Declaration (in English)

Declaration by Occupy Hamburg

We are a globally growing movement of people who, following the worldwide demonstrations last year on 15 October, have remained on Gerhard-Hauptmann-Platz to continue their protest.

The Arab Spring, the Spanish Indignados and the Occupy Wall Street protests are encouragement to us to give unremitting expression to our anger and our hopes.

We are united in our outrage at the prevailing conditions and in our intent to bring on a non-violent revolution.

We are a multitude of different people with diverse outlooks, young and old, from varied social backgrounds, nationalities, skin colours, religions and philosophies, with a profusion of different desires and preferences.

We are not a party, organisation, institution, association or religion. We have come together as individuals.

We want to fight the causes, not just the symptoms.

We want to begin by changing things in ourselves, self-critically and self-aware, and concertedly take responsibility for shaping of the future.

We want an ethical revolution!

Our freedom is based on the Declaration of Human Rights from 1948, which were formally recognized by all governments but are not enforceable.

 There would be no need for us to voice our outrage if human rights were being observed.

 But we are outraged!

We are outraged by the unjust distribution of natural riches, by the ruthless exploitation of nature and the waste of natural resources at the expense of coming generations.

We are outraged by the pollution and destruction of the very foundations of life through the persistent fallacy of limitless growth fuelled by the consumerist greed of our throw-away society.

We are outraged by the famines throughout the world, whose causes lie in the thirst for power and profits, and the lethargy of those living satiated lives.

We are outraged by the speculation on basic foodstuffs on stock exchanges, that arable land is misused to produce fuel, that the oceans are overfished, that fertile farmland is laid waste by monocultures.

We are outraged by the granting of patents on living organisms and by the monopolisation of agriculture by major corporations that are driving small-hold and self-supporting farmers to dependency and ruin.

We are outraged by the barbarity of the intensive livestock industry and by unnecessary animal testing, by the suffering inflicted on animals which breaches all ethical rules.

We are outraged by the irresponsible use of technologies whose repercussions for coming generations are impossible to assess.

We are outraged that nuclear power is still being used as if there were no tomorrow.

We are outraged that research into and use of sustainable and alternative energies are being deliberately obstructed to protect the profits of environmentally hazardous industries.

We are outraged by the growing scarcity of water resulting from irresponsible action and the privatization of water resources.

We are outraged that genetic modification of animals and plants is performed for reasons of profit.

We are outraged by the use of medicines and food additives that are tested for safety not by independent research institutes but by the producers themselves.

We are outraged that natural medicines are prohibited and alternative healing methods and generic drugs are dismissed or suppressed to maintain the profits of the pharmaceutical industry.

We are outraged by an education system whose curriculum is decided by economic and political interests.

We are outraged that people with less cultural, social or financial resources should have poorer access to a good education.

We are outraged by an education system designed to generate consumers compatible with the job market than people capable of thinking and behaving independently.

We are outraged by the unjust distribution of income and the rapidly widening divide between rich and poor.

We are outraged by underpaid and unremunerated jobs and by mass unemployment.

We are outraged by the raising of the retirement age while young people are out of work.

We are outraged by insecure job contracts and coercion to perform work that is degrading or dangerous to the health.

We are outraged by the hypocrisy with which the political system is presented as democratic.

We are outraged by parliamentary deputies who do not feel bound to honour the voters’ wishes but heed the “advice” of lobbyists and major companies.

We are outraged by a judicial system which formally professes to treat everyone as equal, but usually favours wealth, prestige and privileged background.

We are outraged by a banking system whose methods of compound interest necessarily and systematically drive people into financial dependency and debt.

We are outraged by a finance system that allows its banks to privatise its profits and socialise their debts.

We are outraged by state and corporate media that act as tools and lobbyists in the interest of the power and profits of the ruling 1% instead of fulfilling their duty to provide information and create transparency.

We are outraged by how these media seek to manipulate us and make us compliant by withholding relevant information from us and instead flooding us with populist disinformation and commercial advertising.

We are outraged by the deliberate stoking of fear, discord, sexism and hatred in the mass media.

We are outraged by the oligarchy of news agencies and media corporations, and by their monopoly of information outside the internet.

We resolutely resist any attempt to curb the freedom of information in the internet as the last unrestricted medium.

We are outraged by the retention of data, state-sponsored Trojans, electronic health cards and the unauthorised publication of personal data on the net.

We are outraged by the violations of our private sphere.

Politics and business are not transparent, but citizens are required to be.

We are outraged by the exclusion of the aged and disabled, and of people from other cultures.

We are outraged by the inhuman treatment of refugees who are systematically denied fundamental human rights and incarcerated like criminals or violently driven back into war, torture and misery.

We are outraged by the abuse and maltreatment of children and by the lack of children’s rights.

We are outraged by child labour in the interest of low-cost consumerism.

Children need us and we need our children.

We are outraged by the never-ending curse of imperialism that has enslaved most of the countries in the world and enforces their dependency.

We are outraged by the wars that are waged in the name of our prosperity, to safeguard natural resources and assert our cultural arrogance.

We are outraged that weapons are exported into crisis zones and inhumane regimes as a means of fostering economic growth.

We are outraged that the Arab Spring is suppressed with the support of German guns and tanks.

We are outraged by torture and that it is tolerated and assisted by our governments.

We are outraged that our constitution and international law are held in contempt in order to justify wars of aggression.

Join up with the movement and let your voices be heard!

 Change starts in you!

 Those who fight can lose – those who do not fight have already lost.