 Today's episode of the Occupy Wall Street Show is brought to you by MtGox, m-t-g-o-x dot com, online Bitcoin exchange, and The Thank You Economy by Gary Vaynerchuk, thankyoueconomybook.com. Hello everybody and welcome to the second episode of the Occupy Wall Street Show. Today we are going to talk about what's happening in the Occupy movement, especially this week the biggest news has been recent events in Oakland, California with Marine veteran Scott Olson being shot by local Oakland police, an army literally of riot police who were shooting all sorts of things, you know grenades, you know smoke and flash grenades and rubber bullets and all sorts of things into, you know, what looked like a lightly dispersed crowd of peaceful protesters and the results of that. Today my guests are fourth generation residents of Oakland, California, and Occupy Oakland participants, almost since the beginning, Molly Costello and Matt Igelhart. Are you guys there? Yeah, we're here. Hey, welcome. Thanks for joining us. Thank you for having us. So tell us the situation, I mean, well first of all, let's start at the beginning, when did you get involved in the Occupy movement? We actually, we really got heavily involved on the October 15th, it was a day of global that Occupy Wall Street was calling for global action for people to join together. And so we went down there first on October 15th, which I think was maybe three days maybe after the Occupy Oakland had started. And we went down to bring the people who were camping out and doing the hardcore protesting a bunch of breakfast burritos with a local Oakland food truck called a guerrilla grub. And we went down and that was our first day of getting involved and we were so impressed by the organization, by the spirit of the people of Oakland, and by the Oakland General Assembly that we've been going down every day since October 15th. Wow, that's fantastic. So what are the, what is the issue or issues that most motivated you to get into, you know, get excited about and get involved in the Occupy movement? Well, clearly when you talk to a lot of people, you know, there's a lot of money in politics. Our political system right now is leaving a lot of people feeling disenfranchised. I mean, people talk about this when you just talk to them on the street or in a bar, you know, everybody's on the same page about this and, you know, it's really frustrating for citizens in this country who don't have tons of money and can't write big checks to politicians, but have actual, you know, legitimate grievances that we need addressed. We believe right now that the government is not a true democracy. The government is not of the people by the people and for the people. The government is of the super wealthy who can afford to lobby and get laws passed that benefit them, not the 99. Yeah, the way I've been describing it is that it's not votes that get politicians elected, it's dollars. So it's all about dollar bills. So of course, if, you know, if you have people voting and that actually determines who's elected, that's democracy. But if you have dollar bills doing the voting, then of course only the super rich are in charge and they will continue to, you know, basically they're hiring all the politicians and paying them off in advance with these donations and grooming them for office long before they even run secretly and basically stocking all of Washington with their own employees in effect. And then of course everything is all the laws and everything that happens is going to be biased towards their own interests, right? So it's a lack of democracy that's happened and then the elimination of the middle class as a result. Yes. Absolutely. We agree. And we agree that, you know, that everybody deserves to have a voice, not just the people who can afford to have a voice. And I think you put it so well when you said that we're hiring our politicians. And that is just not what I thought America was about. Right. Yeah. We've been raised and kind of brainwashed on the Hollywood image of the land of the free. This is a free country, you know. The land of the free and the brave and all that. And it's a great, great idea. And actually it's really a good thing that we have that in our minds and our consciousness, unfortunately it just isn't true right now. What we need to do is reclaim that. And you know, that's why they're calling it. Some people object to calling it a revolution, but I really think that it is, has the potential of being revolutionary, like 1776, like take back our country. Absolutely. Absolutely. I've been calling it a revolution from the beginning. And I've been saying, you know, a quote, the revolution will not be televised. And I appreciate people like you who are actually, you know, spreading the true word, not what corporate media is out there spreading. And I just wanted to make, you know, one comment kind of related to corporate media and also to you talking about hiring our politicians. And that is, when we continue that system, those rich 1% politicians and the good old boys club that they belong to, which I don't, my husband doesn't, the 99% do not belong to that good old boys club. They are working to keep all of their friends in the good old boys club rich and to help them. They're creating laws to keep them their money where it is and to keep the poor people poor. I didn't say that very well. But it's, you know, the lobbyists and the laws and the tax laws as they are are all about keeping the poor poor and the rich rich and exactly what you said, getting rid of the middle class. And I'd just like to say, along with what you said, you know, the Constitution of the United States is an amazing document. And it came out of a revolutionary war. And I imagine their conditions must have been very difficult back then. But they were able to come up with an amazing document that we all respect to this day. And it can actually help to guide this movement. Yeah, that's right. Exactly. And no, Molly, I think you said it very well. Both of you did. You know, the one thing is that when you talk about the old boys club, obviously that's what it is. And I think the