent
The Unexamined Life Is Not Worth Living — Socrates
My Web Site
Speaking only for myself, I do want to “topple America as we know it.” I want us to be a nation that is globally and socially responsible, in which nobody is above the law and everybody gets a fair chance at a decent living. I don’t want to live in a society where leeches get to buy our democracy and write the laws that allow them to suck from the 99% what little it has, without even trying to hide what they’re doing. I want us to become a nation of the people, by the people and for the people — not the multinational corporations. I am not an anarchist — I am actually very deeply disturbed by the anarchy that has overtaken Wall Street, to the point where nobody even knows who owns a given mortgage anymore and yet hardworking families are still tossed out on the street due to robo-signing, even in some cases where they had already paid off their loan! Yeah, Dr. Raya, I do want to topple the America we’ve become — the America as people like you know it — and see us once again strive to live up to the ideals that brought our Founders here in the first place.
well that DR raya’s whole argument was just a character assassination with no real point . and even that made no sense, he asks us to accept his absurd stereotypes. liek a child who cant win a aregument he turns to name calling . it rambled, and was full of pre conceived notions . and he has no solution to the problems millions face today created by wealth inequality and corporate rule . just anonymous internet slander, filled with anger. why even respond.. but than i read carefully what he said . its quite funny. if we all saw the world through his eyes its a world of cartoon caractures and paranoia . a man filled with hate for something he does not understand nor experienced . i think DR raya needs to come down and talk to us … maybe in a respectful dialogue we can loosen up some of that anger and hate and ideology and meet on common ground this movement if your dr raya .. you need it more than anyone else
WOW! Thank You DR. Raya for showing us JUST HOW IGNORANT the masses are. ARE WE READY TO DEAL WITH MILLIONS LIKE HIM? HOW do we go about this?? THANK YOU ALAN OLDSTUDENT for leading THIS charge against absurdity. KEEP THE FAITH and TAX the RICH!
Thank you Cheryl, Filamker, and Jason,
Your comments were very good. I appreciated them all, and I hope Dr. Raya will have an opportunity to read our responses
I’m writing a post which I hope can appear on our Occupy Tacoma board about dealing with people like Dr. Raya and about educating ourselves. It’s a bit of work, and I’m pretty busy. Perhaps you’ll se it in a few days.
Regards,Alan OldStudentThe Unexamined Life Is Not Worth Living — Socrates
My Web Site
To add to my last comment I invited Dr. Raya out to the Park to speak to us face to face after reading half of his comment. Then after reading the rest I notice the Dr. had no facts or valid point only personel attacks to a cause and people he knows nothing about. Which is obvious by his comments. Lastly I would like to say after that long empty baseless comment it would be coward not to show up @ the park face the people you are disrespect from your comment from afar …. see you there
Dear Dr. Raya,
Please remind me again where you did your Ph.D. I seem to be having an “oops” moment.
Best Regards,
Dr. Micah Warren