8/2/2019 Occupied Washington Times: Volume 1, Issue 1

1/4

People at occupations allover the world are focusingtheir anger on the consumerbanking industry. They are out-raged at the massive bonuseshanded out after a taxpayer-funded bailout, anxious aboutthe banks ability to dictategovernment policy and fearfulthat not enough is being doneto keep something like 2008scollapse from happening again.

And after the public outcrythat caused banks, most nota-bly Bank of America, to retreatfrom putting new fees on debitcard use, consumers are look-ing for new ways to store theirmoney.

At a big bank, large share-holders and the board of di-rectors make the decisions.The bank invests depositorsmoney and charges them feesto make as much prot for its

shareholders as it can. Whensomeone puts money in acredit union, however, she isa member and an owner. The

board of directors controllinginvestments is made up ofelected, unpaid members.

The structure of creditunions tends to make themtreat depositors well, said creditunion historian and proponent

Waking up from the American dreamOver the past thirty years,

the United States as a wholehas prospered greatly. A closerexamination, however, revealsthat only a small sliver ofAmericans is proting from

this boost in productivity. Thevast majority of Americanshave seen their incomes stag-nate while their opportunities

dwindle and their costs rise.US productivity has in-

creased by 72 percent over thelast thirty years, but the wealthi-est one percent of Americanshave increased their real after-tax income by 275 percent, ac-cording to a recent study by the

Congressional Budget Ofce

(CBO)., According to a newstudy by the Economic PolicyInstitute, the top 1 percent ofAmericans claimed 60 percentof all income growth in thelast 30 years, with the top .1percent taking 36 percent of allincome growth. The bottom90 percent claimed just 8.6 per-cent of all new income in the

last thirty years.The people who havepower have adopted poli-cies that skew the rewards ofthe economy to people withpower, and have blocked poli-cies that would lead to sharedprosperity, said Larry Mishel,president of the Economic

Policy Institute. That peoplearent doing well has not beendetermined by the economy;its been determined by politicsand policies.

The tax cuts started byBush and extended by Obamareturn over $100,000 per yearto those making a milliondollars per year a tax breakgreater than three times the

average annual American in-come, according to the Centeron Budget and Policy Priorities.The CBO shows that even astheir share of American in-comes more than doubled overthe last thirty years, the richest1 percent of families effectivefederal tax rate dropped from

37 percent to 29.5 percent.People making ten,

twenty million dollars per yearare all government welfare re-cipients, said Dean Baker, co-director of the Center for Eco-nomic and Policy Research.Without the governmentrunning to their assistance, Ci-tibank would be bankrupt to-day, Goldman Sachs would be

bankrupt today most of WallStreet would not exist today.And thats true of many, manysectors of the economy. Bak-er cited pharmaceuticals as anexample, saying drugs wouldbe one-tenth of their current

Occupiers camp out in McPherson Square in Washington, D.C. In the month since the occupaon began, tents have lled the square,including those oering food, power, informaon and medical service. (Craig Hudson)

Bank transfer:Customers

switch tocredit unions

Inside

Jack Evans of Ward 2brings corporate inuenceto City Council

By Sam Jewler

After the mayor and D.C.council chair, Ward 2 Coun-cilmember Jack Evans may bethe citys third most powerfulelected ofcial. As the longest-

serving member of the D.C.Council and chair of the all-im-portant Finance and RevenueCommittee, he has signicant

sway over how the city spendsits money.

Not only is Evans inu-ential, hes also wealthy. In ad-dition to his $125,000 councilsalary, Evans earns $190,000a year from Patton Boggs, thepowerhouse K Street lobbyrm. But its unclear what the

councilmember does to earnhis second six-gure salary. HisPatton Boggs bio used to say,Mr. Evans advises clients onreal estate matters. However,

that sentence was removedshortly after this reporters Jan-uary 2010 column in the Wash-ington Post.

In his decade as FinanceCommittee chair, Evans hasplayed a leading role in real es-

tate matters that involve largeamounts of public land andtaxpayer subsidies, and haveoften resulted in major rev-enue losses. Examples includethe baseball stadium (cost totaxpayers: $600-plus million),the convention center ($850million D.C.s largest publiclynanced project ever), and the

convention center hotel ($272million), among others.

Evans Ward 2 includesDupont Circle, Georgetownand the downtown area, whereD.C. has ongoing occupationsat Freedom Plaza and McPher-son Square on K Street.

