I don’t understand why I am supposed to care about this whole #OccupyWallStreet protest. There is no platform, no legislative vehicle, no coherent call to action, no overriding message, and very little in the way of any point.
I have been liveblogging the events at FDL for over a week, and there is a huge point that the media until yesterday obtusely refused to get. And it shaped what little coverage there was.
It is worth giving a shit about.
The point of OccupyWallStreet is that the political process and culture of the United States is broken, that a lot of people know that its broken, and that the anger has gotten to the point that folks want to deal with it. But in order to deal with it, you cannot deal with issues or with legislative agendas, or with predefined principles of a specific ideology. What has to happen is to build the national consensus again from the bottom up and not depend on the manufactured (marketed) consensus created by the media (and that includes the political blogs). So the demand is for a new grassroots political process to arrive at consensus outside the media. And the demand is for restoration of the public space — physical space as well as cultural space in which to deliberate and assemble to demand redress of grievances.
The don’t deserve the pepper spray because in the current security state (and New York understandably is more in lockdown than most cities), just holding a march in the street is illegal. An event permit to assemble for anything in NY costs $4200. That’s a high price for freedom to assemble.
Part of the local coalition is Critical Mass. And they point out that a part of the reason for the high permit cost is that vehicular traffic has priority over pedestrians. But that is just one of the many side issues that feed into the conversation.
The fundamental grievance is that the 1% of top income earners have gained the power to create the economy, political institutions, and cultural norms that benefit them—no surprise there. But that creation is not working and the 1% would rather the 99% be impoverished and oppressed by law that reform the institutions. And folks in the 99% are finally saying “No” and undertaking a very detailed look at the alternatives.
The fact that they don’t deserve it is not a problem with the actions going on right now in (renamed) Liberty Park. It is a problem with the NYPD and the security state that the PATRIOT Act has built.
To keep up with what has been developed (and consensus is a slow and agonizing process), check the New York City General Assembly site. Let folks know that they can participate for a day or whatever. See it from the inside instead of the media’s view.
The current work is on a principles of operation (“Principles of Solidarity”) document, which is still open to discussion. And a call to action, which is still under discussion.
Unlike what you are demanding, these folks have not come with a ready-made set of ideas that they are marketing. And they are seeking that the discussion be ideologically and demographically inclusive. Because the 99% are ideologically and demographically diverse.
The point is re-establishing the lower-level connections of small-d democracy that is now seriously disconnected after 30 years of conservative dominance.
Another site is Occupy Together, which is coordinating the replication of general assemblies across the US (seemingly beginning with cities that are home to a Federal Reserve Branch).
A site to understand the strategy and tactics is Waging Nonviolence.
It is too early in the process to tell whether this will work. But if it does, it fundamentally changes the basis of the political conversation from that established by the Tea Party media campaign of 2009-2010. And by January, I suspect that folks will have seen through what the Tea Party really was.
The success of the OccupyWallStreet process depend on the number and diversity of people who get involved in it. And the extent to which the process is not co-opted as media exposure grows.
Well, at least Lawrence O’Donnel came out swinging. Well worth watching.
(I can’t find the old embed codes – how to embed at BT?)
Hey ask,
You can embed videos here by clicking Share, then Embed, and then check the box that says ‘Use old embed code’ towards the bottom of the options.
Thanks ejmw
I failed to click the Embed-button. I though that clicking ‘Share’ used to give all options…
That is a good and forceful statement of opinion.
But unaccountable police brutality is only one symptom of the dysfunction of US political culture. Remember is was Nixon and the Republicans in the 1970s who rolled out the whole “get tough on crime” meme just at the time they were violating the law in order to suppress growing popular dissent over the Vietnam War.
Compare the tone of Booman’s Wall St. post with the attention he offers the GOP candidate debates.
One is deadly serious, one is about wanking.
This is how media makes reality.
All I know is that it is a strange kind of movement that gets organized before it knows what it is organizing to do. Maybe that’s how something new gets started but it’s hard to see how they can morph this into anything lasting and relevant. Also, I want to be clear that I care about the NYPD macing people and hitting them with clubs. That’s not what I don’t give a shit about. I just don’t see why the NYPD is doing it because I don’t see much of a threat. If anything, meeting non-violent protestors with violence… Read more »
It got more than the “protesters got attention”. It got attention to the issue of the impunity of police misconduct. It got attention to the limits to free speech and assembly that now exist in our security-crazed political system. It got attention to the fact that police now routinely try to suppress the photographing or videotaping of their official actions. It got attention in some quarters to the fact that the blue shirt police, some of whom were appalled by their boss’s attack on innocent bystanders, are facing a 21% cut in their pensions. Not bad for 10 days work.… Read more »
I hate to have to point this out, but the hashtag isn’t #endpolicebrutality.
