<nettime> message from Chinese activists and academics in support of Occupy Wall Street

[nettime's avid reader <nettime@kein.org>]

This letter of solidarity, signed over by 50 intellectuals and activists in=
=20
China, was posted to Utopia yesterday. Thanks to everyone for the=20
translation and editing work!
http://chinastudygroup.net/2011/10/message-from-chinese-activists-and-
academics-in-support-of-occupy-wall-street/

=46rom the middle of September, a great =E2=80=9CWall Street Revolution=E2=
=80=9D has broken=20
out in the United States. This street revolution, going by the name of=20
=E2=80=9COccupy Wall Street,=E2=80=9D has already expanded to over 70 citie=
s and countries=20
in North America, Europe, and other areas. In their statement on =E2=80=9CT=
he Wall=20
Street Revolution,=E2=80=9D the American people have sworn that this demand=
 for =E2=80=9Ca=20
democratic country, not a corporate kingdom=E2=80=9D mass democratic revolu=
tion=20
must spread to every part of the world, and they will not rest until this=20
goal is met. From the anti-capitalist demonstrations that began after the=20
2008 financial crisis, and which this year have spread across Europe, the=20
Middle East, North Africa and South America, this magnificent global mass=20
democratic movement has finally spread to the center of capitalism=E2=80=99=
s=20
financial empire=E2=80=93Wall Street.
The eruption of the =E2=80=9CWall Street Revolution=E2=80=9D is an historic=
al indicator=20
that the popular democratic revolution that will soon sweep the world is=20
set to begin. It is an especially significant and important event for this=
=20
movement. Before this most recent action, street protests had virtually=20
been exclusively used as a tool by US elite groups to subvert other=20
countries. Now, however, the =E2=80=9CWall Street Revolution=E2=80=9D =E2=
=80=93 with its goals of=20
shared prosperity and popular democracy =E2=80=93 has launched protests in =
the=20
country that is the self-proclaimed defender of democracy. This will=20
inevitably strike a hard blow against the US elite group, itself=20
responsible for the plunder and oppression of people all over the world,=20
and the group that pushed the world into crisis and instability. The=20
protests ring the death knell of the rule of capital. Popular democracy=20
will replace elite democracy in the 21st Century, and the curtain has=20
lifted on the movement from elite politics to popular politics. Using the=20
language of the =E2=80=9CWall Street Revolution,=E2=80=9D this is a struggl=
e of the popular=20
99% against the corrupt 1%, a struggle of the popular 99% against the elite=
=20
1%,and is the final struggle of the popular forces against elite capitalist=
=20
rule.
The world belongs to all of the people of the world. Countries belong to=20
the entire people of those countries. Even more so, wealth is produced by=20
the entire people, and therefore should be shared by the entire people, it=
=20
cannot be monopolized by the 1% =E2=80=93 or even less than 1% =E2=80=93 th=
at is made up of=20
an extremely small number of elites. The demand for common prosperity in=20
economics, and popular democracy in politics has become an unstoppable=20
historical trend! The rapid expansion of a fictitious economy and the=20
massive flow of social wealth has created an amply reliable material=20
foundation for the realization of the common wealth of all people. The=20
development of internet technology and political civilization has created=20
the conditions for human society to make the transition from capitalist=20
democracy to popular democracy. Human society is fully capable of=20
transforming, on the foundation of the past democracy of slaveholders, the=
=20
democracy of feudal lords, and the democracy of the capitalist class, to=20
make the fundamental shift from the democracy of the elites to real popular=
=20
democracy. Common prosperity and popular democracy will become the main=20
content of the historical transformation of the 21st Century. No matter how=
=20
brutally the American riot police will attempt to suppress the participants=
=20
in the Wall Street revolution, no matter how much the global elites =E2=80=
=93=20
especially those in the U.S. and China =E2=80=93try to suppress news of the=
 Wall=20
Street revolution, they cannot stop the vigorous growth and ultimate=20
victory of the democratic revolution of the people of the world.=20
The violent repression and virtual blockade of news about the =E2=80=9CWall=
 Street=20
Revolution=E2=80=9D by elite groups led by the US proves that the fate of o=
ppressed=20
people around the world is the same, regardless of whether they are from=20
developed or developing countries, whether they are from so-called=20
democracies or authoritarian countries. The international elite was the=20
first class to link-up internationally via globalization. Their plunder of=
=20
public wealth and repression of popular democratic movements is cruel and=20
far-reaching, and utterly lacking in freedom and democracy. So-called=20
freedom and democracy in modern society is nothing more than democracy for=
=20
capitalism, an elite democracy. Freedom is another word for the elite to=20
plunder, oppress and violently suppress others. Popular forces have been=20
completely excluded from the freedoms and democracy of modern society, and=
=20
the extent of democratic rights is to choose between presidential=20
candidates that have already been vetted by capital. You can vote once=20
every four years, but you have no way of affecting the people above you who=
=20
directly determine your fate: your boss or superior. And there is no way of=