Over the years, Evansdual employment has led toquestions regarding potentialconicts of interest. Former

Washington Post reporter JohnHanrahan recently raised con-cerns over Evans role in theconvention center hotel deal.After spending years pushingfor massive public subsidiesto assist Marriott in building a1,175-room luxury hotel, Ev-

By Pete Tucker

Wethe

99%

McPherson SQ. Washington, D.C. Free Vol 1 Issue 1 November 8, 2011

THE OCCUPIED

Washington Times3

How We OccupyRadical horizontalism,

consensus, and funny handsignals.

3Faces of theMovement

McPherson Square

occupiers share their

stories.

The OccupiedWashington Times

is funded enrely

through individual

donaons. We receive

no money from the

Occupy DC general

assembly. Please visit

www.occupydc.org/

newspaper and sustain

our publishing.

2All for OneWith two occupaons

in Washington, D.C., we

share one message.

3Leer toAmerica

Ditch the old divisions.We can all agree on a few

things.

1Occupy UnionStaon

Why we protested a

conservaon group.

4Occupy goesGlobal

Millions around the globe

rise against injusce.

3Lazy!Comebacks to a

common complaint.

By Andrew Breiner& Karina Stenquist

Continues on 4

Continues on 2

continues on 2

Members and supporters of the OccupyDC movement parcipate in a ash-mob style protest inUnion Staon on Oct. 20. The acon was in response to the Conservaon Internaonals corporategreenwashing of Northrop Grumman and other corporaons. (Craig Hudson)

Out of nowhere, ap-proximately 100 Occupy DCdemonstrators appeared atUnion Station, protesting a$1,000-per-plate fundraiserhosted by the nonprot Con-

servation International (CI)with chants and music anddancing. On its website heenvironmental organization

claims to work toward ahealthy and productive planetfor us all. But protestors saythat given CIs close corporatepartnerships with companieslike BP, Monsanto, Walmart,Toyata, McDonalds and Co-ca-Cola, all that it cleans up issoiled reputations.

Former Conservation In-ternational employee ChristineMacDonald, spoke out against

CIs relationship with corporatedonors in her book Green Inc.In an interview, she told TheNations Johann Hari, About

a week or two after I started, Iwent to the big planning meet-ing of all the organizationsmedia teams, and they startedtalking about this supposedlygreat new project they wererunning with BP. But I hadread in the newspaper the daybefore that the EPA [Environ-mental Protection Agency] hadcondemned BP for running

By Jarrad Davis

ConservationInternational

linked tocorporategreenwashing

Funding

Continues on 2

8/2/2019 Occupied Washington Times: Volume 1, Issue 1

2/4

prices in a truly free market inwhich executives earned lessmoney.

Costs of critical servicesare now higher in real termsthan ever before. Health care

coverage costs have doubledsince 2001, to an average$15,000 per family, accordingto a study by the Kaiser Fam-ily Foundation.2 In turn, theproportion of personal bank-

ruptcies coming from healthcare costs has gone up, from46 percent in 2001 to 62 per-cent in 2007. According to theAmerican Journal of Medicine,

some 80 percent of the bank-rupt had health insurance, butit was insufcient to save them

from nancial ruin.

Education costs in thiscountry are higher than everbefore. Nationwide, studentdebt is approaching $1 trillion more than national credit

card debt. The average class of2009 college graduate is facing$24,000 of debt, according tothe Project on Student Debt.Only about a third can pay theirloans back on time, in largepart because of the dismal jobmarket. 4 Some 22 percent of2009 college graduates have nowork; according to a study atNortheastern University, an ad-ditional 22 percent are workingjobs that dont require a collegedegree.

In Washington, D.C., theaverage debt for recent collegegraduates is $30,000, greaterthan in any of the 50 states.The Project on Student Debtlists American University asone of the twenty highest debt

universities in the country.Social mobility, the move-

ment of people between in-come levels, is now little morethan an American dream. TheUS consistently ranks as one ofthe least socially just countriesin the Western world. Blacksand Hispanics have seen no

rise in real income since Mar-tin Luther King had his dream,and a third of the middle classis falling into poverty. Ameri-cans live in a world more pro-ductive than ever, yet it is onewith higher costs, fewer jobsand lower-paying jobs.

The American dream is areality only for those at the top the other 99 percent of ushave fallen asleep. Now beginsthe great awakening.

