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This Is What Revolution Looks Like
Welcome to the revolution. Our elites have exposed their hand. They have nothing to offer. They can destroy but they cannot build. They can repress but they cannot lead. They can steal but they cannot share. They can talk but they cannot speak. They are as dead and useless to us as the water-soaked books, tents, sleeping bags, suitcases, food boxes and clothes that were tossed by sanitation workers Tuesday morning into garbage trucks in New York City. They have no ideas, no plans and no vision for the future.
Occupy DenverOur decaying corporate regime has strutted in Portland, Oakland and New York with their baton-wielding cops into a fool’s paradise. They think they can clean up “the mess”—always employing the language of personal hygiene and public security—by making us disappear. They think we will all go home and accept their corporate nation, a nation where crime and government policy have become indistinguishable, where nothing in America, including the ordinary citizen, is deemed by those in power worth protecting or preserving, where corporate oligarchs awash in hundreds of millions of dollars are permitted to loot and pillage the last shreds of collective wealth, human capital and natural resources, a nation where the poor do not eat and workers do not work, a nation where the sick die and children go hungry, a nation where the consent of the governed and the voice of the people is a cruel joke.
Get back into your cages, they are telling us. Return to watching the lies, absurdities, trivia and celebrity gossip we feed you in 24-hour cycles on television. Invest your emotional energy in the vast system of popular entertainment. Run up your credit card debt. Pay your loans. Be thankful for the scraps we toss. Chant back to us our phrases about democracy, greatness and freedom. Vote in our rigged political theater. Send your young men and women to fight and die in useless, unwinnable wars that provide corporations with huge profits. Stand by mutely as our bipartisan congressional super committee, either through consensus or cynical dysfunction, plunges you into a society without basic social services including unemployment benefits. Pay for the crimes of Wall Street.
The rogues’ gallery of Wall Street crooks, such as Lloyd Blankfein at Goldman Sachs, Howard Milstein at New York Private Bank & Trust, the media tycoon Rupert Murdoch, the Koch brothers and Jamie Dimon at JPMorgan Chase & Co., no doubt think it’s over. They think it is back to the business of harvesting what is left of America to swell their personal and corporate fortunes. But they no longer have any concept of what is happening around them. They are as mystified and clueless about these uprisings as the courtiers at Versailles or in the Forbidden City who never understood until the very end that their world was collapsing. The billionaire mayor of New York, enriched by a deregulated Wall Street, is unable to grasp why people would spend two months sleeping in an open park and marching on banks. He says he understands that the Occupy protests are “cathartic” and “entertaining,” as if demonstrating against the pain of being homeless and unemployed is a form of therapy or diversion, but that it is time to let the adults handle the affairs of state. Democratic and Republican mayors, along with their parties, have sold us out. But for them this is the beginning of the end.
The historian Crane Brinton in his book “Anatomy of a Revolution” laid out the common route to revolution. The preconditions for successful revolution, Brinton argued, are discontent that affects nearly all social classes, widespread feelings of entrapment and despair, unfulfilled expectations, a unified solidarity in opposition to a tiny power elite, a refusal by scholars and thinkers to continue to defend the actions of the ruling class, an inability of government to respond to the basic needs of citizens, a steady loss of will within the power elite itself and defections from the inner circle, a crippling isolation that leaves the power elite without any allies or outside support and, finally, a financial crisis. Our corporate elite, as far as Brinton was concerned, has amply fulfilled these preconditions. But it is Brinton’s next observation that is most worth remembering. Revolutions always begin, he wrote, by making impossible demands that if the government met would mean the end of the old configurations of power. The second stage, the one we have entered now, is the unsuccessful attempt by the power elite to quell the unrest and discontent through physical acts of repression.
Occupy OaklandI have seen my share of revolts, insurgencies and revolutions, from the guerrilla conflicts in the 1980s in Central America to the civil wars in Algeria, the Sudan and Yemen, to the Palestinian uprising to the revolutions in East Germany, Czechoslovakia and Romania as well as the wars in the former Yugoslavia. George Orwell wrote that all tyrannies rule through fraud and force, but that once the fraud is exposed they must rely exclusively on force. We have now entered the era of naked force. The vast million-person bureaucracy of the internal security and surveillance state will not be used to stop terrorism but to try and stop us.
Despotic regimes in the end collapse internally. Once the foot soldiers who are ordered to carry out acts of repression, such as the clearing of parks or arresting or even shooting demonstrators, no longer obey orders, the old regime swiftly crumbles. When the aging East German dictator Erich Honecker was unable to get paratroopers to fire on protesting crowds in Leipzig, the regime was finished. The same refusal to employ violence doomed the communist governments in Prague and Bucharest. I watched in December 1989 as the army general that the dictator Nicolae Ceausescu had depended on to crush protests condemned him to death on Christmas Day. Tunisia’s Ben Ali and Egypt’s Hosni Mubarak lost power once they could no longer count on the security forces to fire into crowds.
