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The reason I know the Occupy Wall Street movement is what we have been waiting for is because I know two things: that all beings seek peace and prosperity, and that the Occupy Wall Street movement seeks that for all people.

For decades inequality has been more and more pronounced. Those at the top have continued to thrive and expand their wealth while the rest of us, the middle and lower classes, have seen our real wealth decline. What we are earning at our jobs is getting us less real buying power. Things are more and more expensive and therefore poverty and all of its associated problems have greatly increased. See:

http://www.alternet.org/economy/152601/5_facts_you_should_know_about_the_wealthiest_one_percent_of_americans

Occupy Wall Street is a powerful movement of people who are tired of the same old story. We have been promised that if we work hard enough we can be rich too, but by now we can see that is an empty promise unable to be achieved due to a lack of jobs and limited opportunity. We can no longer blame each other for being “lazy,” I think people clearly see that the game is rigged and the future vision for so many is painted with debt, struggle, limited opportunity and difficulty. No longer are people willing to be walked on, people are finally standing up and saying, “This isn’t working in my best interests!”

I have been to Occupy Los Angeles and I have seen that the principles the movement stands for are peace, compassion, justice and equality. Signs all around point out issues like healthcare for all, caring for our environment, compassion for animals, legalization of hemp, fair taxation and world peace. Those issues are based on universal values that bring benefit to everybody compared to, say, greed which benefits only a few.

The truth is that humanity has been operating within a paradigm that says the best way to organize our society is around capitalist principles of getting more, buying things, and competing with each other for resources. Those values have led us to the present day and now the tipping point is here. All human beings deserve to be recognized for their uniqueness and supported in their desire to live their greatest dreams. The current system is not supporting us in our desires to know our own greatness and live a deep and permanent happiness.

Occupy Wall Street is changing the debate in America, and the world, and showing that people are not happy anymore to just accept the status quo. Whether you realize it or not, this movement is just what we have been waiting for. The masses are awakening to a higher vision that does not limit prosperity to just a few but that includes all human beings in a higher vision.

Join them! Occupy movements are spreading across the country. http://www.occupytogether.org/

To support the movement if you are not the get-out-in-the-streets type, you can write or call your senators and congressional representatives. You can also call president Obama at 1-202-456-1111. Tell our leaders that you support the movement and ask them to show their support publicly.

I have to admit frustration is getting most of my attention right now after spending the past week or so trying to find a way to use the internet to create a platform to get people to speak up for themselves in their own democracy. I’ve been working out ideas that would be able to get the voices of the people to those who represent them in congress.

What happens when you contact a politician?

The major obstacle is overcoming citizen apathy. In devising a tool that will allow internet users to contact their representatives, outside of the contact forms of the senators and representatives’ websites, the tool must be so simple that it requires almost no effort for the user besides entering their message. Think Twitter, or Facebook’s “What’s on your mind?”

My research led me to many interesting projects, but eventually to two sites created by Jim Gilliam. He created a site almost exactly like what I was thinking, where we can contact our representatives through Twitter. Check it out at www.govluv.org

Then I saw his site www.whitehouse2.org. Basically, this site allows users to write a one sentence “priority” to Obama, like, “Please end the phony war on terror,” and then other users can vote on it. Priorities are ranked and voted on and a further step of contacting your representatives is possible, and doing this and other “extra” steps earns the user points; more points equals more visibility for your priority. The goal is to get the population to say what they are interested in and participate in democracy. It’s a great idea and is something similar to what I was putting together in my mind. Fortunately, he developed the site on an open source platform and this could be the direction I want to go in developing my own site with developer, James Dabgotra. Jim has created a great tool for us to experiment with.

But the frustration, in my characteristic style, is in observing that the country is run on democratic voices, but not that many voices are saying anything. The reason I want people to speak out is because I know that the power elite are fine – thank you very much – with everyone focused on the Lakers or on getting their own TV show in Oprah. Don’t get me wrong, these things are great, but just about every area of civilization is in collapse and solutions require participation. It’s like a ship full of a thousand people is sinking but only two are bailing the water out. So maybe you can understand why I am frustrated because the work that needs to be done is extremely urgent but, people don’t seem to see the relevance to their life.

