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Occupy FF rally Saturday
Published 11:06am Friday, October 21, 2011Fergus Falls’ very own “occupy movement,” one of many groups imitating or supporting the Occupy Wall Street protesters in New York City, is giving local residents a chance to speak their minds this weekend.
Occupy Fergus Falls is holding a public forum from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. at NP Park.
“It’s a gathering, a get-together to see what people in the community think is happening in the world today,” said event organizer Amanda Boyle, who founded the Occupy Fergus Falls, MN Facebook group earlier this month. The group currently has more than 50 members.
The group has no plans to “occupy” NP Park or any other place in Fergus Falls at this point; it is content to lend its support to bigger groups and get its message out in other ways. However, Serianna Eggen, another event organizer, believes that the group’s underlying philosophy appeals to a lot of people.
“We want money out of politics and corporations out of politics, and we want the bankers to be held accountable for what they’ve done to the economy,” Eggen said. Members have expressed dissatisfaction about the government bailout and what appears to be corporate favoritism as well.
Though their goals involve political change, Eggen said the Occupy movement transcends political parties.
“You can be a Democrat, you can be a Republican … or anywhere in between,” she said.
Though the forum will also serve as a way to allow people to learn more about Occupy Fergus Falls, it will serve primarily as a open house for ideas – and grievances. Ideas that have a lot of supporters at the meeting will later be discussed by the group and adopted as official position points, which will be sent to some of the bigger occupy movements the group supports.
However, the rally is not just for people who sympathize with occupiers.
“We’re encouraging everyone in the community to attend,” said Eggen. “If you disagree with the movement, we still encourage you to come down and join in the discussion.”
Hey, Ryan. I just want to know something. Why exactly are you even writing an article for something you don’t even agree with? Let me explain why I say this. See, Occupy wall street isn’t just about people not having jobs, it’s also about freedom of speech because of the government being corrupt. How is this forum going to even serve as a means for ideas when you shut people up from speaking the truth which is going against our first amendment right, yet you can write that a certain robber sold drugs in front of his five year old, yet I can’t mention the word “Drug addict” like I did and you deleted EVERY comment made on that page. If it were up to me, you would be FIRED for cutting off freedom of speech. If you don’t want to hear anyone speak the truth, then don’t work where you are working.
This whole movement is to show people like you that we’re tired of shutting up and letting moderators, government authorities, people who seem superior or in charge push us around anymore. If you decide to keep deleting my posts, I will come back and keep posting to show you that I am not going away. I am allowed, as a citizen of the United States to say whatever I want. I was being honest about drug addicts. Just as others are allowed to down on me for not being on drugs or for being too controversial. I can disagree with them and cuss and say anything I want and at the end of the day, who really is the bad guy? The person expressing themselves freely like an emotional human being should, or the nazi who stifles that free human being?
Someone else should have written this article, someone who isn’t a huge hypocrite.
Except, Rebecca, that this is not a -public- forum, it is owned and operated by the newspaper. If you were to attempt going into a privately owned home or business to exercise your “freedom of speech”, you could still be thrown out on your behind for being disruptive. You CAN however stand on public property outside of said establishment and say what you want and no one can stop you. This forum is not “publicly owned”, and that is likely why your comments were removed.
this may be a private forum but a newspaper is a public forum designed to educate the public on all events.. therefore if the moderator deletes comments made by a poster rather then allow the forum as a whole to judge those comments. YOU then have censorship. Thats exactly what the republican party has practiced lately. using their fox news bias on everything. and the recent cancelling by ERIC CANTOR of a speaking event at a college because he was gonna have to face an open audience.. Occupy wall street is for people that are angry about a repub party that supports wall street over main street. its angry people who say hedge fund managers whose earned income is classified as stock investments by the bush tax cuts..should be paying 35% on their earned millions not 15%.. Its about millionaires who have not used the extended tax breaks to create 1 job..proven by the continual 9% unemployment. thus their taxes should go up if they are not gonna create jobs which would create tax revenue.. Its about first responders and teachers being laid off wholesale so the repub party can protect those tax breaks for millionaires. its about banks who can borrow money at .01% and then charge 185 and 19% to lend it..