It doesn’t have to be. Those are in fact the social consequences thus far.
Being goal-focused can create tunnel vision that misses indirect tactics that can move things along. Business found two decades ago that this was one of the problems with management-by-objectives techniques. And the groups that started some of the most long-ranging and effective movements have left few historical footprints outside of some obscure PhD thesis. That is later rediscovered and popularized.
Rove/Luntz all the material they need to counter it, one target at a time.
The level of police presence indicates clear fear on the part of at least SOME of the power elite.
That’s where the news is, imho. That’s the point of contact that deserves attention. Where is the vulnerability that needs protection? Is it just a matter of maintaining order? What order?
I don’t see the protests as having arisen out of a void, as some type of initiation (though that sure may happen for some) that must eventually yield a result. It’s just another expression of the natural will to live, against incredible odds. That’s no small thing; It just may be the biggest thing, really.
.. may not indicate anything of the kind, either. It could be a meant to goad protesters into acting up & scaring the folks at home. Part of the overall basic strategy to divide the public against itself. You could argue that this does, in fact, reveal fear in the power elite, but in that case it’s just the usual fear, not a new one.
That would certainly be consistent with data Bob Altemeyer collected a couple decades ago, where scenarios involving violence erupting at protests led to increased acceptance of authoritarian attitudes compared to scenarios involving peaceful protests.
Sure. What’s to keep agents provocateurs from being the police?
I’m sorry I can’t make it down there myself.
Agents provocateurs as plants – yeah, that’s as old as the hills and very damned effective. There are very few situations where the general public will accept violence on the part of protesters – and usually if there’s general public acceptance I suspect the collapse of the regime in question is imminent, meaning no one is believing that the regime will keep them safe. We may be headed for hard(er) times, but we’re a ways off from total collapse.
The level of police presence indicates clear fear on the part of at least SOME of the power elite. No, martini. It indicates a clear purpose on the part of at least some of the power elite to induce fear in the minds of those who might sympathize with the aims of the protestors. The level of threat and violence is being quite carefully parsed so as to maintain the “threat” (and thus the fear) without actually stepping over the Kent State line into real, bloody, mortal confrontation. Watch. The NYC cops are very good at this sort of thing.… Read more »
A truly amazing opinion By David Weidner currently resides at MarketWatch (a WSJ online publication).
The “an administration” should read “administrations” to be more than a political hit job.
I’d go further and say not only administrations but note that Congress has also been a willing patsy in the fleecing of America – which is really what we’re describing here.
As Dick Durbin noted in the failed attempt to pass “cramdown” legislation, “the banks own this place”.
If this is the beginning of a popular front approach, I’d say they might be onto something.
It’s how the Tea Party started. Inchoate anger.
Is this the beginning of a Left Wing Tea Party? I hope so, but all hope was beaten out of me between 2008 and 2011.
I’ve been saying for a few years now that this current generation of youth and young adults (the millennials) is something special. Keep an eye out. They have some potential, they’re finding their voice, and that gives me hope.
Recommended and tweeted, fwiw.
site for a media reality check. Zero…that is goose egg, nada, ain’t happening…coverage of this movement as of 3:30PM, 9/27/11. If it’s not covered by the corporate media, it doesn’t exist. If it doesn’t exist, then it is not worth covering. Catch 22, over and out. If the media can duck Ron Paul and his millions of followers…a tactic that is beginning to break down under Paul’s starfish-like tenacity, I might add…then it can disappear a couple of hudred white, peaceful middle class student types with no problem whatsoever. Which it has done, quite successfully. Only those who comprise the… Read more »
Maybe not overwhelming, but news for “occupy wall street” as a search term yielded 2,730 hits as of 3:56 eastern time on Google News. Not exactly a goose egg. Also even though twitter has effectively censored the “occupywallstreet hashtag, if one is plugged into even a handful of the right folks (such as USDayofRage or OccupyWallStreet or variations thereof), one can get quite a bit on one’s feed. Doesn’t hurt subscribing to a few Marxists on twitter as well. 🙂
AG, this one’s for you 😛
I personally am out to neutralize the (equally if not more) “viral” belief that the media actually report the news, myself. A virus that has been spreading since the JFK assassination or even longer. Cynicism, eh? I guess it depends on how you define your terms, Tarheel. One person’s belief in Obama-style faux-left politics and the possible efficacy of the Democratic Party in helping to cure the ills of this country might be called faith or it might be called total media-induced blindness, just a another’s lack of faith in that system might be termed realism based on the evidence… Read more »
I was pulling your chain.