way I think of it is the top 1% wealthiest, that is the old boys club. And who do they work for? They work for the top 1% of the top 1%. You know, the top 1, 10000th, you know, the people who really actually have the keys to the printing press that prints the money. You know, we're actually launching another new show called Global Central Bankers, which is going to expose a lot about these people who run the central banks of the world and how they actually literally are, it's a private corporation just like Walmart or McDonald's or Coca-Cola, but they have an exclusive monopoly license by the US Congress to print the US dollar. I mean, obviously they print it, you know, contracting it through the mints. But obviously it's electronic now, so it's this digital funny money, and it's just done with, you know, typing zeros on a keyboard, literally. But when they create US dollar, you know, Federal Reserve notes, US dollars out of thin air, what do you think they do with it? It's their own. They print it for themselves. And then they can either spend it or they mostly loan it to the US government. So everybody knows we have a national debt, but they don't really know who we owe it to. And they don't even ask, say, who do we owe it to? Well, the number one people that we owe it to are the people who printed the money and then loaned it to us. This corporation printed our money and then loaned it to us. I mean, oh my gosh, if people understood how that worked, they would just, well, they'd be rioting in the streets wouldn't they? Hi, interesting. They're learning. It's not kind of like what you're talking about there. Is that what we would call a Ponzi scheme? Oh my gosh. And it's the biggest and the oldest Ponzi scheme ever. So it's another show we're going to talk about Global Central Bankers, but I mean, I'm going to have experts on and we're going to interview them and ask them all about how this really works. Because I understand the big picture, but I don't understand the details, but we're going to explore that. It's going to be really interesting about the Federal Reserve and all the central banks of the world. Most of the central banks of the world are controlled by the government of that nation as I understand it. But the biggest ones are private, completely private. Like the Federal Reserve is a private company and the Bank of England as well. So all right, so now let's talk about what's really put sadly has really put Occland, Occupy Oakland on the map as far as the events that have happened Tuesday night. So for those of you, before we start talking about it, let's show that video. For those of you who haven't seen it yet of what actually occurred on Tuesday night, this is Marine veteran Scott Olson. And a lot of other innocent protesters were actually fired upon by literally an army of local Oakland police in full riot gear, even though there's no riot going on. So let's see if we can roll that video. Take a look at this. OK, so this is Scott Olson, the guy with the floppy hat there, standing right next to the Navy man. The Navy guy is carrying this flag that says Veterans for Peace. That's an organization of US veterans. And that's Scott Olson to the right, as you can see. Looks like he's wearing his army fatigues. Just standing there peacefully, obviously, both of them. But that's just moments before the attack. And here's where they begin firing upon the protesters. And they show Scott Olson standing right there. He's just standing there to your gas canister in the air. You still see him standing there. He's standing right there in the front center. Is that the shot that felled him? Yeah, he's standing right up front. And there he is down. It's hard to see from this video exactly how this demonstrator was wounded. But if you doubt that the police were deliberately aiming at the protesters, watch this policeman win a group of protesters attempt to come to the aid of the injured person. Yeah. Watch that again. What's going on? You got a shot. What's your name? What's your name? Yeah, that's just disgusting, Jimmy. I mean, not only did they write their point blank, they shot him right in the face. He had like two inch gash in his skull. He had a skull fracture, as I understand it. And not only that. But then when a whole group of protesters come to his aid because he's fallen, there's I don't know how many riot police were standing there. They rushed to his side to aid him. And they throw another one right in the middle of the crowd. That is not riot control. That is military tactics. They're really at war with the actual citizens doing peaceful protests. So what do you guys think about all of this? What was your reaction when you first saw this? I mean, the same as everyone that's just total outrage, honestly, a couple points. It was not only the Oakland Police Department. There was many, many officers from all around the bay that came on that night. And it was a massive military-type action against peaceful, nonviolent protesters. And I mean, anybody looking in that video is outraged. And I'd just like to say that Scott Olson does have a fractured skull, we understand. And there's a website that's been set up for his recovery at IBAW.org. That's the Iraqi vets against the war. Very easy to donate if anyone would like to. IBAW. So it's ivlikevictoraw.org. That's right. I will put that up on the screen in a second. I mean, yeah, there's no two ways to interpret that video. There's just no way that you can look at that any other way. So obvious that they shut him right in the face at point blank range. In the video, it looks like they're only five or 10 feet away from where he was standing. They're right there. And then to have another officer just lob another tear gas grenade into the crowd, it's despicable. And everybody that we talk to who hasn't been there already at Occupy Oakland, that's what's motivated them, is just that image. And that's going around the world right now as we speak. And we should almost say thank you to the officers who instigated that because they've created a bigger movement than existed before. Wow. At what expense? That's so sad. The OK, now, do