A Call to Action: Stop the Machine! Create a New World! October 6...D.C. occupation begins...

[tpsbmam]

Stop the Machine! Create a New World!
A Call to Action - Oct. 6, 2011 and onward

October 2011 is the 10th anniversary of the invasion of Afghanistan and the beginning of the 2012 federal austerity budget. It is time to light the spark that sets off a true democratic, nonviolent transition to a world in which people are freed to create just and sustainable solutions.

We call on people of conscience and courage—all who seek peace, economic justice, human rights and a healthy environment—to join together in Washington, D.C., beginning on Oct. 6, 2011, in nonviolent resistance similar to the Arab Spring and the Midwest awakening.

A concert, rally and protest will kick off a powerful and sustained nonviolent resistance to the corporate criminals that dominate our government.

Forty-seven years ago, Mario Savio, an activist student at Berkeley, said, "There's a time when the operation of the machine becomes so odious—makes you so sick at heart—that you can't take part. You can't even passively take part. And you've got to put your bodies upon the gears and upon the wheels, upon the levers, upon all the apparatus, and you've got to make it stop. And you've got to indicate to the people who run it, to the people who own it, that unless you're free, the machine will be prevented from working at all."

Those words have an even greater urgency today. We face ongoing wars and massive socio-economic and environmental destruction perpetrated by a corporate empire which is oppressing, occupying and exploiting the world. We are on a fast track to making the planet unlivable while the middle class and poor people of our country are undergoing the most wrenching and profound economic crisis in 80 years.

"Stop the Machine! • Create a New World!" is a clarion call for all who are deeply concerned with injustice, militarism and environmental destruction to join in ending concentrated corporate power and taking direct control of a real participatory democracy. We will encourage a culture of resistance—using music, art, theater and direct nonviolent action—to take control of our country and our lives. It is about courageously resisting and stopping the corporate state from destroying not only our inherent rights and freedoms, but also our children’s chance to live, breathe clean air, drink pure water, grow edible natural food and live in peace.

As Mother Jones said, "Someday the workers will take possession of your city hall, and when we do, no child will be sacrificed on the altar of profit!"

We are the ones who can create a new and just world. Our issues are connected. We are connected. Join us in Washington, D.C., on Oct. 6, 2011, to Stop the Machine.

More here:

<snip>

Finally, a large, and rapidly growing, coalition of left wing and progressive activists, and organizations, is coming together with a clear and united platform. Hundreds of thousands are expected to descend on DC this coming October, 111 days from now, not just to march in a permitted parade and then return home, but to stay and occupy Freedom Plaza indefinitely, until their demands have been met.

The Bonus Army, made up of WWI veterans, did precisely this in 1932 so that they could be paid the money that the government owed them for their service, performed more than a decade earlier, and be able to feed their families during the horrible early years of the Great Depression. They were met with violence from the police and two of the veterans latter died from their wounds. The army was also called in and the protest was finally put down after almost six weeks.

In 1968, Dr. Martin Luther King Junior was on his way to a permanent tent city being established on the Capitol grounds in Washington, called Resurrection City, as part of his ‘Poor Peoples’ campaign. He was murdered while in Memphis, on his way to the event. After his murder, the army was used to clear the demonstrators and their tent city.

Both of these prior events share fundamental principles with the October 2011 action. Illegal foreign wars, high unemployment, cuts to services and wages while increasing costs and taxes, and corporate influence over political institutions and policies are just as current today as they were at either of those times.

(more)


PEOPLE WHO HAVE PLEDGED TO BE THERE!

Andy Shallal
Ann Wright
Anthony Arnove
Baldemar Velasquez
Ben Manski
Bhikkhu Bodhi
Bill Moyer
Bill Quigley
Bob Fitrakis
Brian Becker
Carlos Perez
Chris Hedges
Coleen Rowley
Cornel West
Dave Rovics
David Himmelstein
David Lindorff
David Swanson
Debra Sweet
Dennis Trainor, Jr.
Derrick Jensen
Diane Wilson
Diane Wittner
Elaine Brower
Ellen Barfield
Ellen Davidson
Glen Ford
Harvey Wasserman
Howie Hawkins
Jack Balkwill
Jane Hamsher
Jodie Evans
Joe Lombardo
Joyce Scott
Kevin Zeese
Larisa Alexandrovna
Larry Pinkney
Lenni Brenner
Lisa Simeone
Margaret Flowers
Maria Allwine
Matt Power
Matthew Rothschild
Medea Benjamin
Michael Prysner
Mike Ferner
Namoli Brennet
Nicole Sandler
Paul Glover
Rabbi Michael Lerner
Ray McGovern
Rev. Graylan Hagler
Richard Grossman
Rob Kall
Rosa Clemente
Russell Mokhiber
Scott Harris
Scott Horton
Shahid Buttar
Sibel Edmonds
Steffie Woolhandler
Tarak Kauff
Ted Rall
The Yes Men
Tim Carpenter
Vicente Navarro
Watermelon Slim
Zach Choate

