It is understandable that the

Elusive Trope — Mon, 28 May 2012 15:06:47 +0000

In reply to What is the 99% Declaration Working Group?

It is understandable that the Occupy movement is trying to divorce themselves from the DWG.

But the whole convening of a national convention modeled on the principles of the occupy movement does start to bring up some interesting questions.

The first one comes to mind is derived from one of the reasons for taking issue with keeping it to citizens and legal residents is that it excludes illegal immigrants from having a voice. It is understandable that one would like to have migrant workers and other undocumented individuals have a voice. But then we are confronted by the question of what one means when one starts talking about the nation.

Is it simply those who happen to be in a particular geographical location at a particular time? Should someone from, say, Switzerland or Guatemala, who has just arrived, undocumented, a month ago have an equal voice about what happens in this country.

And why stop at the borders. Someone on facebook wrote in response to the People of Color Working Group's statement regarding issues with DWG's limitations on participation

Its divisive for a start, and ignores 95% of the global population. America is not the only country, nor does it have any sole preserve over the 99%.

So in keeping with the principles of the movement, does one have to do away with the notion of the state? which in this case refers to United States of America, but would apply to any of the locations on the globe.

If one is for true participatory democracy, then how can one deny one participation just because they happen to be just on the other side of the border in, say, Montreal or Toronto. And folks in those cities, along with the rest of Canada need to allow the rest of us south of their border to be able to have a say on what happens up there.

dagblog - Comments for "What is the 99% Declaration Working Group?"

It is understandable that the