From James:
Discussion will continue on the OA vision statement this Monday, 6:30 at UC Church. Newest draft is below:
OCCUPY ASHEVILLE: VISION FOR A NEW AMERICAN SOCIETY
When the American colonists declared their independence from Britain, it was a decision recognized by all men and women the right to cast off that tyranny imposed by a foreign state.
Now, we face a new tyranny from within: a tyranny imposed by our own wealthy citizens, who through the power of their wealth, aided by the misappropriation of power by our Suprreme Court, have degraded and rendered null the freedoms guaranteed by the Constitution of the United States.
Framers of the Constitution, propetied citizens of their time, were wary of the propertyless, and established the mere semblance of democracy, with institutions that appeared to give power to the people, but which were in fact hedged about with features borrowed from oligarchy and republicanism. All states, regardless of size and population were afforded the same number of Senators. The President was to be elected by an Electoral College, members of which could reverse the decision of the populace.
We have occupied various public spaces and nstitutions of our society, We have endured pepperspray and teargas, The police have been turned against us. We have suffered the indignity of arrest. All without violent response
To build a movement sufficient to overturn this inner tyranny, we have established liaison--an Interoccupy network--with other aggrieved citizens across the country, and held a National Gathering at Philadelphia on July the fourth in the year 2012. One purpose of the National Gathering was to take the first steps towards the clear statement of a vision for a new America. Accordingly, the components of the vision enunciated at Philadelphia were sent to all the Occupy cities and were used as a starting point for discussion.
Occupy Asheville has considered the vision enunciated at Philadelphia. After lengthy discussion, with full consideration of the principles of the Occupy movement, we submit the following Vision for all to ponder and modify in accordance with the spirit of democracy, embracing a solidarity with the people of this country, the world, and with the earth itself.
We call for a world where the WATER , AIR, AND FOOD ARE CLEANSED OF ALL TOXIC POLLUTANTS so that both our planet and its people may be healthy, and where ACCESS TO FOOD IS TREATED AS A RIGHT. We call for prohibition of genetically-modified foods, for development of renewable sources of energy for the future, and a “smart grid” to use fossil fuels more efficiently in the present. We also call for local food production, community gardens, and agriculture using sustainable methods.
Pure food, air, and water are but the first steps towards a healthy population. To sustain any gains in this area, UNIVERSAL ACCESS TO HEALTH CARE must be treated as a right and available to all. The people should establish medical schools and hospitals, if necessary, to insure the health of all, without resort to a means test. The best health care should be available to all.
Our vision also includes ECONOMIC EQUALITY so that all have sufficient materlal resources for their needs, free from exploitation by others. This equality includes the RIGHT TO A JOB. This society has too long tolerated the degradation and humiliation of those unable to find a job. There is no longer any reason to tolerate the inability of capitalism to insure full employment for our society. The universal right to a job is consistent with the notion of land as something owned in common with all others.
We further call for a world where, in the interest of all, EDUCATION IS PROVIDED WITHOUT CHARGE. This may take the form of tuition-free schools and universities, vouchers, online classes, or entirely new methods. Self-education also requires public airwaves which are not to be sold to monied interests, an internet that is not monetized, and an end to government secrecy.
A SUSTAINABLE HUMAN SOCIETY is part of the vision and can only be established when people are respected, valued and encouraged, when self-sufficient communities are founded, where foreclosure on homes is prevented, where land is owned in common, where debts are mitigated by a policy of forgiveness or ‘jubilee.”
A WORLD WITHOUT WAR must begin in this country, the world’s pre-eminent warmaking power. This calls for measures beyond the usual platitudinous statements. The military-industrial complex must be dismantled by whaever means necessary. The military itself must be shrunk so that it is sufficient in size for legitimate defense purposes, but not sufficient for global aspirations. Naval ships should carry only carry enough fuel to venture 200 miles from the shore. Planes should be similarly restricted. Foreign military bases must be closed. Military contracts should be removed from the control of the pentagon and awarded by citizen’s commission appointed for that purpose.
No change will be long-lasting--or worth any effort to maintain it--unless there is a CULTURE OF DIRECT DEMOCRACY where all citizens have an equal voice in the making of societal decisions. To make a fresh start in establishing a true democracy where equal rights are taken as given,and where the Constitutional Amendment process need not be endlessly repeated so as to eliminate the inequalities of a propertied culture, a CONSTITUTIONAL CONVENTION should be called and the issues that have arisen since the 18th century addressed: gun control, money and speech, marriage, the rights of women and minorities, religious feedom and the separation of church and state. Such a Convention should aim at removing the power of money from the political system, which includes the elimination of paid lobbyists, elimination of the Electoral College, and the establishment of a unicameral legislature based on proportional representation. Political lines should be drawn by a non-partisan commission or by the Party out of power, access of third (and other) parties to the ballot should be guaranteed by means to be worked out, and an attempt made to establish a consensus-based democracy so as to avoid the tyranny of majorities, the party system of governance and other dysfunctions of the representational democracy which we at present endure. .
And our vision includes FREEDOM for all, above and beyond the tired reiteration of political slogans that characterize the present. This includes an end to government secrecy and surveillance, the de-militarization of American society, and a citizen’s police force operated in similar fashion to the military draft.