(more at site)

Organizations That Will Be There
Organizations that promote taking the pledge on this site to their full lists of 10,000 or more and commit to being part of stopping the machine in October in DC will be listed here and an option offered to join their lists for anyone taking the pledge.

ANSWER

Backbone Campaign

Berkeley Fellowship of Unitarian Universalists' Social Justice Committee

Bethlehem Neighbors for Peace

Black Agenda Report

Board of Social Action - Plymouth Congregational UCC, Washington, D.C.

Bohemian Grove Action Network

Brandywine Peace Community

Campaign for Peace and Democracy

Cities for Peace

Class War Films

Code Pink

Delaware Pacem in Terris

firedoglake

Food Not Bombs

Global Network Against Weapons and Nuclear Power in Space

Green Party of New Jersey

Green Party U.S.

International Action Center

ItsOurEconomy

Liberty Tree

Liberty Underground of Virginia

Los Angeles Catholic Worker

March Forward

March 10th Immigration Movement - Chicago

Montgomery County Human Rights Coalition

Movement for a Democratic Society

Move To Amend

National Campaign for Nonviolent Resistance

Network of Spiritual Progressives

Peace of the Action

Peaceworkers

New Progressive Alliance

No More Victims

Office of the Americas


Peace
Fresno

People for a New Society

Phil Berrigan Institute for Nonviolence

Progressive Democrats of America

Progressive Democratic Workers of America

Single Payer Action

Society for the Preservation of Continued Homeownership

StandFast

Syracuse Peace Council

The Progressive Blitz

Tikkun

United National Antiwar Committee

Velvet Revoution

Veterans for Peace

Voices for Creative Nonviolence

War Criminals Watch

War Is A Crime

World Can't Wait


Take the pledge:

"I pledge that if any U.S. troops, contractors, or mercenaries remain in Afghanistan on Thursday, October 6, 2011, as that occupation goes into its 11th year, I will commit to being in Freedom Plaza in Washington, D.C., with others on that day with the intention of making it our Tahrir Square, Cairo, our Madison, Wisconsin, where we will NONVIOLENTLY resist the corporate machine until our resources are invested in human needs and environmental protection instead of war and exploitation. We can do this together. We will be the beginning."

[Motown_Johnny]

1. all troops out by October 6, 2011?

How about landing people on Mars by then too?




I wish you luck but no way I can even consider signing that

[tpsbmam]

3. You wish *me* luck?

I don't understand your post at all. Of course troops won't be out of there. And the protest will go on. And Washington will be occupied indefinitely. Every single American should be there! Since that won't happen, I would hope as many Americans who are paying attention would be there as is possible.

I'm sure the thousands who do bother to show up won't miss you though.

[LiberalEsto]

2. K&R

[Zorra]

4. They had me at "non-violently resist the corporate machine."

I like this idea a lot.

I believe I will be going.

[JackRiddler]

5. This is what should have been there on Jan 21, 2009... let's get it started now!

[snot]

6. K&R'd and forwarded.

Thanks for the advance notice!

[Imajika]

7. Brian Becker? ANSWER?

Dear God, looking at that list your going to end up with some disjointed rally that can't stay focused on any one thing and ends up yammering on about freeing the Cuban Five, singing the praises of Mumia and trying to defend North Korea.

These rallies have little value other than networking if they can't focus on one issue that folks can easily understand.

[tpsbmam]

9. I'm seriously disgusted by the apathy & cynicism of too many DUers

There has been precious little action when it comes to protesting all of the crap going on in the United States. Well, here we have it. We have progressive groups converging to set up a mass protest not just on October 6th, but to set up an ongoing presence protesting Washington policies. You don't want to participate? Fine. Then YOU set up something that will meet your strict criteria. Or would you rather just whine about the state of things and diss the groups that are actually trying to DO something?