American dreamfalling out of reachfor mostcontinued from 1

ans recused himself from vot-ing on the issue at the very lastminute. Months later, when thedeal became ensnarled in legaltroubles, Evans un-recusedhimself and reconciled the

warring parties.Two weeks ago, in an in-

terview with TheFightBack,Hanrahan questioned why the

Ward 2 councilmember hasyet to submit a written expla-nation for his 2009 recusals, asrequired by law. If the laws areon the books, follow them, Mr.Evans, Hanrahan said. The

following day, Evans lashedout at the veteran reporter,calling him a f---ing idiotin an interview with City Pa-pers Loose Lips. When askedby email if he apologized forthis statement, Evans replied,

No.Evans, whose Patton

Boggs salary exceeds his coun-cil income, has been excusedfrom following the conict-

of-interest-disclosure law byan April legal opinion from

the councils general counsel.V. David Zvenyach wrote thatEvans doesnt have to le a

written explanation becausethe appearance of a poten-tial conict is not enough to

require disclosure. Evans toldThe Occupied WashingtonTimes he does not plan to le

an explanation for his recusals.Theres nothing here, he toldthe Posts Mike DeBonis.

Excusing Evans fromexplaining his recusals is sig-

nicant because unlike lyingto reporters, which may resultin bad press, lying on a legaldocument can be a criminal of-fense.

Pete Tucker is a local D.C. reporter at The-

FightBack.org.

Evans brings K St.to City CouncilContinued from 1

If the lawsare on the

books,follow them,Mr. Evans.

There are two occupa-tions in Washington, D.C. Weght for the same vision of

a nation that promotes thegeneral welfare of its peoplewithout regard for - or un-due inuence from - their ac-cess to wealth. The OccupiedWashington Times, created bythe occupiers of McPhersonSquare, and The OccupiedWashington Post, created bythe Stop the Machine occupi-ers of Freedom Plaza, buildour solidarity on the knowl-edge that we share the support

of the majority of Americanpeople.

An ABC News/Washing-ton Post poll found that 80 per-cent of Americans oppose theCitizens United v. Federal Elec-tion Commission Supreme

Court Decision, including 65percent who strongly oppose.Citizens United allowed cor-porations to spend unlimitedamounts of money to advertisein elections, greatly expandingtheir power to choose politi-cians and create the policiesthey want.

A 60 Minutes/Vanity Fairpoll showed that a large major-

ity of Americans choose taxingthe rich as their preferred wayto address the decit. Yet most

politicians have neglected to se-riously consider this approach.

Eighty percent of Ameri-cans dont want the govern-

ment to cut Social Security. YetCongress is considering cuttingSocial Security to lower the def-icit, which many economistsconsider far less urgent thanthe unemployment crisis.

Eighty-eight percent ofAmericans supported banningbank bonuses or taxing themat 50 percent, according to aBloomberg poll taken after

the taxpayer-funded bailout.Yet these proposals were never

discussed by our elected repre-sentatives. And once again thiselection season, the two majorparty presidential candidates,as well as the most inuential

legislators, will be courting thenancial sector for tens of mil-lions of dollars in donations.

We the 99 percent declarea democracy that listens moreto wealth than to public opin-ion unethical, illegitimate andself-destructive. We demandthat we the American peoplebe heard - for the benet of

the 100 percent.

Occupy DC and Stop the Machine share common groundThe OWT and OWPEditorial Boards

2

Occupiers collaborate to spread the word about the growingmovement. (Craig Hudson)

November 8, 2011

OPINION

the most polluting plant in thewhole country.... But nobodyin that meeting, or anywhereelse in the organization, wantedto talk about it. It was a taboo.

You werent supposed to ask ifBP was really green. They werehelping us, and that was it.

Northrop Grumman isanother corporate donor back-ing Conservation Internation-al. Their President and CEO,Wes Bush, sits on Cls Boardof Directors and was attend-ing the October 20 fundraiserwhen Occupy D.C. arrived.

According to a 2008 re-port by the Political Econo-my Research Institute at theUniversity of Massachusetts,Northrop Grumman released460,000 pounds of toxic air in

one year. The EnvironmentalProtection Agency has alsolinked the company to 52 toxicwastes sites within the UnitedStates.

Yet despite the seemingly

obvious environmental dam-age being caused by compa-nies like Northrop Grumman,Conservation Internationalmaintains that they and the restof their Business and Sustain-ability Council are, a commu-nity of companies committed

to leveraging their businessexperience and resources toprotect nature for the benet

of humanity.New Zealand-based

researcher and writer, Aziz

Choudry, denounced Conser-vation International, stating,CIs track record suggests amotivation to conserve biodi-versity as a resource for bio-prospecting for its private sec-tor partners rather than anyconcern for the rights of the

peoples who have lived withand protected these ecosystemsfor so long. Bio-prospecting isthe discovery of new and use-ful biological samples, typicallyin less-developed countries,

either with or without the helpof indigenous knowledge, andwith or without compensation.

