What Has Occupy Done So Far?

So I came across one of those "What has ___ done" but it contains a lot of F bombs so I thought I'd just share some of their links.

Occupy the SEC has submitted a 325 page letter to the SEC, FDIC, the Federal Reserve and the OCC, to comment on the notice of proposed rulemaking for the Volcker Rule. In our comment letter, we answered 244 out of 395 questions asked by the Agencies.

The Agencies involved in the Volcker rulemaking process have an historic opportunity to redress many of the economic wrongs of the past, and create a future that privileges the interests of the many rather than the few. We ask that the Agencies vigorously implement the considerable responsibilities that have been discharged to them by Congress, remain faithful to the statute’s intent and consider the comments contained in this letter.

The Dodd-Frank Act, which passed in 2010, contained a Section (619) that is known as “The Volcker Rule.” The Volcker Rule puts limits on proprietary trading by banks and non-bank financial companies.

The SEC and the banking regulators are now required to actually implement Sections 619 through regulations.

Whenever a federal agency proposes a substantive new regulation, by law it is required to seek public comment first. Normally the only parties that respond to agency comment requests are the companies that are affected by the regulations, and their attorneys (i.e. lawyers at the investment banks, in this case). As you might guess, their comments are always critical of regulation.

The SEC/banking regulators have proposed their regulations for implementing Volcker, and they are requesting comments from the public.

occupythesec

Protesters are revolutionizing Media in their attempt to cover the movement through independent media sources including newspapers, radio programs, live streaming and websites. Mainstream journalists are taking notes.

It is becoming part of political science courses across America

Professor Jeff Edwards, who is teaching "Occupy Everywhere" at Roosevelt University in Chicago this semester, says a third of the political science majors there are enrolled in the course.
Roosevelt allows professors to teach a class one time before the official approval process as long as the department approves it, Edwards says. In his view, the Occupy movement, which started in September near New York City's Wall Street as a protest against economic inequality, is having enough of an impact on American culture to stand alone in its own course.

usatoday.com

Popularizing Direct Democracy

Let’s face it, this whole ‘direct democracy’, ‘participatory democracy’, ‘collective decision-making’ and ‘democratic consensus’ business can be a bit confusing when you start off, and at the core of the Occupy Movement’s Democratic Process is our General Assembly. Ask anyone how it works and you might be met with a shrug, or the answer, “Well, anyone can just get up and speak. That’s how it works”.

occupylosangeles.org
While I personally can't conceive of a way to implement this officially and nationally or even globally, it definitely has it's place and I think can be incorporated into mainstream politics. This is also I think what is at the root of fear in the government and why they are so determined to squash Occupy. This is people actually taking time, asserting effort and putting work into dialogue on issues that effect everyone. This process cannot be co-opted either. If you premise this model with anyone can stand up and talk share knowledge and ideas then it is transparent, speakers with corrupt motivations quickly lose the ear and heart of the audience. It's hard work and it's lengthy but it works.

Helping expose ALEC

Last summer, two months before the first protesters showed up in Zuccotti Park, the Center of Media and Democracy obtained copies of ALEC's "model" bills and published them on the website, ALEC Exposed. David Osborn, one of the organizers of today's events and a participant in Occupy Portland, said he hoped today's events would draw attention to ALEC, which he described as a "particularly potent symbol of the failed system that we have in which profit and greed have become more important than everything else."

He considered today's events a success. He spoke from Portland, Ore., where he said 500 or 600 people were marching and "talking to everybody on the way," and noted anticipatory coverage of the event in the New York Times and on NPR. Today, a reporter for Rolling Stone magazine accompanied the marchers, said Osborn. "We've brought ALEC out of the shadows and into the light," he said.

huffingtonpost.com
ALEC's sponsors began dropping them like a hot potato shortly after.

New York Governor Andrew Cuomo campaigned on the promise that he would not enact a “millionaire’s tax,” protesters hounded him at every single stop in NYC, and set up an encampment across from the capitol in

Albany. New York State now has a millionaire’s tax.
While Mr. Cuomo did not provide specifics on his tax proposals, he and legislative leaders were negotiating a deal, the officials briefed on the plan said, that would allow the state’s so-called millionaires’ tax — a surcharge on incomes over $200,000 for individuals — to lapse as scheduled on Dec. 31.

Any move to raise tax rates for some and increase spending would be a risky step for Mr. Cuomo, who vowed during his election campaign last year to oppose tax increases.

newyorktimes.com

Directly interrupting illegal home foreclosure or demanding renegotiation on mortgages.
Lots of stories here occupyourhomes.org.

Exposing the militarization of Police Forces and the eroding of civil rights.

During the crackdown on “Occupy” protesters recently, police appeared like soldiers – armed with automatic weapons, Tasers, pepper spray, riot gear et al – but military personnel have been prohibited from performing domestic law enforcement since 1878. A holdover from Reconstruction when U.S. Army troops occupied Confederate states after the Civil War, the Posse Comitatus Act of 1878 requires an act of Congress or the Constitution to allow the Army (which includes the Air Force) to “maintain law and order” with state law enforcement or local police.

forbes.com

There's a lot more but I'm out of room!

They pooped on a cop car, what more do you want?
Edit: They also rapped women, committed destruction of private property, theft, vandalism...Hmm, apparently they have done a bunch.

Sorry, but I will not support "the needs of the many outweigh the needs of the few or the one".

It is one of the worse sayings in history.

