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We can't channel and direct the anger without a suitable target. And, without the right target you can't fan the flames of reformation. I believe Goldman Sachs should be the target now. Just as Kodak was for my mentor Mr. Alinsky in Rochester, NY in 1965.
Rules for Radicals a Must Read by Saul D. Alinsky
I know I'm nobody but please, please just hear me out. I can't do this without the support of people like you.
Chris Hedges, Michael Moore, Keith Olbermann, Ralph Nader, Van Jones and Matt Taibbi all have one question: Where's the outrage?
Forty-eight percent of American households now have annual incomes of less than $45,000; that's from one or more wage earners! Twenty-eight percent of all American households are officially poverty stricken. Fifty-two million American are now without medical insurance. The capitalist system is now a con game enriching just 2% of all American households. High unemployment shows no signs of abating. And, the American prospect is deteriorating.
The pent up anger must be enormous, it just must be! Where is the outrage? What are we doing wrong?
Saul D. Alinsky by John Pelham
In frustration I marched over to the Independence branch of the Free Library of Philadelphia. It was back to basics for me. I located a copy of Saul Alinsky's Rules for Radicals. The last time I read it was 1974 in Madison, WI during a feeble attempt I made to unionize the local department store where I was a clerk.
Saul told me just what to do: 1) pick and isolate a target. Had anyone done that so far? Not really. Not a target that represented everything that was going wrong. 2) Fan the flames of discontent against the target. And, 3) Organize. Well, this part has changed with the internet but really needing to mobilize boots on the streets had not.
We can't channel and direct the anger without a suitable target. And, without the right target you can't fan the flames of reformation.
So, I chatted with Rob Kall the publisher of Op-EdNews.com about these ideas and soon after something crystallized.
Goldman Sachs has become the most powerful institution in America wielding overwhelming authority over our political system, our economy and the world's financial markets.
Goldman Sachs position of power is completely immoral and politically untenable. No private entity should ever hold America in its grasp as does Goldman Sachs.
I believe Goldman Sachs should be the target now. Just as Kodak was for my mentor Mr. Alinsky in Rochester, NY in 1965.
I believe the demands we make ought to be big. Here are three I've already proposed:
1) The Obama Administration must rid itself of all former Goldman Sachs executives in policy making and advisor positions.
2) Goldman Sachs must be broken into is functional pieces, all collaboration between these entities must be banned.
3) Each newly independent functional company's operations must be open to public scrutiny.
I written about this for OpEd News today. See: http://www.opednews.com/articles/Public-Enemy-1-Goldman-S-by-Chaz-Valenza-110902-906.html
I've started a MoveOn.org petition. See: http://signon.org/sign/its-time-to-break-up
But I am committed to step two. Please help me organize and get this off the ground. I don't want credit. I don't want to be the leader. I just want to get organizations and supporters involved and see where this can go.
Let's not ask "where is the outrage?" It's here. Let's give it a target.
Thank you,
Chaz Valenza
Philadelphia, PA
