What the 99% Want.

The 1% just thought the 99% would dry up and blow away, when the 1% found other places to manufacturer, and other places to sell. Guess what? That’s not happening, and 99% with time on their hands and American cultural values are being very creative about letting the 1% know that this country was founded on the notion of freedom and justice for all, and NOT for just the 1%.

Best expresssion yet that I’ve found of what the 99% want is here: “In a must-read New York Times Op-Ed over the weekend, economist Jeffrey Sachs – an erstwhile villain in the eyes of the anti-globalization left – hailed Occupy Wall Street as the start of a new progressive era in American history, defined by the challenge of restoring “prosperity and power to the 99 percent.”

The movement, he writes, should aim concretely for three things: The first is a revival of crucial public services, especially education, training, public investment and environmental protection. The second is the end of a climate of impunity that encouraged nearly every Wall Street firm to commit financial fraud. The third is to re-establish the supremacy of people votes over dollar votes in Washington. 

None of this will be easy, obviously. The movement will have to up its strategic game, Sachs writes: consumer and shareholder activism needs to play a bigger role, and the movement also needs both a public policy platform and a cohort of change-makers willing to run for public office propelled by social media, not corporate cash. But make no mistake – something’s happening here. “A new generation of leaders is just getting started,” Sachs writes. “The new progressive age has begun.”

Read more: http://www.rollingstone.com/politics/blogs/national-affairs/is-occupy-the-start-of-a-new-progressive-era-20111114#ixzz1eAyLhkWO