The List by Occupy Vancouver

Focused Capture - Flickr Creative Commons

[ This is copied from the Occupy Vancouver forum on 'Demands' -- apparently the working group meets every day at 5:30pm at the Ice Rink @ Robson + Howe.  These demands will be ratified by the General Assembly sometime soon. I'm hoping to check it out in the next few days to confirm the support for this list. ] 

Rough Draft of Demands

There has been a call for a broad over-reaching demand that sums up the rest of the demands and is easily quotable in the mass media:

We demand the creation of a just and sustainable society.

Of course people will want to know the specifics of such a demand.
With that in mind we have created this list of “sub-demands” which more clearly outlines what exactly we mean by our one demand.

Economic demands

1. We demand that the wealthiest 1% pay their fair share by the closing of tax loopholes such as dark pools of liquidity and employer-side payroll taxes. Progressive taxation principles must prevail, income from capital must be taxed at the same level as wage income.
2. We demand that the banks be nationalized and limit interest payments to 1%. The Board of Directors of the Bank of Canada and top tier of management must now include at least 50% representatives for Labour/wage earners and the balance must contain a mix of academics, as well as business people. The mandate of the Bank of Canada must now include the pursuit of low unemployment in addition to low inflation. (An alternative demand to nationalization of the banks is: “We demand a cap on interest rates at 5% plus prime.”)
3. We demand that crimes committed by banks and corporations be prosecuted more rigorously – a dedicated justice fund for white-collar crimes must be created. Canadian corporations must also be held accountable for crimes (such as bribery and pollution) committed abroad.
4. We demand that all income tax for those who make less than the living wage be eliminated.
5. We demand that a “ministry of whistle-blowing” be created with the power to protect any whistle blower – corporate or otherwise – from harm of any kind. We need to be able to safely call attention to injustice. Previous failed attempts to do this should be learned from.
6. We demand a higher minimum wage – one that equals a living wage. Those unable to work due to disability or infirmity should have a guaranteed income which will allow a dignified existence.
7. We demand that Canada pulls out of all free trade agreements – including repealing NAFTA – which are actually “investors rights” agreements and have little to do with trade. We demand an end to future attempts at “free trade” agreements and/or the North American Union. All monopolies – national or international – must be prohibited.
8. We demand that EI payments for people not eligible to receive from the program be eliminated.
9. We demand that supply management of agricultural products be ended.
10. We demand that the federal government keep out of private sector union negotiations.
11. We demand the prohibition of self-regulation by large-scale industries.

Political demands

12. We demand the influence of lobbyists and influence peddlers be reduced by requiring all lobbyists and corporate representatives conduct all meetings with representatives out in the open, with records of what was said and what was spent easily accessible to the public.
13. We demand the electoral playing field be leveled by limiting each political party to equal small amounts of taxpayer money. We demand the elimination of campaign contributions entirely.
14. We demand the installation of a proportional representation system in all municipal, provincial and federal elections. We demand the adoption of Swiss-style direct democracy and Nunavut-style consensus-decision-making into all political processes.
15. We demand an immediate end to Canada’s role in the war in Afghanistan. We demand Canada pulls out of NATO.
16. We demand the government makes sure the CBC is independent from influence by powerful groups by getting enough funding so it can go commercial free so it no longer must depend on big business for advertizing, and that it becomes immune from future budget cuts.
17. We demand the elimination of the Anti-Terrorism Act of 2001, which criminalizes activities similar to the ones conducted by the French Resistance in WW2 and Nelson Mandela’s ANC in South Africa.
18. We demand Canada pulls out of the SPP – the “Security and Prosperity Partnership” – the military and economic harmonization between Canada and the United States. Canada must remain sovereign.
19. We demand the return of the long form census and an end to the practice of outsourcing census work to multinationals such as Lockheed Martin.
20. We demand that Statistics Canada and the Parliamentary Budget Office be made arms-length organizations outside the direct jurisdiction of partisans.
21. We demand that publicly funded science be made available to the public. No tax-payer-funded scientists should be gagged or censored in any way.
22. We demand that the science minister be replaced with an MP who recognizes the realities of evolution and global human-caused climate change.
23. We demand an end to all gag-orders on public servants.
24. We demand an independent investigation into 9/11 which will examine all evidence including that which would support a false-flag explanation.
25. We demand that “none of the above” be an option on all electoral ballots.

