What would an Occupy Wall Street victory look like?

Total victory would be a committment by a majority of representatives and senators to moving capitalism out of its hundred-plus years rut, (maintained by the wealthy for their heirs),toward social-capitalism where individual/family income above $1 million a year goes to funding schools, tuition, road/infrastructure repair, healthcare and retirement, technological investment, green energy in short: the public weal.

Lobbying is illegal.

Campaign donations no more than 50 dollars per entity (individual or corporation)

Election day is declared a federal holiday.

Put people in control of the federal budget by adding one section to tax forms where every person decides how their own tax dollars will be spent.

My OWS Utopia looks like this:

1. Home mortgages borrowed from the US treasury - each payment crediting 50% toward principal, & 50% toward interest
2. Cap on credit card interest rate to 1% above prime

3. No cap on interest paid on savings accounts up to $100K principal
4. National Pension Program in addition to SS

5. Ability of workers to remove 401K etc. retirement funds to put in another (secure, FDIC insured) account while still employed

6. W-2 Income tax beginning at $100K (see number 1 for revenue source to replace current tax on earned-by-the-sweat-of-your-brow income)

7. Disengorgement of golden parachutes & executive bonuses & pensions derived in any way from reallocation of pension funds, bank bailout, & war profiteering- with prosecution of individuals responsible

8. Election campaign reform -initially limit contributions to $50 per entity (human or corporate) per election before totally extinguishing our pay to play government control.

9. Public funding for renewable energy, including electric cars & hydrogen fuel cells, rebuilding & revamping of transportation infrastructure

10. Free Lifetime Public Education - including trade & college (again, see number 1 for revenue source)

Of course there is always legalization of marijuana & the revenue that it will generate, and spending cuts realized by eliminating police funding for detection & arrest, court intervention and incarceration - not to mention eliminating countless lives & families ruined and kept ruined through an inability to receive student loans as a consequence - but I don't think that is on the OWS agenda, just mine.

In my mental fantasy, the heads in bunches like eggs or grapes in their happily carried piles and clutches, all in multiple separate wicker bins, all gape aghast "Oh MY" ! with wide "O" ( shit ) mouths stuffed with crisp green green green bills and the whole procession and every dancing crowd tossed basket is festooned with old school old style ticker tape and it all has a sort of festive Happy Easter or perhaps harvest festival bountiful carnival exuberance !

Sort of a holiday parade like atmosphere,.....and somewhere out in the laughing and drinking and dancing and stumbling masses, someone in the crowd can be heard setting limericks about G U I L L O T I N E S to the tune of " Mary had a little lamb ".

Something like that . What would the French peasants have done,....if they had EVEN MORE RUM, . . . .and weed,.....and bongos,......and a sense of humor ?

I know this wouldn't be allowed considering the 1st amendment....
Restrict all campaign donations by corporations to the same amount as for individual citizens. That would include donations to all the "pacs". Election campaigning would be limited to 60 days prior to the election. Imagine people elected to congress who believe in compromise.

Regulations in place to check capitalism from gross and obscene profiteering.

Everyone sees government in different lights. Some want to abolish the electoral college. Some want to abolish the FED.

But I've been down to Occupy ATL and from what I've seen, we are all unified in one "Demand": A transparent government through which we can enact true change. That is what we want. A voice.

Everyone wants something different from financial institutions.

But I've been to Occupy ATL and from what I've experienced, what we want is very clear: An transparent political system from which we can fairly enact change.

Increased income and lower taxes for the lower, working and middle class - anyone earning less than $40k/yr. Lower interest rates for all. Higher taxes for the $250k+/yr earners. Zero corporate political contributions allowed. More federal investment in renewable energy, technology and infrastructure. Farm subsidies for crops that make people healthy. A law that makes it illegal for corporations to send jobs out of the U.S. A law that makes it illegal to deliberately state falsehoods as facts.

I would like to see OWS form a permanent multinational global coalition (powerful enough to put the smackdown on ANY corporate request , even to disband them when called for ) , to allow the voices of the 99% to be not only heard , but honored , loud and clear , without fear . Always .

End the current levels of speculation in the commodities markets for food and fuel. Get the money out of politics. Prosecute wrong doing on wall street. Create Jobs. Tax the RICH.

I think it's naive to think that there is no movement happening in terms of outlining goals and how to achieve them. Yes, people are marching in the streets, carrying signs, beating drums, but there is also a quieter undertaking occurring during General Assemblies (GA) that most every city is holding. These are not talked about as much, as they are really just people coming together to talk. You can get involved in these discussions on line via email and chats. This IS being discussed, but it will take some time. If you dont think its moving fast enough or they dont know what theyre doing... GET INVOLVED. Make your voice heard. YOU are just as important as anyone else.

@MMunson, I like your list. Great place to start...

I went to OccupyLa this past Saturday and while the growing attendance across the United States are a testament to the event's popularity, the lack of concrete solutions to 'corporate greed' are making the protests insignificant. There were so many forms of self-expression there: songs, spoken word, people dressed up as 'corporate greed' handing out screws, drummers, etc. which is nice but where are the petitions to reverse the legislation that got us into this mess? Every city needs to have an 'initiative booth' where people can sign to repeal propositions like Prop 13 (in California) or 'calling booths' to urge members of Congress to reinstate The Glass-Steagall Act. The only language politicians speak is VOTES so once they understand that the people protesting are their own constituents, only then will we see accountability and substantial change.

First, expand and mainstream the message to encourage broadbased participation. I would like more emphasis on the terrible Citizens United decision. Compare and contrast the positive aspects of capitalism with what happens when NOTHING TRICKLES DOWN. Compare and contrast the capitalism of 40 years ago with the mess of now. At this stage good PR will encourage more to join, become political.

Victory would be to overturn Citizens United, to have publically funded fair campaigns, to develop a code of ethics for news media with strict penalty for spreading lies, as a start.

I second treating all income as equal. Also the reinforcement of Glass-Steagall and the reversal of Citizens United. For education, very important to allow school employees to unionize, and restructure public ed so that the most important jobs (in the classroom) have appropriate pay and status. Civil rights for all.

I would like to see a simultaneous decrease of CEO salaries and increase in employee salaries to return to the 10 to 1 salary ratio of days gone by. It wouldn't be enough to simply decrease CEO salaries, we need to raise worker's wages to a living means. CEO salaries have increased tenfold since the 1940s, and inflation - among other things - have increased prices all across the marketplace. The one thing that hasn't significantly changed is the 'living wage', staying steady at 50,000 a year. It's time for corporate CEOs to pay their fair share - to their own workers.

One thing they #ows should insist on is that all income be treated as equal. Second thing is the tax code should be updated and reformed by making it a smoothed curve tax rate instead of the current three step tax code.Also the big Investment Banks should no longer have access to the Federal Reserve's Discount Window.

From a recent Daily Kos diary, I think if the OWS movement just focused on these four issues it would be to the point and get more Americans aboard on the movement.
--Reinstate Glass-Steagall
--Audit the FED
--Reverse Citizens United (via Constitutional Amendment)
--Overhaul the tax code for the mega-rich (1%) and corporations