"RIP Bill (of Rights)" - my night at Occupy

Dear (insert your name here),

Before I get into discussing my recent experience at an Occupy Wall Street event and my thoughts on SOPA/PIPA and Chicago's proposed ordinance that would dramatically affect protesting rights in the city, I want to make something very clear. I will not deny that I have some deeply felt ideological beliefs, which naturally inform my political opinions, but I have no intention of making this a partisan blog in either content or spirit. To be less esoteric, take the following example: you and I are meeting for the first time and one of the first things that you hear about me is that I love Glenn Beck. Now, if you are liberal-minded, this one comment may be enough to cement your impression of me negatively. Likewise, if I start extolling Keith Olbermann or Bill Maher, you (assuming you are conservative) might have an equally negative impression.

That is why I will avoid saying that I like any particular party or politician. I don't even want to stoop to basing arguments on some vague sense of patriotism (if you don't agree with me you must hate America!). The reason isn't that I don't have certain politicians I admire and hate, parties I favor over others, or have a certain regard of the U.S. It's also not because I don't want to immediately bias you for or against me, though I certainly don't want to do either. Rather, I truly don't believe such things as parties or people matter in the grand scheme. From my perspective, the only things that do matter in society are governmental policies and their impact. Obviously, there can be some overlap - a converative might have a vastly different opinion regarding social security than a liberal. But they might not, and either way, if y0u're sincerely concerned with making the country a better place, than what you should be focused on is analyzing social security on its own terms, which might result in you thinking what would be best to do correlates with what your presumed political enemies want to do, too.

This approach, I realize, can only go so far. Any political stances, just like our day-to-day actions, are necessarily the outgrowth of certan fundamental views - I will no more think it wrong to purposefully hurt an innocent person if I value the welfare of others than I will think it wrong for the government to interfere with other nations if I am a strict isolationist. Perhaps even these examples leave room for dispute, but arguing for the superiority of relative versus absolutist morality is best left for another post I have in mind regarding religion.

Now, on to Occupy Wall Street:

Regardless of what side you're on, the very name Occupy Wall Street is bound to cause a reaction, whether it be pride or aggravation. Personally, I am more in favor than not of the group if only for two reasons (though I could probably think of more if I gave myself more than two seconds to think) - first, that Occupy is against corporate personhood due to the damage it has and is doing, and second, because they are in favor of environmental sustainability efforts that are vital to preserving our world (if you don't believe in global warming, well, we unfortunately will just have to part ways on that point - though I will probably do another post soon about that).

But you might say, as my first commenter just did, that despite what I may think Occupy stands for, Occupy itself has not made it clear that it stands for anything. This is perfectly reasonable opinion, as it has been the primarily criticism in the media since its inception.

To address this issue, I'll first mention that I am currently reading a book/journal of a reporter who has been with the group since last September that documents its development. While I have only just started, already I can see what many instinctively realize, for in an early section, a small group of people forms to discuss what their list of demands should be and immediately they realize that each has their own view of what is most important.

But this is not a sign of weakness. If one were to form a group dedicated to saving the earth from natural disasters, and it was deemed necessary to rank what actions are most crucial for survival, what would your list look like? Would you want to fight first to stop pollution by establising a carbon tax (which gets into corporate regulation), prevent the extinction of bees, end deforestation, begin weaning ourselves off of our dependency (or addiction, as Bush 43 put it) on oil, etc. etc.? I haven't even brought up what might be required to prevent a meteorite from obliterating us - and on that note, it would be wise to consider space colonization as a viable solution as well, which would bring up a host of difficulties, not least of which would be feasibility (I strongly suggest anyone reading to look up the challenges to reaching Mars, where evidence of water - from the past, of course - was recently discovered).

The problem isn't just that the variety of environmental threats facing us simultaneously today require a variety of solutions, but that they are all tied together in intricate ways. Now think about how much more difficult it would be to compose a ranking of what is most important to helping American when, in addition to all of the things I just said (which could fall under the single category of "conservation"), others would also feel homelessness was a pressing issue, or the housing crisis, moral decay (which from personal experience I know for a fact some believe is the most serious issue), corporate influence on elections, geremandering, racism, sexism, economic regulation (or deregulation), and on and on and on and on.

Yet somehow, Occupy has indeed found a way of forming a general declaration of its members. So, instead of saying anymore about what I support or what I think the group stands for, I'll let the group stand for itself.