Societal demands

26. We demand – as Bertrand Russell suggested – there be two police forces – one to prove your guilt and another to prove your innocence. We demand lawyers be required to work in pairs so that a lack of resources won’t be a factor in deciding a case. (Alternative: We demand increased funding for legal aid.)
27. We demand a majority of the defense budget be redistributed to health, education and housing.
28. We demand massage, dental and eye care be covered under the health care system.
29. We demand an end to gender and racial discrimination in the workplace. We demand pay equity and employment equity. We demand equal pay for different but equivalent work.
30. We demand the right of self-determination for all indigenous nations. We demand a speedy resolutions to all outstanding land claims acceptable to all parties concerned.
31. We demand the repeal of the Controlled Drugs and Substances Act. All synthetic drugs and hard drugs (including cocaine and heroin) must be distributed by prescription through a pharmacist.
32. We demand that all botanical drugs be distributed like coffee beans. Human medical autonomy must now be respected by all.
33. We demand that all harmless people be protected in the constitution. If a new law is written and a new set of people are to be criminalized, the burden of proof will now be on the government to provide evidence that this new group of criminals is inherently harmful to others. This will end scapegoating.
34. We demand that post-secondary education be free with no hidden user fees. We demand that most outstanding student loans should be forgiven based upon income.
35. We demand that herbalists and naturopaths have their services covered by the health-care system.
36. We demand that judicial sentencing discretion should be preserved.
37. We demand that the omnibus crime bill be eliminated.
38. We demand that prostitution be legalized and regulated as it is in New Zealand.

Environmental demands

39. We demand that subsidies shift from fossil fuel and nuclear energy to renewable resources such as sun, wind, wave, geothermal and cellulose-based ethanol.
40. We demand that GMO’s – extra-natural genetic modification – be banned because there is no consensus that they increase yield, are safe to consume, are safe for the environment and pose no threat to global food security but there is general agreement that they allow seed monopolies and lawsuits based upon pollen drift. The patenting of life must be illegal and terminator seeds banned from sale in Canada.
41. We demand that chemical fertilizers and pesticides be phased out over the next five years while farmers learn to use organic methods because chemical fertilizers and pesticides are unnecessary and kill the soil vitality needed for human survival.
42. We demand that “open-net/open water” fish farming be banned.
43. We demand that environmental laws be enforced more rigorously.
44. We demand that soil vitality be a priority.
45. We demand that the nuclear industry be phased out.
46. We demand that the health and environmental costs be factored into the cost of each product, and taxed appropriately.
47. We demand the shutting down of the Tar Sands project.
48. We demand that fracking – hydraulic fracturing – be prohibited.
49. We demand the removal of all the red tape around the growing of industrial hemp.
50. We demand Canada pull out of the Keystone Pipeline.
51. We demand the prohibition of all off-shore drilling. We demand maximum liability on all oil spills.
52. We demand a national ban on products and packaging that can’t be recycled locally.
53. We demand a ban on factory farming or CAFO’s (concentrated animal feeding operations).
54. We demand an end to all logging in old-growth forests and an end to clear-cutting everywhere.
55. We demand protection of water rights and transparency in all Canadian water deals.
56. We demand Canada adopts the Bolivian Earth Charter.

[I will not editorialize here, other than to say that the 99% need a better marketing consultant.  Reduce, refine, simplify.  My Occupy brainspace does not have time for a debate on industrialized hemp.  Thoughts?]

The Pirates of Copenhagen

This has nothing to do with the Climate Conference - but it truly is a pirate ship with Danish quotations. I say, "close enough!"

This has nothing to do with the Climate Conference - but it truly is a pirate ship with Danish quotations. I say, "close enough!"

During a recent trip to a bookstore I came across Michael Crichton’s newest – and posthumous – book, Pirate Latitudes. That’s right. Mr. Crichton’s legacy, in this humble editor’s opinion, will not be dinosaurs or terminal men or aliens or medical dramas or climate change. It will be pirates. But, wait a second, let’s go back to that second to last topic. The climate change one. Mr. Crichton’s controversial piece on climate change, State of Fear, combined with his newest work, Pirate Latitude, rolled into the most recent – and hilarious – prank by The Yes Men inspired an epiphany and gave me an idea: what can the heads-of-state, protesters, businesspeople, lobbyists, scientists, fake-scientists, corrupt-scientists, students, and spectators learn about the environmental landscape as it relates to pirate communities?

