Occupy Delaware

Filed in Delaware by on October 14, 2011

Wednesday night I attended the “2nd General Assembly” for the Occupy Delaware movement. It was held at the UAW Hall on Old Baltimore Pike. When I arrived, I could tell something different was happening. I was running a little bit late but I thought I would arrive around 7 pm – the first thing I noticed was the parking lot was absolutely packed. There were several other people in cars “stalking” parking places, like I was. I managed to squeeze into a sorta parking spot and went inside for the meeting.

It was full. Not only was it full, it was packed with a lot of people who I had never seen before. If you have been playing around in politics for a while, you meet the same cast of characters at many events. There were many I had never met. The second thing I noticed was the diversity – not only in race but also in age. It wasn’t aging hippies and college students, it really was a lot of working people. (The media was there as well, WDEL and the News Journal.)

When the meeting started a man got up and started playing guitar, trying to get a sing-along. My thoughts were – ohno it’s not going to be like this is it? Luckily, it was very short and the meeting got down to business. One thing speakers kept emphasizing was that Occupy Delaware is a leaderless movement. I’m not really sure what it means but it does lead to a somewhat chaotic meeting.

The meeting did lead to some decisions: the rally will be held at Rodney Square on Saturday, October 15 from 10-2 pm. Information about Occupy Delaware can be found on the Occupy Delaware Facebook page. The group also adopted the Occupy Wall Street’s Declaration as a living document of ideals. Some of these statements got more support than others:

Declaration of the Occupation of New York City

As we gather together in solidarity to express a feeling of mass injustice, we must not lose sight of what brought us together. We write so that all people who feel wronged by the corporate forces of the world can know that we are your allies.

As one people, united, we acknowledge the reality: that the future of the human race requires the cooperation of its members; that our system must protect our rights, and upon corruption of that system, it is up to the individuals to protect their own rights, and those of their neighbors; that a democratic government derives its just power from the people, but corporations do not seek consent to extract wealth from the people and the Earth; and that no true democracy is attainable when the process is determined by economic power. We come to you at a time when corporations, which place profit over people, self-interest over justice, and oppression over equality, run our governments. We have peaceably assembled here, as is our right, to let these facts be known.

They have taken our houses through an illegal foreclosure process, despite not having the original mortgage.

They have taken bailouts from taxpayers with impunity, and continue to give Executives exorbitant bonuses.

They have perpetuated inequality and discrimination in the workplace based on age, the color of one’s skin, sex, gender identity and sexual orientation.

They have poisoned the food supply through negligence, and undermined the farming system through monopolization.

They have profited off of the torture, confinement, and cruel treatment of countless nonhuman animals, and actively hide these practices.

They have continuously sought to strip employees of the right to negotiate for better pay and safer working conditions.

They have held students hostage with tens of thousands of dollars of debt on education, which is itself a human right.

They have consistently outsourced labor and used that outsourcing as leverage to cut workers’ healthcare and pay.

They have influenced the courts to achieve the same rights as people, with none of the culpability or responsibility.

They have spent millions of dollars on legal teams that look for ways to get them out of contracts in regards to health insurance.

They have sold our privacy as a commodity.

They have used the military and police force to prevent freedom of the press.

They have deliberately declined to recall faulty products endangering lives in pursuit of profit.

They determine economic policy, despite the catastrophic failures their policies have produced and continue to produce.

They have donated large sums of money to politicians supposed to be regulating them.

They continue to block alternate forms of energy to keep us dependent on oil.

They continue to block generic forms of medicine that could save people’s lives in order to protect investments that have already turned a substantive profit.

They have purposely covered up oil spills, accidents, faulty bookkeeping, and inactive ingredients in pursuit of profit.

They purposefully keep people misinformed and fearful through their control of the media.

They have accepted private contracts to murder prisoners even when presented with serious doubts about their guilt.

They have perpetuated colonialism at home and abroad.

They have participated in the torture and murder of innocent civilians overseas.

They continue to create weapons of mass destruction in order to receive government contracts.*

To the people of the world,

We, the New York City General Assembly occupying Wall Street in Liberty Square, urge you to assert your power.

Exercise your right to peaceably assemble; occupy public space; create a process to address the problems we face, and generate solutions accessible to everyone.

To all communities that take action and form groups in the spirit of direct democracy, we offer support, documentation, and all of the resources at our disposal.

Join us and make your voices heard!

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About the Author ()

Opinionated chemist, troublemaker, blogger on national and Delaware politics.

Comments (3)

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  1. puck says:

    “a man got up and started playing guitar, trying to get a sing-along. My thoughts were – ohno it’s not going to be like this is it? ”

    I have the same gut reaction, but I have learned that my gut reaction is wrong and I am an old fart who should know better. We need the creative types to lighten up the mood. Creativity – music, art, and humor – are an essential part of street theater.

    Approaching a protest site, I get that gut reaction when I hear someone pounding on drums. But then I consider, I am an outsider, and I am not the ones occupying the site who somehow have to fill 24 hours each day and keep energy levels up. Keep banging those drums.

    Consider:

    As many as a dozen “Occupy Wall Street” protestors and their allies were arrested Thursday afternoon as they tried to stop a foreclosure auction inside a courthouse in Brooklyn, N.Y.

    As the auctioneer called the proceeding to order, the protestors, who had been sitting quietly in the courtroom, broke into song. “Mrs. Auctioneer, all the people here are asking you to hold all the sales right now,” they sang, in surprising harmony. “We’re hoping to survive, but we don’t know how.”

    Their voices filled the courtroom and, for a while at least, brought the proceedings to a half. After a few minutes, a court security officer warned them to stop or face arrest, but he could barely be heard over the singing. The singing continued for about a half an hour until they were led off in plastic handcuffs, still singing.

  2. ldl says:

    I haven’t followed the Occupy movement very closely however I think there are multiple messages worth highlighting: corporate greed, economic inequality and the corporate $$$ influence & stranglehold on our politicians. I thank and applaud those who are participating. I truly hope that they occupy Washington and state capitals for our elected officials are as guilty, if not more so, than the corporate elite for today’s economic disparity. With few few exceptions, elected officials are driven by their own interest to get re-elected and as such have forged relationships with those who have no respect nor interest in the well being of everyday American citizens. (sorry posted this in the wrong place the first time)

  3. flutecake says:

    Oops, I missed this topic and posted this on the Sunday Open Thread, also!

    I took some pictures at Rodney Square in Wilmington yesterday. I’ve never been there before & it was a lovely day. And there was this protest thing…

    http://www.flickr.com/photos/flutecake/sets/72157627901195932/

    All these BANKSTERs’ empty corporate offices watched as the ardent protesters marched around the square. As I was leaving, I snapped the lone lady police person guarding the gates at B of A (unmolested- this photo is in that set).

    I’ve said this on your blog before; IF you bank at a corporate bank, time to move your money to a CREDIT UNION. Apparently, there is a movement to do this enmasse on Nov. 5th (Remember, remember the 5th of November – Guy Fawkes Day in the UK & hero of the V for Vendetta people) – alas, I like most movements against the plutocracy but that is a Saturday and not the best banking day of the week. Do it as soon as you can, I think.