[Imajika]

10. It's not apathy, it's stating the obvious...

When I see on that list Brian Becker and ANSWER, along with such a wide array various interest groups, I know your going to end up with a disjointed rally appealing to so many causes that it will entirely lack a common theme that someone watching on CSPAN can understand.

Networking still has value. Mobilizing all these various groups as a sort of drill still has value. I'm just telling you I can already guess what is going to happen and it won't move public opinion at all.

"Then YOU set up something that will meet your strict criteria. Or would you rather just whine about the state of things and diss the groups that are actually trying to DO something?"

Your right. It's true, here I am complaining while you and these other folks are out at least trying to doing something. Still, political realities are what they are, and I know a rally that can't focus on a single big issue isn't going to have much if any impact. In the unlikely event the media wanted to cover it, they wouldn't even be able to explain what it was all about in a few words or less - which gives the press even more reason to ignore it.

[tpsbmam]

13. I think the basic message is one uniting, unifying and universal message:

This is from their open letter:



October marks the beginning of the11th year of the U.S. invasion and destruction of Afghanistan. It marks the beginning of yet another federal budget that delivers unlimited funds for war and corporate interests while putting in place an austerity budget for services that meet human and environmental needs. But this October will mark the beginning of something else in the United States—a moment when we will unite to demand an end to a system that puts profits and warfare over the welfare of people and the environment.

History is knocking on the door of the United States and its people are ready. As the crises in our communities and around the world grow, so must our response. We can no longer abide the outrageous and growing wealth inequality in this country. We cannot accept a government “of, by, and for” the corporations. We cannot remain silent while our leaders continue to exploit and slaughter people in distant lands or while millions of us have no access to health care. A majority of Americans want the wars to end. We want investment in jobs, education, and environmental protection. We want banks to invest for our future, not for their executives’ pocketbooks. We want laws that are just, lawmakers who obey them, and the power to hold them accountable when they do not. For that, we need a judiciary biased toward justice, not the partisan powers and big business interests they serve.

In the United States the people have little voice in the process of governance, as elected officials and institutions have been corrupted by concentrated corporate interests that have bought and paid for them. The people have no control over their own lives and the direction of their own communities. The brave who speak out for justice are often ignored, harassed, or imprisoned. Unified resistance has become the essential avenue for change.
Our time has come. We pledge to stand together in nonviolent resistance to corporate greed, government corruption, violence and injustice. We must follow our brave brothers and sisters of the Arab Spring and developing European Summer into an Autumn of an American awakening. With our bodies united in resistance and our voices coalesced into one sustained cry for justice, we can and must Stop the Machine and Create a New World!

[Imajika]

14. Which confirms exactly what I thought...

There is just too much here. The war, the budget, corporations, the courts, etc. And with the varied interest groups and speakers representing all sorts of causes, your going to end up with a rally without a common theme.

What would be better is: BRING THE TROOPS HOME NOW!. That's it. Just that. Restrict the speakers to specifically that issue. You stay on message with something simple like that and you just might pull in regular folks who are not associated with all these varied groups on this list.

[noiretextatique]

15. everything is connected, and it's time people start saying that living that

the war is connected to the budgets which is connected to the ever-increasing inequality in the usa, which is connected to the supreme court's love of corporations. all of this should be of concern to "regular folks" who need to starting seeing the big picture and stop looking for soundbites. there is NO soundbite that can solve the myriad of problems we face...it all needs to be addressed. bring the troops now now...to what? joblessness and cuts in va programs for homeless vets? i think they deserve a lot more than that.

[Beam Me Up]

16. ^^ X A C T L Y -- INDIVIDUAL ISSUES get us nowhere. It is ONE empirical system,

fascist at its core.

[patrick t. cakes]

8. kick and rec..........nt

[sufrommich]

17. Your poster is exactly why these protests will never attract

middle America. The left in this country is tone deaf,that is a problem.

[InkAddict]

11. Wish I could plan that far ahead...sign :(

I tried to attend the January, 2003 protest on the mall. We watched the thermometer fall to -15 degrees as we crossed the Appalachians and wondered if we were indeed crazy; difficult conditions and didn't plan our time well. We arrived too late to add our voices, but we did have a cold trek around DC stopping by the WH, Washington Monument, Viet Nam Memorial Wall, Lincoln Memorial, Korean Memorial. We caught a cabby back to hotel who gave us a ride through the Embassy areas. Next morning, Arlington Cemetery and home...