The process of defection among the ruling class and security forces is slow and often imperceptible. These defections are advanced through a rigid adherence to nonviolence, a refusal to respond to police provocation and a verbal respect for the blue-uniformed police, no matter how awful they can be while wading into a crowd and using batons as battering rams against human bodies. The resignations of Oakland Mayor Jean Quan’s deputy, Sharon Cornu, and the mayor’s legal adviser and longtime friend, Dan Siegel, in protest over the clearing of the Oakland encampment are some of the first cracks in the edifice. “Support Occupy Oakland, not the 1% and its government facilitators,” Siegel tweeted after his resignation.
There were times when I entered the ring as a boxer and knew, as did the spectators, that I was woefully mismatched. Ringers, experienced boxers in need of a tuneup or a little practice, would go to the clubs where semi-pros fought, lie about their long professional fight records, and toy with us. Those fights became about something other than winning. They became about dignity and self-respect. You fought to say something about who you were as a human being. These bouts were punishing, physically brutal and demoralizing. You would get knocked down and stagger back up. You would reel backwards from a blow that felt like a cement block. You would taste the saltiness of your blood on your lips. Your vision would blur. Your ribs, the back of your neck and your abdomen would ache. Your legs would feel like lead. But the longer you held on, the more the crowd in the club turned in your favor. No one, even you, thought you could win. But then, every once in a while, the ringer would get overconfident. He would get careless. He would become a victim of his own hubris. And you would find deep within yourself some new burst of energy, some untapped strength and, with the fury of the dispossessed, bring him down. I have not put on a pair of boxing gloves for 30 years. But I felt this twinge of euphoria again in my stomach this morning, this utter certainty that the impossible is possible, this realization that the mighty will fall.
- Posted in
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136 Comments so far
Show Allyeah!
Seconded.
(insert graphic of Freddie Mercury triumphant)
And thirded...if that's legit? Go Chris!!!!!
-Way to go Chris!
chris hedges is rapidly becoming one of favorite guys around. :)
Once again, so well stated by Mr. Hedges, a man who is a prophet for our time.
Indeed. This is what democracy looks like. And it's about time. This is what revolution looks like. We are each and every one of us, now, all involved. A process has begun. There are no sidelines any longer. All must choose. Which side are you on? The side of the 1%, the corporate state, the Military Industrial Complex and the transnational corporations it serves, or the 99%--the jobless, the homeless, the sick, the aged, those without medical care, jobs or adequate food?
"How are the mighty fallen, and the weapons of war perished!"
II Samuel 1:27
Yo, don't forget us middle class. We're part of the 99% too.
When I heard that the gloves were coming off, and the powers-that-be would now be deliberately and concertedly dismantling the occupation camps, two feelings came over me.
1st, the feeling was one of satisfaction and hope: The movement is growing up... transforming into its next stage. So far, its been an unequivocal success, and *this is the sure sign of that*. Now comes the point where many young people face the reality of what they confront, and when they realize in adult terms what must come next. Now is when the movement gets truly serious, and where its mettle will be fully tested.
My second feeling is one of dread.
Will the 1% and its minions see the truth of their own diminishing relevance or ability to contribute to a prosperous future, and therefore join the cause... or is now when the 1% shows its true colors and unleashes brutal repression of We The People?
Gee, I wonder.
Will the movement factionalize, and stew in its own uncertainly... to ultimately diffuse in trepidation and lack-of-coordination — or will we redouble our collective commitment and momentum?
As much as I suspect it will be the latter, redoubling our commitment now could mean some very tough times ahead.
Another inspiring and very well stated piece by the author. That coming from an unapologetic and proud liberal radical.
Good post Salusa.
There will absolutely be some difficult days ahead, but the only way we can go is forward. We will pay a heavy price, but not as great as those who come after us will pay if we don't see this through. Along the way, we will find out what it really means to be alive, and IF we are successful, we will have the chance to redefine our lives. The role of the 1% in the destruction of our environment makes this perhaps the most important movement in human history.
It is time to answer the bell, my fellow common-dreamers. As Chris states, things can happen very quickly, so best of luck to all of you, and I'll see you in the streets!
re: ". We will pay a heavy price, but not as great as those who come after us will pay if we don't see this through. Along the way, we will find out what it really means to be alive"
Distilled to its essence.
Another key defining moment has descended upon America.
We certainly do live in interesting times! Let's hope we can survive them and make it to a long, (relatively) boring, healthy and sustainable future.
I too feel your dread and saw the gloves coming off long ago.
First with st Ronnie the Asshole's moves, the the Dick Clinton with welfare reform, NAFTA, Glass Steigal. Bushes False Flag attack and then the Patriot Act..
All those were the set ups to the massive transfer of wealth, to TSA, DHS, ect.
The next move will be even more violent. The Sonic cannons and even possibly the camps.
If the police lay down their arms and join us, there will be mercs.
Katrina was a trial run I think.
Katrina emptied the city of mostly the poor.
B p killed many in the gulf areas. They just aren't dead yet.
All over the world, the banks have ruined countries.
I hope we survive them, but they will probably put this country under Martial Law. And the Militias have been disbanded.
