FROM OWS to RRC by Cindy Sheehan

From OWS to RRC

Cindy Sheehan

Recent events at Occupy movements, particularly in Oakland, Denver, Atlanta, Portland and Chicago, where hundreds were arrested and some seriously injured—it’s becoming clear that when we in the Robbed Class allow ourselves to be contained in a small, easily attacked geographic location, we open ourselves up for Imperial Abuse and more Police Brutality. As a non-violent movement, we the people do not have the tools or the will to be involved in a war against the Police State. We will lose, especially if we are inclined to confine ourselves to easily surrounded city parks.

Remember the tales we were told in grammar school about our great revolutionary leaders who became almost like guerrilla warriors during the war for independence? How they learned how to break the easily attacked ranks and fight like the “Indians?” Can you imagine the people in the countries occupied by the US gathering in local parks and telling US troops thus making it easy to find them and obliterate them?

Obviously, the United Police States of America knows no constraint on its violence. There is a similar lack of accountability for the goon squads or the people who order them to do attack innocent people. As someone who has watched Occupy Sacramento spend more time fighting with the city to allow its encampment to remain set up in the park than actually confronting the issues I think maybe it’s time to move from occupation to solution in smaller, yet connected groups of Robbed Class insurgency?

Since the beginning of 2009, I have been urging people to break their chains of slavery with the Robber Class--that is now happening. The Robbed Class is waking up to the fact that we have been co-dependent with the crimes of the Robber Class for generations now and that cycle must be broken. But what are some of the major institutions or practices that enlarge this vast income and social inequality?

The major problem is that here in the US basic human rights are sold to us as “privileges” that we must either be born into or sell our souls to the corporate devil to obtain—but even that option is disappearing with the outsourcing of jobs and the growth of predatory credit systems. Meaningful work that doesn’t make one want to scrub the stench of the regret of selling-out is very hard to come by lately in the “wealthiest” nation on the planet.

What are basic physical human rights as outlined and recognized by the international community?

The right to peace;

The right to health care;

The right to a clean and sustainable environment;

The right to housing;

The right to education;

The right to healthy food free from genetically modified organisms;

The right to clean water;

The right to a meaningful job paying a living wage;

And the right to organize into true democratic systems.

My book, Myth America, 20 Greatest Myths of the Robber Class and the Case for Revolution presents an argument against being co-dependent with the Robber Class and offers many do-able solutions to build healthy, healing, peaceful and sustainable communities. Re-Creating Revolution Communities (RRC) begins the hard work of siphoning off the power and resources from the Robber Class and keeping it in our own communities and making civilization work for us.

Another grave, but not insurmountable problem we have here is a vertical, hierarchical power structure—the solution is horizontal, grassroots, decision-making and power sharing.

The PDF of Myth America is free and all you have to do is click this link to download your copy!