A former top official with the SEIU was allegedly caught on tape during a March 19 forum describing a union-led plot to “destabilize” the country, bring down capitalism, crash the stock market and destroy the American economy for the purpose of redistributing wealth. Commentators are already referring to the alleged conspiracy as a plan for “economic terrorism” as the uproar continues to grow.
The speech detailing the supposed plot, presented at a leftist gathering at Pace University by former Service Employees International Union banking and finance boss Stephen Lerner, was first obtained by The Blaze news service. Since being posted online, the revelations have caused a firestorm that is spreading fast.
While the whole alleged conspiracy was not revealed because Lerner suspected there could be police present at the forum, the details he provided were enough to understand the basic ideas. Among other strategies, Lerner suggested mass strategic defaults on mortgage and student loans, civil disobedience, strikes, disruption of shareholder meetings and large-scale protests.
“There are actually extraordinary things we could do right now to start to destabilize the folks that are in power and start to rebuild a movement,” Lerner said. “There is going to be a ten state mobilization to try and shut down [the JP Morgan Chase shareholder] meeting and then looking at bank shareholder meetings around the country and try and create some moments like Madison [Wisconsin] except where we are on offense instead of defense.”
Claiming that organized labor and “community organizations” were in the process of dying, Lerner said a new strategy was needed. “We need to figure out in a much more — through direct action — more concrete way how we are really trying to disrupt and create uncertainty for capital, for how corporations operate,” he told the group.
And one of the primary targets — initially at least — would be JP Morgan Chase bank. “So a bunch of us around the country think: ‘who would be a really good company to hate?’” Lerner explained. “We decided that would be JP Morgan Chase, and so we are going to roll out over the next couple of months what would hopefully be an exciting campaign about JP Morgan Chase that is really about challenging the power of Wall Street.”
Another avenue for wealth redistribution Lerner described in his speech involves local and state governments blackmailing banks. Essentially, governments would threaten to refuse to do business with certain banks unless they were willing to renegotiate existing loans, reduce interest payments and rewrite mortgage contracts “for everybody in the communities.”
Students would also be encouraged not to pay back their estimated $1 trillion in student-loan debt. And government-employee union members should go on strike unless governments agree to coerce banks into accepting new terms. Finally, the recent “disruption” in Madison must spread to Wall Street and cities across America, Lerner suggested.
The “simple strategy” Lerner and his cohorts are pursuing would “bring down the stock market,” bring down bonuses and “interfere” with the ability to be rich, he said. “And that means we have to politically isolate [the people who allegedly control the country], economically isolate them and disrupt them.”
He said three main ideas needed to be emphasized. America is not broke and there is “plenty” of money, “they” have the money, and “they” are using people in government to try to “destroy us.” “And so we need to take on those folks at the same time.”
According to Lerner, “brave and heroic battles” will soon be challenging the power of giant corporations. “We hope to inspire a much bigger movement about redistributing wealth and power in the country and that labor can’t do itself, that community groups can’t do themselves, but maybe we can work something new and different that can be brave enough and daring and nimble enough to do that kind of thing.”
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