Here is an draft occupy christmas flyer, feel free to edit text and give feedback etc.
pdf flyer
OCCUPY CHRISTMAS
Campaigns
- Indigenous justice. No formally binding treaties were ever negotiated with Indigenous peoples in Australia whereas hundreds were signed with Indigenous people in North America and New Zealand. Indigenous people and supporters continue the struggle for survival of their cultures, self determination and justice.
- Houselessness & affordable living The rate of houseless people in Australia has grown in the past six years to around 100,000, many different factors might cause houselessness from cash flow, relationship breakdowns and mental health. In Sydney alone there are around 100,000 vacant houses which is more than enough to give everyone who NEEDS shelter a place to stay, yet there is a housing affordability crisis and we can spend billions on unjustified wars and political ad campaigns. Banks have tightened up and the casualisation of the workforce and economic uncertainty has also made it harder to apply for home loans.
- Wealth distribution & Economic and political elite corruption World's richest 1% own 40% of all wealth and 50% of world's adults own just 1% of the wealth. Centralisation of governments and corporations creates monopolies that most small-medium business can't compete with, it's hardly a free market system. The line between government and corporation has been blurred, many industry groups create and push policy though political allies. What does this mean for democracy? Get talking.
- Food and water sustainability, genetic engineered food industry There is enough food to feed everyone in the world. Why is it not happening? Companies like Monsanto claim to be helping the world, they genetically engineer seeds to grow in different condition where they may not be able to, other than tampering with natural progression, their untested products are made to not reproduce seeds. Monsanto has taken a strong hold over the global food market, suing organic farmers if their fields accidentally get contaminated with Monsanto product. Join the revolution and grow a vege garden!
- Freedom of the press wiki leaks In theory voters are required to make decisions on how a country is run, to make hard decisions you need access to as much data on the issue at hand as possible. Whistle blowers put their job, family and life on the line to provide us with information, protecting whistle blowers and their media conduits is vital for our civil liberties. Julian Assange who created the whistle blower web site wiki leaks has sought refugee in the Ecuadorian embassy in London and is facing extradition to the U.S. via Sweden. Julian assange is just one example, anyone could potentially be in his position for exposing the truth.
- Refugees in detention. The 1951 Convention relating to the Status of Refugees is the key legal document in defining who is a refugee, their rights and the legal obligations of states. The 1967 Protocol removed geographical and temporal restrictions from the Convention. The term refugee is given to someone who is seeking refugee, they are not committing a crime and most of the time are not deemed to be a security risk after checks. Political hyenas and media spectacles; Images of the occasional boat approaching Australian shores manages to ingrain a horrific image of a full scale sea invasion in the mind of spectators. In reality less than one 1% of people determined to be illegally staying arrived on boat, they actually arrived on planes, but that would be boring putting up images of people at the airport on the front page of the herald sun.
- Stop the wars. Foreign and local policies relating to security changed dramatically after Sept 11 2001, Trillions of dollars have been spent on wars and programs to change regimes deemed to be evil by western governments. Most people know the Iraq war was unjustified, even many troops. Millions of people have died and millions more have become refugees.
- Privacy and civil liberties. Since 9/11, more than 70 pieces of anti-terror laws, financial restrictions and expanded police and spook agency power have passed through the Australian Parliament. Each one of them nibbles away at the traditional rule of law in Australia, reduces your and my rights in one way or another, and intrudes on our privacy, from MYKI to facebook, the issue of our own privacy rights has come into place, yet the growing culture of apathy and exhibitionism provides little resistance to governments policies on spying.
- Working towards cultural change. There are many different personalities and sub cultures, a more dominate culture in the west is based on consumerism common negative attributes are greed, apathy, competitiveness, dishonesty and generally speaking, narcissism. Developing ideas for individual and community values that encourage responsibility, accountability and transparency to establish integrity and real change. Join the discussions!
Do you know where money comes from? Gifts aren't free, they are debt!
It's great to give people presents, especially if you love them but its not the only way to have a happy christmas, you can save yourself a years worth of christmas credit card repayments by having a non materialistic christmas. If you are at the stage where you feel guilt tripped into buying christmas presents, there are alternatives to let people know you are thinking about them, making up cards instead of buying them, artistic expression is priceless, actually taking the time out to sincerely tell someone you love and appreciate them, can be more valuable than all the jewellery in the world.
Don't expect things from your family and friends at the very least you wont be disappointed.
Find out whats going on at Occupy Melbourne (formally known as Melbourne City Square): http://occupymelbourne.net http://facebook.com/occupymelb
Occupy, WTF is that?
Occupy is a global movement which was inspired by events in the middle east and the U.S. in 2011. Issues such as dictatorships, wars, unfair distribution of wealth, corrupted banking systems and governments the growing rate of homelessness, localised sustainability etc triggered millions of people as groups and individuals from across social and political spectrums to protest around the world.
As people came together to protest, systems were developed locally and organically to try reach consensus on political motions and issues that effect the local occupy community directly. Essential systems such as kitchens, first aid, logistic and media were developed with the intention to sustain a ongoing protest. Reaching consensus in a community of strangers is a challenge considering the diverse ideals, it takes lots of research, communication and patience to reach agreements.
A big part of most occupies around the world is public discussions and skill work shops which are usually organised by individuals who are experienced in particular fields or simply interested in a topic.
Passionately engaging with random people who are inspired by some kind of protest sign occurs often, sharing ideas and debating topics is important for building stronger knowledgeable communities, sometimes hard barriers get broken down and mutual understandings are achieved too.
The occupy movement was fueled by exposing corruption which got global media attention and the desire for people to get real change. The media hype is now gone but the issues are still here, Many of the reasons why people occupied are still important and a lot of issues such as homlessness and sustainability are getting worse including Social issues such as violence, drug abuse, discrimination and poverty.
Many people who participated in occupy protests around the world have networked with each other to focus on specific projects like protest campaigns, sustainable community development and have built great working relationships and friendships.
The movement is organic with no leadership or structure, people dedicated to the idea of real change have persisted despite harassment by authorities, misrepresentation by the commercial media and challenging social dynamics .
This movment is made out of people. We invite you to participate in the way you want and share your knowledge so we can all grow together.