Occupying Wall Street: A Guide For The Rest Of Us

Cody ChesnuTT - "Where Is All The Money Going?"

On September 17th, the national conversation took a sharp left turn.  That morning, the Tea Party's obsession with dismantling the social safety net, busting labor unions, destroying environmental regulations, and giving even more tax breaks to the ultra-wealthy had been the only media game in town for over two years.  Pundits and editors talked endlessly about the power of the Tea Party movement, and gave right-wingers 24 hours a day of exposure.  That morning, the rest of us, the vast majority of Americans, had no voice, no power, and many of us had lost all hope of promised change. 

But on September 17th, the rest of us, the 99%, found out we do, indeed, still have a voice.

Now, less than 7 weeks later, over 900 Occupy protests have taken place, spreading all over the world into a truly global movement.  Tensions and altercations with police and city leaders have intensified, the City of Oakland was shut down by a massive general strike, and the media can't get enough of it.  Television's political pundits and radio's talk show hosts are arguing non-stop about the pros and cons of massive income equality.  Suddenly, everyone knows that "too big to fail" multi-national corporations nearly always pay a lower income tax rate than the average middle class worker, and that many pay nothing to the system that supports them.  And the biggest banks abruptly backed away from their promise to institute monthly debit card fees, when the newly empowered American middle class and working class moved their money into small local banks and credit unions in droves.  America has become Occupied, and the Koch Brothers astroturfed Tea Party is over. 

A few "dumb hippies" camping in a park really did change the world.  And, now it's time for the rest of us to do our part.    At this point, most Americans now support the general sentiment of the Occupiers.  Most Americans are tired of unchecked corporate money and influence in our government.  Most Americans want a system that benefits those who play by the rules, not those who are above the rules.  But, the fact is, that most of us aren't able, or willing, to sleep in a park, or get tear-gassed, or get arrested for civil disobedience. 

The time has come for the rest of us to Occupy the system.  The time has come to be conscious of the power of our daily spending and financial habits, and speak out by altering the ways we speak with our money.  The Wall Street barons depend on Americans' continued acquiescence in the funneling of wealth out of our communities, and into their offshore bank accounts. They depend on us to continue to buy cheap foreign made products in big box corporate stores that kill local economies.  They depend on Black Friday shoppers, all year long.  We need to stop feeding their system, and start supporting our communities and our nation.  

Here are a few suggestions for how to Occupy the system, from the comfort of your own neighborhood...

1.  Move Your Money!  -  The "too big to fail" banks relied on the American public for their very survival in 2008 and accepted billions of dollars in taxpayer bailout.  Then, they turned around and gave jaw-dropping bonuses to the very executives who crashed the American economy, outsourced departments and laid off American workers by the thousands, and then began an aggressively arrogant campaign to nickel and dime their customers into 6.2 billion dollars in quarterly profits.  They thought we would recognize their power and just accept more fees.  Occupy the mega-banks by moving your money to a small local bank or credit union.   By moving your money from a Wall Street mega-bank to a local bank or credit union, you'll be making your voice heard in the only way that matters on Wall Street, and you'll be supporting a local institution that contributes more to your local economy. For a little guidance on moving your money, check out MoveYourMoneyProject.org. 

2.  Shop Independent and Local! -  Every time you make the choice to shop at a local "mom and pop" store, you are contributing to your local economy.  Studies have shown that for every $100 spent at an independent business, $68 stays in the local economy.  For every $100 spent at a local corporately-owned national chain store, only $43 stays.   Chain stores funnel money out of local economies and into usually far-away corporate headquarters.  Independent stores are owned and operated by your neighbors.  And, communities that support independent stores and restaurants enjoy a unique diversity of options, as opposed to generic big box warehouses of cheap stuff "made in China," and bland chain restaurants serving homogenous processed garbage. 

3.  Avoid Online Shopping! - There is no more direct way to funnel your dollars out of your community than "shopping" online.  You might save a dollar, or two, by shopping through an online retailer, and the convenience is definitely tempting, but you're sending your money to a "store" that doesn't hire local workers, doesn't pay local taxes, doesn't support local charities, and doesn't contribute in any way to the prosperity of your community.

4.  Buy American! - Right-wingers love to wave their (Made in China) American flags and call themselves "real" patriots, then get into their gas-guzzling SUVs and head directly to Wal-Mart to fill their shopping carts full of cheap junk made in sweatshops in China, Pakistan, and Myanmar.  Wall Street's multi-national corporations have no loyalty to the United States.  Their only loyalty is to their shareholders.  Be a real patriot and buy American-made products.  In doing so, you're supporting American jobs, American safety standards, American labor practices, and American environmental standards.  It can be difficult to find the American-made version of what you're looking for, but it's worth trying.  Here's a place to start...How Americans Can Buy American.

5.  Educate Yourself!  - There is an entire industry built on supplying a steady stream of misinformation to the American people.  It's hard to sift through all the inaccuracies and outright lies, but ultimately, it is your responsibility to educate yourself as to what is going on and how we got to where we are as a nation.  Do a little research and make sure you understand one of the main points of protest - the 2010 Supreme Court decision on Citizens United vs. Federal Election Commission, and definitely know the big money players behind the corruption of our system...The Koch Brothers and ALEC (SourceWatch.org, Factcheck.org and Politifact.com are great resources for checking the facts).

The time has come.  