Sad to think about the changes in America since then...and on-going...

We'll see; October should be a better time for travel but for gasoline and perhaps, by then, papers(s)?; I'd like to try again.

[tpsbmam]

12. I'm delighted to have the planning time....

I have to figure out how to get there with my wheelchair. I don't have a reliable vehicle that I can drive that far (and I physically can't handle it anyway). I need to try to get myself there with folks who are willing to push me (I don't have the strength to do it myself -- I have a power chair but that's not practical....nowhere to recharge)....lots of planning on my part but I REALLY want to be there so I'm going to try.

[tpsbmam]

18. Bumping this for the daytime crowd. nt

[felix_numinous]

19. K&R!!!

[tpsbmam]

20. October 2011 Open Letter stating reasons for protest

THE U.S. OCTOBER 2011 MOVEMENT STANDS IN SOLIDARITY WITH OUR GLOBAL ALLIES


Inspired by the courageous, nonviolent uprisings in Tunisia, Egypt, Bahrain, Yemen, Greece, Spain, and elsewhere, people in the United States have come together to form the October2011 Movement. This fusion of peace, social justice, environmental, student, and immigrant rights organizations is in solidarity with all who seek a peaceful, just, and sustainable future and stands ready to engage in its own campaign of nonviolent resistance beginning in Washington, D.C., this October. We recognize that your revolution is our revolution, that American Empire prevents you from achieving self-determination and economic justice, and that only together can we achieve our shared goals.

October marks the beginning of the11th year of the U.S. invasion and destruction of Afghanistan. It marks the beginning of yet another federal budget that delivers unlimited funds for war and corporate interests while putting in place an austerity budget for services that meet human and environmental needs. But this October will mark the beginning of something else in the United States—a moment when we will unite to demand an end to a system that puts profits and warfare over the welfare of people and the environment.

The response to our call, which is but one week old, has been tremendous. Already more than one thousand have pledged to join this resistance action in Freedom Square and that number is growing rapidly. Leading figures from a wide range of communities have stepped up to join the call. Among them are noted African-American scholar and activist Cornel West; Farm Labor Organizing Committee (FLOC ) President Baldemar Velasquez; Pulitzer Prize-winning war correspondent and author Chris Hedges; single-payer health-care advocates David Himmelstein and Steffie Woolhandler; noted environmentalists Derrick Jensen and Harvey Wasserman; and antiwar leader Ret. Col. Ann Wright, along with numerous other prominent peace activists. You can see more of the people who signed up by visiting www.October2011.org.

History is knocking on the door of the United States and its people are ready. As the crises in our communities and around the world grow, so must our response. We can no longer abide the outrageous and growing wealth inequality in this country. We cannot accept a government “of, by, and for” the corporations. We cannot remain silent while our leaders continue to exploit and slaughter people in distant lands or while millions of us have no access to health care. A majority of Americans want the wars to end. We want investment in jobs, education, and environmental protection. We want banks to invest for our future, not for their executives’ pocketbooks. We want laws that are just, lawmakers who obey them, and the power to hold them accountable when they do not. For that, we need a judiciary biased toward justice, not the partisan powers and big business interests they serve.

In the United States the people have little voice in the process of governance, as elected officials and institutions have been corrupted by concentrated corporate interests that have bought and paid for them. The people have no control over their own lives and the direction of their own communities. The brave who speak out for justice are often ignored, harassed, or imprisoned. Unified resistance has become the essential avenue for change.

Our time has come. We pledge to stand together in nonviolent resistance to corporate greed, government corruption, violence and injustice. We must follow our brave brothers and sisters of the Arab Spring and developing European Summer into an Autumn of an American awakening. With our bodies united in resistance and our voices coalesced into one sustained cry for justice, we can and must Stop the Machine and Create a New World!

It is very difficult for us to get honest information about democracy movements around the world from the U.S. corporate-controlled media. Please visit our website at www.October2011.org and keep us informed of your actions. We have called our action “Stop the Machine! Create a New World!” Together we will end concentrated corporatism and create a peaceful, just, and sustainable future that respects all of humanity and the planet.


(Emphases mine.)