From the massive student strike at Occupy Cal in Berkeley to the police crackdown of the Occupy Wall Street movement’s birthplace in New York City and dozens of actions and headlines in between — from coast to coast, last week was an important, up-and-down week for the growing Occupy movement. Where the movement heads in the weeks and months to come, however, will be even more critical to the fate of this people’s uprising — and possibly to the fate of equality in America. So the eternal question presents itself again: what is to be done?
After missing out on the fun of the initial two months due to travel, I had my first full-on experiences with the Occupy movement last week. I attended general assemblies in Oakland, marched with debt-straddled students and foreclosed homeowners into banks in San Francisco’s financial district, and participated in that huge, beautiful strike at UC-Berkeley. Everywhere I went there were tents- tents being set up, tents being torn down, tents even floating in the air at one point. Even more, though, there were people, thousands and thousands of them: proud of the bold, game-changing actions they had organized so far, angry at the violent police reaction they had received courtesy of the 1%,and debating (for hours and hours, in mass meetings and countless committees) what to do next.
This is my contribution to that conversation. I am a student of history, a writer and community organizer, and a deep believer in the power of listening. Last week, I listened to literally hundreds of people, both within and outside of the Occupy movement, who all had powerful, personal takes on the situation. There are many challenges that face the movement, but there are even greater opportunities. From the Arab Spring to the European indignados, revolution (or at least resistance) is in the air, and here in America, we have a rare political opening for mass social change unlike anything in a generation.
First, I want to acknowledge the power and the beauty that my Occupying friends have created so far. From its humble beginnings in Lower Manhattan barely two months ago, people have taken up the Occupy call in over 100 cities and towns across America and even beyond our borders. In a country where the media usually uses the term “class warfare” to criticize people who merely recognize that income inequality exists, the Occupy movement has successfully – and rightly – framed our ongoing economic and political crisis as the fault of Wall Street and the ruling 1%. Taking over public squares and confronting the private interests that control our lives, the protesters have captured the public’s imagination. Thousands swelling to its ranks, the movement has pulled off massive, before-unthinkable direct actions such as the Oakland general strike of November 2, where over 40,000 people shut down the Port of Oakland, directly impeding one of the key nodes of corporate capitalism.
At the same time as these successes, several crucial questions continue to pop up. Confusion – both amongst the media and some protesters ourselves – about demands, principles, and tactics has led many natural allies and regular folks who are sympathetic to the movement’s goals to refrain from joining in themselves. In response to those sentiments, and in the spirit of solidarity, here are some suggestions for my comrades to consider as we figure our our next steps.
Much of this is already happening, while some of it is deeply controversial. Either way, now is the time to be honest with ourselves and each other. Every idea might not be applicable to your city or campaign, but hey, one of the great things of this movement so far has been to take each other’s good ideas and build off them. Here is where I’m at right now, and it seems like a lot of activists and not-yet-activists are here too:
1. The Tents were Great, but It’s Time for Something New
Over the last two weeks, mayors across the country (apparently coordinated by the FBI) shut down many of the largest Occupy encampments, including in New York, Oakland, Portland, Salt Lake City, Atlanta, and more. Police arrested hundreds of peaceful activists, inevitably leaving clouds of pepper spray and millions of dollars in their wake. While I fully condemn the police raids, I also think they offer us an opportunity to move to the next stage: it’s time to Occupy more than just tents.
The tent encampments were the birthplace of the movement, both a powerful symbol of public outrage in front of the banks and city halls and a 24/7 organizing center where people could come to plug in, get information, and even grab a hot meal. Over time, however, the battle came to be about municipal camping policies, rather than the corporate dictatorship of our politics and economy. Some encampments, inclusive of all who walked through their open doors, came to include too many drugs and other harmful activities that hurt the effort to welcome more people into the ranks. It has become clear to many, though unfortunately not to all, that something new is needed.
At an Occupy Oakland general assembly last week, many activists called for new Occupations around town: at foreclosed homes to stop people from being evicted, and at the banks themselves doing the evicting. That is, taking the occupations directly to the victims and perpetrators of the economic crimes we live through everyday. This is already starting to happen, as the Oakland movement marched yesterday to one of the five local elementary school slated to be closed by budget cuts — in a beautiful move, the march was led by the first graders and their parents. In Washington, DC the other day, Occupy DC activists took over a former homeless shelter owned and shut down by the city. University student activists across California are taking their their long-running campaign, against massive tuition hikes and the privatization of public education, directly to the banks with strong ties to the UC Regents.