you have any idea how many protesters there were that night? That night, we weren't there that night. But we understand there was about 2,000 protesters that night. And afterwards, the numbers grew to 3,000 easily the next night. People returned to downtown Oakland in otherwise beautiful and very positive place. And they reclaimed Frank Agawa Plaza in front of the city hall. It's now called Oscar Grant Plaza by some. And it continued the next night. It keeps growing. The tents are back. They didn't achieve their objectives. So I don't understand why they even needed to take those tactics. Does anybody explain why they, you say they brought in police from many different jurisdictions around. Has anybody explained why they did that when they only have 2,000 protesters or peacefully marching? Well, I have to say that because of budget cuts and conditions in the city, the Oakland Police Department is dramatically understaffed on any day. And let alone to deal with this kind of situation, although they didn't need to take these kind of tactics, they have real legitimate problems that happen in Oakland like any other big city, as you can understand. There's murders. There's assaults. There's domestic violence. And these were peaceful protesters that didn't require that kind of action. Right. And who's command, when they bring in officers from other jurisdictions, I wonder who's in charge? Would it be the Oakland Police Chief still that would be in charge of the whole operation? As far as I understand, this operation, the people who are in charge were the Interim Oakland Police Department Chief. He's, again, Interim Chief just took over the job maybe within the last week ago. I was going to say within the last month. And his name is Chief Jordan. And he took over for Anthony Bats. I wish Anthony Bats had not left us. And so an Interim Police Chief who looks like a pretty young guy to me and then Mayor Jean Kwan are the people responsible for what happened to Scott Olson. And that's what we are hearing from everybody at Occupy Oakland. However, the mayor wasn't even in the city at the time. It's unclear as to the chain of command. But it's being investigated right now. The organization known as the Occupy Marines, obviously, when something like this happens to a Marine anywhere, they're going to support that person. So they're looking into it. And we hope that through legal action, we can really figure out what happened here. Yeah, we've seen the images and the stories. You did this to my brother. But it's not just the Marines. I mean, obviously, they have a special fraternity. But every American, I mean, Marines are there to defend this country. And what they did to Scott Olson, they did to every American. That really is an act of war against the people of the United States. I mean, it's just unbelievable. So here it is, they're calling it a riot, obviously. They're bringing in all these riot police from all these different jurisdictions. And Mayor Kwan is not even in town. She's out of town. And then after the fact, she congratulated the police for carrying it out so smoothly with very little problems or something to that effect. She was congratulatory saying, oh, everything was well. And then until she found out, apparently later, oops, what didn't go as well as she thought. And then what, like 48 hours? Was it two days or three days later? She came out and apologized to Scott Olson and his family. Apparently. That's about what we're hearing. When we were at the Occupy Oakland General Assembly last night, there was rumor that seemed to be confirmed by several reputable websites and sources there at the scene that Mayor Jean Kwan was going to come out and herself personally address the assembly and speak to people. Myself, I mean, obviously I am not a fan of hers, but I was greatly concerned for her personal safety and seriously questioning her lack of judgment. Obviously she has extremely poor judgment by what she decided was the appropriate way to handle the peaceful crowd demonstrating on Tuesday night. She obviously has terrible judgment. And so she was supposed to come out last night and address the General Assembly at seven o'clock. You might be surprised to hear she didn't show up. Yeah, well, she must have gotten some good advice from somebody on her staff that she was gonna have to come out in the Pope Mobile, I think, after what happened. That could have been a very bad thing, actually. Well, she was there and she received a lot of negative feedback from the crowd and so she retreated. But the way she's been handling this from a distance, it just really is full of negligence. And the people of Oakland have no confidence in her ability to lead at this point. People are asking for her to resign and for her, or we'll seek her recall. Clearly something needs to be done and it's just the honorable thing for in this kind of a situation. So we'll see what happens with that. Yeah, we got a press release here from her office last night and I wanna talk about that in just a second but we gotta take a break really quickly and thank our sponsors, obviously, if it weren't for our sponsors, we wouldn't be here. So we thank them greatly for making this show possible. Mount Gox is mtgox.com. If you don't know what Bitcoin is, we have another show called The Bitcoin Show which I'll educate you all about that on only one TV here. 