The Grievances of the People

I post this list of grievances which I have developed, having been inspired by the NYC General Assembly's "Declaration of the Occupation of New York City", accepted by the same on 1 Oct 2011. This "Declaration" explains why Occupy Wall Street has come to exist.

I view "Grievances" as a living document and will adjust and extend the list as new conditions are realized.

Please feel free to extend and distribute as necessary. Of course, your comments are always welcome.

Michael Melendez

The Grievances of the People

20 November 2011

The power of the moneyed class has by virtue of establishing a corporate state:

1. Placed profits above the health of the people by opposing and corrupting any form of universal health care
2. Manipulated the cost and availability of life saving medicines in order to amass obscene profits among international corporations
3. Placed profits above the health of the planet by engaging in extractive processes, and farming practices designed irrespective of their impact on long term survivability of vital ecosystems
4. Produced a system of corporate personhood, providing corporations with rights and advantages without culpability or responsibility, allowing for, and developing a culture promoting sociopathic behavior among the same
5. Privatized public assets and institutions in order to extend the concentration of private wealth
6. Helped to maintained the world’s dependence on petroleum fuels in order amass huge fortunes at the expense of human and planetary health and general well being
7. Repeatedly, and with forethought, impeded and deliberately interfered with individual communities’ efforts toward developing systems of self determination, and social and economic justice
8. Manipulated the monetary and banking systems to the point of collapse and stole money from the greater population in an attempt to repair damage to their fortunes as a result their greed, without suffering the consequences of their actions
9. Instigated and supported illegal foreign wars through deliberate lies and fear mongering in order to extend their control over the domestic resources of other sovereign nations
10. Instigated and supported foreign wars for the sake of the sale of military arms to other countries as well as the production and sale of arms domestically
11. Militarized the domestic, state and local police forces in order to enforce their policies, limit the people’s constitutional rights, and further their criminal behavior
12. Helped to pervert the democratic process by establishing and codifying political influence through bribes and other obscene financial instruments brought to bear against our elections and established institutions
13. Deliberately and systematically interfered with citizens ability to demand redress to the ills brought against them by corporations and de facto, privately controlled public institutions
14. Initiated and perpetuated drug wars both foreign and domestic for the sake of extending American hegemony to foreign shores, as well as to engender domestic cultural conflict
15. Worked to control the food supply and human genome for the sake of exclusive profiteering
16. Conspired with major media organizations in order to lie and hide the truth in order to spread fear and divisiveness, and maintain hegemony, at home and abroad
17. Repeatedly violated the sanctity of First and Fourth amendment constitutional rights of its citizenry for the sake of security, control, and profiteering