Shut down the corporations, February 29, 2012

Occupy Portland calls this national day of action to reclaim our ability to make the decisions that affect our lives. We live in a society which does not allow us control of our future. We are faced with foreclosure, unemployment, lack of health care, climate change, hunger, environmental destruction, and so many other issues. Our collective voices which seek to solve these problems are being actively silenced and suppressed.

There has been a theft of our democratic ability to shape and form the society in which we live. The corporations, which run our government, place profit over people, self-interest over justice, and domination over equality. This situation stems from our society’s obsession with profit, consumption and greed, which corporations only take to its logical and frightening conclusion. In this obsessive pursuit of profit above all else, our voices have been drowned out. In this justice, liberty and a livable future are casualties.

We call on people across the country to join this action and shut down the corporations! We specifically call on people to target corporations that are members of the American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC). The biggest corporations in America, like ExxonMobil, Bank of America, BP, Monsanto, Pfizer, and Wal-Mart use ALEC to buy off legislators and craft legislation that serves only the interests of corporations and not people. They then duplicate and spread this corporate legislation in Washington, D.C. and in state legislatures across the country. The anti-labor legislation in Wisconsin and the racist bill SB 1070 in Arizona are two recent and destructive examples of what corporations use ALEC to do.

As a first step in reclaiming our voices and challenging our society’s obsession with profit and greed we will shut down the corporations that are part of ALEC. We call for creative direct action. Use your imagination to shut down corporate headquarters and stop business as usual.

We demand that ALEC, as an undemocratic organization, disband immediately. We demand corporations remove themselves from those decisions that affect our lives. We demand the direct democracy necessary to be able to decide the shape of our society so that we can work together to address those challenges confronting us. The future of our species and the planet requires this. We will decide our own fate. Together we are unstoppable. Community power not corporate power! Occupy ALEC!

Join us on February 29th, 2012. Leap into action! Reclaim our future! Shut down the corporations!?