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And just like the old days, with a local merchant, so that no matter how big your company is, you can still give personalized service to your customers and give them a feeling that their feedback matters and that you hear them and you respond. So it's called Thank You Economy. It's an excellent book by Gary Vaynerchuk and we thank you for sponsoring the Occupy Wall Street show. So we're back now. I wanted to tell you guys, so last night, I mean, I'm sure you've already seen it now, but we received the press release. It was actually late, like 1.30 a.m. here last night right before I was falling asleep. But I read it and I was like, oh, this is good. She's whatever. This was from the office of Mayor Kwan and apologizing and all that until I got to the fourth point. And I'm like, but we ask that you not stay in the park after 10 p.m. And I was like, oh my gosh, she doesn't get it. Since when does the Constitution's right for public assembly and the public, the public can't be on the public land. Sorry. The Constitution is on hold from 10 p.m. to 6 a.m. Pacific time, according to Mayor Kwan. And she said the clause is available for free speech activity up until 10 p.m. Between certain hours. I mean, I've read the Constitution and I'm going to continue to reread the Constitution and try and find anywhere where the freedom of speech, the exercise thereof is limited between certain hours. I really don't see it that way. Yeah, and if the Constitution says that free speech is limited to 6 a.m. to 10 p.m., I mean, how do we even know? Is that an Eastern time, Pacific time? You know, since when are they rewriting the Constitution? You know, these police officers, police chiefs, mayors, even governors, you know, are just making up their own rules as they go. And they could give them clever names and like it's a rule, it's a law, it's not. And I'm sure that if a big corporation, you know, now we know from the Supreme Court that in the Citizens United case that money for big corporations is free speech. And if they wanted to write a check after 10 o'clock, I'm sure the politicians would be happy to take that. Right, you get that right. They're 24 hours a day and they'll accept those donations. Anonymously too, you know, they can do that. So no one actually knows which bank, you know, is donating their money. So isn't it true I read somewhere that Mayor Kwan was previously, before she was mayor, she was a protester and she had problems with the Oakland police herself? Certainly during the recent Oscar Grant murder case, I'm sure that you've heard about that. The people of Oakland, there's actually a long history here of police brutality. I mean, I'd like to say there's some really good police officers out there, I know them, and this does not reflect every one of them, but there is a problem amongst the community and this has been going on for a long time. But when after the Oscar Grant situation, you know, Mayor Kwan was actually down at the time she was a city council member and she was down in between the police and the protesters trying to ensure the peace. You know, and she has a long history of being a community activist as well. And you know, just at this point though, her leadership is seriously in question. I wonder why she wasn't down there between the protesters and the police on Tuesday night? Yes, she wasn't even in the city, she was apparently in a fundraiser. Maybe getting money from pitch donors, I don't know. Wow. So what do you think, I mean, it sounds to me like, people who have an inclination to be a fug often are attracted to the career of being a police officer because you have that ultimate authority of a gun, there's me and you and a gun and my, if I use it on you, it's your word against mine and you're not here. So there is that, but it sounds like the police department there doesn't have the leadership or maybe it does. You know, it's the leadership that determines, I think, the whole attitude and culture of any organization like a police force. So I mean, what's the deal with the chief of police? We have an interim chief of police there now and like, is he doing his job at all? Is he encouraging this kind of violence or is he just looking the other way? Do we have any clue what's going on with that? You know, it's hard to speak as to what's happening internally with the police. You're right, the previous chief resigned recently just a week ago. So I can't imagine this is an easy job for the interim chief, Jordan. He is from the area, he doesn't know the situation and we just need better from our police force. They work for the people. They shouldn't be the ones causing the problem. And honestly, I've heard that many police have resigned because of what happened to Scott Olson and what happened the other night. Wow. And we've heard, I can't verify that, but I've heard that and I know that various police, sheriff, fire department, ambulance drivers, they all stand in solidarity with the Occupy movement. Well, they're supposed to work for the people but they actually work for the city and the politicians and the politicians are supposed to work for the people but we're right back where we started again, they don't. They work for the corporations that are owned by the banks and the bankers. So really, they're the private security, they're like mall cops, they're the private security force of the elite who have all the money and power. And yeah, it's very sad because they are local citizens, they're working guys and gals just like us but they're under orders. And so I can't imagine being in that, put in that situation where you have to fire up on your own, I mean, in this country of all places. We think we're so superior when it comes to democracy, we're gonna spread our democracy, make war to spread our democracy because we're so superior but we really need to get our own act together obviously. The vacuum of leadership also leaves those police forces at risk, besides the protesters, they don't wanna operate. Individually, they probably don't wanna operate in a situation that could get out of control. That's not in any of these best interests. Right, I know, it's like, but it makes you wonder, like what went wrong? I mean, literally, when they're standing there in formation in riot gear and there's no riot, what are they thinking? Did somebody give them the order to throw the, somebody obviously gave the order. So who gave the order? Do we have any information about who did this and who gave the order? I really wish that I knew who initially said, pull the trigger. The protesters aren't moving like we told them to so pull the trigger. I wish I knew who, I mean, was it Gene Kwan from Washington, D.C.? Was it this interim chief Jordan? I wish that I knew who gave that order, but I don't. And from everyone that we're talking to down there and from everything that I'm paying attention to on