What is Occupy Bellingham?

This article was authored and approved by a General Assembly of Occupy Bellingham.

Occupy Bellingham, in solidarity with the global occupation movements taking place in hundreds of cities across our nation and in over 80 countries worldwide, is organizing to end corporate personhood, get money out of politics, and promote complete transparency in finance and government.

We gather in open forum for people to voice their frustrations, share their experiences, and work together democratically to form consensus and shape our goals for a sane future. We work to be inclusive to all members of our community, and to sound the clarion call of democracy all throughout our beloved Whatcom County. Striving for transparency, we archive and broadcast our sentiments and actions online at occupy-bellingham.org.

Most importantly and profoundly, we are people. We are good people, who care about our community, our world, and our fellow human beings. We care about our country and its legacy, and we care about what kind of world we will leave for our children to inherit.

The Problem

The current economic and social system is no longer representative of the American people. Career politicians are bought and sold on Wall Street for the millions of dollars in corporate campaign contributions it takes to be elected into either the U.S. Senate or House of Representatives. From 2004 to 2008, an average of 85percent of U.S. Senate races were won by the candidate who spent the most money during their campaign, as were an average of 95 percent of races in the House.1

We are organizing a massive grassroots effort to get money out of our politics. Without a broad action like this, the disparity of representation between public and corporate interests will only widen, in the wake of two Supreme Court decisions which established that corporations are People and that spending money to influence elections is a form of constitutionally protected Free Speech. Now corporations may spend unlimited amounts of money to influence elections at all levels of government, in complete disregard of the threat posed to state, local and even national sovereignty when a non-resident U.S. or even foreign company is allowed to fund a candidate their CEO thinks will best support that corporation’s private designs, instead of upholding the democratic will of the People.

Only 22 percent of U.S. voters know about either the Citizens United v. FEC or Buckley v. Valeo decisions, yet it’s plain for all to see that if money is speech then speech is not free, and that the specter of corporate personhood threatens the very soul of our democracy.

Abraham Lincoln warned, “…corporations have been enthroned and an era of corruption in high places will follow, and the money powers of the country will endeavor to prolong its reign by working upon the prejudices of the people until the wealth is aggregated in the hands of a few, and the Republic is destroyed.” We stand now before that precipice, and only through constant vigilance and determined actions by an informed public, one willing to put aside their differences for the sake of our common humanity, can we hope to avoid toppling over the brink.

The Solution

YOU! We ask you to stand united with us, in common purpose with all who share our struggle to free American democracy from the excesses of corporate greed, and to show your solidarity in whatever way you find most meaningful.

Together we can work to ensure that Occupy Bellingham embodies your own feelings and beliefs. We write you in solidarity and friendship, with open arms, minds and hearts. Nothing is more precious than the thoughts of the quiet. Nothing is more precious than the words of the silenced. Speak up, please, especially when it’s really hard. No one else can speak for you. That’s why we need you here. That’s why we need to hear from you. We cannot do this without hearing from each and every person, neighborhood, community business, church or any organization that loves and lives in Whatcom County. Your voice matters, so please, speak! We’re listening.

Working Together

Occupy Bellingham isn’t the only group organizing to promote the common good. There are over one hundred local non-profit and community organizations striving to make a difference in the lives of people and the environment. We believe that Occupy Bellingham, Whatcom’s thriving non-profit sector, neighborhood associations and local businesses all need to be working together. There is so much we can offer each other! As a democratic forum open to all Occupy Bellingham is ideally suited to facilitating round table discussion, and we look forward to forming such a community alliance. If there’s a local organization that you feel could benefit from working together with the community at large, please we’d love to know about them!

Footnotes