The Amerindian PeoplesAssociation expressed deepconcern when Conservation

International did not consultwith the indigenous residentsof southern Guyana beforeentering into a memorandumof understanding with the gov-ernment of Guyana, which al-lows the nonprot to turn their

traditional lands into protect-ed lands.

The Mexican Centerfor Political Analysis and So-cial and Economic Research(CAPISE) announced muchstronger worries, calling Con-servation International theTrojan horse of major trans-national corporations and

the U.S. government. CAP-ISE continued on to say that,Conservation Internationalsstrategy is to gather informa-tion and buy large tracts ofland with high bio-prospecting

potential, which allows it toadminister natural and/or stra-tegic resources and place themat the disposal of major trans-nationals.

In order to investigate the

accusations of greenwashingand bio-prospecting againstConservation International,the British magazine DontPanic had two of their report-ers go undercover, pretendingto be representatives of Lock-heed Martinthe worlds larg-est multinational arms com-panyto see how CI interactswith its corporate partners.

The undercover report-ers met with a senior ofcial

at Conservation Internationalwho offered Lockheed Mar-tin a chance to join CIs Busi-ness Sustainability Council for

$37,500 per year. That offercame after the reporters hadstated in an email that theirmain interests were not to pro-tect the environment, but rath-er to raise their green prole.

The ofcial from CI assured

them that companies are notbound by Conservation Inter-national to participate in anykind of sustainability practices.

Conservation Interna-

tionals alliance with corpora-tions appears to be its onlyconcern. CI accepts moneyfrom large-scale polluters whilepraising those same compa-nies small-scale green effortsand harmful actions like bio-prospecting.

Heydon Prowse, one of

the reporters who went un-dercover, said, ConservationInternationals dependence oncorporate funding makes themunwilling to exert any pressureon polluters to change theirways,

The Occupied Washing-

ton Times contacted Conser-vation International for com-ment, but they did not returna reply.

Conservation International trades green cover for prot

Sophie Vick lis a hand-made OccupyDC ag over the crowd at theOct. 20 Union Staon protest against corporate greenwashing, oneof many acons carried out by occupiers. (Craig Hudson)

The graph at left depicts the steadygains made in American productivityover the last thirty years compared tothe massive gains in income for thetop one percent and the essentiallystagnant development of averageoverall wages. The graph was puttogether by Mother Jones, whichreported that if median householdincome had kept pace with theeconomy since 1970, it would nowbe over $90,000, instead of the cur-rent $50,000.

No shared sacrifice

Source: Mother Jones

Continued from 1

8/2/2019 Occupied Washington Times: Volume 1, Issue 1

3/4

Im an Iraqi war veteran. I was an

interrogator and I saw this gov-

ernments policy when it came

to occupying other countries.

I would interrogate individu-

als and the same story kept on

coming up over and over again:

I have to feed my kids It is

wrong you guys are here. This

government condions its sol-diers to dehumanize people.

Youre not ghng people or

Iraqis or Afghans, youre ghng

terrorists or insurgents.

Meet Your Neighbors

Americans are increas-ingly dissatised with the in-stitutions of our national life.A recent Gallup poll revealeddiminished public condence

in areas as diverse as business,labor, banks, medicine, mediaand the criminal justice system.Congress approval rating hov-ers around 9 percent.

Yet nothing elicits as

much disappointment and an-ger as the state of our repre-sentative democracy. Citizens

decry the gridlock of the polit-ical system and loathe the po-larized nature of our discourse.There is collective frustrationwith our 220-year-old govern-ments inability to bring us to-gether to solve the importantissues of the day.

The Occupy movementspreading across the UnitedStates expresses this frustra-tion with mainstream politics

by conceiving and practicingdemocracy in a wholly differ-ent way. Namely, the occupa-tions are exercises in direct, orconsensus-based, democracy.Truly democratic decision-making, occupiers assert, is a

leaderless, active and collab-

orative effort that hears andrecognizes all voices. It is not apassive, competitive affair thatreduces social problem-solvingto replacing one set of politi-cians with another.

