Why We Have No Demands

Some people commenting on the Occupation movement sweeping America are saying that the movement needs to come up with specific demands. But this would be a big mistake.

It is a strength, not a weakness, that we are not making demands. We need a revolution. We all surely know that, don’t we? We need to remove the ruling class--the 1%, the plutocracy, the corporate elite, whatever one calls them—from power. We do not want this ruling class to do anything except to stop ruling. By making a demand on the ruling class, we would be saying to them that we want you to continue ruling, but to just make this or that reform in how you rule. Wrong!

Demands are messages to the rulers. We need, on the contrary, to direct our message to the ruled.

Our message is: Revolt against the rulers, remove them from power, abolish the capitalist system that is the basis of their power, and create a genuine democracy based on equality and mutual aid.

Please read "Thinking about Revolution" for more discussion of this.