We must participate, in any way, large or small, in the Occupy Wall Street movement because our democracy and our freedom depend on it. The OWS movement is about re-claiming our political power. It is about asserting our best interests as people and as a society. It is about creating a separation of Corporation and State. If we want a government that is “of the people by the people for the people,” we have to make it so, by actively participating in that government. It is our civic duty. Democracy is not a spectator sport.

The real crisis in our country is not financial. America is not broke. We are still an incredibly rich country, with vast resources and the largest single GNP in the world, by far. What we have is a crisis of consciousness. A crisis of national character. A crisis of collective will. A crisis of priorities that favor corporate interests, which benefit the top 1% of the wealthiest among us, over the interests of the bottom 99%. Not to mention the expense of clean water, air and land; and an inhabitable planet. We continue to fund multiple wars, bailout criminal financial institutions, and subsidize the fossil fuel industries/ecological collapse. Our government uses OUR tax money to do all these things INSTEAD of maintaining and improving social services and a public safety net, INSTEAD of funding public education for all, and INSTEAD of providing national, or even affordable, healthcare. This is not happening because the majority of Americans wish it so. It is happening because capitalist/corporate interests have subverted our democracy.

Now is the time to make our voices heard. Whatever and wherever they are. Now is the time to speak up for our best interests. Now is the time to declare the nature of our character and the values of our society. I say let’s occupy what’s best in humanity. Occupy Love. Occupy Generosity. Occupy Abundance. Occupy Inclusivity. Occupy Community. Occupy The Common Good. Occupy Everything…