On a cool, breezy Tuesday evening, in a granite square wet with January rain, the General Assembly of Occupy Wall Street triggered the Vision & Goals working group’s vision statement endgame by giving a unanimous twinkles up to the vision statement presented before them, indicating that it should be brought back, after a week’s notice, for final review and consensus process before the Assembly on Tuesday, January 24th, 2012. (For details on the group’s vision endgame proposal, see here: http://www.nycga.net/groups/vision-and-goals/forum/topic/our-current-plan/.)
The version of the draft vision statement read before and provisionally approved by the General Assembly on January 17th was the group’s 01/15/12 consensed version, with minor amendments. Four amendments were offered and accepted by the Assembly’s participants; three by direct consensus, and one via straw poll, subsequently ratified by final consensus approval of the entire document. Essentially, the order of the bullet items was amended thrice, ultimately to read as Liberty, People Power, People Before Profit, Fairness, Equality, Justice, Environmental Stewardship & Peace. Previously, the Assembly opined via straw poll that the language in the eighth sentence would best read as “We envision a free, democratic and just society, built on the following principles.” This GA-approved final draft version of the Occupy Wall Street Vision Statement appears directly below, for your review. We ask everyone’s assistance in communicating it as quickly and widely as possible before the 24th of January.
UPDATE: The V&G team have made a few minor grammatical and punctuation edits, which appear in the updated text below. In addition, at our 1/18 and 1/22 meetings, we consensed on the following potential amendments to suggest to the GA on Tuesday 1/24/12 (changes enclosed in *’s, where appropriate).
1) Adjust and combine the first two sentences of the preamble to read as follows.
“We the people of Occupy Wall Street, *in solidarity with the people of the world,* gather *to reaffirm our inalienable rights* to a just society and a flourishing environment for future generations.”
2) In the Equality bullet, insert the words ‘age’ and ‘disability,’ to read as follows.
“EQUALITY: whereby we reject all forms of institutionalized discrimination and oppression, on any basis, including but not limited to race, *age,* gender, gender identity, sexual orientation, *disability,* religion, national origin, nationality or economic standing.”
JANUARY 17th GENERAL ASSEMBLY-APPROVED FINAL DRAFT VISION STATEMENT (Grammar & Punctuation Corrected):
We the people of Occupy Wall Street gather in the canyons of wealth to reaffirm our inalienable rights. United with the peoples of the world, we declare our rights to a just society and a flourishing environment for future generations.
Our political and economic systems are broken. Power corrupts, absolute power corrupts absolutely, and we live in a world where wealth is power. Our democracy now belongs to the highest bidder. Today, we must remember the lessons of history, restore human dignity and begin anew to build the bonds of trust and goodwill among all.
From the General Assembly to the people of the world, we offer a Declaration of our Vision for the future.
We envision a free, democratic and just society, built on the following principles:
LIBERTY: whereby we secure the full spectrum of human rights – political, civil, economic, social and cultural – against violation or infringement, particularly by unchecked corporate power and unjust governments.
PEOPLE POWER: whereby governance, in every form and at every level, exists by the will of those governed; where neither wealth nor history alone will justify power; where everyone’s voice is heard, and no one is marginalized.
PEOPLE BEFORE PROFIT: whereby we value human dignity and needs over monetary gain, elevating them to a place of primary importance; among these are the rights to meaningful and fairly-rewarded work; a decent home; abundant sources of clean air, pure water and natural, nutritious food supplies; and free, comprehensive healthcare and education.
FAIRNESS: whereby we collectively call on all who enjoy society’s benefits to accept their share of society’s responsibilities; where everyone has an equal opportunity to thrive and power is shared equitably by all so that no one is allowed to exploit, oppress or enslave another.
EQUALITY: whereby we reject all forms of institutionalized discrimination and oppression, on any basis, including but not limited to race, gender, gender identity, sexual orientation, religion, national origin, nationality or economic standing.
JUSTICE: whereby transparent and accountable social, political, legal and economic systems work to benefit all, not just a privileged few; these systems are restructured or replaced when they fail to do so.
ENVIRONMENTAL STEWARDSHIP: whereby the wealth of our economy emerges from the health of our environment and therefore all societal activities are conducted with respect, humane treatment and foresight to ensure that all life is sustainable and that the world has room to flourish, now and for future generations.
PEACE: whereby non-violence is embraced as a way of life, and we resolve to live together in harmony and celebrate principles of compassion, appreciation and respect for diversity and the differing views of others.
It is not enough to know better; we must do better. Our social and political ideals have to be claimed and asserted by each generation.
We look forward to a day when we can shift our focus beyond the notion of individual rights, towards a culture of sharing, where our love and compassion for each other and our world will be the only guides we need.
We affirm our commitment to live this new world in our hearts and make it a reality.
