We believe that corporations and big business now wield more power over our day-to-day lives than our government. Of the top 100 economic entities only 49 are nation states, the rest are corporations. They are relentless in their pursuit of profit and have caused widespread damage to the environment, their workers and society as a whole. We want to live in a system that has the entire population's wellbeing at heart, rather than just the shareholders.
The corporations working group had its first meeting last Friday, with seven people in attendance. Our priorities were to quickly draft an initial statement highlighting the problems caused by corporations and big business to solidify OccupyLSX's position on the issue.
These points have not been ratified by the general assembly, and so they do not represent the views of Occupy London, but they give some idea of what our main concerns are:
• The large wage gap between the highest and lowest paid within many corporations
• The subversion of democracy through lobbying, which reduces the say of the people in politics
• The legal protections that corporations are given to prevent accountability
• The unsustainability of companies that seek constant growth in a world of finite resources
• The manipulation of companies' image through the media and PR to obscure wrongdoing
Although we have drafted the initial statement it will need to pass the general assembly before it can be released in full. If you would like to contribute to the process simply write out your annotations in a comment on this post, clearly indicating which point in the statement you are referring to. You can also let us know on Twitter @commentisfree or on our Guardian Facebook page. All input will be considered in future draftings.
In the coming weeks we hope to challenge specific companies and their business practices, and we ask your help to do so.