By choosing to relate toeach other in a radically egali-tarian, horizontal, and non-coercive fashion, and by mak-ing decisions by consensus asopposed to voting, occupi-

ers assert that individuals canmanage their affairs withoutrepresentatives. All are capableof direct participation in theprocess.

The general assemblyis the Occupy movements

decision-making body. Every

occupier is encouraged to at-tend. Individuals and commit-tees submit proposals that thegroup discusses at length andamends to address all con-cerns. Instead of voting pro-posals up or down, the generalassembly attempts to reachconsensus, meaning that everyperson in attendance agrees tolet the proposal go forward.

In this way, diverse par-

ticipants come to workable,collective solutions that all canaccept. Even if an individualdoes not entirely agree with theassemblys decision, she comesaway with a stake in it since hervoice has been heard and herconcerns have been addressed.

Importantly, these meth-ods are working effectively.The movement is growing,managing itself and incorpo-rating new participants withvarious views and interests.

Faced with an unrespon-

sive government, occupierscreated their own responsiveone. The movement providesa model for the better soci-ety it hopes to bring about byshowing that it is possible. Theoccupation points to the pos-sibility of an engaged world,where general assemblies arepresent in every neighborhoodand people condently and

ably manage their own affairs.

How we occupy

Finding my second occupation

Im occupying because Im

sick of the hypocrisy and Im

sick of all the lies. Im sick of

what its done to humanity...

My aunt was diagnosed withleukemia, and because of our

messed up health care system

she was unable to get medi-

cal assistance. No insurance

would take her, and that to me

is the most inhumane thing

ever... Ive been out here since

day 2 of Occupy DC. I didnt

know what to expect at rst;

I had no expectaons. I was

just like, Oh my god, the me

has nally come. People have

really awoken, and were not

just talking now - its acon.

I believe that things dras-

cally need to change. Im prey

freaked out by what looks likely

to happen within my lifeme

when it comes to global warm-

ing and climate change. As well

as just the destrucon of earth,

especially the lengths were go-

ing to to get more fossil fuels:

fracking, mountain top removal

and deep-water drilling. It is just

geng more and more destruc-

ve.

I was at Columbia University in

1968, where we had a major

student strike sit-in, which

involved a thousand students

geng arrested as part of a ghtagainst racism and as part of a

ght against the Vietnam War.

Aer that, I connued being

acve against the Vietnam War

movement unl 1975 when

the war ended. At that point I

got a job as a transit worker in

Washington and I started ghng

for improved wages, benets

and job security for the workers

there. All those experiences

showed me that people will ght

when condions are right and

that you can actually make some

progress.

By Brian Knudsen

Get a job! someoneshouted from their car at agroup of occupiers sitting inMcPherson Square. Beforeanyone could respond, thecar was gone. The refrain isa common one.

It comes not just fromhecklers on the streets butalso blasted from mediaoutlets and proliferated inwaves on the Internet. Themost immediate thought other than I have one! isWhere?

Unemployment cur-rently lingers around ninepercent, meaning close to 14million Americans are with-out a job. Nearly 40 percentof the unemployed havebeen out of work for over

six months. Chronic unem-ployment often degrades apersons attractiveness to po-tential employers. The aver-age length of unemploymenthas shot from 13.5 weeks be-tween 1948 and 2007 to 40.5weeks today.

These gures do not

include the people that havesimply stopped looking be-cause jobs are nowhere to befound.

Job participation, theamount of people of work-ing age who are employedor actively seeking work, hasfallen to 64 percent. Fiveand half million Americansare unemployed and not re-ceiving benets, up from 1.4

million last year. With thelowered job participationrate and underemployment

factored in, unemploymentrises to 17.5 percent. Of theAmericans that have man-aged to nd and hold onto

jobs, 40 percent have mini-mum or low-wage servicejobs.

These statistics, whileshocking, are not news.Things have been bad for along time now, somethingthe people yelling get a jobare most likely aware of. Theprevailing individualist spiritof our times lays the blamefor the depressed job marketsquarely on the unemployed.The facts, though, place theblame elsewhere.