I jolly well hope so. But we also may never see a definitive result one way or the other. In our lifetimes.
I’m afraid that I don’t have any more chains, Tarheel. Had to get rid of them so that my mind was lighter and more mobile. The heaviest one? The chain that locked me to my television set. Phew!!! What a relief!!!
Later…
AG
voices on dkos? Lots of linkity biznez over there, but discussion of the benefits could use a boost. Also, you’ve probably seen this, but perhaps worth sharing here: “The power elite will define whatever you do as failure.” The future of Occupy Wall Street and any future act of rebellion or resistance to economic, political and social injustice depend on understanding this truth. The growing threat to power Occupy Wall Street poses does not rest upon its critique of the financial system or its ability to show the world how the security state of America squelches dissent. It lies in… Read more »
http://www.livestream.com/globalrevolution
by the people, for the people. TUNE IN.
. Postal Workers’ Unions, Workers’ Groups, and Occupy Wall Street Rally to Save the Postal Service (AlertNet) – In an incredible display of solidarity, five major unions and worker groups — the American Postal Workers Union, National Association of Letter Carriers,National Postal Mailhandlers Union, the National Rural Letter Carriers Association and the National Association of Postal Supervisors — organized rallies in every congressional district today. New Yorkers demonstrating with Occupy Wall Street also joined the postal workers (watch the livestream), marching from Liberty Plaza to Varick St. to show their continued support for victims of the recession. "But I will… Read more »
. Occupy Wall Street rediscovers the radical imagination (Guardian) – The young people protesting in Wall Street and beyond reject this vain economic order. They have come to reclaim the future. Why are people occupying Wall Street? Why has the occupation – despite the latest police crackdown – sent out sparks across America, within days, inspiring hundreds of people to send pizzas, money, equipment and, now, to start their own movements called OccupyChicago, OccupyFlorida, in OccupyDenver or OccupyLA? There are obvious reasons. We are watching the beginnings of the defiant self-assertion of a new generation of Americans, a generation who… Read more »
http://occupyportland.org/ Occupy Portland is a nonviolent movement for accountability in the United States government. At 12PM on October 6th, 2011 we will assemble at Tom McCall Waterfront Park, 1020 Southwest Naito Parkway in Portland, OR. We will gather in solidarity with the ongoing protest in New York City, Occupy Wall Street, and the growing number of cities whose people will no longer sit back watching corporate and special interests run their government. We are citizens of the United States, and this country is ours. We will take it back. It is no longer enough to vote and to participate in… Read more »
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Keep up the good work Damnit Janet.
"But I will not let myself be reduced to silence."Wait and see what we have in my for Ms. Rice soon. We chased her out of Portland once already this year.
I might diarize it in pictures. Not sure. I’ll be infiltrating with “bloody” hands to put in front of her face so may not get any pictures myself.
Wanted to say “hey” just in case you’re still reading this thread.
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Those were the days … 2006. Plenty of (((((((((DJ))))))))))
"But I will not let myself be reduced to silence."That they were. Some have drifted away, some still around. Quite a number of us aren’t on speaking terms any longer. Sigh.
The Teabaggers have “one voice” because they don’t require any critical thought process. It’s all regurgitated junk. Liberals on the other hand are CUHRAZY. 🙂 We have many passions. Many reasons why we are doing what we do. Many experiences. Many ideas. The problem comes when we don’t agree to everything. Which I don’t think is possible. As we aren’t “one voice”. We are voices of many. We don’t have one message. You go to an antiwar rally and you’ll learn about global warming or direct trade. 🙂 We are scattered and unorganized. UNORGANIZED is the key. If… Read more »
You’ll love this:
For the OccupyPortland, I’ll be wearing a V is for Vendetta mask with my solidarity with Iraqi women and children scarf draped over my head.
I see that mask, and I’ll always think of you. 🙂
Awesome. Rock on. 🙂
You’re an inspiration, DJ!
I guess I’ll have to abandon my self imposed hiatus to focus on a tad more direct action now that at least some of our citizens have decided they’ve had enough.
We’ll soon have another financial collapse, after which I predict the numbers of US indignados in the streets will be enhanced by several orders of magnitude.
Non-Violent Action has a much great potential for results vs. focusing solely on the political process, which should be fairly obvious since Obama
=> TrojanHorse.See my link below for more on that;
yep, the non-violence action has to go both ways. Non-Violence on part of the people and the police/security etc. Non-violent training is a real eye opener. It’s the main reason why my spouse doesn’t attend many “OUTTINGS” with me (as he call them) because he is ex-military and he will not stand down when he sees abuse. At a weekly vigil here near our library, a pick up truck drove recklessly nearby and threw out a soda container at some of our kids, Danni and a little girl with a peace sign. Wayne took off down the road. Cussing and… Read more »
To know that the only person you might be “big enough” to keep you from doing stupid shit is .. yourself .. and then to be big enough to keep yourself out of the temptation zone … makes Wayne bigger than himself, really.
