Editor’s note: This just in from the Occucards collective. Occucards are high-quality, well-written, educational outreach cards on various topics relating to the movements for social, environmental and economic justice. Please check them out and consider distributing occucards in your community.
Hello everyone!
We are proud to announce the release of four new occucards. The first (#22) is on the Surveillance State. Thanks to the courage of Edward Snowden, it is now confirmed that the NSA monitors, collects and stores virtually all domestic electronic communications, including telephone calls, emails and texts, in direct violation of the fourth amendment of the U.S. constitution.
Snowden’s revelations have shocked the country, put the corporate-intelligence network on the defensive and ignited a movement to end NSA spying (see stopwatching.us). Our card also addresses the likely reason for the implementation of such a massive domestic spy program, which is not about protecting us from terrorism, but about protecting corporate interests from us amidst increasing economic inequality, environmental collapse and social unrest.
The next card in this release (#23) is on Peak Oil and the false promise of fracking. This is the first in a new series we are calling the “Transition” series, which will focus on the converging global crises of energy depletion, environmental destruction and the transition to a sustainable, post-carbon future.
This card was written by Guardian journalist and author Nafeez Ahmed. Nafeez is the author of A User’s Guide to the Crisis of Civilization, and a must-see documentary film with the same name. Upcoming cards in this series will include Food Insecurity, Endless Growth, the Climate Crisis and more.
Then we have card #24 on Citigroup. This card goes back to our roots in the Occupy movement, describing Citi’s role in overturning Glass-Steagall, creating a giant financial bubble in the housing market, and then getting themselves bailed out by the taxpayers. This card is very important because nothing has changed since the bailout, and these megabanks are doing the same thing all over again.
This card explains in detail how commercial banks use their money-creation power to pump up specific commodities markets, then dump their holdings on unsuspecting investors before the bubble bursts. It highlights the need (at a minimum) for the return of Glass-Steagall or similar banking regulations, and as usual calls for a mass movement of education, protest and civil disobedience.
Lastly, we have released a long-overdue card on The Post Office (#25). The Post Office is the only government agency explicitly mentioned in the U.S. Constitution, and remains today a symbol of early American democratic ideals. It is the second largest employer after Walmart, and pays its workers livable wages and benefits, all without any government subsidies. This is why corporations are attacking the Post Office, attempting to shut it down and privatize it.
This card is the second card in our “Solutions” series, and describes the pre-funding mandate congress has imposed on the post office, which is generating a fiscal crisis that is being used to call for lay-offs, cut-backs in services and the liquidation of Post Office assets, including it’s historic buildings. It calls on the reader to get involved with the growing movement to save the post office, and provides links to two organizations leading those efforts.
Thank you for your work as an activist. Please let us know how we can assist you more.
Yours in Solidarity,
The Occucards collective