the internet, local news sources, all of that, I have not heard anyone take responsibility or point the finger at who literally said, pull the trigger. But I just can't, it's unfathomable that this was the way that Gene Kwan, Chief Jordan, and all the other powers that be that perpetrated this violence against the innocent, peaceful citizens of Oakland. I can't believe that they thought this was the way to solve the problem, which there wasn't a problem. We were peacefully protesting. And I say we because I'd been there every other day except for that since October 15th, but. Thank God you weren't there. You might've been one of the victims. Exactly. And even after the fact, I mean, there's a before fact, there's who did it, but the responsibility is obvious. Like you say, the chief of police and the mayor have the ultimate responsibility for what that's their job. And then to say, oh, I apologize. That's like, oh, oops, my bad. That is just, to me, that's just unbelievably inappropriate of a response. That's not how you respond to shooting someone in the face. I mean, it's just unbelievable. And then, oh, and by the way, you still have to be out at 10 p.m., you know, obviously just out of touch with what is happening in her world. Clearly, you're right. And I just wanna say that we will have accountability eventually, the truth will come out. And really, their tactics were terrible because it only served to increase the presence of the protesters. 3,000 people came back the next night because of what happened. People are outraged. And honestly, this is a distraction. This is not a movement against the police. This is a movement against corporate interests in politics. And this is a distraction from the real issues. And, you know, we need to get accountability. We need to figure out what happened, but we also need to refocus. And that's what happened afterwards. I don't know if you know, but at a general assembly the next night, it was agreed upon almost unanimously by 3,000 people that we are gonna have a general strike in the city of Oakland on November 2nd, Wednesday. Hopefully we're gonna have union support, small business support, just people in general support. And, you know, we're gonna seize the opportunity while there's attention on us to really make a statement. And, you know, this is, again, it's not against the police in any way. It's against corporate control. Yeah, so taking back our politics, our politicians need to be accountable to the people. And so we need to do a clean sweep of all the politicians who are not accountable to the people and just get rid of them and replace them with politicians that are accountable to the people and not the corporate interests and mainly the banks. And, of course, the banks own the corporations. The, yeah, I think that the... Sorry? People who agree need to step up and take over the political structure locally all the way up the chain. And that's really the only way that this movement is gonna... This grassroots movement is gonna grow is, you know, through responsible action. And the way that we've seen it happen at the General Assembly, you know, people are very capable of discussing what's important to them. Right, exactly. And the... I knew about the strike, the general strike. And I don't know if you knew, the General Assembly here in New York, I read, had voted in solidarity to also do that. So I think it's now gonna be a nationwide strike, right? That's fantastic. November, what is it, November 2nd? November 2nd. November 2nd, put that on the screen. So it's a general strike nationwide. Who knows, it may be by the time this airs, it may be worldwide already. I did see somebody referencing, you know, trying to make it a worldwide strike, November 2nd. But imagine if everybody just take a sick day. Just don't go to work on November 2nd. That's a Wednesday, you said, right? Wednesday, November 2nd. Just call in sick or whatever. Just don't go to work and see what happens. See how the politicians and the corporations function without the people. And I think it'll prove a point. You know, the people are in solidarity. They're not all sleeping on the sidewalks down there at Wall Street and at the park, you know. But they're like you and me. They're normal, average, typical Americans who are absolutely in solidarity and behind what these 23-year-olds had the courage to do to actually go down there and start this thing. We all felt it. And that's why I think this movement has resonated with everybody. Absolutely, absolutely. And it is. It's resonating hard with everybody and I'm so happy about that. You can feel that resonance. When we go down to the general assemblies and we take part, you can feel the resonance. It's a beautiful thing. But I do just back to the strike on November 2nd. I wanna say one more thing about that just to give a little historical perspective. The last general strike that happened in America was in 1946 and it was in Guess What City. Oakland. That's right. It was in Oakland. The city was shut down for 56 hours and you better believe some changes were made after that last general strike for the betterment of the people of Oakland. And I believe again, the people of Oakland, the people of New York and whatever other cities stand with us in solidarity, we will be heard and we will change things for the better. Yeah. You think if there's a nationwide general strike or even bigger worldwide general strike on November 2nd, do you think that the mainstream corporate owned media are gonna report it? They won't have anybody to operate the cameras but the next day. That would be great if they had nobody. They might notice. We're hoping next Wednesday that some people are gonna notice. Because it is, in talking about people noticing, it is weird when we will go down to the Occupy Movement and to the General Assembly and then leave to go charge our cell phones real quick at a restaurant around the corner or something like that. And it's so bizarre to be so intensely involved at the movement and then go to a restaurant and everybody's there eating and drinking and they're around the corner from Oscar Grant Plaza and they