 |
Protestors
and members of Occupy Wall Street shout slogans during an
annual demonstration
calling for a stop to police brutality in New York
October 22, 2011. (Credit:
Reuters/Eduardo Munoz)
|
(Reuters) -
An anti-capitalist group which sparked the Occupy Wall Street movement has
called for global protests Saturday to demand G20 leaders impose a "Robin
Hood" tax on financial transactions and currency trades.
Canada-based
Adbusters wants the Occupy Wall Street protest movement against economic
inequality to take to the streets to call for a 1 percent tax on such deals
ahead of a November 3-4 summit of the Group of 20 leading economies in France.
"Let's
send them a clear message: We want you to slow down some of that $1.3 trillion
easy money that's sloshing around the global casino each day -- enough cash to
fund every social program and environmental initiative in the world," the
activist group said on its website, www.adbusters.org.
Adbusters
put out the initial call for Occupy Wall Street and since protesters set up
camp in a park in New York City's financial district on September 17, they have
inspired solidarity demonstrations and so-called occupations around the world.
Thousands
turned out for a global day of protests on October 15, which were mostly
peaceful apart from in Rome, where there were riots.
Occupy
Arrests, a Twitter feed compiling arrests related to Occupy Wall Street, said
that since the movement began five weeks ago nearly 2,400 people have been
arrested around the world, including in New York City.
Occupy Wall
Street prides itself on not having any leaders and doing everything by
consensus at daily general assemblies. Adbusters has asked protesters to
approve its plan for a "Robin Hood" tax and global protests at their
general assemblies.
The
proposal by Adbusters comes as some people question whether the movement can
sustain momentum and ask what will happen next. Critics accuse the group of not
having a clear message.
"As
the movement matures, let's consider a response to our critics. Let's occupy
the core of our global system. Let's dethrone the greed that defines this new
century," Adbusters said on its website.
The
protesters say they are upset that the billions of dollars in bank bailouts
doled out during the recession allowed banks to resume earning huge profits
while average Americans have had no relief from high unemployment and job
insecurity.
They also
believe the richest 1 percent of Americans do not pay their fair share in
taxes.
Occupy Wall
Street is urging protesters to close their bank accounts and transfer their
money to credit unions, a move that is due to culminate with a bank transfer
day on November 5.
(Editing by Cynthia Osterman)
Related Articles:
No comments:
Post a Comment
Note: Only a member of this blog may post a comment.