Because it does not recognize the rights of the individual, and is all for mob rule.

reply to post by luccadeo


Cops beat people in the street even when they're not breaking laws, what more do you need?
And they're paid with our tax dollars.

But they still have not really done anything

Originally posted by DavidWillts
But they still have not really done anything

Yes they have. You people are just the same as those that say Anon haven't done anything when the facts show the complete opposite. The problem is that you either have an agenda or haven't researched them well enough. I'm not responding to you after this because I don't have to, do some research instead. Same for the rest of you that are saying Anon or Occupy haven't done anything. Yes they have, and yes you're wrong.

Some of us will defend the truth, deal with it.

Good thread Kali.

reply to post by robhines


Anon has not done anything either, all they have done is bring down websites which are back up before the news about it breaks. Both groups suffer from megalomania and are about as effective as a sack of potatoes.

Call me when they cause Wall Street to actually, you know, change and become a more ethical business that isn't all about greed and profit, and not a socialist or communist but a regulated capitalist system. Then I'll say OWS might accomplish something.

Until then I can't take you seriously.

And no, I don't have an agenda, I think for myself, unlike you.

Originally posted by DavidWillts
reply to post by robhines

 

Anon has not done anything either, all they have done is bring down websites which are back up before the news about it breaks. Both groups suffer from megalomania and are about as effective as a sack of potatoes.

www.abovetopsecret.com...

www.abovetopsecret.com...




We can't force you people to wake up, but we can and will stop your ignorance from spreading if we have enough to do with it.

Originally posted by robhines

Originally posted by DavidWillts
But they still have not really done anything

I'm not responding to you after this because I don't have to, do some research instead.

Some of us will defend the truth, deal with it.

Originally posted by robhines

www.abovetopsecret.com...

www.abovetopsecret.com...

We can't force you people to wake up, but we can and will stop your ignorance from spreading if we have enough to do with it.

edit on 2-5-2012 by robhines because: added

make up your mind

reply to post by DavidWillts


Just thought I'd try and help instead.

Originally posted by robhines
reply to post by DavidWillts

 

Just thought I'd try and help instead.

Help what? Spread the same old Anon and OWS rhetoric?

Originally posted by DavidWillts

Originally posted by robhines
reply to post by DavidWillts

 

Just thought I'd try and help instead.

Help what? Spread the same old Anon and OWS rhetoric?

Hahah, I linked to some facts about what Anon have done, it's right there in the posts, all you have to do is research those facts and you'll see that you were wrong about them just attacking websites. You're wrong, plain and simple, and you're just making yourself look more ignorant by reverting to square one. Same if you research OWS. Maybe you think you can trot out the same stuff and I'll keep replying, this time I won't though. It's up to you to either research or remain in and push ignorance. I hope you choose the better option.

Research requires effort, ignorance requires none, one of them gives better results. You figure it out. You're defending a broken system.

reply to post by robhines

Hahah, I linked to some facts about what Anon have done,

No you didn't, you just linked to your own posts.

Maybe you think you can trot out the same stuff and I'll keep replying, this time I won't though.

Sure....

And as far as what anon has accomplished, it is still nothing. The church of Scientology still stands unaltered by anything they have done. At the end of the day all they did was take down the website. And as far as child porn rings go, i think you are more likely to find child porn on 4chan than most other sites.

reply to post by Kali74


People are struggling to support themselves and all OWS can do is break things and make life harder for those who have to get up and go to work every day. How do you think the people in these cities whose place of employment (or vehicle) was damaged by these fools feels? How do the local taxpayers who have to fund repairs for damages caused by these miscreants feel? How do you think people witnessing this mess feel about the fact that many of these ‘protesters’ are collecting some form of government assistance at the taxpayer’s expense while the rest of us do it the old fashioned way...work?

I think everything OWS has done up to this point has been completely reprehensible and I’m not alone in that belief.

reply to post by seabag


You really need to stop buying into the rhetoric. It's pathetic at this point. Very rarely are they in anyone's way. The destructive people are not Occupiers which of you're aware.

Are none of the things I listed in the OP good things?

Originally posted by Kali74
Are none of the things I listed in the OP good things?

Of course they are, don't let it get to you Kali. Some people breeze past any evidence of change and stick to the same formula. The problem is that there's not too many around here that will post in support. I have no idea why that's the case, it's baffling to say the least.

Maybe we should link some threads here to the AnonOps IRC channel and the main Occupy forums so they can provide more facts. Some people around here will be shuddering at even the thought if it, because if that's done the facts will soon roll in and the ignorance will dissipate. I'll do it if this BS carries on.

We want facts, and if nobody else here steps forward I'll find people with more experience of Occupy and other movements to provide them. They can say it's propaganda, but when they have the facts that can be verified via multiple sources what you'll see is that they conveniently stop replying to the threads.

reply to post by Kali74

Are none of the things I listed in the OP good things?

They sent a letter with some comments….WOW!

They are revolutionizing the media? False! Being covered by the media isn’t ‘revolutionizing the media.’ Car accidents get covered by the media.

They have popularized direct democracy? False! Where is that happening? We have an election coming up in November.

It’s being taught in school? WOW!! What did they have to do with that decision? They are simply part of recent history and history is taught in school.

ALEC? 500 people marched and that was groundbreaking?

I’m sorry, Kali. OWS hasn’t accomplished anything substantive. Let me know when there are some changes in Wall Street or in the Government…you know, the people OWS is crying about.