The 2008 bailouts weresupposed to allow for greaternancial liquidity. But lend-ing by commercial banksdropped nearly one trillion

dollars as of mid-2010 andstill has not recovered. In-stead of lending to business-es and promoting growth,and, in turn, jobs, the bankshave been buying up trea-sury bonds. Bank invest-ment in treasury bonds leaptnearly $500 billion in 2011.In effect, the banks took themoney that the federal gov-ernments interest-free loan,and loaned it back to thegovernment with interest.This essentially free moneycontributed to bank prots

of $58 billion in the rst six

months of the year.Rather than stimulate

the economy, the bailoutshelped pad Wall Street pock-ets, and now, nearly threeyears after the nancial col-

On the same page, for onceDear conservative friend

and co-worker,We dont agree on much,

do we? It seems like the act ofopening our mouths instantlyleads to stubborn disagree-ment. Despite being a govern-ment employee, you believegovernment should be smaller;I think it should be bigger.You still have some faith in the

trickle down effect, and I think

its a form of liquid torture. Tome, conservatives are heart-less; to you, liberals are spine-less. Although you spare methe Bill OReilly banter, I coulddo without the David Brookstripe, as Im sure you couldmy Noam Chomsky quotes.Nevermind gay marriage, gunrights, search and seizure laws,and abortion.

But theres hope for usyet, my friend, because the po-

litical climate is a little more ac-

By Eric Blair commodating for dissent thesedays. We are both shocked byevents like Citizens United,when the Supreme Court al-lowed corporations to writeblank checks in support ofpolitical candidates. And itsbecause we gured out just

how much money Wall Streetfunnels into all of these candi-dates. Biased mainstream me-dia outlets across the politicalspectrum have kept us at odds.

And its ironically because ofthese childish standstills inCongress, the forever-loomingshutdowns, and the brokenpromises of elected ofcials in

both parties that theres hope.What seems to tie us to-

gether is the sense of power-lessness we feel watching ourgovernment quibble over pettyissues as the country slinks fur-ther down the road of inequal-ity and stagnation. It wouldntbe so bad if we could vote innew members of Congress todo our bidding, but we bothgured out that we can only

elect new actors playing thesame characters every twoyears. My friend, weve evenagreed on a common reasonfor this: its the money of cor-porations, unions and the elite,not ours, that fuels their cam-paigns, making our represen-tatives beholden to them. Onour lowly government sala-ries, were far from being ableto buy airtime to run vicious

attack ads during AmericanIdol. I believe it was you whosuggested we think about pub-lic nancing of political cam-paigns to get corporate moneyout of our ballot boxes. Couldit be weve found some com-mon ground?

It seems like a strangetime in this countrys his-tory when the two of us cantagree on the quality of yourgirlfriends baking, but we can

agree that our founding fatherswould be appalled at the stateof our democracy today. Weboth accept that special inter-est groups grip on govern-ment has grown too strong,and that the general welfare ofthis country depends on some-thing changing. We might notsee eye-to-eye on what all ofthose changes should be, but atleast we can level on the funda-mental problems. Thanks forthe civility Ill see you Mon-day morning.

3OPINION

By Kathryn Seidewitz

lapse, millions of Americansstill cant nd work. Many

occupiers are in the samesituation as most Americans a Wall Street Journal pollrecently found that 85 per-cent of Wall Street occupiershad jobs.

Counter-protesters thathad planned to appear at Oc-cupy DC handing out jobapplications on October 20never materialized. Occu-piers had taken their lunchbreaks to greet the counter-protestors; others had print-ed copies of their resumes,ready to apply. Many weretoo busy at work to come

down and greet them. Rose Jaffe

Truly democracdecision-making is acollaborave eort that hearsand recognizes all voices.

MichaelPatterson

McPherson Sq. Occupiers at a glance

KelseyTribble

MikeGolash

RoojAlwazir

In a time ofuniversaldeceit, tellingthe truth is arevolutionaryact.

8/2/2019 Occupied Washington Times: Volume 1, Issue 1

4/4

Just four weeks afterthe tents descended on WallStreet, the rallying cry echoedacross the globe: OccupyEverywhere. On October15th, in as many as 950 cit-ies in 82 countries, millionstook a stand against rampantsocial inequality. In each lo-cation, the motivations, in-

stigators and socio-politicalcontexts differed. All over,the anger was the same.

In Europe, protestsmerged with existing cam-paigns against governmentsausterity measures. Welfarecuts and privatizations arebeing sanctioned in times ofhigh unemployment, whilecorporations and the wealthycontinue to exploit tax loop-holes and enjoy close ties toinuential politicians.

In Rome, an estimated200,000 marched on the 15th,just one day after Prime Min-ister Silvio Berlusconi sur-

vived a no-condence vote

in parliament. He is standing

trial on charges relating tobribery and abuse of power.Riot police attacked protes-tors with water cannons andtear gas, injuring at least 135people.