In each city, these actions will and should look different. Many groups are still using the original occupation sites for general assemblies and ongoing organizing/service centers…and then going home at night to rest and fight another day. This approach is more sustainable in the long-term (who really wants to sleep outside come January?), and it attracts more supporters who are down for the cause but not the tents. Look to our European comrades who also used the tactic as an example: los indignados in Spain moved beyond physical tents and their movement has now exploded to every corner of the continent.
You can’t go to an Occupy march these days without hearing the chant, “We are the 99%!” It’s one of the best things the movement has achieved so far, a sense of unity and recognition that whatever our respective race, income, and geography, we are all getting screwed by the super-rich and their political puppets. It has caught on because it’s true, and also because it invites everyone (well, 99% of everyone) to get in on the party. It’s a broad-based movement trying to change some very broad-based problems.
2. Acknowledge the Complexity of the 99%
You can’t go to an Occupy march these days without hearing the chant, “We are the 99%!” It’s one of the best things the movement has achieved so far, a sense of unity and recognition that whatever our respective race, income, and geography, we are all getting screwed by the super-rich and their political puppets. It has caught on because it’s true, and also because it invites everyone (well, 99% of everyone) to get in on the party. It’s a broad-based movement trying to change some very broad-based problems.
At the same, we need to recognize that, truth be told, we are not all the same. The 99% includes graduate students and high school dropouts, gentrifying hipsters and gentrified-out families, immigrants and indigenous folks, suburban Occupiers out in Walnut Creek, the good folks of Occupy the Hood, and yes, as we have seen in many of the encampments, some of the over one million homeless Americans. We come from very different places, with different traditions and expectations. These differences can cause tension and alienation amongst activists, let alone uninitiated folks. One huge step for the Occupy movement would be to start recognizing the true diversity of the American 99%, and figuring out ways to use that diversity as a strength rather than another way for the ruling class to divide and conquer.
Last month, the Oakland-based immigrant rights youth group 67 Sueños targeted Wells Fargo for their investments in private immigration detention prisons. A few weeks later, UC-Berkeley students protested outside Wells Fargo again (the exact same branch, in fact) against sky-rocketing student loans. Dare I smell a coalition? This movement is broad enough for different groups to find their specific points of entry, and when we come together in unity, that’s when the fun stuff really happens.
One last thing, but maybe the most important on this point: much has been said of the overrepresentation of white people in the Occupy movement. Hey, it’s true. Especially in a city like Oakland, it is weird, almost painful, to be at a general assembly with at least 80% white folks. But I also know that the general strike was much more diverse. Why? Its demands, framing, and tactics spoke to communities of color who have known about things like police brutality since long before there were tents downtown. The question is who we are talking to, and how.
Let’s keep it real: the original Occupy Wall Street call to action was put out by Adbusters, a small magazine by and for young, white, college-educated (or dropped-out) lefties. It was very quickly embraced by a much larger audience across the country, but still majority white. There are pros and cons to this. The con is that people of color, who generally have felt the effects of the recession much harder than white people, are hesitant to join in, due to a history of exclusion and even betrayal by majority-white labor and liberal movements. At the same time, though, I have heard from some black and Latino comrades, upon seeing all the white people in the streets,a sentiment of “It’s about time!” Similarly, I have always been frustrated by the apathy of many of my light-skinned brothers and sisters. So to everyone who is joining in, I say, it’s nice to see y’all. Just remember: we’re not the only players in this party, and if this is going to really jump off, we’ll need to check some of our privilege and practice real solidarity.
