3. I will not vandalize, destroy or steal property.
4. I will maintain neatness of my personal belongings and cleanliness of Freedom Plaza.
5. I will not use or carry alcohol or illegal drugs on Freedom Plaza and I will not enter the Plaza in an intoxicated state.
6. I will respect quiet hours between 11 pm and 7 am.
7. I will act in a respectful manner and I will not insult, swear in public or attack others.
8. I will not assault, verbally or physically, those who oppose or disagree with me.
9. I will protect myself and call for assistance if I am assaulted.
10. I will participate in the General Assemblies and direct actions as I am able.
11. I will volunteer in Freedom Plaza daily (see list of tasks on back of page 1).
While some other occupations criticized Freedom Plaza for having rules, we found that even as we discussed this during General Assemblies, some of the homeless participants staying with us began to take on responsibility -- helping to serve food, cleaning the camp, manning the health tent, participating in protests -- and transformed into very valuable participants. Police, who appreciated our principles and our peacekeepers who enforced them, were often reluctant to remove people from a public park for violating them. Our peacekeepers had to develop methods to enforce the principles without assaulting people who violated the principles. This is still an issue we struggle with as do many Occupations.
The Occupy learned a lot of lessons from the first phase of occupations of public space. No doubt, when occupations re-ignite the lessons will result in even stronger occupations in 2012.
Where We Are Going
When we called for the occupation of Freedom Plaza in early June, we said this occupation would be "the beginning." We saw the occupation of Freedom Plaza as a tactic, much like a lunch counter sit-in or Freedom Ride during the civil rights movement, designed to educate and mobilize people for a much bigger and longer effort to end a government dominated by money and militarism and shift power to the American people. We knew a long-term independent movement challenging corporate power was needed to undo years of intentional efforts by corporate interests to seize control of government and social institutions.
Shifting power to the American people requires much more than an occupation. The Occupy Movement needs to build on four strong components -- (1) non-violent protest and civil resistance, (2) non-participation in the existing corporate finance-dominated economy, (3) the development of concrete plans and policies to transform the corporate economy into a people's economy and (4) ending government dominated by money by shifting political power to the American people. Occupy Washington, DC says: no oligarchy, no plutocracy we want participatory democracy. As we transitioned to winter we had many discussions on Freedom Plaza and among the web-community of Occupy Washington, DC. We surveyed everyone on the Plaza to understand what their interests were. These ideas and insights determined our next steps, which might be helpful for other occupations to consider:
1. Continue to hold Freedom Plaza. We have achieved a great deal through the occupation of Freedom Plaza. We've shown how persons from different backgrounds, economic circumstances, races and political interests can live and work together; and form a community. The encampment on Pennsylvania Ave. between the Congress and the Treasury/White House allowed us to reach thousands of people. Our signs, newspaper -- the Occupied Washington Post -- and conversations with many Americans have spread the Occupy message. We've carried out multiple protest actions in Congress, as well as at banks, the Chamber of Commerce and other locations. We've held our own occupied super committee hearing and published a report to fix the economy, the " 99%'s Deficit Proposal ." This winter the number of people at the encampment will shrink but it will be available to expand as needed for actions like Witness Against Torture from January 11 to 20, the Occupy The Dream's plans for the Federal Reserve on January 16, MLK Day, Occupy Congress scheduled for January 17 and the Occupy the Courts protest against the Citizen's United decision on January 20. Freedom Plaza will continue to be a flagship for the American people to see that the Occupy Movement continues.
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