have no idea what's going on. Yeah, they're just a happy hour at Ruby Tuesday and they're in their own little world. They're gonna get home to watch Dancing with the Stars. I know, I have the same experience here too. In New York, heading home or whatever and you get maybe eight blocks away and you just see these people, they're just in their own oblivious world. They have no idea what's going on but they've heard about it. I mean, now they're starting here. Actually, Fox News, believe it or not, did a poll and at some point, I forgot what the number is now but I think 70% or something of Americans know about it but what they know about it is the question because if they're getting the news from Fox News then it can't be good. But thank God, there's not a day that goes by that I don't thank God for the internet because the internet is the new media and who needs the old media? Just boycott it. It's irrelevant. Irrelevant, old media is irrelevant. That's true. We have another show, I'll plug in another show called Absolutechly where we teach you how to buy this little thing called a boxy box and one end plugs into the internet, the other plugs into your HDTV and you get a remote control and you get all your TV and movies you want for free and you don't have to rely on the broadcast or cancel your cable. All you need is internet and that's the future anyway. So every 20 year old will tell you that's where you get TV, movies and music. So you don't need to rely on this old media's outdated, obsolete and irrelevant. And the Occupy Oakland movement speaks to that. It's a diverse, horizontally organized movement. I mean, there are no leaders. It's all done through consensus. We seek in Oakland 90% consensus to take any action. Wow, that's great. You might think that that's difficult but we break up in small groups, we talk amongst ourselves, we respect everybody, we respect people who dissent and we listen and take action from there and if you can't get 80% consensus then you're encouraged to re-order your proposal and bring it back later. It's just amazing to see democracy operate this way as opposed to seeing people being shouted down and intimidated and told that they don't understand the issues. I believe that people know better than most politicians the issues that affect them in their daily life. That's right, I know and we, again, we think we live in this free democratic country and most of us, I know in my lifetime I've never, I was really, really intrigued by what you're talking about too, this direct democracy and I've never seen that in my life actual real democracy except maybe in someone's home or something at the dining room table but I've never seen it actually work like that and that's one of the things we're gonna really explore on this show in coming episodes is real in-depth how that really works and what's the history of this whole, I mean the sign language, the whole system of direct democracy is really intriguing and that's what they're not, the mainstream corporate media is not even talking about, of course they don't wanna mention that but that's the most interesting aspect of it is how people are directly participating in this so I know that you or me or anybody who's watching can go down there in New York at Wall Street at Liberty Square and at four o'clock for the facilitators meeting any day you can have a proposal put onto the agenda for that GA that night, that General Assembly and then that General Assembly will vote on it, I think they do, if I understand it right, they do like a temperature check and they have to have consensus but if it's not then people can object and you can work it out with the people who object and come back and propose it again and so on and so on, it's this whole formal structure which is just amazing and like I said in my lifetime I've never seen that before it was just like wow, this is new technology it's so low tech, it's shocking that especially the human mic, like what? Why aren't they using a big screen TV like at a rock concert or Twitter or something but it's so low tech, it's beautiful and it's simplicity. It absolutely is, I mean I have to say I love the people's mic and when I first was watching you guys there in New York with the people's mic before things got started up here and Occupy Oakland it was a little weird, I have to admit to watch it on TV and I didn't quite get it. I'm telling all your viewers, please go down to your local general assembly, your local Occupy movement and join their general assembly and see this democracy that we're talking about in action, see the people's mic, see what a beautiful process true democracy is. It's absolutely beautiful to see it happen and I have to say the first General Assembly at Occupy Oakland when I was involved in, they said everybody break up into groups of 20, that's how, you might wonder how 3000 people get together and make a decision and we pass things, we vote on things and pass them with a 90% consensus. Well it happens because we break up into groups of 20 and I thought the first time they said break up into groups of 20 and there were thousands of people there, I thought, oh yeah, right. Well- That's 100 groups of 20. Yeah, it actually, it worked and nobody was talking over anybody, everybody. I mean everybody's voice was heard and it was smooth, it was organized and it really works and I think right now the way that our government treats us is like we're all children or like we're too stupid to govern ourselves, you know like we're too stupid to be able to make the right decisions and you can go, I feel that other General Assemblies would be the same as at Occupy Oakland, the people are not too stupid and they are able to make decisions, especially decisions that have to do with their living conditions and the city that they're living in and all of that. Exactly, yeah, it has nothing to do with being stupid and when it comes to our government we just didn't write a big enough check but of course the most wisdom there is is the people, the people's wisdom. And it might be difficult, it might be a little messy but it's also inspiring and it's inclusive and it's