The Hypocritical Oath of Conservatism

President Obama has promised massive reform of the American healthcare system. He's letting the nation know that "we're going to get it done," and that the goal is to have his public-option plan in place by the end of the year. While 46 MILLION of us, who currently have NO health insurance and absolutely NO access to preventative healthcare wait and hope, the fucking Republicans are on the attack and unveiling their plan through slick television spots and town-hall meetings.

And just what is this Republican plan? Well, actually, there isn't one...other than to paint President Obama as a socialist and to fill their coffers with insurance industry money. Of course, just a small portion of that money is used to run ads like this one...

The level of dishonesty and outright deceipt is un-fucking-believable, even considering that this ad is paid for and sponsored by the Americans for Prosperity group - which is an extremely misnomered, extremely right wing organization, headed by Tim Phillips (of Jack Abramoff and Ralph Reed money-laundering fame). The AFP is an "astoturf" organization - meaning that it is a group which portrays itself as a grassroots-from-the-people coalition, when in fact it is a very deep-pocketed, industry funded political machine. Americans for Prosperity was set up to fight against environmental regulations and regulations on climate changing pollution, to fight against oil drilling bans in national parks, to fight against tobacco regulations and indoor smoking bans, and the AFP is one of the leaders behind the recent Tea-Bagger protests which have served as rallying points for anti-government secessionists and militia wackos. They're a bunch of charmers, for sure. Oh, did I mention that the funding for the AFP is pretty easily traced to Koch Industries - the nation's largest privately held company that has been built on oil trading and refining and operates oil pipelines all over the North American continent.

So, while these anti-healthcare tycoons are pouring millions of dollars into these ads, to try to convince Americans that it's a bad idea to institute a comprehensive plan that would institute a public OPTION...

* Over 46 MILLION Americans do not currently have health insurance.

* 10.7 percent of all American children do not have access to the healthcare system.

* The United States is spending 15.3% of its GDP on healthcare, while Canada is spending 10%.

* Life expectancy is longer in Canada than in the United States.

* Infant mortality rates in Canada are significantly lower in Canada than the United States.

* More than 40% of Americans do not have adequate access to healthcare, while just 5% of Canadians are left out.

* More than a third of U.S. employers do not offer any health insurance assistance.

* The average rate of inflation in the U.S. has been 2.5%, while the average rate of health insurance increases is over 12% per year.

* About 20% of uninsured Americans are using the emergency room as their main source of healthcare. The American taxpayer pays the emergency room rate, instead of the cost of a visit to a primary care physician. This costs about $100 billion per year.

* Almost a third of Americans who do have health insurance are actually underinsured, and would be unable to cover any major medical expenses. Most of the uninsured don't even know that they are uninsured.

* The number of deaths in the U.S. among adults ages 25-64 due to being under-insured is about 18,000 per year...more than diabetes.

* Republicans are hammering on "frivolous medical malpractice lawsuits" as the real problem in healthcare costs, all malpractice lawsuits - frivolous or otherwise - actually contribute less than 1% of all healthcare cost in the United States.

The saddest part of all of this is that these corporate fat cats seem to be gaining in convincing working-class folks that they should stand against Obama's "socialist" "Canadian-style" healthcare. plan Most working-class families don't have the time or resources to check out the facts, and Americans for Prosperity knows it. So, they simply put together a quick, slick ad, filled with lies, and air it on prime time tv.

The Canadian citizen in this particular ad lets us know that she had a brain tumor, and that she would've died in her native country. She tells us that she would've had to wait 6 months to see a specialist in Canada. The fact of the matter is that the median wait time to see a specialist in Canada is about 4 weeks. In the United States it's a little more complicated. If she had been an American citizen with a brain tumor, and she had top-notch health insurance, she would have been able to see a specialist in about 2 weeks. If she had to rely on Medicaid, the wait would be about 12 weeks, and if she had no health coverage, she would have been completely out of luck. Luckily, she is obviously wealthy enough to cross our border, and pay for her diagnosis and treatments in cash. (The truth is that she flew to the Mayo Clinic in Scottsdale Arizona fo see one of the best specialists in the country, and she spent over $100,000 to do so).

In this ad, we're told by that oh-so-scary voice that in Canada, "some patients wait a year for vital surgeries," when, in fact, the median wait time for surgeries in Canada is less than 4 weeks. In the United States, without insurance, the wait time is closer to never.

Then, we're back to Shona Holmes, Canadian citizen, who lets us know that she was able to recieve "world class treatment" in the United States. Personally, I think it's a little offensive to have this super-wealthy woman foreigner speak to the tens of millions of Americans who have no access to healthcare systems about the top-of-the-line care that she received in the country that they live and work in.

Next, the old big bad "government should never come between you and your doctor" line. Of course, the having the sweet-faced, kind-hearted insurance companies between you and your doctor is ok.

And, finally, the foreigner, Ms. Holmes, lectures us "don't give up your rights." I'm a little confused as to which rights we would be giving up by providing a public OPTION where anyone without insurance could be covered, and anyone with coverage that they were happy with and could afford would be able to continue being happy with it.

The time for us to fix the broken system is now. We can't afford to wait any longer. At a rate increase of 12% per year, how long will it be before 50% of us don't have health coverage? And when will we hit 75%? And 85%? And just exactly what is the Republican plan? Well, I'll let Republican Senator Chuck Grassley tell you...