If “Occupy America” only stays on message and doesn’t succumb to putting forth demands or an articulated platform, the days of the one percent are over and a new beginning is at hand.
Has the Arab Spring come to our shores by way of the New York Autumn? Is this a valid comparison? What exactly is the nature of the movement at hand? And a movement it definitely is, spreading like wildfire throughout this land of the thief and the slave. Occupy Boston, Albuquerque, LA, San Francisco, Seattle – these are but the initial points of contact, points of a conflagration that is likely to take America, if not the whole world, as if by storm, a tsunami against which there is no foreseeable defense, no fortification or preparedness, no appropriate response. I certainly hope so, which should tell you where my sentiments lie. Call me biased if you like, but I think we’re long overdue. The time for the global revolution has arrived.…
Article comments
26 - troll
we are certainly entitled to our opinions and sensitivities whatever their relationship to reality
27 - handyguy
sure thing. i would suggest that that applies to both of us.
28 - roger nowosielski
Here it goes, Handy. The very paradigm is being put into question. That's the essence of my argument and what I believe, if the movement stays on course, will emerge.
The possibilities are endless, and the kind of scenario that would be most to my liking would consist of organizing local communities along lines independent of the existing political machinery, bypassing it altogether and thus, eventually, rendering it irrelevant.
And where did I argue for use of violence? The term "revolution" need not entail violence. The movement by Gandhi is a case in point.
29 - handyguy
I didn't say you were advocating violence. Just that change may come at a time and in a manner unforeseen by any of us. The 'revolution' is more likely not to resemble your personal vision than it is to be just like what you want.
And OWS may be the beginning of this, or not. Acknowledging these multiple possibilities is just accepting life as it has always been and will always be: a massively chaotic array of ideas and events.
30 - handyguy
Gandhi in the end viewed his revolution as a failure because he knew it would lead to violence. The enmity between Muslim and Hindu was too massive to overcome.
31 - roger nowosielski
@29
Just wanted to get that idea out of the way. And yes, I don't disagree with you as to what may eventually follow. All I can do is hope for the best, and I outlined what I envisage as the most desirous of the alternatives.
32 - roger nowosielski
@30
And he was proven right. Still, moral force is the only force at the people's disposal. Fail one time, you got to try again.
33 - troll
as my notes from a protest site are proving to be less than conversation worthy here I'll leave you guys with one more story from the real world
a nice thing about participating in an international movement is all the folks you meet from all over...talking in a quiet time w/ a woman who participated in the May 15 movement in Spain -- my question: "why didn't that movement spark international support" -- her answer: "because it was reduced to a block party - the ultimate bourgeois wet dream"
ciao
34 - roger nowosielski
Don't be checking out, my man. You ought to know I'm hungry for the truth.
35 - handyguy
Roger, did you get the message I am living in TN now?
36 - roger nowosielski
[edit]
It's good to know, I'll come and visit, Clarksville, I presume, so we could iron out our differences.
Thanks for letting me know, and do resend it to the new address.
37 - handyguy
Will you beat me up? =(
38 - roger nowosielski
And let me assure you, I'm not as horrible in person as some of you make me out to be.
39 - roger nowosielski
Just answered you, beat you to the punch as a matter of fact.
Just play on words, ha ha!
40 - roger nowosielski
Just so you know, Handy, I have a winning personality, my man. Have a coterie of followers, men, women, animals, minerals and vegetables. The source of my confidence, in addition to my intellectual prowess.
But never listen to the person's description of self, for it's bound to be exaggerated. Just warning you, though.
Ha ha again.
41 - Cindy
It is not a protest, but a prototype for a new way of living.
There you go, Roger. Let's hope handy is wrong about it not spreading if it is anarchistic. Because anarchistic is the only reasonable and fair system of living in a social world.
42 - Cindy
Oh, wait! It IS spreading! Well, what do you know?
I see signs that both liberals and others are opening up to anarchist principles, without even knowing it. Go figure.
The end of the world as we know it would be a joy to behold. I hope some on the left will refrain from defending the past with its failed attempts at creating a space to live like caring human beings.
43 - Cindy
(Did I mention that article I posted is my new favorite on the movement? I think it grasps it entirely and in ways others have not yet comprehended.)
44 - Cindy
Make that 'fully' comprehended.
45 - Cindy
Hiya troll,
How goes it at the (un)occupation?
(What is the 'un' about? I see other Albuquerquers employing that 'un' too.)
46 - roger nowosielski
Sorry for belated response(s), Cindy. Too much KY bourbon, plus was polishing off my next article.
Where the hell is it, BTW?
47 - handyguy
Piers Morgan and Michael Moore will host a town hall discussion with '99 percenters' tonight at 9 eastern on CNN. It may be terrible, but Moore's participation may keep Piers from being too condescending.
48 - handyguy
Re: the mass acceptance of 'anarchism.'
I wasn't making a full-on prediction, or even expressing a preference. But anarchists don't make up the totality of a proudly inclusive group like OWS. And getting a significant number of the vast political middle involved is the only way for any political movement to grow to significant numbers.
For example, the middle showed some curiosity about the Tea Party initially, but more recent polls have indicated that opinions on the TP have soured. They are seen as extreme loudmouths. So their current influence is primarily at the furthest, least savory extreme of the right and the GOP.
The lasting impressions made by OWS on Middle America have yet to happen. My gut tells me Mr and Mrs Iowa or South Carolina will not respond favorably to 'pure anarchist principles' -- although they may well respond to a message along the lines of "big corporate interests have corrupted our political system."
