Note: for unknown reasons, our computer is not allowing us to include apostrophes in text on the website, so we have replaced all apostrophes with a *. Sorry for the inconvenience:
We the people of Salt Lake City invite all those opposed to the tyranny of the 1% over the 99% to join us on July 25-28, 2012 in “welcoming” the 39th Annual Meeting of the American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC) to our hometown. This annual meeting by ALEC is paid for and attended by corporate sponsors who sit behind closed doors with our so-called representatives to create policies that will later benefit those same corporations at the expense of our communities.
ALEC is a non-profit funded by the largest corporations where industry representatives work with conservative legislators to write pro-corporate model legislation, which is then introduced into state legislatures across the country by elected officials who are ALEC members. ALEC*s model laws focus on deregulation, attacks on labor and immigrants, and weakening environmental and health laws. 98 percent of ALEC*s income comes from 300 major corporate sources — companies like ExxonMobil, Coca-Cola, Wal-Mart, Bayer. Around 1/3 of US legislators from all 50 states — 2000 in all — belong to ALEC.
ALEC wrote the Stand Your Ground gun law enacted in Florida and other states that allowed George Zimmerman to shoot Trayvon Martin “in self-defense” and not face arrest even though Martin was unarmed.
ALEC functions as one of the most powerful mechanisms by which corporations increase their dominance over political institutions. ALEC is responsible for thirty nine years worth of legislation that has destroyed workers* rights, strangled free speech, and driven the privatization of our agriculture, education, health care, and prison industries all at the expense of our environment.
We will not allow this level of unvarnished corporate influence to continue. Since the occupations began, we have created new communities based on direct democracy that are providing a greater possibility for our voices to be heard than found in any of the mainstream society*s current institutions. We call for a convergence of these communities from July 25th-28th in Salt Lake City for all those oppressed by legislation created by ALEC. We will provide an open and inclusive space for resistance, rebellion, and a diversity of tactics so that we can develop solutions together where the voice of the people is not suppressed by the voice of the financial elite. It is through solidarity that we will find our greatest strength.
For more info, email especifista@riseup.net. For info on ALEC, check alecexposed.org.