3. Beyond Violence vs. Non-Violence: Let’s Talk Responsibility vs. Irresponsibility
3. Beyond Violence vs. Non-Violence: Let’s Talk Responsibility vs. Irresponsibility
Nothing gets an activist debate going, or media headlines buzzing, like the role of “violence” in the movement. This has been especially true here in Oakland, where small groups of protesters have repeatedly smashed bank windows and other actions that have provoked confrontation with the cops. Let’s be clear: I don’t consider breaking a window to be violence (humans bleed, glass does not), but I do consider it stupid. Shutting down the Port of Oakland on November 2 cost big business, according to their own estimate, $8 million dollars in one day — cracking some glass at Whole Foods or Bank of America costs them pennies. More importantly, it enables the inevitable police crackdown and dissuades a sympathetic public from joining the movement. If we want the full 99% to join in, petty property damage ain’t the way to do it.
The proponents of such actions usually defend them under the catchphrase “diversity of tactics.” I am all for different tactics, but what this phrase’s backers really mean by it is anonymity of tactics and absolution of responsibility. A small group of people throw a couple bricks under the cover of night and black masks, then run away from the cops, leaving the whole movement to take the brunt of the police and media backlash. Whether these folks are hardcore anarchists or police provocateurs, I don’t know. Probably some of both. Either way, I’m done with the “violence versus nonviolence” debate. I’d rather discuss strategy versus stupidity, accountability versus irresponsibility. As I mentioned earlier, I’m all for direct actions that may not be technically legal, especially occupations of banks, schools, and homes. But we need actions that speak to people, that invite them to come on in, rather than scare them away.
For this to happen, folks are going to have to step up and demand the Occupy movement take some clear principles. So far, many people have resisted the idea that there are and should be leaders in the movement. Sorry if this breaks your non-hierarchical bubble but, formally or informally, there already are many people who have taken a lead in one form or another. The question is whether that leadership is as democratic, accountable, and collective as possible. Direct democracy is more than just repeating “Mic Check!” at a general assembly and then approving every resolution that comes forward. It’s making tough decisions, and sometimes confronting your comrades. It’s time for individuals and community organizations within the movement to step up and do just that. Not for the sake of division, but for long-term unity. We have way more to gain than to lose.
4. If the Police can Coordinate their Actions, So Can We
It is now clear that last week’s crackdown on the Occupations across the country was coordinated by the federal government and local, mainly Democratic mayors. They jointly decided on their message (“the camps have become a public health issue”), their date (all within a couple days of each other), and their action (kick out the tents, and don’t let them return). They made their move together. Now it’s our turn.
Each city’s local Occupy actions and focus are great, but the economic and political problems we are confronting are national – actually international – in scope. It’s time to start making our presence felt on that level. Last Thursday’s national day of action, called by Occupy Wall Street and with coordinated protests in over a dozen cities, was a great start. Occupy Oakland’s call for a West Coast Port Shutdown on December 12 is an even bigger step, and if it can be pulled off up and down the coast, it would strike a huge blow to the powers that be.
The proponents of such actions usually defend them under the catchphrase “diversity of tactics.” I am all for different tactics, but what this phrase’s backers really mean by it is anonymity of tactics and absolution of responsibility. A small group of people throw a couple bricks under the cover of night and black masks, then run away from the cops, leaving the whole movement to take the brunt of the police and media backlash. Whether these folks are hardcore anarchists or police provocateurs, I don’t know. Probably some of both. Either way, I’m done with the “violence versus nonviolence” debate. I’d rather discuss strategy versus stupidity, accountability versus irresponsibility. As I mentioned earlier, I’m all for direct actions that may not be technically legal, especially occupations of banks, schools, and homes. But we need actions that speak to people, that invite them to come on in, rather than scare them away.
For this to happen, folks are going to have to step up and demand the Occupy movement take some clear principles. So far, many people have resisted the idea that there are and should be leaders in the movement. Sorry if this breaks your non-hierarchical bubble but, formally or informally, there already are many people who have taken a lead in one form or another. The question is whether that leadership is as democratic, accountable, and collective as possible. Direct democracy is more than just repeating “Mic Check!” at a general assembly and then approving every resolution that comes forward. It’s making tough decisions, and sometimes confronting your comrades. It’s time for individuals and community organizations within the movement to step up and do just that. Not for the sake of division, but for long-term unity. We have way more to gain than to lose.
