RAP NEWS episode 9. 2011 hits harder than a pre-apocalyptic hangover as “the economy” threatens to annihilate our stock-piles of imaginary, inflated wealth, spawning a battle of epic proportions as insurgent grassroots forces move in to #OccupywallStreet and coalitions of indignados hold their ground in Athens, Madrid and Tel Aviv; facing up to the riotgear, batons and tazers that stand between them and a more equal redistribution of the proverbial pie. …But enough action and excitement! It’s time for some heroic armchair philosophy: Join your affable host, Robert Foster as he attempts to shine some light on this mysterious creature, “the economy”. Is this the failure of capitalism that we are witnessing, or its triumph? Is it the end of the end of history, or yet another crazy chapter in the whimsical journey of the human experiment?
Postscript: For the occasion, we’ve pulled out the big guns: admittedly it was a tough choice deciding who to interview: we could’ve had Alan Greenspan on the show, or the Emperor himself, Milton Friedman; the first lady, Christine Lagarde; or financial buffs like Gerald Celente, Peter Schiff and Donald Trump. But to get the freshest juice we knew we had to go further – much further.
Rap News 9 features two VIP Internet grandees who have uploaded gigabytes of juice via the one remaining free frequency to feed a discerning and ravenous audience, thirsty for answers. Whilst these two fine folk agree with each other on many things, fortunately, there’s no shortage of issues to rap-battle about. Well, time’s short – so let the rhyme-rodeo begin as we blast off on a rollercoaster odyssey. It’s the stupid Economy, in all its gory glory.
For those of you who do not know what the Occupy Wall Street protest is all about – here is your answer. Please read what they have to say, as it DIRECTLY applies to YOU, your children, parents and our nation as a whole.
SUPPORT the OCCUPY WALL STREET protestors!!!
There was unanimously voted on by all members of Occupy Wall Street last night, around 8pm, Sept 29. It is our first official document for release. We have three more underway, that will likely be released in the upcoming days
1) A declaration of demands.
2) Principles of Solidarity
3) Documentation on how to form your own Direct Democracy Occupation Group.
This is a living document. you can receive an official press copy of the latest version by emailing mailto: c2anycga@gmail.com
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!
Occupy Wall Street is leaderless resistance movement with people of many colors, genders and political persuasions. The one thing we all have in common is that We Are The 99% that will no longer tolerate the greed and corruption of the 1%. We are using the revolutionary Arab Spring tactic to achieve our ends and encourage the use of nonviolence to maximize the safety of all participants.
This statement is ours, and for anyone who will get behind it. Representing ourselves, we bring this call for revolution.
We want freedom for all, without regards for identity, because we are all people, and because no other reason should be needed. However, this freedom has been largely taken from the people, and slowly made to trickle down, whenever we get angry.
Money, it has been said, has taken over politics. In truth, we say, money has always been part of the capitalist political system. A system based on the existence of have and have nots, where inequality is inherent to the system, will inevitably lead to a situation where the haves find a way to rule, whether by the sword or by the dollar.
We agree that we need to see election reform. However, the election reform proposed ignores the causes which allowed such a system to happen. Some will readily blame the federal reserve, but the political system has been beholden to political machinations of the wealthy well before its founding.
We need to address the core facts: these corporations, even if they were unable to compete in the electoral arena, would still remain control of society. They would retain economic control, which would allow them to retain political control. Term limits would, again, not solve this, as many in the political class already leave politics to find themselves as part of the corporate elites.
We need to retake the freedom that has been stolen from the people, altogether.
“The cause of all suffering is ignorance.” – Buddha
Here to help raise the human conscious. Need a reality upgrade? You came to the right place
Incredible statement by Alessio Rastani about the Euro zone collapse and Goldman Sachs rule the world NOT Governments.
Love his honesty. He’s an independent trader, with no allegiance to anyone. He’s telling it like it is – and doesn’t give a shit if you like what he’s saying. Very refreshing to hear the truth in the media.
The Bankers Matrix Recital by itself Montague Williams The 3rd
played by: Michael Daviot
Keith Olbermann tells it like it is here in the “Land of the Free” the truth about the current state of this Country!
Wonderful interview with Chris Hedges of the protest on wall street part 1 of 6
Chris Hedges got my attention / interest with his intelligent & conscious understanding & perspectives of what is actually happening.
MSNBC – Main stream media coverage on NYPD Police Brutality during Occupy Wall Street
An excellent piece of main stream media coverage on this past weekend, Thanks for an excellent piece Lawrence O’donnel. I’m sure this video wont be up long, but figured the folks looking at the videos on this channel would appreciate it. The Occupation of Wall Street is a truly heroic action
Simultaneous perspectives on “Occupy Wall Street” kettling and pepper spray / mace incident
As you can tell, we did not need to edit the video to implicate this officer in a gross and unconscionable crime.
This may seem insignificant to some, but this is where REAL reform starts.
These protests are filled with individual who have a quarrel with how corrupt our government and federal bank have become. Many have their own message, many just know they are not happy and want to create a better society for themselves and their fellow Americans.
The corruption of the FED is avoided by the main stream media, make your own assumptions as to why, but one of the goals of these protestors is to bring light to some of these facts. The FED has handed out over $16 Trillion to private banks and corporations in the past 4 years and NONE of this was addressed in the mainstream news nor was it approved of by the people. This is clearly a red flag!! Look at these reputable links below that PROVE my statements are true, and spread them around.
Dont allow these protestors sacrifices to be in vain!!
We need to retake the freedom that has been stolen from the people, altogether.
If you agree that freedom is the right to communicate, to live, to be, to go, to love, to do what you will without the impositions of others, then you might be one of us.
If you agree that a person is entitled to the sweat of their brows, that being talented at management should not entitle others to act like overseers and overlords, that all workers should have the right to engage in decisions, democratically, then you might be one of us.
If you agree that freedom for some is not the same as freedom for all, and that freedom for all is the only true freedom, then you might be one of us.
If you agree that power is not right, that life trumps property, then you might be one of us.
If you agree that state and corporation are merely two sides of the same oppressive power structure, if you realize how media distorts things to preserve it, how it pits the people against the people to remain in power, then you might be one of us.
And so we call on people to act
We call for protests to remain active in the cities. Those already there, to grow, to organize, to raise consciousnesses, for those cities where there are no protests, for protests to organize and disrupt the system.
We call for workers to not only strike, but seize their workplaces collectively, and to organize them democratically. We call for students and teachers to act together, to teach democracy, not merely the teachers to the students, but the students to the teachers. To seize the classrooms and free minds together.
We call for the unemployed to volunteer, to learn, to teach, to use what skills they have to support themselves as part of the revolting people as a community.
We call for the organization of people’s assemblies in every city, every public square, every township.
We call for the seizure and use of abandoned buildings, of abandoned land, of every property seized and abandoned by speculators, for the people, for every group that will organize them.
We call for a revolution of the mind as well as the body politic
Follow the live stream of the occupy wall street protests:
We have no agenda other than to provide people with information about the events and actions happening in their area in solidarity and support of those that currently Occupy Wall St. Our political and social beliefs will remain neutral for this cause; this is not about us, this is about the movement.
OccupyTogether downloadable posters are free for you to download, print, and hang up within your community, In fact, we highly encourage it as this will be a great means of spreading the word and getting others involved.
We will try our best to provide you with the most accurate information possible.
We will only grow stronger in our solidarity and we will be heard, not just in New York, but in echoes across this nation.
