Beyond demonstrations, slogans, and songs, all strong movements are grounded in a deep understanding of the times and of past struggles for social justice. So whether you’re still trying to figure out what the hell is going on or you’re a protest vet well acquainted with the f**kery of the global elite, check out these reads. This is what the 99% percent are flipping through as they Occupy Toronto, Wall Street, London, Madrid, Boston, Sydney, Rome, Saskatoon, Manchester, Prague, Berlin...

1) The Shock Doctrine – by Naomi Klein

The Bible of the Occupy movement? Could be.  Shock Doctrine is a very readable economic history of the past 30 years. Beginning in the 1970s, Canadian journalist Naomi Klein observes, right-wingers and corporate elites have exploited crises to advance their agenda of deep cuts to social spending, government deregulation and privatization.  From public housing to public health care to public education to public water systems, these vampires try to turn everything into a commodity to be bought and sold for a profit. From Chile to South Africa, Iraq and New Orleans, Klein documents how the forces of corporate rule take advantage of a population in a state of ‘shock’ to push through economic policies which enrich themselves and impoverish everyone else. The book reads like a spy novel, not an economic treatise, so don’t be put off by the heavy content.

Get shock resistant.

2) Economics for Everyone: A Short Guide to the Economics of Capitalism – by Jim Stanford

Jim Stanford makes economics simple. An economist with the Canadian Auto Workers union, Stanford breaks down the workings of capitalism in easy to read chapters, starting with the very basics: what is the economy? What is capitalism? Why does the system produce a small number of extremely wealthy people while the rest of us struggle to pay our bills? If you know nothing about economics, this is the place to start. If you took economics in high school or at university, with mad repetition of supply and demand curves and little attention to real people, here’s the antidote to the bullshit of modern economics.

Don’t let your conservative uncle intimidate you anymore. Read up and fight back.

3) The Communist Manifesto – by Karl Marx and Fredrich Engels

How could a book written in 1848 be relevant today? Nobody broke down capitalism like Marx (and his homeboy Freddy E). For Marx, the financial chaos the world faces today is the product of an economic system driven by the pursuit of profits and not by human needs, i.e. capitalism. The problem, Marx argued, is not with this regulation or that law, or that the rich are simply greedy; the problem is with the system itself and therefore minor reforms (like some of the demands of the Occupy movement) will not change things one bit. Capitalism must be overthrown and replaced with communism. Hmm.

While his prescriptions may not have worked out, nobody can deny that Marx predicted the global spread of capitalism (i.e. globalization), its inherent instability and crises, and the huge inequalities in wealth and power it has created.

Plus, who writes lines like this anymore? “The proletarians have nothing to lose but their chains. They have a world to win. Working men of all countries, unite!”

Don’t hate on the classics. Hate on the 1% instead.

4) The Bible, the Holy Qur’an, the Torah or any number of religious texts – by God and others

Speaking of classics, if you want condemnations of greed, avarice and the rich, go back to the original holy books. Most contain some commentary on economic and social injustice and the need to feed the poor, house the homeless, and generally right the world's wrongs.  It’s for this reason that many of those struggling for a just world continue to be inspired by words of a divine nature.

Just check this little line from the Bible: “It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle, than for a rich man to enter into the kingdom of God” (Matthew 19: 23-24).

Get your head right 1 percenters!

5) Stop Coddling the Rich – by Warren Buffett

Warren Buffet is one of the richest dudes on the planet, so peeps listened when he published an open letter in the New York Times begging the government to make him pay more taxes.

Buffet opens the letter with these extraordinary lines: “OUR leaders have asked for ‘shared sacrifice.’ But when they did the asking, they spared me. I checked with my mega-rich friends to learn what pain they were expecting. They, too, were left untouched. While the poor and middle class fight for us in Afghanistan, and while most Americans struggle to make ends meet, we mega-rich continue to get our extraordinary tax breaks.” Damn son, making it clear for the people.

So Buffet may be in the 1%, but he’s down with (at least) some of the demands of the 99.

6) Of the 1%, by the 1%, for the 1% – by Joseph Stiglitz

Stiglitz is a Nobel prizewinning economist, former economic advisor to Bill Clinton, and professor at Columbia University, so the man pushes intellectual weight. His recent article for Vanity Fair is likely one of the inspirations for the 99%-1% slogan.

Written back in May, Stiglitz reflects on the protests sweeping the Arab world: “These are societies where a minuscule fraction of the population—less than 1 percent—controls the lion’s share of the wealth; where wealth is a main determinant of power; where entrenched corruption of one sort or another is a way of life; and where the wealthiest often stand actively in the way of policies that would improve life for people in general.