4. If the Police can Coordinate their Actions, So Can We
It is now clear that last week’s crackdown on the Occupations across the country was coordinated by the federal government and local, mainly Democratic mayors. They jointly decided on their message (“the camps have become a public health issue”), their date (all within a couple days of each other), and their action (kick out the tents, and don’t let them return). They made their move together. Now it’s our turn.
Each city’s local Occupy actions and focus are great, but the economic and political problems we are confronting are national – actually international – in scope. It’s time to start making our presence felt on that level. Last Thursday’s national day of action, called by Occupy Wall Street and with coordinated protests in over a dozen cities, was a great start. Occupy Oakland’s call for a West Coast Port Shutdown on December 12 is an even bigger step, and if it can be pulled off up and down the coast, it would strike a huge blow to the powers that be.
Beyond that, we can to start organize internationally alongside the people in similar struggles for democracy and against austerity in Egypt, Greece, Chile, and beyond. Who knows? Maybe we can bring that beautiful idea that “another world is possible” closer to making it real.
For now, let’s take it one day, one step at a time. Things are changing fast. The Occupy movement is still young, finding its legs, its voice, its strength. It has many challenges and contradictions to tackle, no doubt, but hey, so has every movement throughout history. Let’s keep building, and see what kind of history we can make ourselves.
For now, let’s take it one day, one step at a time. Things are changing fast. The Occupy movement is still young, finding its legs, its voice, its strength. It has many challenges and contradictions to tackle, no doubt, but hey, so has every movement throughout history. Let’s keep building, and see what kind of history we can make ourselves.
The Occupy movement is the
last best hope the middle class in this country has of bringing some kind of sanity into our government process. Unfortunately too many haven’t realized this yet and the powerful money controlled interests are out to destroy this ground swell of discontent. The 99% have the numbers on their side but as of this moment there is no leadership to coordinate what must become a more focused mission of how to bring about the changes that are needed to restore our democracy. We no longer have a democracy we have a capitalistic society with our representation in Washington being bought and paid for by special interests and a media manipulating the citizen population with opinion masquerading as facts.
first of all, i’d like to say this movement is doomed from the start, or at least needs to evolve as a revolutionary force if it is to remain potent as a network for change. it is attempting to divide society between a majority against a minority, and if there’s anything the war on terror has taught us, its that homegrown terrorism/asymmetrical warfare is costly and to wage a war against a minority is incredibly difficult, especially if the 1% have created the entire political-economic paradigm we are currently living in.
so what, we take the money from the rich and redistribute it all? we’ll still be using the same resources, build more houses, capitalize on emerging markets, and consume an ever-increasing array of shit we feel like entertains us as we peddle our crap and try to live longer. let’s recognize that if we are talking about the 1%, we need to realize humanity on the whole is MUCH smaller than 1% of the total biodiversity of life on earth. at least it was the last time I checked–and i hear we’re living in the 6th species extinction. If we are looking at the 1% (or smallest minority) as the scapegoat to unload our anxieties and retributive justice onto, then we may as well go to humanity at large for the root of all problems. If we’re willing to execute and imprison each other for crimes against humanity, we should be willing to execute and imprison our selves too: does anyone contribute to a more peace and just world? of course. the Occupy movement is acting out the place of the system itself.
So let’s create something else. Let’s make good things great and bad things go away. In Isla Vista didn’t students burn down the banks that profited from human misery? Around the mediterranean, people are essentially going to war to occupy governments, economics, and the revolutionary process. In America there are mass arrests. In either case, governments are spending millions and billions of dollars enforcing a security culture, where police suppress the actions of the citizenry. In the bay area and elsewhere, protestors are directly communicating with the people who enforce the laws, and testing what the law really is, for whose purposes the law is intended to protect, and the consequences of those laws.
rather than occupy the protests, whose physical repurcussions are sitting, surrounding buildings, discussing loudly with anyone who will listen what the effects of the businesses actions are, and deciding what to do with them, we need to directly occupy the work that is being done, and 1) stop doing it if it is bad; and 2) start doing more good things.
when we occupy what we envision a liberated community’s activity would involve, we can evolve to do those things. what does it take to live sustainably? rely on your immediate neighbors and help each other out. The community of life is strongest when diverse, and we need to all occupy our own perceptions of what is right and wrong, and make sure we are helping the 100%.
