ALL POWER TO GENERAL ASSEMBLIES!
To understand what the Occupy movement is seeking, we must examine it objectively: its background, characteristics, form of protest, political content, and—crucially—the way it organizes and governs its occupied spaces. What follows is a concise outline that leads to a clear conclusion about what the 99 percent want.
Characteristics of the Occupy Movement
The first defining characteristic of the Occupy movement is negation. It openly rejects the capitalist system, a stance clearly expressed in its slogans: “End capitalism,” “Abolish capitalism,” “This society doesn’t work—let’s build a different one,” “Another world is possible,” and “A better world is possible.” These slogans are not rhetorical excess; they articulate a fundamental refusal of capitalist social relations.
Form and Content of Occupation
The second defining characteristic is the occupation itself. Occupation is not merely a tactic; it is a political statement. It unites form and content in a direct challenge to capitalist power.
When workers occupy a workplace, they are not merely protesting—they are asserting power. Power, in its simplest form, is the ability to control. In occupying their workplaces, workers claim control over production. Likewise, Occupy Wall Street drew inspiration from the occupation of Tahrir (Liberation) Square in Cairo, where people asserted political power directly. The occupations of Rothschild Boulevard in Tel Aviv and Puerta del Sol in Madrid followed the same logic.
Occupation is inseparable from freedom. It represents the restoration of power to the people and the direct control of society by those who produce and sustain it. Through its very form, the Occupy movement revealed its political content: the abolition of capitalist dictatorship and the creation of a free and equal society governed through direct participation and collective decision-making.
General Assembly vs. Parliamentary Democracy
Anyone who walks into an Occupy space can participate in its decision-making body: the General Assembly (GA). While the GA process can be lengthy and demanding, it must be evaluated in its historical and political context. The General Assembly represents the most participatory and inclusive form of governance currently practiced anywhere in the world. It stands as a direct, collective decision-making system in contrast to the ballot-box, parliamentary model of bourgeois democracy.
Occupiers are people living in tents with minimal resources, operating entirely on a voluntary basis. Even the organization of communal kitchens reflects collective control over the means of production. The decision-making process practiced in Occupy spaces offers a snapshot of the society the movement seeks to create.
These occupied spaces exist under constant pressure from police, municipal authorities, and the state. Despite this, occupiers strive to make decision-making as direct and participatory as possible. In a society organized around collective ownership and social need, decision-making would be vastly more efficient. A socialist society would not require hours-long meetings to address basic logistics. With full access to social resources, collective decisions could be made quickly and democratically—whether about maintaining a public space or, metaphorically, traveling to Mars.
Background to the Occupy Protests
The Occupy movement emerged directly from the economic and financial crises of capitalism. In October 2008, the U.S. Congress approved a $700 billion bailout for major corporations while 9.5 million people were unemployed. By September 2009, the bailout had reached $1.5 trillion, and unemployment had risen to 15 million.
This period also saw the occupation of Republic Windows and Doors in Chicago—the first factory occupation in the U.S. since the Great Depression—the Oakland uprising following the police killing of Oscar Grant, massive food bank lines (with 40 million people on food stamps by May 2010), and tragedies such as the suicide of 28-year-old Heather Newnam, who faced eviction. In 2011, the Wisconsin protests erupted against austerity measures. Add to this the estimated 50 million uninsured Americans and the crushing burden of student debt, and the material basis of the Occupy movement becomes unmistakable.
What the 99 Percent Want: The Resolution
ALL POWER TO GENERAL ASSEMBLIES
The current political system serves the interests of the 1 percent and has failed to meet society’s basic needs—housing, healthcare, education, and environmental protection. Living standards have declined, militarism has expanded, and a police state is taking shape.
We, the 99 percent, therefore demand the immediate transfer of power to the people. We call on communities and workplaces to establish General Assemblies and reclaim power from the 1 percent. Through these assemblies, society’s needs will be addressed collectively, and responsibilities will be delegated based on the recommendations of accountable working groups.
Immediate transfer of power from the 1 percent to General Assemblies.
Leadership and the Question of Power
The Occupy movement has no formal political representation. While its occupied spaces offer a glimpse of a future society based on freedom and self-governance, none of the assemblies explicitly calls for the seizure of political power.
Only an anti-capitalist, socialist political party can bridge this gap—linking the movement’s form to its political destination by advancing the demand: “All power to General Assemblies.” A political party does not replace the General Assembly, nor is the Assembly an organ of the party. They are distinct but complementary components of a single movement.
Attempts by mainstream parties to co-opt Occupy on behalf of capital, by sections of the traditional Left to dilute it through populism, or by anarchist currents to reject political organization altogether are all paths toward defeat. Each, in different ways, preserves the ideological space of the ruling class.
Appendix: An Observation from The Economist
“OWS is not simply a group of like-minded people gathered to make a point through collective force. It has developed into an ongoing micro-society with a micro-government that exemplifies a principled alternative to the prevailing American order. The demand is for a society resembling the one protesters have created in the park. The mode of governance is the message.”
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