As we gaze out at the popular fervour in the streets, one question to ask ourselves is this: When will it come to America?”

I think Joe got his answer.

 7) The Spirit Level: Why Equality is Better for Everyone – by Richard Wilkinson and Kate Pickett

The Spirit Level’s argument is simple: In developed countries like Canada and the U.S., a smaller gap between rich and poor means a happier, healthier, and more successful population. Along a range of social indicators, including teenage pregnancy, mortality, reported happiness, obesity, drug use, and the incidence of violence, more equal countries perform better. Overall quality of life – for all citizens – is therefore deeply related to levels of economic inequality.

Wilkinson and Pickett produce data from 23 rich countries and 50 states to make their case. You can’t fault these homies for lack of empirical data. There are tons of scatter graphs and charts but don’t let that put you off for The Spirit Level’s main point is pretty easy to grasp: economic inequalities are the source of many social problems. And more equal societies do better. So go get equal.

8) The Zapatista Reader – edited by Tom Hayden

When the Zapatistas first stepped on the scene, world elites was petrified (to paraphrase Meth). Rising up against the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) in 1994, the Zapatistas reinvented politics and resistance in the era of globalization.  In the words of spokesman, Subcomandante Marcos, free trade was a “death sentence” for the indigenous people of Mexico. So the Zapatistas took over their land, kicked the Mexican army out, and set up an autonomous zone of self-government.  

A direct line can be drawn between the Zapatista uprising and the Occupy movement of today. Being the first group to lick a shot against the global elites in the post-communist era, the Zapatistas inspired the anti-globalization movement (the protests against the World Trade Organization in Seattle in 1999, the IMF/World Bank protests in Washington DC in 2000, Quebec City in 2001 etc. etc. right up until the G20 demos in the T-Dot last year). Now Occupy Together resurrects the anti-globalization movement that died on September 11 2001 and takes on the demands of the Zapatistas: "equal justice for all!"

Plus, the Zapatistas gave the world a serious tutorial on protest styles. Enough with the white dreads and bongo drums. All strapped up and balaclava-ed out, you could just hear Subcomandante Marcos say “RBG man! Eff that hippy shit.”

9) United for Global Democracy – by the people of the world

This is the closest thing to a manifesto to come out of the Occupy movement. The document was produced over four months through consultation among groups, activists and people's assemblies in countries such as Britain, Egypt, Tunisia, Germany, Spain, the US, Palestine, Israel, Brazil, Mexico, Uruguay, Argentina, India and Australia. The authors got comments, suggestions, support, and wrote and rewrote it again and again. The text has been supported by Canadian-based Naomi Klein, Indian-based Vandana Shiva, the US-based Michael Hardt and Noam Chomsky, as well as Uruguayan Eduardo Galeano. A veritable who's who of radical intellectuals.

Here it is. Now get off your couch and occupy.

United for #GlobalDemocracy

On 15 October 2011, united in our diversity, united for global change, we demand global democracy: global governance by the people, for the people. Inspired by our sisters and brothers in Tunisia, Egypt, Libya, Syria, Bahrain, New York, Palestine-Israel, Spain and Greece, we too call for a regime change: a global regime change.

In the words of Vandana Shiva, the Indian activist, today we demand replacing the G8 with the whole of humanity – the G7,000,000,000.

Undemocratic international institutions are our global Mubarak, our global Assad, our global Gaddafi. These include: the IMF, the WTO, global markets, multinational banks, the G8/G20, the European Central Bank and the UN Security Council. Like Mubarak and Assad, these institutions must not be allowed to run people's lives without their consent. We are all born equal, rich or poor, woman or man. Every African and Asian is equal to every European and American. Our global institutions must reflect this, or be overturned.

Today, more than ever before, global forces shape people's lives. Our jobs, health, housing, education and pensions are controlled by global banks, markets, tax-havens, corporations and financial crises. Our environment is being destroyed by pollution in other continents. Our safety is determined by international wars and international trade in arms, drugs and natural resources. We are losing control over our lives. This must stop. This will stop. The citizens of the world must get control over the decisions that influence them in all levels – from global to local. That is global democracy. That is what we demand today.

Today, like the Mexican Zapatistas, we say "¡Ya basta! Aquí el pueblo manda y el gobierno obedece": Enough! Here the people command and global institutions obey! Like the Spanish Tomalaplaza we say "Democracia Real Ya": True global democracy now!" Today we call the citizens of the world: let us globalise Tahrir Square! Let us globalise Puerta del Sol!

P.S. A prize to best protest sign/slogan I’ve seen thus far: “I’m got 99 problems with what the rich have done.”