Anyhow, my gut is not infallible. This is not a football game where I'm rooting against 'your' team. I'm just making observations.
49 - handyguy
By the way, Big Corporate Interests are Out to Screw Ordinary Americans was a message Al Gore tried in 2000. It did not catch fire then, in a time of prosperity.
50 - roger nowosielski
But those were times of prosperity (or so we thought).
51 - handyguy
A time of perceived prosperity. Well, I and others that I know made more money that year than any before or since. I worked in an industry that, like many, thrived in the tech bubble.
At any rate, there certainly was not the widespread economic anxiety that is so pervasive now. Although there were ominous rumblings. Nasdaq crashed in March 2000 and layoffs started to spread.
52 - handyguy
Cindy's article link is indeed interesting. And it's from the CNN web site yet! Maybe they are trying to make OWS their pet the way Fox News adopted the Tea Party.
53 - roger nowosielski
It was a bubble, though, wasn't it? Started with dot-coms.
54 - roger nowosielski
Interestingly, they had a big crackdown in Oakland, CA. Last I've heard, Dellums was still the mayor, an ex-radical from the sixties. Goes to show once you move into politics, you invariably end up in somebody's pocket.
55 - handyguy
Perhaps you need an update:
This morning’s attack from the Oakland PD came as a surprise after Mayor Jean Quan had originally appeared supportive of the protests, noting that, sometimes, “democracy is messy.” The city had originally said that demonstrators could continue their occupation of Frank Ogawa Plaza, despite laws that would normally prohibit the camp. In recent days, however, officials have cited concerns over sanitation and fire hazards as among the reasons for the forced evacuation.
Mayor Quan, a Chinese-American woman, took office in Jan. 2011. And today's arrests may or may not reflect her overall opinion of the OWS movement.
56 - handyguy
Another tidbit:
"At 7:30 Tuesday morning, Oakland Mayor Jean Quan’s office issued a statement regarding the police raid on the two downtown Occupy Oakland camp sites. The statement, reprinted in its entirety, reads:
Many Oaklanders support the goals of the national Occupy Wall Street movement. We maintained daily communication with the protest0rs in Oakland.
However, over the last week it was apparent that neither the demonstrators nor the City could maintain safe or sanitary conditions, or control the ongoing vandalism. Frank Ogawa Plaza will continue to be open as a free speech area from 6 am to 10 pm."
So it's not a complete eviction, just no overnight stays.
57 - roger nowosielski
There was one interesting "precedent," if you want to call it that. The governor (forgot now which state) called for "harsher measures" but the mayor refused.
58 - roger nowosielski
Well, there are always those "elements," some people wanting to capitalize on the situation. Amazingly, the NYC crowd appeared to have been very well-behaved. They should set up their own task force dealing with security, safety, and hygiene issues. Lots of GAs are doing it.
59 - roger nowosielski
This is one of the alternative newspapers in the Bay Area: East Bay Express.
Check out the first two entries under the "News Blogs" column. It looks as though the Mayor's action is resulting in a recall initiative.
60 - roger nowosielski
And here's the news from Berkeley.
I'll make it a point when I finally get back to CA to do some serious shit-disturbing.
It will be great to mix in with the UC crowd.
61 - handyguy
Right. The recall notice was filed Monday, before the crackdown, and concerned other issues, some of them racial. And it's hard to tell how much support in general the mayor or the recall have from that brief item.
She is the mayor of all of Oakland, and Occupy Oakland is, um, not yet all of Oakland. Her decisions about safety and sanitation may be right and they may be wrong, but she is probably in a better position to determine that than you or I are.
75 arrests and a curfew are not so drastic. The NYC protests generated 700 arrests on the Brooklyn Bridge alone, and this didn't stop OWS or even apparently lead to worse tensions with police in the days since.
62 - roger nowosielski
the main feature
63 - handyguy
Mayor Quan has had run-ins with the Oakland Police Department, and her popularity has sunk partly due to crime in Oakland. So that may have something to do with the curfew enforcement this morning.
64 - roger nowosielski
Sounds right.
65 - roger nowosielski
You just got to visit the Bay Area, my man. Alameda is my perfect spot, New Yorkers say it reminds them of Long Island.
You might meet your old nemesis, Kurtz, in person. His bark, I assure you, is bigger than his bite. He looks like a jolly good fellow. Bulletin boards are misleading.
66 - handyguy
Not sure if this is addressed to me, but northern California is my favorite part of the country. SF, Berkeley, Marin, Sonoma, and the coast north and south of there.
67 - roger nowosielski
Yes, to you, and you're right 100 percent.
Marin is just beautiful.
68 - roger nowosielski
Besides, I miss the food -- Italian, Chinese, Korean, you name it.
69 - roger nowosielski
In my best days, used to net close to 150 grand in disposable income, drove Citroen-Maserati and dine in the best SF restaurants.
I practically opened Jeremiah Tower's Stars restaurant in the Opera Plaza.
70 - roger nowosielski
Great quote from the article as per Cindy's link:
"For as we come to embrace or even consider options such as local production and commerce, credit unions, unfettered access to communications technology and consensus-based democracy, we become occupiers ourselves."
The idea of anarchism at its best.
71 - roger nowosielski
The latest: "Protest, Protest Forever!"
72 - roger nowosielski
Anarcissie,
You might also want to take a peek at this one from one of our editors, Ms Diana Hartman, for a privileged view from Germany.
73 - Cindy
Oh UNoccuppy!
(now I get it!)