But I say this: Are we not a democracy? Are we not free to voice our opinions? Well let’s get busy! We must speak up about at least one subject that we are interested in and hold our elected officials accountable for their leadership. Is this not a cause worth at least an e-mail or phone call a week?

Find your representatives, and contact them about something:

www.whoismyrepresentative.com

Good luck. The world awaits your voice.

I recently wrote a letter to my congressman, David Dreier, CA 26th. With the letter I sent a copy of Michael Moore’s newest movie, “Capitalism: A Love Story,” because I wanted to talk about the end of capitalism. I am so tired of the same old games of fear and exploitation, divisiveness and poverty, that plague our society. The days are over where we willingly stand by while the wealth of the nation funnels into the hands of the rich. The story is old and tired. I thought I would let Mr. Dreier know my thoughts.

Congressman David Dreier

United States House of Representatives

233 Cannon HOB

Washington, D.C. 20515

March 29, 2010

Dear Congressman Dreier,

I just watched Michael Moore’s movie “Capitalism: A Love Story,” and I thought it would be good for yourself and your staff to watch, if you haven’t seen it already. Maybe you can have a movie night.

The best part about it is that it speaks to the heart, and in our hearts we know that capitalism is a system that no longer serves even the very basic needs of the people. It serves the wealthy, and that is fine if we are all wealthy, but I am not, and neither are the 95% of Americans that are considered, in the movie, as not being members of a democracy, but a “plutonomy” – a society for the wealthy. Just watch the movie, Mr. Moore shows a Citibank letter declaring as much, and we know Citibank speaks the philosophy of the wealthy.

Our hearts also know that this system of free enterprise, competition and the profit motive sells us these very ideals as a type of propaganda in the hopes that we will not blame the system for our troubles, but ourselves. But the reality is that our hard-earned money is taken from us in larger and larger amounts in the form of taxes, fines, fees and tickets and, of course, the bailout; and our public services are being slashed endlessly because of budget cuts. We are tired of propping up the already wealthy and hoping that the money will trickle down. We don’t buy “personal responsibility” anymore as being the only factor contributing to our success.

One obvious question we all have is, Why did we bailout the banks if the free market is a sink or swim system? We are sinking, why can’t the banks? By the way, we know there is not a real “free market,” but a highly streamlined system whose laws and political/corporate revolving door benefit the connected and the well to do. We the people are apparently not connected because we are in debt, sick, overweight, stressed and struggling to make ends meet. We need a new system that cares for the needs of all people, not just the rich.

Listen to what FDR says in the movie when he declares his intent for a second Bill of Rights. I couldn’t believe it either, but Mr. Moore shows the video of President FDR announcing on national television that a second Bill of Rights should include the right for all Americans to:

1.  A job

2.  An affordable home

3.  A living wage

4.  Good and adequate medical care

5.  A good education

6.  An adequate pension

7.  Paid vacation

Could you imagine how much all people would thrive if our constitution required that we seek to spread the prosperity in this manner? It would be amazing! Unfortunately, FDR died shortly after his proposal and modern capitalism does not come even close to providing these needs through the free market.

Mainly, my objective in writing you and sending this movie is just to let you know that we know. We know who Capitalism benefits and what’s going on, we see who our own government and economic system is really serving, and we say enough is enough! We want real change now!

We know the truth is coming out and we are grateful for people like Michael Moore who can show us the effects of this broken system. We anxiously await a new system truly by, of, and for the people, not just the wealthy people. I hope you are able to get behind us and support our deepest heartfelt desires to create a better world for all.

Thank you, and enjoy the movie.

Peace,

Brian Coe

Sierra Madre, CA

p.s. The special features are excellent.