OCCUPY AWARE
Sunday OCT 31st.- 7 arrested for sitting: Raleigh Record
working LIST OF DEMANDS
Economic demands
1. Close tax loopholes and make the wealthiest 1% pay their fair share.
2. Nationalize the banks, criminalize fractional-reserve banking, go back
to the gold and silver standard, and limit interest payments to 1%.
3. Prosecute crimes committed by banks and corporations more
vigorously.
4. Eliminate all income tax for those who make less than the living wage.
5. All whistle-blowers – corporate or otherwise – should be protected by
a “ministry of whistleblowing” with an armed police force and a witness
protection program. We need to be able to safely call attention to
injustice.
6. We should have a bigger minimum wage, and perhaps a maximum
wage too – a million dollars or so … big enough to give people an
incentive to work hard, but not so big that they can control the political
institutions and control the rest of the population.
Political demands
7. Eliminate the influence of lobbyists by requiring them to register and
conduct all lobbying out in the open, with records of what was said and
what was spent.
8. Level the paying field during elections by limiting each political party
to equal small amounts of taxpayer money. Eliminate campaign
contributions entirely.
9. Install proportional representation in all municipal, provincial and
federal elections. Adopt Swiss-style direct democracy and Nunavut-style
consensus-decision-making into the political process.
10. Bring an immediate end to Canada’s role in the war in Afghanistan.
Pull Canada out of NATO.
11. The CBC should get enough funding so it can go commercial free
and not have to depend on big business for advertizing. Then it can be
truly independent.
12. Scrap the Anti-Terrorism Act of 2001, which would criminalize
activities similar to the ones conducted by the French Resistance in
WW2 and Nelson Mandela’s ANC in South Africa.
Social demands
13. Like Bertrand Russel suggested, there should be two police forces –
one to prove your guilt and another to prove your innocence. Lawyers
should be required to work in pairs so that a lack of resources won’t be
a factor in deciding a case.
14. Redistribute a majority of the defense budget to health, education
and housing.
15. End gender and racial discrimination in the workplace. Require
equal pay for equal work.
16. Reaffirm the right of self-determination for all indigenous nations.
Bring about speedy resolutions to all outstanding land claims.
17. Repeal the Controlled Drugs and Substances Act. All synthetic
drugs and hard drugs (including cocaine and heroin) should be
distributed by prescription through a pharmacist. All botanical drugs
should be distributed like coffee beans. Human medical autonomy must
now be respected by all.
18. All harmless people should be protected in the constitution. If a new
law is written and a new set of people are to be criminalized, the burden
of proof should be on the government to provide evidence that this new
group of criminals is inherently harmful to others. This should end
scapegoating.
Environmental demands
19. Shift subsidies from fossil fuel and nuclear energy to renewable
resources such as sun, wind, wave, geothermal and cellulose-based
ethanol.
20. All GMO’s should be banned.
21. Chemical fertilizers and pesticides should be banned.
22. Farmed fish should be banned.
23. Environmental laws should be enforced more vigorously.
24. Soil vitality should be a priority.
26. The health and environmental costs should be factored into the cost
of each product, and taxed appropriately.
1. Close tax loopholes and make the wealthiest 1% pay their fair share.
2. Nationalize the banks, criminalize fractional-reserve banking, go back
to the gold and silver standard, and limit interest payments to 1%.
3. Prosecute crimes committed by banks and corporations more
vigorously.
4. Eliminate all income tax for those who make less than the living wage.
5. All whistle-blowers – corporate or otherwise – should be protected by
a “ministry of whistleblowing” with an armed police force and a witness
protection program. We need to be able to safely call attention to
injustice.
6. We should have a bigger minimum wage, and perhaps a maximum
wage too – a million dollars or so … big enough to give people an
incentive to work hard, but not so big that they can control the political
institutions and control the rest of the population.
Political demands
7. Eliminate the influence of lobbyists by requiring them to register and
conduct all lobbying out in the open, with records of what was said and
what was spent.
8. Level the paying field during elections by limiting each political party
to equal small amounts of taxpayer money. Eliminate campaign
contributions entirely.
9. Install proportional representation in all municipal, provincial and
federal elections. Adopt Swiss-style direct democracy and Nunavut-style
consensus-decision-making into the political process.
10. Bring an immediate end to Canada’s role in the war in Afghanistan.
Pull Canada out of NATO.
11. The CBC should get enough funding so it can go commercial free
and not have to depend on big business for advertizing. Then it can be
truly independent.
12. Scrap the Anti-Terrorism Act of 2001, which would criminalize
activities similar to the ones conducted by the French Resistance in
WW2 and Nelson Mandela’s ANC in South Africa.
Social demands
13. Like Bertrand Russel suggested, there should be two police forces –
one to prove your guilt and another to prove your innocence. Lawyers
should be required to work in pairs so that a lack of resources won’t be
a factor in deciding a case.
14. Redistribute a majority of the defense budget to health, education
and housing.
15. End gender and racial discrimination in the workplace. Require
equal pay for equal work.
16. Reaffirm the right of self-determination for all indigenous nations.
Bring about speedy resolutions to all outstanding land claims.
17. Repeal the Controlled Drugs and Substances Act. All synthetic
drugs and hard drugs (including cocaine and heroin) should be
distributed by prescription through a pharmacist. All botanical drugs
should be distributed like coffee beans. Human medical autonomy must
now be respected by all.
18. All harmless people should be protected in the constitution. If a new
law is written and a new set of people are to be criminalized, the burden
of proof should be on the government to provide evidence that this new
group of criminals is inherently harmful to others. This should end
scapegoating.
Environmental demands
19. Shift subsidies from fossil fuel and nuclear energy to renewable
resources such as sun, wind, wave, geothermal and cellulose-based
ethanol.
20. All GMO’s should be banned.
21. Chemical fertilizers and pesticides should be banned.
22. Farmed fish should be banned.
23. Environmental laws should be enforced more vigorously.
24. Soil vitality should be a priority.
26. The health and environmental costs should be factored into the cost
of each product, and taxed appropriately.