By the way, money is one manifestation of an alien force that colonized the planet, evolving through history to perpetually enslave humanity by turning each against one another. Once “separation” was conceived of, alienation, fear, exploitation, and hatred naturally emerged, repressing the inherent potential of a mutually beneficial relationship. WHAT SHOULD WE ALL DO TOGETHER THAT WE ALL WOULD FUCKING LOVE TO DO? Once we can all agree on that, we’ll be fine. Until then, people will work towards their goals until they start to live them. Welcome to what’s going on.
Well said, Josh Healey! And well said, Anonymous! I got the link to this article from a member of my Facebook group, Occupy Together Activist Support (http://www.facebook.com/groups/227471783975459/), but I’m reposting this Comment in the Docs section. I am confident it will generate a lot of meaningful discussion.
As someone too old and infirm to act-ually occupy. I can only comment on the extraordinary value of OWS to me. First, that the extrordinary-ordinary people suddenly appeared, simply as people coming together — without labels — without being categorized. Almost at once they had a collective name — the 99% — and everyone except the 1% and the police — understood that the name was our name, too. It’s about us. that the 99% were named and visible as real people is already enough, But there was inherently more, just in the fact of the coming together, the physical presence. Life on earth is all about relationship. everything on earth is relative. Life couldn’t exist without relativity. that’s what the 1% doesnt get. Understanding that life on earth as being about relating with one another and reltaionship with the earth and other forms of life is a level of consciousness that the 1% doesn’t understand. they are living at the domination/subservience level. It can be called the oligarchical principle and it’s based upon money and physical force. The power of OWS is in the non-violence of its nature. It is not self-serving. It is an expression of the creativity of life being lived for the good of the whole.
Amen!
You can claim that your group is non-violent all day long but if it is committing violent acts then it isn’t non-violent. The idea that it is only violent sometimes doesn’t cut it either by the way. Thieves and murders are only doing those things a small percentage of the time after all. If you say “Well, that part of the group is violent but my part isn’t, but we support a variety of tactics” then that’s pretty much by definition a violent group too. Even the Mafia (a violent group to be sure) has some members who specialize in actually committing violent acts and many members who are just peacefully counting money, placing hit orders, and discussing the hazards of accidental fires with local businessmen. Either condemn the violence, refused to accept it, and turn the perpetrators in to the police as any decent person would or face the fact that you are going to be called a violent group of thugs and rightly so. Comments like “breaking glass isn’t a violent act” is just disgusting. Tell me you believe that when you get back to your car after a protest session and find that the windshield has been smashed. If you won’t have respect for your fellow citizens and their property don’t be surprised when they don’t have respect for you and your political organization.
There are to be sure, plenty of advantages to thuggery. You can intimidate a lot of people, and fear is a very real tool. But if you go that way don’t be surprised to find that you won’t have many friends and that the police and a majority of the rest of the public will see using violence against you as legitimate and even desirable. Your choice.
By the way, that sign above the smashed window saying “We are better than this.” reminds me of something I saw on TV back during early hours of the Rodney King riots in LA. A TV crew was in an alleyway next to a Radio Shack that was being looted getting prepared to go interview the looters when a middle aged woman came hustling through the alley in a hurry. The crew stopped her and asked why she was in such a big hurry. She said “My daughter is inside getting some stuff and I am going to bring the car around so we can load it up and take off.” The interviewer was dumbfounded by the notion that this would be happening and that the woman would so openly admit what she was doing in front of a TV camera so she asked “Don’t you think that there’s something…wrong about what you are doing?” her answer was “Oh, but I’m not really like this.”. Of course she was exactly like that with the proof right there fore everyone to see. Denial is not a pretty thing.
Respect for your fellow man is not something that you have independent of your actions, it is shown only through your actions. Claiming that “We are better than this.” doesn’t make it so.
As a follower from day 1, I commend your article. A few things that you might want to include. When the “perfect storm” happened, from Adbusters, or whoever set up that first tent in Zuccoti Park, people identified with the movement and even projected their dreams onto it. For example, there is a movement, called the 99% Declaration, in which the founder is seeking a Constitutional Convention, and believes that everyone in OWS agrees with this concept, or should. Repeat that, times 99% of the population who have felt frustrated and angry with the economy and perceived ruling class. That’s a lot of people and a lot of projecting.