empowering for the people as well. Yeah, for sure. People don't care like if they feel like they have a voice and like they're being heard, they suddenly care. Yeah, yeah. And it's really nice to see people who as Matt said earlier about people feel disenfranchised and that's a big part of what this movement is about. It's really wonderful to watch those people, ourselves included, who feel disenfranchised to have a voice. It's just such a beautiful thing to see. Like you say, the human mic at first I was like, what, they gotta come up with a better technology. I got all about technology. But you're right, it grows on you and some people criticized it and said, it's like a cult, it's like a brainwashing tool but then I've heard the, it's on how you look at it. I heard, I read somewhere else on Twitter, someone was saying, I love the human mic because you really hear everything because when you hear it and it's repeated and you repeat it, every word sinks in. Yeah, it really does sink in. And it's, you know, obviously it's not brainwashing because this is exactly what is being said and what's being discussed and what's being voted on. It's a great, great thing. A lot of times at city council meetings or local political actions, people can't hear very well or they're out in the hall or they're left margin. And really this is about communication and making sure that we're clear and that we know what we're talking about. Yeah, I mean, you can't get more active as a listener. We're talking about active listening. You know, when you're in a big huge auditorium, you could be in Madison Square Garden, somebody's got a microphone in the whole place, hears it, but you could be sleeping through the thing. As you've seen, you've ever seen these videos in Congress where the representatives are snoring and obviously they're not actively listening but you can't listen, hear it, repeat it, without being awake and actually hearing it. So Ed's asking, what about the children? What are the kids getting involved in this and how do they take to this whole protest? Sometimes, I mean, it looks like a happy festive carnival sometimes. You know, it's inspiring to see children there. Of course, you would never want children to be there when they're acting the way that they did the other night, but certainly during the hours that we've been allowed to express our free speech, there are people with children. In Oakland, we have a kids' fund zone there, you know, amongst other organizational tents. And you know, I'd just like to say that the tents are back up in front of City Hall. They're not gone, they're returning and they're growing all the time. And there's food, not bombs, has a tent that they serve free food. There's an organization, you know, they keep it clean, dishwashing, it's amazing. There's medical attention for people and there is a kid zone where, you know, you can't just drop off your kid but if you wanna spend some time with your kid there, you know, there's all sorts of fun things for kids to do. That's cool and how they, so the tents are back, are they, they're camping overnight, they're not going, they're not leaving at 10. As of last night, they're back and it's growing and we'll see. Are the police leaving them alone at night, like last night? As far as we've heard, I mean the first tent that I saw go back up, I have a picture of it, you know, check my Twitter feed, it's there somewhere. And the very first tent that I saw go back up was on Wednesday night, the night after the riots. Wow. And it was awesome just to see that one lone tent back there saying, you know, we're reclaiming Oscar Grant Plaza for the 99% and then last night by the time we left the General Assembly there was maybe 25 tents, something like that. So I'm really curious to see, you know, what it's gonna be when we head back down today and I do have to say thank you to, you know, New York City Occupy Wall Street Movement. I heard that there was, what was it, a hundred tents or something like that and I wish I could remember off the top of my head how much money it was. Yeah, I think I read that, $20,000. $20,000. Yeah, they voted and they said they wanna send $20,000 to Occupy Oakland for tents and medical and legal whatever the needs are there. So that should show up today and also Michael Moore should be there today. So, you know, we'll let you know how that goes but we anticipate that movement's just gonna grow and the tents are just gonna continue to come. So we just wanna say, we wanna say thank you to Occupy Wall Street, New York City and thank you to Michael Moore for coming to support us today. We really, really appreciate it. Thanks you guys. Yeah, absolutely. We're all in this together. It doesn't matter where we are. It's just, it's one movement. Not even just nationwide, it's global. It's really, really global because the bankers rule the entire earth. It's not even national and so that's why everybody's impacted with this, you know. That's why they're writing in Greece and Italy and everywhere else. It's all the same thing. It's these. Absolutely. The 1% of the 1%. I was just gonna say, speaking of global, you just said that this is something global happening. I'm not sure if you're aware but they're marching in, they're marching over in Egypt today. I'm not, I don't know if they're starting into Freer Square but I'm sure that there's gonna be an Occupy movement there. It is directly in solidarity with Occupy Oakland and against the police actions that happened the other night. I believe the people of Freer Square know a thing or two about that and can relate to the footage that we've seen on TV. And the citizens of Egypt who are standing in solidarity with Occupy Oakland are marching today on the U.S. Embassy. And I'm just so, I am thrilled that this is a global thing and that the people united will never be divided. We feel the support in Oakland. We talk about it, we're aware of it. So wherever you are, if you feel like showing some support, just reach out. It's amazing what this one word of encouragement can do. It doesn't matter who. And these top, the top 1% of the top 1% who are really pulling the