<nettime> Ideas for the Occupy Movement

[Patrick Lichty <voyd@voyd.com>]

I've been watching and producing media for the Occupy Movement, and from my experience, there is a represented lack of focus in the media, which isn't entirely true when you get to the meetings.  But this is democracy in action.  What I want to do is just throw my two cents in and offer my suggestions for demands. 

Capitalism exhausts itself.  After so long, the concentration of wealth becomes so egregious that it has to be overthrown and redistributed.  In Jeffersonian terms, this is the revolution every 40 years or so, but in the States, this looks like the breaking of the monopolies in the late 1800's.  What we need is a redistribution of wealth, protection of standards of living, and provisions for general welfare. Could these include:

1: Institution of Pre-Reagan taxation levels, or perhaps even Eisenhower-era levels.  Before Reagan, rates on the uppermost tiers were anywhere from 90% (Esienhoer) to far above #0+% for post-Reagan)
2: Reinstate a 35% Capital Gains tax.
3: Nationalize Medicine and Insurance
4: Institute wage disparity legislation.  For example, make it illegal for the top management to make more than 40 times that of the janitor, instead of 300 times.
5: Demand that companies delink pensions from the Market, including TIAA-CREF for academics.
6: Abandon Free Trade.  Re-institute import tariffs to equalize labor valuation between the US and exporter nations.
7: Institute labor tariffs upon outsourcing companies.
8: Eliminate outcomes-based education and focus on a balanced curriculum with greater emphasis on arts and humanities.
9: Greater public support for Culture.
10: Demand a national mass rail infrastructure
11: Demand more aggressive conversion to renewable energy forms.
12: In times of surplus, either pay down the debt, or create a Federal nest egg for recessions.


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