Sunday, September 25, 2011

An open letter to Occupy Wall Street

For those unaware, there have been hundreds of people demonstrating on Wall Street around the clock since Saturday, September 17, 2011.  Their progress can be seen at http://occupywallst.org  On Monday, September 26, 2011, the following letter will be sent by me to the protestors, an open letter to which I direct your attention below.

Addressed to:

The UPS Store
Re: Occupy Wall Street
118 Fulton St. #205
New York, NY 10032


24 September 2011, Portland OR
My dear brothers and sisters
You inspire and convict me.
I am writing to express my solidarity with you in this beautiful, long overdue action in keeping with the highest, most central values to humanity in general and to America in particular.  I am humbled not to have taken a similarly bold, clarion stand against the citadel of greed, oppression and hypocrisy yet.  But this is not about me, this is about all of us.
I have learned and hope to better embody, that it is impossible to be neutral, to remain sitting on the fence, in a democracy.  When our leaders, our lawful representatives, behave in ways clearly contrary to our interests and beliefs, we lend them support and give their actions legitimacy if we do anything fhort of adamantly opposing them and their actions.  By remaining silent, the “silent majority” not only forfeits its prerogative, but effectively becomes complicit in the wrongs perpetrated by their representatives.  Thank you all for helping to drive this point home to me.
I particularly appreciate the concept of your “one clear demand” which cuts me to the quick.  you are absolutely right in your expectation: the just respect for each individual’s dignity, and each deliniated facet of this demand is right on point.
In closing on a personal note, there is a young woman in our number with orange hair who was photographed with a brown cardboard sign with blue lettering stating “Wall Street is screwing us so take off your clothes.”  Plese tell her that her smile made my week!  I love you all.  Please be safe and never give up!
Sincerely
Josh von Kuster

For more on the protests, follow the hashtag #occupywallstreet , on the occupywallst.org link above and the "One Clear Demand" can be read, with analysis, at http://october2011.org/blogs/kevin-zeese/one-clear-demand-occupy-wall-street-0.

No comments:

Post a Comment