Obviously, the answer is that we can learn a lot about the relationships between pirates, culture and the environment. So, Copenhagen, I hope you’re listening. Because it will be pirates, not lobbyists, businesspeople, scientists, or governments, who will save the environment. Here’s why and how.

Pirates as Environmental Stewards

Copenhagen stakeholders – Copenholders – pirates can teach you, all of us, really, about reducing and reusing; they know how to help people get by with less. Just ask any Fleet Street Banker or Liverpudlian Businessman or West Indies Plantation Owner or Admirals of the Royal Navy during the seventeenth and eighteenth-centuries. These Captains of Industry and Government changed the environmental and cultural landscapes of our planet (slaves from Africa and introduction of new crops to the New World) to produce millions of things that made them millions of dollars. From time to time, though, pirates reduced the flow of such overproduction and – ahem - reused it themselves or recycled it amongst their brethren. Here is a specific example of how pirates don’t use the natural environment to produce things, in the recorded and unrecorded history of pirates, only one Captain ever commissioned a ship; pirates don’t build new ships. They reuse them. In 1695, Captain William Kidd (the self-proclaimed “Pirate Hunter”) built himself, I kid you not, a galley in England – no, he was not a viking. This was an odd decision. Speaking of odd decisions, here is a lesson for the COP15 decision makers to consider: use what’s already there! A recent story I had to hear from Fox News, divulged that over 1,200 limosines and 140 private jets had to be imported in order to accommodate the climate conference delegates. Pirates would’ve commandeered a bus and shared it. I’m just saying…

Pirates as Creators of a new Cultural Landscape

What happens on a pirate ship when the captain chooses a direction that the crew doesn’t like? Well, the captain changes his mind or goes overboard. It’s democracy at its finest. A recent article in The Independent by Johann Hari suggests that modern day pirates, like their historic brothers and sisters, have rejected today’s unequal, corrupt and punishing global “system.” Hari cites the last words of William Scott, a pirate hanged in Charleston, South Carolina during the Golden Age of Piracy: “What I did was to keep me from perishing. I was forced to go a-pirateing to live.” In spite of the consensus amongst the planet’s brightest minds, well, alarm bells aren’t really going off around the world. Greed is a big part of it. Manipulation and spin are parts of it. Fear of difference is a huge part of it. And the authoritative concentration of power is, perhaps, the biggestSeriously? 1,400 limosines? Do you guys "get" Climate Change?! part of it. Many pirates could have been members of the East India Trading Company or Royal Navy – some were and chose to leave the respective greed of the Merchant Marine (merchant ships were notoriously and unsafely under-staffed, as less sailors meant less overhead and more profit for businessmen in London, New York and Boston) and authoritative culture of the Royal Navy (apparently, you weren’t allowed to throw your captain overboard or take a nap that wasn’t scheduled). If true democracy really allows us to chuck our captains overboard then what do we really have now? Most of the world is on board with re-examining and altering humanity’s relationship with the environment. And the majority of our planet is also part of this wholly elaborate, interconnected global system that is moving forward like the smelly inertia-proof juggernaut that it is. For anything to change, our system as it exists today must be transformed. Or rejected and created anew. Whatever the case, pirates can – and should – be the drivers of such change. After all democracy existed on pirate ships before it ever existed in France or the United States. I’m just saying…

Pirates as a Product of their Environmental Landscape

Over the last two decades an unknown amount of toxic waste has been dumped off the coast of Somalia – what would cost $1,000 USD per tonne in Europe costs $2.50 USD per tonne in Somalia. Combine this with the overfishing along Africa’s longest – and most unprotected – coastline (nearly 3,000 kilometers long), and a different story of what makes a Somali pirate a “pirate” begins to develop. Greed and corruption from the rest of the world have thrust upon the people of Somalia, Nigeria, and the Strait of Malacca material conditions that represent just how much we need to take matters into our own hands. For example, over 70 per cent of Somalians refer to their former fisherpeople as “The Somali Coast Guard” not as “pirates.” Let’s take this as a horrible synecdoche of how things may very well unfold for the rest of the world; soon the coastal communities of Vancouver Island may harbour a few more pirates than they do today. I’m just saying…

Whether we all believe it or not, our planet is being pushed to the brink. We are a part of its landscape. As part of Team Earth, the world needs people to protect it from what is happening. So, play within the system or take a Yes Men approach and mock it through covert operations. Just take piracy as a metaphor and be nice about it, okay? I’m glad we had this chat. Now get out there and change the world!

- Sir John the Pirate Piratologist