My name is Anne Lockee. I am a 40 year old business owner and mother of three.
I have things to say to the organizers of the Occupy Wall Street Protests to keep the momentum going but I don't know how or who to contact. If you find the following of interest, please do what you can to spread the word. Thanks.
MY WORRY: We are the 99% but many are unable to attend a protest for one reason or other. We need to find a way all interested citizens may participate and feel they can make an impact because so much of our disillusionment stems from feeling powerless. It also can't hurt to see our numbers grow. Another concern...when it starts getting cold outside the protests might wane a bit...AND also I fear that wall street is quite used to people mad at them. They may be able to withstand our ire for a very long time. So, since this is such an important moment....
MY IDEA: We stage targeted "boycotts" that are announced via facebook/twitter. For instance, the entire 99% does not shop for only one day at a different place and this place changes every single day. (after all we are not trying to put anyone out of business or do harm but make a point and show our power.) It could go like this monday no amazon NOT ONE DIME...tuesday no starbucks...wednesday no arco...etc. Again, the company does not matter. All companies are culpable, even the good ones, because they are all part of the Wallstreet Machine. Our goal is not to shut down the country. After all, we want to employ people. But we will no longer feel like helpless consumers that have no choice but to buy the "company stores" product no matter what the price. We have a choice...so we choose!
AND THEN, TO EXPLAIN OUR PURPOSE: We calculate the amount of money a company loses every day and say... "Hey, that's a lot of money in just one day." Now let's compare that to the FAIR amount of tax we'd like you to pay...or “How much is that compared to the insane bonuses you give your CEO” etc etc etc. After OWS comes up with it's demands something can be written and signed for individual companies to show their support, creating a list of sympathetic companies.
BECAUSE: We are not trying to screw anyone, we just demand fairness.
AND: Since the best way to achieve fairness is,in part, to REGULATE Wallstreet and modify the tax code (i.e. add a tax bracket for millionaires, scrap overseas tax havens, introduce a modest financial transaction tax, revamp the estate tax, end preferential treatment on capital gains tax).... we need americans to see that many big companies may actually be on board which could really change things.
AND IN THE END: This is a relatively painless thing for all. The rich will still be rich. The free market will still be free (just not allowed to be as corrupt) and ALL OF US will enjoy our American citizenry without so much contempt for each other.
AND TO END WITH A SLOGAN THAT MATTERS: "When we all do better, we all do better."