The economy is one root of the movement, and another is to the Arab Spring. As a Jew, I am watching this development carefully. I wonder why the GA in NYC so readily agreed to send a contingent of OWS’ers to Egypt. The trip was then called off.
Back to the economy and projections. Unfortunately, one of the groups who are going to project victory on the shoulders of OWS are the unions. These are our earlier heroes who fought and won labor rights. But, I fear these will be wholly reversed if OWS does not win. I am still on the fence about the unions and labor rights (and I am a union member) and OWS. Unlike my uncertainty about the Arab Spring, I feel more confident in what the unions are up to. It’s clear – they want continued shut downs and strikes. Taking a very objective stance, I am not sure about these tactics. Somehow, I feel they are outdated, and a huge distraction for OWS. In a certain sense, I feel the unions have co-opted the movement. I don’t think they should be handing out fliers in the BARTabout a coordinated West Coast Port Blockade. I don’t know if this truly serves to help them, and the rest of the 99%. How about veterans, homeless, home-losers, the mentally ill, the poor, the indigenous people whose land we are living on. Should they shut down the ports, too? And, what gives the unions the rights to go to a GA that is 2 months old and suggest this tactic? A 2-month old baby would not be able to stop an old granddaddy from striking if he wanted to…likewise the unions. In this regard, I find them to have lack of sensitivity and perspective, and that is very disappointing.
OWS has vividly shown that Oakland has huge problems way beyond the scope of union issues. The bigger issue seems to be gangs and gun violence. Well, it turns out that gangs and guns are in the 99%. It also seems that the original strike and encampment attracted that to OWS – with terrible consequences. Shouldn’t these major issues be handled before union rights?
The fledgling GA process will hopefully be one that will survive. Once the screamers and co-opters have had their say, perhaps it will evolve into a gathering place where neighbors – of all races, economic levels, careers, and levels of involvement – can meet, discuss, and vote on local issues. I thought this was more what OWS was about, but I don’t know, though. It’s too new and there’s too much projection occurring. Hopefully, the air will soon clear.
Josh – Welcome back from your travels! Thanks for penning this piece – it’s terrific and I pretty much agree with all of it.
Start an Occupy Political Party, to run Occupy Party candidates to get elected to government, to take goverment back from the wealthy Republican and Democratic Party duopoly – and their corrupt, sold-out, wealthy ruling class politicans that infest government, serving the wealthy and rich big business, not the public. That is why Occupy Wall Street started, because government politicians were sold-out to Wall Street, instead of properly regulating Wall Street to prevent such wrong doing.
I keep hoping Dennis Kucinich or Bernie Sanders or Jesse Ventura or someone will hold a press conference and say “Let’s do this.” If done right (i.e., focusing on restoring the Constitution, getting corporations and military-industrial complex under control, cleaning up Wall Street, putting people back to work) you could draw voters from across the political spectrum. Too many progressives are still hoping Obama will suddenly do something.
Great, thoughtful article with important constructive criticism; likewise with many of the comments on the article.
Here’s my declaration of the 99%, which anyone can feel free to share/post/whatever:
http://dissidentvoice.org/2011/11/need-vs-greed/
Dear Josh,
First of all it is around 1500 Occupies worldwide, not 100, and 8-10,000 Nov 2 Oakland Port marchers, not 40,000. Yes, the 1% percent violent folks broke the mood but the constituency Oakland Occupiers should be reaching out to is the 1000s of artists, filmmakers, techies, and burners. The Oakland Art Murmur, held yesterday Dec 2, gets 5000 or more, and kids, foodies, avant artists of all stripes are enthused. Sure it is commercial but it is also avantgarde (some of it) and new art changes consciousnesses. Moreover, the marihuana biz pumps into millions into the economy. If city bureaucracy and Occupiers could hurdle their respective blockages, we could organize among ourselves great improvement with what we have available. Indeed, the Oakland Commune is a reality without having to change the entire world economic structure. But it needs a socialist-capitalist hybrid or social entrepreneurial model to grow green jobs, more art, a vibrant film scene, more local food, mentoring, adiction abatement, education, and high tech – not oldfashioned leftism, to say nothing of oldfashioned anarchy. Best Doniphan
While bashing the 1% may be satisfying, they are not really the problem. I credit Joseph McCormick, founder of the Transpartisan Alliance, for the insight that what’s happening is that the flaws in the SYSTEM are simply being carried to an extreme. What I appreciate about the OWS movement is that we seem to understand that if the 1% is removed while the system remains intact, a different 1% will simply replace them.
