Forum Post: Occupy the white house from your computer
Posted 12 years ago on Feb. 24, 2012, 4:24 p.m. EST by Faithntruth
(997)
This content is user submitted and not an official statement
The white house has a petition site
https://wwws.whitehouse.gov/petitions#!/petitions
Create petitions for items then let us know about it.
Remember the president does not create legislation, he can only veto it.
He can direct the actions of the various bodies that function as part of the administration.
Most petitions currently active have less than 30,000 signers, and many less than 10,000.
If we make a concerted effort, we can have millions of responses, and give the president a tool to persuade the do nothing congress to get off their butts....
I tried writing to my own members of congress and did not even get an answer that addressed my topic points.... I want my government to pay attention, and I know most of you do as well.
Lets work together to turn the petition page into our voice to the president!
There is a world of difference between taking a position on line and actually physically occupying some public space. If you don't think so just try the latter anywhere in virtually and open public space and see what happens, but that is why the latter is so important and really the defining characteristic of our movement despite the fact that we have suffered some setbacks that will undoubtedly be reversed as Spring comes and the weather changes.
Not everyone who supports ows can suspend their lives to actually occupy... This provides a way for everyone to be able to do something, and is already a practice supported by many here. I am just pointing out another route. And we should be utilizing every peaceful means to be heard!
Of course not everyone can actually occupy, but I do think that nearly everyone can help to organize and participate in a General Assembly in their community on a regular basis. Perhaps not everyone can go to a General Assembly every night, but millions of people attend a religious service on at least a weekly basis, and a significant proportion of that number engage in some kind of organized activity based in their religious community several times a week. It is not unreasonable to expect people committed to OWS to do the same, even if they have full time jobs. Child care, of course, is an issue, but it's an issue for religious communities too, and it is one of the first priorities that such communities take care of in order to maximize the participation of its adherents. General Assemblies can do the same.
I really don't mean to be judgemental here, at least no more judgemental of anyone else than I am of myself. After all, I'm sitting here in front of a computer writing this when I could be actively engaging with my neigbors, which is exactly my point. What has been important about the new social media for our movement is not that it is a substitute for actually engaging with other human beings on a palpable physical basis, but rather that it provides us with a vehicle to facilitate such actual interaction.
Social media was extremely important in getting people to Wall Street on September 17, but what it was important in doing was getting people to Wall Street, not keeping there ass in front of their computer. So if hanging out in front of your computer helps you to physically meet people and organize your community, I'm all for it, but if it inhibits that, it is an impediment to the movement a substitute for the movement and should not be confused with a real social movement which necessarily involves people interacting directly on a physical basis. How else are we to govern ourselves?
And what is the fettish about peace? By no means am I an advocate of violence and I firmly believe that those who provoke violence harm the movement and set it back by so doing. But it is also the case that the vast majority of Americans, well over 99%, are not pacifists. Of course, on a tactical basis it is most important for the movement to maintain a nonviolent stance, but that is what it is. Nonviolence is a tactic, an important and perhaps even a crucial and essential tactic, but a tactic nonetheless and as such it should not be confused with a matter of principle.
I believe in petitions and I believe in petitioning. This is the peoples voice, an opportunity to lobby without spending money you do not have.
I put a petition out on the White House site ( way back when ), I have since found better sites to do this on - Credo, Change, Care2 are some.
I say use them all but I would duplicate any petition I created on the White House site somewhere else as it is not a very good medium.
Hi DKA,
Why is it not a good medium? Or why do you feel that the others are better?
Very time limited for one.
The last one I took part in on charging criminals in the economic meltdown, I got a response that they could not comment on that.
Basically it seems to me to be an opinion polling more than an action site.
Thanks.
Thank you GirlFriday. I was perhaps not very clear in my 1st comment.
Thank you for sharing your experience. I signed one petition, and now im on the mailing list for the organizations you mentioned. The one I posted was from, credo. I still think that if we go about it in an organized manner, we can make the white house site work for us. If people are willing to live in a park and protest, why would they not simply sign a petition?
I agree use every site for communication that is available the more positive traffic the better the same for sources the more the better. Every action to denounce the corrupt practices are good actions.
I have signed petitions there. I'm still signing petitions there, however, I have been a bit dismayed with some of the responses.
And I think that we have to know our shit in creating a petition. This means that we have to know these key items:
Current White House Policy
The law and any changes that are or have been made to it.
Support the position with any academic studies or known resources that they themselves would acknowledge.
Willingness to contact and/or read information from any outside agencies. (There actually may be other petitions out there addressing the very same issues).
Somebody willing to red pen that sucker before it is kicked in.
Good points, but all all are doable I think.
They are. Wanna work on one?
I am kind of surprised no one is commenting... I'll kick things off with some petitions i would sign onto:
No new GMO crops or animals without 10 years of independent study on human health and environmental impact.
Tax free year for small independent start up businesses not associated with a larger business entity, having capital investment of under 500,000 ( id like input on that amount...ideas?)
An investigation by the attorney general into the constitutionality of new state voter registration laws that require payments for birth certificate copies and or state ID in order to register to vote. These can be construed as a new form of poll tax which is unconstitutional. Further, there are no protections for people whose birth certificates have been lost or misplaced by the government bodies charged with their maintenance, and there is no recourse established for people who were born in the era when births were not always recorded, which was more common in the poor and minority sectors of the population.
It's interesting to note that the ones that have the most sigunatures are the ones to get rid of the 1% tax cuts and the other is to increas the growth of government.
That is interesting, i notisced the tax cut one, but im not sure what you mean for the other. I like that we, as individuals, can get a direct voice, without being filtered through legislators who have their own agenda or ideology. As a progressive in a very conserative area, i really have no voice or influence in my own government.
Well, it appears that there is still the continued desire to increase government instead of reducing it along with its debt.