The following is taken from the official Occupy Chicago site, at http://occupychi.org/about-us.

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Mission Statement
“Occupy Chicago is here to fight corporate abuse of American democracy in solidarity with our brothers and sisters around the world.”

Declaration of Nonviolence
“Occupy Chicago reassures its members and the public that we are a social movement dedicated to nonviolent action.”

Our Declaration Of Occupation
We gather together in solidarity with the global movement of which we are a part to express the same feeling of mass injustice felt by people of all walks of life, all political and social backgrounds, and all cultures around the world. We repeat and affirm the statements in the Declaration of the Occupation of New York City, unanimously adopted by the General Assembly of Occupy Wall St. on September 29, 2011.As one people, united, we acknowledge the reality: that the future of the human race requires the cooperation of its members; that our system must protect our rights, and upon corruption of that system, it is up to the individuals to protect their own rights, and those of their neighbors; that a democratic government derives its just power from the people, but corporations do not seek consent to extract wealth from the people and the Earth; and that no true democracy is attainable when the process is determined by economic power. We come to you at a time when corporations, which place profit over people, self-interest over justice, and oppression over equality, run our governments. We have peaceably assembled here, as is our right, to let these facts be known.They have taken our houses through an illegal foreclosure process, despite not having the original mortgage.They have taken bailouts from taxpayers with impunity, and continue to give Executives exorbitant bonuses.They have perpetuated inequality and discrimination in the workplace based on age, the color of one’s skin, sex, gender identity and sexual orientation.They have poisoned the food supply through negligence, and undermined the farming system through monopolization.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.They have held students hostage with tens of thousands of dollars of debt on education, which is itself a human right.They have consistently outsourced labor and used that outsourcing as leverage to cut workers’ healthcare and pay.They have influenced the courts to achieve the same rights as people, with none of the culpability or responsibility.They have spent millions of dollars on legal teams that look for ways to get them out of contracts in regards to health insurance.They have sold our privacy as a commodity.They have used the military and police force to prevent freedom of the press. They have deliberately declined to recall faulty products endangering lives in pursuit of profit.They determine economic policy, despite the catastrophic failures their policies have produced and continue to produce.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.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.They have purposely covered up oil spills, accidents, faulty bookkeeping, and inactive ingredients in pursuit of profit.They purposefully keep people misinformed and fearful through their control of the media.They have accepted private contracts to murder prisoners even when presented with serious doubts about their guilt.They have perpetuated colonialism at home and abroad. They have participated in the torture and murder of innocent civilians overseas.They continue to create weapons of mass destruction in order to receive government contracts.This list of grievances is non-inclusive.To the people of the world,We, Occupy Chicago, urge you to assert your power.Exercise your right to peaceably assemble; occupy public space; create a process to address the problems we face, and generate solutions accessible to everyone.We pledge to do the same.To all communities that take action and form groups in the spirit of direct democracy, we offer support, documentation, and all of the resources at our disposal.Join us and make your voices heard!

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I'll leave you, the reader, you decide what to make of that. However, allowing for the fact that it is fighting for many reasons, what I do hope is that it dispells any notion that the group as a whole has absolutely no idea what it is fighting for. Additionally, I believe that there are no firmly set goals (save for what has been said above and a general antipathy to corporate influence) and its lack of a figurehead are at this moment benefits instead of detriments.

But I'll also leave that for another post because what I want to finish with is a discussion of the ordinance proposed by Mayor Rahn Emmanuel and SOPA/PIPA.

I began, for reasons that I hope I made clear, with discussing Occupy in general, but from now on anything I write about the group (or politics at all for that matter) will be centered on specific issues. With that in mind, I'd like to say that whether or not you are for or against Occupy at the moment, consider the following issues they were particularly vocal about two nights ago and decide whether you support them here.

For anyone who doesn't know, the ordinance that the mayor proposed originated with the NATO and G8 Summits, which is being held in Chicago. Its proponents wanted to increase the penalties and regulations regarding protesting during the duration of the summit, but now Emmanuel has made it clear that the changes are to be permanent. These changes would, among other things, raise "the fine for "resisting or obstruction the performance of a police officer" exponentially and lumps both active and passive resistance as tshe same", would require "a permit to even gather on the sidewalk", close public places after dark, and allow protests only between 8:00 am - 10:00 pm (once again, I am referring to information taken from news sources on Occupy Chicago's official site).