While I sense that the OWS movement is philosophically on the right track, creating/revising a system is a mindbogglingly complex task. It takes a long time and a lot of work, especially when we are determined to walk our talk about inclusiveness. However, we are fortunate to have literally thousands of grassroots community organizations around the country who are already organized and in a position to jumpstart the process of restructuring our society.
Having watched the collapse of the Soviet system firsthand, and seen the terrible suffering it caused, I know for sure that collapse of our economic system is not constructive — at least until a new system is fully fledged and has risen up beneath it.
North Dakota’s State Bank is a great model. They are not experiencing the recession that the rest of us are. In Washington State we’ve been working for several years to get a state bank, without success yet. However, I heard a legislator say yesterday that our Occupy Olympia actions are exactly the loud voice that legislators need to counterbalance the lobbyists. Washington State has $billions invested in Wall Street. If that were invested in our communities instead, well, we’d be well on the way to having the win/win new system that we yearn for.
I think the article rightly points a danger I see in how the discussion on the Occupy is coming in the Media lately. I am following from the outside the Occupy movement, and it seems that too many attention is being given lately to the 1st Amendment and the right to free speech, but the media is no longer talking about YOUR GRIEVANCES and the content of the MESSAGE.
I just say, do not fall into that trap. Keep stirring up conscience and keep up the critic approach. Alongside with the suggestions of the main article, here in Boston you have, to say the least, the legacy of Thoreau and of Dr. King, the one a theorist and the second a great practitioner of Civil disobedience and Civil resistance.
Mucho ánimo.
As my minister said this morning: Be patient. Don’t push it. Don’t try to create a 6-point bullet list.
The important thing is that it starts people talking. It makes these issues clear in a very dramatic way. It will, in its own good time, morph into something else.
The only violence I’ve read and seen and heard about is on the part of the cops. Any violence attributed to the protesters is almost certainly someone out to discredit the movement. The Occupy people have been diligent in ridding themselves of these people.
The ideas in this article are so simple and useful–most of the comments and replies may be less so. If one hunts around the net Occupiers explain why Occupy need not pose the 99% against the 1% and why key founding strategists in the movement do NOT do so. Distinctions need not be oppositions. An upcoming documentary on OCCUPY makes that crystal clear in its trailer. Other OCCUPY authors note that the people with real economic power, not just wealth, are the ,01 per cent, mostly composed of global corporation CEOs and CFOs, but also investors and others who work and collude specifically to exert undemocratic power over political and social institutions. Seeing economic power and wealth as closely correlated is like identifying free-market “capitalism” with undue economic power. It’s outdated. The US is a mixed economy with many outright socialist policies and processes. European market systems lean away from free markets and surplus capital. OCCUPY seems to be a distinctly social movement to create social change, decrying the dgree to which this is hampered by certain economic and political institutions. This would explain why it has no real political or economic agenda.
A fifth idea: Marry the energy of Occupy Together with the consciousness of Transition Towns and we will be unstoppable! Folks in the bay area might be interested to know that Charles Eisenstein, narrator of The Revolution Is Love and author of Sacred Economics, will be on tour in the area for a series of events December 16-20. Here is a link to his all-day workshop Transition Activism Intensive in Berkeley on the 17th:
http://www.facebook.com/events/273359636047641/
Occupying is about the problem, Article 5 of our Constitution is the solution. A Constitutional Convention has been called for by 27 STATES (not D.C.), and 34 total will make it happen. Like get rid of the PRIVATE banks ownership of our Federal Reserve… And federally financed Congressional elections, so “we the people” will be represented rather than Corporate funded male lawyers! The change is coming in 2012, when our solar system goes around the tip of the galaxy–causing massive electromagnetic changes on all of Earth…