=20
constraining the capitalistoligarchs who can take away the wealth of the=20
majority of the population with the slight of hand of fictitious capital.=20
=46reedom and democracy have become a virtual game, nothing more than a too=
l=20
to subvert other countries. Now the popular and democratic world revolution=
=20
=E2=80=93 symbolized by the =E2=80=9CWall Street Revolution=E2=80=9D- deman=
ds an end to this=20
political game, and that freedom and democracy be returned to the people.=20
Democracy is not just a check on the president, but a check on government=20
officials; democracy is not just a check on power, but a check on capital.=
=20
If the rights and privileges of feudal and absolute rulers are understood=20
to be a sin and abomination, then giving those rights to capital is also a=
=20
travesty.
Securities and computer networks should have been two crucial elements of=20
our shift from an industrial society to an information society, from a=20
material economy to a virtual economy, from capitalism to a human-centered=
=20
economic system, and from elite politics to popular politics. But the elite=
=20
class has turned securities into a tool of appropriation akin to the=20
=E2=80=98indulgences=E2=80=99 issued by middle-age church functionaries in =
Europe. In the=20
new securitized economy, all the public=E2=80=99s wealth can easily melt in=
to thin=20
air =E2=80=93 including their houses, wages, labor power and even their hop=
e for=20
the future. All these things have become the targets of appropriation by a=
=20
tiny elite minority. Both the white-collar middle classes in developed=20
countries =E2=80=93 owners of fictitious property, and the blue-collar work=
ers in=20
developing countries who cannot afford housing or health care, belong in=20
point of fact to the same class: modern proletariat. When the people=20
protest the unprecedented plunder and vast income gap perpetrated by=20
fictitious capital, they are met with violent repression =E2=80=93 both in =
so-
called democracy countries that claim to be defenders of human rights such=
=20
as the US, and in authoritarian countries that are said to lack freedom and=
=20
democracy. Faced with street protests erupting from the Balkans to North=20
Africa, President Obama and Secretary of State Clinton have repeated over=20
and over, =E2=80=9CThe rights of peaceful protest and the occupation of pub=
lic=20
space should be respected at all times.=E2=80=9D Yet when US citizens attem=
pt to=20
exercise this right they immediately are faced with violent repression by=20
armed police, and a blockade by the news media. If this is reaction of the=
=20
US =E2=80=93 the self-proclaimed leader in human rights =E2=80=93 then we c=
an imagine what=20
the reaction will be in other capitalist countries. Rule by the capitalist=
=20
elite is just as described by the =E2=80=9CWall Street Revolution=E2=80=9D =
=E2=80=93 everywhere.=20
There is nowhere left were we can live and die as people.=20
The eruption of the =E2=80=9CWall Street Revolution=E2=80=9D in the heart o=
f the world=E2=80=99s=20
financial empire shows that 99% of the world=E2=80=99s people remain exploi=
ted and=20
oppressed =E2=80=93 regardless of whether they are from developed or develo=
ping=20
countries. People throughout the world see their wealth being plundered,=20
and their rights being taken away. Economic polarization is now a common=20
threat to all of us. The conflict between popular and elite rule is also=20
found in all countries. Now, however, the popular democratic revolution=20
meets repression not just from its own ruling class, but also from the=20
world elite that has formed through globalization. The =E2=80=9CWall Street=
=20
Revolution=E2=80=9D has met with repression from US police, but also suffer=
s from a=20
media blackout organized by the Chinese elite.
The same fate, the same pain, the same problems, the same conflict. Faced=20
with a common enemy in an elite global class that has already linked-up,=20
the people of the world have only one option: to unite and in a unified and=
=20
shared struggle overturn the rule of the capitalist elite, to ensure that=20
everyone enjoys the basic human rights of work, housing, health care,=20
education, and a secure old-age. But we must go further if we are to=20
realize shared prosperity and popular democracy in a new socialist world=20
historical framework, If we are to fully escape and neutralize the crises=20
and disasters that capitalism has brought the human race, and realize=20
harmonious social development.
The great =E2=80=9CWall Street Revolution=E2=80=9D and the great popular =
=E2=80=9CChilean Winter=E2=80=9D=20
that preceded it signal that the day when we realize shared prosperity and=
=20
popular democracy is approaching. It signals that worldwide popular and=20
democratic socialist movement =E2=80=93 dormant since the 1970s =E2=80=93 i=
s waking up=20
again. But this time, it will be the final battle to put capitalism in its=
=20
grave. The victory of popular democracy and death of elite rule are=20
inevitable! The embers of revolt are scattered amongst us all, waiting to=20
burn with the slightest breeze. The great era of popular democracy, set to=
=20
change history, has arrived again!
Resolutely support the American people in the =E2=80=9CWall Street Revoluti=
on=E2=80=9D!
Resolutely support all street protests pushing for shared prosperity and=20
popular demoracy!
Long live the =E2=80=9CWall Street Revolution=E2=80=9D!
Long live the global movement for popular democracy!
Long live popular international solidarity!




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