strings, I know for months now they've gotta have been shaking in their boots because as soon as this started, they're like, oh, we really went too far, I think. And they really have. And now everything is a reflex, like a reactionary thing, like what do we do now? You know, the Albany, you heard about what happened in Albany, upstate New York here. The governor gave direct orders to the mayor, arrest these protesters. And the mayor gave direct orders to the police, arrest these protesters. And the police said, no, screw you. We are the experts in policing. The mayor and the governor are not. And these people are peacefully protesting. We are not gonna arrest them. They don't even have the, they're like, that will cause a riot. And they're not geared up for that. So they did the right thing. And they do not have to follow orders if it's not constitutional. So it's a message to police men and police chiefs and departments all over the country that you don't have to follow orders that are non-constitutional, not in this country. In fact, you could be actually committing a crime if you do. You know, if you follow orders to do something illegal, then you're still doing something illegal. So you really want to think about it before you assault someone for, you know, for acting in accordance with the law. So. And we end up, the occupy, you know, they call them protesters, but it's hard to call them protesters at this point. The movement will support any police officer, anybody who will support us. Yeah, yeah, absolutely, absolutely. I think that you're seeing that more and more, like in New York City police, you can tell. I mean, especially the blue suit, I mean, the blue shirt, you know, normal cops are, you can see they have a lot of empathy for what's going on. They, you know, on a different day, they might actually be in there joining. But, you know, it's coming from the top. The orders are coming from the top. You know, billionaire Bloomberg is, you know, definitely in the 1%. I mean, they're all owned, you know, in that pyramid scheme of this Ponzi system we have. And the commands are coming down from on top, but, you know, the people, the 99% were too big to fail, right? I see this thing growing and growing and growing. And every time they pull something like this, they don't even know that they're pouring kerosene on this fire. And they're just making it explode with growth. So I think it's an exciting time. It's an exciting time to be alive in an American, especially that, you know, since 1776, we haven't seen a revolution like this one. It's coming. There's nothing else. This is shown that apathy is dead. People, not young people, but a lot of young people, old people, a very diverse group of people, at least here in Oakland, that I can only speak to what I've seen myself, are motivated. And they are no longer apathetic. They're no longer content to sit back on the couch and flip to the channels. You know, there's this direct action that's taking place on a broad scale. Yeah. I mean, I can totally, it's forgivable in a way people's apathy for this whole generation, because you felt like there's nothing you can do about it. And you know, they were right. I mean, in a way, there's nothing you can do about it. You know, even my parents' generation, you know, it's like everything's stacked against you and you can't fight the man and all that. And it's true. They were right. But eventually there is, ultimately, when it really comes down to it, it's almost like a war. It's a revolution that the only thing you can do about it is to change everything. We really need to wipe the whole slate clean and start over with a new idea of how it really should be done. And there's nothing to be afraid of. This is not some kind of, you know, it's just not something that people should fear. It's a natural rebalancing. I believe that things have happened throughout human history similar to this. And you know, if you're speaking the truth, if you have good intentions, you know, there's nothing to fear about this. It doesn't have to be painful or it might be a little inconvenient, especially when the strike happens. But you know, we want to really maintain peaceful nonviolent action. I know that there are some that don't feel that way. I can only speak for myself. But there's a lot of people that feel that way in this movement. And we know the right thing to do. And we believe in each other. Yeah, exactly. So we just need to, it's just going to be a new and improved version of the America that we thought we had. Exactly. And we need some fundamental changes maybe. Like we know we're very familiar with separation of church and state. We need a separation of corporation and state. We need separation of corporation and politician. And banks that are predatory and evil need to be whatever, whatever they need to be, will decide, whether they need to be nationalized or eliminated or whatever. If they're too big to fail, then they absolutely must fail and things like that. So anyway, we're going to have to just like, it's just going to be a new version 2.0 of real democracy. Absolutely. And you were talking about people feeling like, oh, it's too hard. I can't get involved. Or it's going to be too complicated or too inconvenient. And I just want to comment that what have people back during the time of Martin Luther King had said in the time of the Civil Rights protests had said the same thing. This is too inconvenient. This is too hard. It's going to get in the way. I need to make it to work today. What have people had said that? Where would we be today? Where would we stay? Exactly. That will never work. Well, we are out of time. Thank you so much, Molly and Matt, for joining us. And it was a great, great conversation. I hope that we'll talk more again soon and catch up on the latest developments in this Occupy movement. Thanks so much for that. Thank you for your interest in what's happening here Sure thing. So remember, guys, what we hold in our hearts and minds grows. So be very careful what you hold there. Everyone has their own unique area of brilliance. So let yours shine. And we'll see you soon. Great.