We initially attended an OS (Occupy Sacramento) meeting to protest against what appears to be a financial industry take-over of the United States. OS is a protest that anyone can join - "Your appearance is your power - if you're here, you get to decide stuff!" Modeled on NYC's Occupy Wall Street, OS specified its issues of concern in a List of Grievances. They've created by-laws and formed committees (media, outreach, food, etc) and a legal team to enable their actions. Ongoing teach-ins are held and books are available to enlighten on a number of subjects. Marches on power centers such as the banks, courts, State Capitol, and Attorney General's office occur frequently as part of an ongoing national Occupy effort to call attention to problems in the U.S.
Observing and sometimes participating, we were impressed by Occupy Sacramento's idealism & determination to be transparent and democratic despite the multiplicity of quirks that human nature provides. It soon became apparent that the evolution of Occupy Sacramento is as interesting as the issues that inspired it. How do you get anything done if your democratic principles require allowing anyone that walks by to vote on policies and plans? How can you proceed if you can't act without (at one point 9/10) concensus? These and other questions central to the topic of "How do we make the world a better place?" have prompted the following photos and cartoons.
You may wish that there was more detail about the actual issues that inspired Occupy (foreclosures, disparity of wealth in the U.S., student debt, sheltering the homeless, 1st Amendment rights, etc.) and what is being done to address them. That may occur as events transpire....
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