Ideological sounding or not, I strongly believe that the right for citizens to protest is vital to a healthy democracy, and while this ordinance would not eliminate the right of people to protest, it would make it severely more difficult. Besides, we've all already seen the havoc between protesters and police, including the incident on a college campus where students who were simply sitting on the group were pepper sprayed. It does trouble me when the government overtly acts to curtail the ability of people to protest, if only because I believe such efforts are doomed to backfire. Does anyone actually believe that limiting the rights of people to express themselves will bring about a more submissive society (which in itself should never be a goal)? If you do, at the risk of sounding snotty, I'd refer you to any violent period in world history.

I don't wish to sound alarmist, if only because I fear it will weaken my credibility, but I do believe that any attempt to infringe on the rights of people to protest goes against the spirit and even wording of the Bill of Rights. And on that note, I was disturbed during the event to see people cursing and jeering speakers, most of whom were merely calling for the preservation of the Bill of Rights. Even if you don't want or don't agree with Occupy on some issues, why jeer someone who is arguing for your rights? Equally disturbing was when a woman, who was offered a copy of the Bill of Rights by an Occupy member, replied, "Shove it up your ass."

I'm more than happy to discuss this issue further with anyone who wishes to, but for now I'll close by letting you know that the ordinance, in a slightly weaker version, did indeed pass.

Finally, I want to express solidarity with Occupy on the other main issue brought up at the event - SOPA/PIPA (which are essentially the same, save that PIPA is the Senate version of the "Stop Online Piracy Act").

Before I go into what I dislike about this bill, I need to mention a site that might seem utterly unrelated - Khan Academy. There is no website I spend more time on or enjoy more than this. It is basically an online school, teaching dozens of subjects ranging from algebra to chemistry to history and computer science. The lessons are in the form of short lectures where the voice of founder Salmon Khan talks to you while writing on a blackboard. It is an incredible site that I'd recommend to everyone, whether you are five or ninety.

Just before writing this post, I was listening to one of these lectures when I suddenly noticed, as I went to pick another, that he had posted a lecture on SOPA/PIPA. As always, Khan clarified a subject that was formally difficult to comprehend.

While I'll mention the highlights, I'd suggest everyone go to http://www.khanacademy.org/video/sopa-and-pipa?playlist=American%20Civics, where he gives the full speech. If you don't have eleven minutes, however, I'll note the following:

The act is meant to give those who have their copyrighted material used on foreign sites a way in which to petition the government to shut the site down. While its intent may seem fine to you, it can lead to many "creepy" (as Khan puts it) consequences.

To be blunt, it's a "shoot first, ask questions later" policy that assumes guilt until the party is proven innocent (the exact opposite of our system of due process). For example, Khan explains that under section 103 of the bill, were someone to post a link on a his website that led to copyrighted material, someone could easily get the entire Khan Academy shut down. This is because all the plaintiff would have to prove is that the site "facilitated" or "enabled" a user to get to the copyrighted material. And in this example, the site is technically enabling you to get to said material. Another problem is that, to overturn the verdict, the defendant would have to prove the plaintiff "knowingly materially misrepresents" the case, meaning they purposefully lied about the site or that the site does not actually link to copyrighted material. Obviously, in the Khan Academy example, neither one of these exceptions apply, since the plaintiff was right that the message board link did link to copyrighted material. I haven't even mentioned that the bill also forces, on the threat of being shut down as well, advertisers, payment services, and search engines to discontinue services with the site immediately, which means a plaintiff could easily bankrupt a site long before it had the chance to theoritically challenge the verdict - a challenge almost guarenteed to fail. And this is all because of a post some random person put on a message board on a site dedicated to educating people around the world. If this isn't frightening enough, or you just don't like Khan Academy, consider that under this same bill the government could quickly shut down Youtube, Google, Wikipedia, or even websites of national news networks.

I could say more, but if you really want to learn about the issue I'd recommend the Khan video and individual research. Of course, as with the ordinance issue, I'm happy to continue to conversation if need be.

That post was much longer than I expected it to be, but "so it goes" (that was Kurt Vonnegut, in case anyone is intending to shut down this site and wants to use that quote as evidence I stole his words). At least, because of my long-windedness, I ended up generating a number of ideas for future posts.

Talk to you again soon,

-Matt