In Madrid, half a mil-lion people lled Puerta del

Sol, scene of the los indig-

nados occupation, whichlasted from May to Augustthis year. During that time,upwards of 20,000 Span-iards slept in the citys centralplaza to bring attention totheir political disenfranchise-ment. Among Spanish youth,unemployment stands at 43percent.

In London, an encamp-ment outside St. Pauls Ca-thedral attracted thousands,with 400 camping overnight.Within ten days, numbersswelled and a second camphas been erected, closer to thenancial heart of the city. A

chief grievance in the UK istax-avoidance strategies usedby multi-national corpora-tions. UK Uncut campaign-ers claim that Vodafone owes$9.6 billion in unpaid taxes.Proposed changes to the Na-

tional Health Service have

also provoked outrage, withmany commentators fearingthat privatization looms.

In South Africa, 80 pro-testers braved a heavy policepresence outside the Johan-nesburg Stock Exchange.Similar numbers took to thenancial centres in Hong

Kong, Kuala Lumpur, Taipeiand Tel Aviv.

In Sydney, Australia, 60regular campers were joinedthe following Saturday byseveral hundred more. Thatnight hundreds of policeswarmed onto the site toforcibly evict the occupiers.Fifty were arrested. Remain-ing campers have temporarilyrelocated and General As-semblies continue to be held.Plans are afoot to occupy an-other space.

In South Korea, cam-paigners took a differentapproach: rather than oc-cupy continuously, they havepledged to return to SeoulPlaza in greater numbers ev-ery week. On October 15th,600 marched under the Oc-

cupy banner. One week later,over 3,000 day laborers work-ers rallied to demand a mini-mum wage and labour rights.The Fair Trade Agreementwith the US is also a major is-sue of concern, as campaign-

ers argue it will only benet

the top one percent of Ko-reans.

While some actionshave met with more successand longevity than others,the movement continues tospread. It seems tting that

Occupy kick-started by aCanadian magazine and in-spired by the Arab spring ismarching on an internationalscale.

In each country thereare specic issues to address;

ultimately governments arebeing lobbied by their ownpeople. In our globalizedworld, the connectedness ofgrievances is, however, im-possible to deny. The samemulti-national corporationsnd tax breaks and loopholes

in every corner of the earth.Protestors, too, are forg-

ing international links. Twit-ter, live streams and dedi-cated websites are being usedto share information and ex-press solidarity between oc-cupations. No matter whereyou are, an occupation isprobably not far away.

Matthew Cropp. It simplydoesnt make sense for a creditunion to try to screw its cus-tomers, since any extra moneymade is simply returned to themembers in the form of bet-ter rates and free services, hesaid. Those services often in-

clude reimbursement of ATMfees, since many credit unionsdo not have their own ATMs.

John Bratsakis, presidentof the Maryland and DC Cred-it Union Association, said therewere big spikes in membershipas the nancial crisis unfolded,

and after the announcement ofnew debit card fees. It seemedlike the straw that broke thecamels back, he said. Peoplesaid, Im gonna go out andlook for an alternative. Infact, the Independent Commu-nity Bankers of America polledtheir member banks and found

60 percent had seen an increasein new accounts.Supporters like Cropp say

the structure encourages saferinvesting as well. They cite, forinstance, that credit unions en-gaged in little subprime lending lending to riskier borrowersat higher interest rates andfared far better in the falloutfrom the 2008 housing marketcrisis. Corporate banks, mean-while, are more willing to makerisky decisions because theyrisk other peoples money, hesaid, and deposits are insuredby the Federal government.

Cropp is disappointed thatthe bailouts saved the recklessand corrupt corporate banks

at the expense of responsibleinstitutions. The bailouts, hesaid, functioned to protectthe wealth, power and marketshare of the very institutionsthat caused the crisis, whilerobbing their alternative com-petitors of the opportunity toreap the rewards of their pru-

dence.Small community bankshave long been a refuge forthose concerned about en-trusting their savings to gigan-tic banks. But they are oftenbought out by the behemoths.

In the Washington, D.C.

area alone, customers of Ad-ams National, Provident Bank,Chevy Chase Bank, and Wa-chovia Bank have found theirinstitutions disappear into Pre-mier Bank, M&T Bank, CapitalOne and Wells Fargo respec-tively.

Not surprisingly, federalgovernment employees havea variety of credit unions tochoose from in the D.C. area.But for those not eligible fora credit union through theiremployers, there are institu-tions that base membership onchurch afliation or place of

residency.

