Post by anniemt on Nov 13, 2011 21:24:20 GMT -7
Ethel submitted a good introduction to Occupy Missoula - in this week's Jeanette Rankin Peace Center newsletter:
“If you're not actively involved in getting what you want, you don't really want it.”
~Peter McWilliams
Dear friends,
Are you one of the 99%? Of course you are! Do you support Occupy Missoula? Are you a little unsure, wondering what, exactly, Occupy Missoula is, other than some tents on the Courthouse Lawn?
Probably you might hear 99 different opinions, and I am no more a spokesperson than any other member, but I see Occupy Missoula as part of an exciting worldwide movement for peace and justice. Believing there can be no peace as long as there is injustice, and that disparity in wealth, especially its resulting poverty for millions of people worldwide, is an example of injustice, I see the 99% Occupy Wall Street movement as an outcry against the war on the poor and powerless by the rich and powerful. It is also an outcry against the war on the environment for the purpose of profit by the same wealthy powers, and most importantly for some of us, the corporate influence on our foreign policy that leads us to imperialism and war.
Every day my e-mailbox is full of opportunities to sign petitions, send e-mails, or make phone calls for peace, justice, and sustainability, and I respond to them. But like many of you, I’ve been nagging the politicians and corporations for years without seeing much result. What the Occupy movement has done is to raise the awareness level across the nation. I believe it’s a time when every e-mail, phone call, petition makes a bigger difference than it did two months ago.
The tents on the Courthouse Lawn are a reminder that this movement is not going away. In respect for the Veterans Day ceremonies on the Courthouse lawn, Occupiers will be very quiet and unobtrusive tomorrow. However, veterans are an important part of the 99% who are suffering while 1% continues to reap profits at their expense.
One of the important goals of small, local actions like Occupy Missoula is to raise local awareness and activism: “We are the 99%. YOU are the 99%.” You can read the Declaration and learn more at the website, www.occupymissoula.org, get on an e-mail update list by e-mailing occupymissoula@gmail.com, or attend the next General Assembly Sunday at 2pm at the Union Hall, 208 E. Main.
Ethel MacDonald
JRPC Coordinating Council emeritus member
“If you're not actively involved in getting what you want, you don't really want it.”
~Peter McWilliams
Dear friends,
Are you one of the 99%? Of course you are! Do you support Occupy Missoula? Are you a little unsure, wondering what, exactly, Occupy Missoula is, other than some tents on the Courthouse Lawn?
Probably you might hear 99 different opinions, and I am no more a spokesperson than any other member, but I see Occupy Missoula as part of an exciting worldwide movement for peace and justice. Believing there can be no peace as long as there is injustice, and that disparity in wealth, especially its resulting poverty for millions of people worldwide, is an example of injustice, I see the 99% Occupy Wall Street movement as an outcry against the war on the poor and powerless by the rich and powerful. It is also an outcry against the war on the environment for the purpose of profit by the same wealthy powers, and most importantly for some of us, the corporate influence on our foreign policy that leads us to imperialism and war.
Every day my e-mailbox is full of opportunities to sign petitions, send e-mails, or make phone calls for peace, justice, and sustainability, and I respond to them. But like many of you, I’ve been nagging the politicians and corporations for years without seeing much result. What the Occupy movement has done is to raise the awareness level across the nation. I believe it’s a time when every e-mail, phone call, petition makes a bigger difference than it did two months ago.
The tents on the Courthouse Lawn are a reminder that this movement is not going away. In respect for the Veterans Day ceremonies on the Courthouse lawn, Occupiers will be very quiet and unobtrusive tomorrow. However, veterans are an important part of the 99% who are suffering while 1% continues to reap profits at their expense.
One of the important goals of small, local actions like Occupy Missoula is to raise local awareness and activism: “We are the 99%. YOU are the 99%.” You can read the Declaration and learn more at the website, www.occupymissoula.org, get on an e-mail update list by e-mailing occupymissoula@gmail.com, or attend the next General Assembly Sunday at 2pm at the Union Hall, 208 E. Main.
Ethel MacDonald
JRPC Coordinating Council emeritus member