Hopefully that makes sense 🙂
GO WAYNE!
Thanks! 🙂 He is pretty damn cool. He doesn’t do peace and justice. He goes out and feeds the housebound via Meals on 2 Wheels (his bicycle) He’s pretty radical. 🙂 We had to work out an agreement about me going out. He has to be the first to know about everything that goes down. He doesn’t like hearing from others that some wadhole threw something lit at my face…. One time I got hit in the face by a ‘Wage Peace” sign when two older ladies hugged each other. My mouth was pretty effed up when I got home.… Read more »
please email me
I love the non-violence link. I’ll be sharing that link with our lending library pinkster types.
Hope you do, DJ – and that you become a regular feature again…
Good to ‘see’ you!
You do know that one of your posts about landmines had a huge impact on my spouse right? Knowing that they are people out there doing such things gave me the courage to do the little things. As to blogging. Meh. I don’t know. Yesterday, I put up a diary in DK about an action alert in Portland regarding Rice. I hadn’t made a diary in many years. I wrote to CodePink and told them of my post and that I kinda felt weird doing it. They thanked me for it and say it needs to be done and… Read more »
I remember a comment you made early this year mentioning a lot of troubles for you and family. Hope your surgery was successful and that it means the end of any medical problems. I know you like to get out there and it must have been very frustrating for you to be unable to do so (at least not as much as you want). My last outing was also in support of Wisconsin (see my diaries – it should be on the first page). Followed by an impromptu speech here in Geneva a few days later to a small crowd… Read more »
I don’t have facebook. My kids would freak out 🙂 I just have a few sites I hang out at. A San Jose Hockey pool chat site that I’ve been at for at least 15 years and have met most in “real life” – it’s my main “political” chat actually as we’re mostly crazy liberal hockey fans. I chat with AndiF at her picture site. I rarely anymore do political blogs. The past two months I’ve done alot of posting because Ive been home unable to life more than a laptop LOL. But as to political blogs… I find them…… Read more »
Oh – I’m so sorry. All those complications. And more surgery. But listen to the doctor; what he said makes absolute sense. Glad to hear your husband is satisfied with the life changing moves, what a relief to find a job that makes you happy.
All best wishes to you. Our thoughts and prayers will be in support.
Tomorrow I start the fluid diet.
I was able to go back to work two weeks ago. I’ve taken Mon and Tue off this week. Then things should go back to “not so crazy”. Untill hernia surgery. ROFL.
I’m really looking forward to Occupy Portland on the 6th and then the Condi Rice protest on the 19th. As that’s what the doctor should be ordering. Take two smack downs and then call me in the morning. :&
Good to see you, Janet, and that you are still out there fighting!
Why? Because the majority of the voting public of the United States are not…and will not in the foreseeable future…able to relate to the demographics of this demonstration. This is not the “Arab Spring” that so many people wish that it was. It is a demonstration that is dominated by a very limited demographic…20-something middle class (and ex-middle class), white, university-educated people. Just look at the vids for all that you need to know on this account. Then go look at the vids of the Middle Eastern/North African uprisings. Here? There are maybe 20 college towns and a few urban… Read more »
“right on the money” Especially with regard to OWS. What the “media” shows of most rallies, vigils, events, protests, street marches is what they want you to see. They never show the parents with their kids, they don’t show you the grandparents waving peace signs. They don’t show the professors with the students. They show you ‘dirty fucking hippies”. The only way to see the “cross section” of American Protestors out in the street is to be out in the street protesting with them. We are the undercounted, the ignored, censored, shuffled and downright lied about. And…… Read more »
Here is what is interesting. Ron Paul supporters are organizing Occupy [your town] movements in Clarksville TN and Appleton WI so far.
And they are circulating this video of a speech by Adam Kokesh, an Iraq War veteran.
The problem for them right now is that they cannot let Ron Paul’s campaign get “tainted” by those DFH’s in New York City.
Is Ron Paul building a base to run as third party candidate?
h/t AG for getting me to look for this.
Is Ron Paul building a base to run as third party candidate? Yes, I believe that he is. Furthermore, I believe that he has already at least partially built that base…with the kind assistance of several generations of assholes in DC and the truly disgusting greed of the corporate ruling class, of course. Of what and whom is it comprised? Lissen up. I have written about this here before. The lowest “approval rating” that any sitting president has polled in the last decade or so here in the U.S. has been right around 30%. No matter how godawful stupid Bush… Read more »