Occupy Movement Will Not Be Silenced or Stopped
Nov. 15, 2011
Occupy Movement Will Not Be Silenced or Stopped
Statement of Robert Weissman, President, Public Citizen
Occupy Wall Street has helped focus national attention on the crucial problems of our day: unchecked corporate power that chokes our economy and democracy, rising inequality that betrays the basic promise of America, joblessness when there’s work to be done, foreclosures that displace families and leave houses empty, and much more.
The hardy bands of Occupy protesters in New York and around the country have fundamentally altered the national conversation – and not just in the media. Political and campaign discourse has changed.
The Occupy movement already has done more to help this country than anyone could reasonably have imagined. But it’s just getting started. The movement won’t be deterred by eviction efforts in New York or Portland or Oakland or St. Louis or Nashville or anywhere else. “We are the 99 percent” is not a call that can be so easily silenced, nor a movement that can be stopped.
Public Citizen salutes, celebrates and supports Occupy Wall Street and the Occupy movement. We call on people to participate in the Nov. 17 day of action that marks the two-month anniversary of Occupy Wall Street, and will now serve to demonstrate the lasting and growing strength of a movement.
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Public Citizen is a national, nonprofit consumer advocacy organization based in Washington, D.C. For more information, please visit www.citizen.org.