Credit unions bankon local economy

Occupy stages global show of solidarity

On October 15th, in as manyas 950 cies in 82 countries,

millions took a stand againstrampant social inequality.

4 November 8, 2011

By Siohban McGuirkContinued from 1

Five things you can do Poll: Occupiers want justice, democracyLike Marvin Gaye in the

1970s, many Americans lookat the Occupy movement andwonder, Whats going on?In an effort to help answerthat question, we conductedan informal poll of 100 sup-porters of Occupy DC overthe last two weeks of Octoberin McPherson Square, from

actively engaged committeemembers to curious passersby.

Reecting the movements

broad scope of grievances,each respondent was asked towrite in up to three reasons forbeing there. Two hundred andeighty six responses were bro-ken into 14 different categories.Three main reasons came up:the ght for socio-economic

injustice (given by 56 percentof respondents), the demand

for accountable government(52 percent) and the call for anend to corporate rule (37 per-

cent).Under socio-economic

injustice were calls for morehumane approaches to issuessuch as health care, personaldebt, the justice system andthe homeless. The desire for amore responsive governmentincluded demands for moreand better jobs, an end to cor-

ruption and the establishmentof DC statehood. Oppositionto corporate dominance in-

cluded the demand that peoplebe considered more valuablethan prots and that corporate

greed be curtailed by nancial

and lobbying reform.Percentages add up to

more than 100 because respon-dents were given up to threewrite-ins each.

Powered by Tagexdo.com

OCCUPYVisit McPherson Square during the day or stay the night.

Bring your tent, sleeping bag, instruments, signs and artwork.Food and water are always available.

PARTICIPATEAend a General Assembly, held everyday at 6pm on the

south lawn of McPherson Square. Join a commiee workinggroup (media, outreach, acon, resource allocaon, cooking,and many others). Join marches, teach-ins and rallies.

SPREAD THE WORDVisit our website at www.occupydc.org for general

informaon and updates. Follow us on Twier: @OccupyKSt,@Occupy_DC, @OccupyDCMedia, @OccupyWallSt. Find uson Facebook at OccupyDC K St.

EDUCATE YOURSELFVisit the ever-growing Peoples Library at McPherson

Square, featuring a collecon of hundreds of donated books,CDs and DVDs. Spend me online or with a book readingabout growing inequality, corporate personhood, acvismand polical transgressions. Talk to friends about the Occupymovement.

DONATEThere is always a need for food, water, warm clothes in

person or arrange for a pick-up. Support Occupy DC by visingwww.occupydc.org/donate.

1

2

3

4

5

Thousands moved

their money from

the big banks on

November 5, Bank

Transfer Day.

CommonWealth One Federal CU www.cofcu.org

Open to all residents of the D.C. metropolitan area. Commonwealths policy is:Once a member, always a member.

USAA www.usaa.comStarted as a credit union for military servicemembers, and though its insurance

products are still restricted to that community, checking, savings and credit cardsproducts are open to all.

Agriculture Federal Credit Union www.agriculturefcu.org

Open to all who work, worship, volunteer, attend school in, and businesses andother legal entities in the District of Columbia.

Signal Financial www.sfonline.org

Open to all who live, work, attend school, or worship in Washington, D.C. orinside the beltway in Prince Georges County. Occupy DC is a member!

Find a credit union

More research:www.cuna.org Credit Union National Association

www.ndacreditunion.com Search by area of residence or afliated groups.www.creditunionsonline.com

The Occupy DC General Assemblyin McPherson Square has entrusted

a newspaper working group with thecreation of a newspaper to documentthe social and economic injustices of

our time and news of the occupationitself. A rotating editorial board, held

accountable to the Occupy DC gener-

al assembly, determines the nal con-tent and tone of the newspaper. The

opinions expressed represent those ofindividual authors. In no way do wespeak for Occupy DC or the Occupy

movement. The Occupied Washington Times

Editorial Board

A note aboutThe Occupied Washington Times

Equal opportunity

for all, special privi-lege for none.Thomas Jefferson

Editorial Board

Matthew PattersonSam JewlerPat Farnach

Jillian BlazekAndrew Breiner

Contributors

Pete TuckerKelsey TribbleKarina StenquistKathryn SeidewitzMichael PattersonSiohban McGuirk

Brian KnudsenRose JaffeCraig Hudson

Mike GolashEric BlairRooj Alwazir

www.occupiedwashingtontimes.org