Scary times.
Great article.
I can't overemphasize: Their violence becomes our victory; it is the final irrevocable banner of the system's illegitimacy. The only way the state can excuse its violence against a populace is to frame that populace as a threat to the greater good. When the real threat is exposed as coming from -within- the system, the people will finally see the light and turn on that system and the expropriators will finally be expropriated (currently, the system's greatest weapon is STABILITY, not violence, at least not open violence against true blue Americans).
So again, our role is to remain peaceful, but to continue to protest and agitate until the system IS FORCED to reveal its nefarious intentions.
Now IS NOT the time to rest or spend time slowly regrouping. Now is the time to agitate even more boisterously, to OCCUPY everything, everywhere, with a vengeance! Now is the time to resist harder, but always too peacefully for the system to paint us, the 99%, as the actual threat to prosperity. By pushing back MORE forcefully, but still in the spirit of Ahimsa, we --should- try to make them angry, make them attack us — it is to our advantage to do so. Agitate without cessation!
"First they ignore you, then they laugh at you, -then they fight you-, then you win."
—Mohandas Gandhi
I totally agree with you. The term ‘global political awakening.’ was coined by Zbigniew Brzezinski, and refers to the fact that, as Brzezinski wrote: For the first time in history almost all of humanity is politically activated, politically conscious and politically interactive. Global activism is generating a surge in the quest for cultural respect and economic opportunity in a world scarred by memories of colonial or imperial domination Zbigniew Brzezinski, The Global Political Awakening. The New York Times: December 16, 2008: http://www.nytimes.com/2008/12/16/opinion/16iht-YEbrzezinski.1.18730411.html
"[T]he central challenge of our time is posed not by global terrorism, but rather by the intensifying turbulence caused by the phenomenon of global political awakening. That awakening is socially massive and politically radicalizing." and he further writes: “An effective response can only come from a self-confident America genuinely committed to a new vision of global solidarity.” Zbigniew Brzezinski, The Dilemma of the Last Sovereign. The American Interest Magazine, Autumn 2005: http://www.the-american-interest.com/article.cfm?piece=56
However, may we also remember this momemt as “It was the best of times, it was the worst of times.” Charles Dickens,
Oh I wish it were so. Most of humanity, American style, is politically dormant and mostly naive.
"They think they can clean up “the mess”—always employing the language of personal hygiene and public security—by making us disappear."
____________________
To follow up on a relevant or corroborating point:
I commented yesterday about Philly Mayor Michael Nutter, who had hitherto proved relatively sympathetic and conciliatory towards Occupy Philly.
The contentious issue of scheduled renovation and maintenance projects for Dilworth Plaza, site of City Hall and the Occupy encampment, loomed as a potential showdown-- but until recently, Nutter downplayed the hard-line approach and expressed optimism that the city and Occupy organizers could work something out.
This weekend, however, Nutter took a tougher tone; he made references to the "intolerable" health and safety issues, and alleged that the Occupy organizers had ignored or refused further efforts at negotiation after declaring an intention to remain at Dilworth Plaza, come what may.
And yesterday, there were beginnings of the typical "vox pop" interviews in which Decent (working) Folk complain that they are becoming "fed up" with the Occupy presence.
As I wrote yesterday, and just as Hedges emphasizes today:
"Pushing the usual hygiene and decorum buttons to which 'middle-class' sensibilities are particularly vulnerable, one commuter expressed revulsion at having to see, or navigate around, 'containers full of urine'.
It's plain to see that the authorities and corporate mass-media partners and allies are ratcheting up the self-righteous, prim harping on (alleged) isolated criminal activity and (alleged) sanitation breakdowns to turn the "silent majority" against the Occupy movement, and justify the brutal annihilation of Occupy encampments."
And today, the local newsradio station headlined what it repeatedly referred to as a "disturbing" story, to wit:
“Police are investigating the discovery of at least six acts of vandalism, including graffiti and human feces, that was found near the 'Occupy Philadelphia' protests.
According to investigators, the human excrement was found smeared on the concourse under Dilworth Plaza.[...]”
This latest report in no way expressly linked the nasty discoveries to the Occupy community, or claimed that anyone connected with the movement was in any way responsible for the "disturbing" vandalism.
But the subliminal "take away" for a complacent, unreflective, or biased audience of Normals was simply to create a connection, or specious cause-and-effect relationship, equating "(rogue) Bowel Movement" with "(rogue) Occupy Movement".
So the top-down public relations ploy demeaning and denigrating the Occupy Movement as wanton "shit-disturbers" proceeds apace.
Also, it's worth noting that Mayor Nutter, like Oakland's infamous Mayor Quan, has begun attempting to rhetorically co-opt the "99%er" concept by arguing that to the extent that Occupy Philly prevents the Dilworth Plaza renovations project from beginning on schedule, it's effectively blocking "a thousand jobs" for 99%ers-- thus victimizing or abusing the very class the Occupy Movement claims to represent.
This seeming "common sense" argument is the classic insidious divide and conquer strategy. By casting the Occupiers as self-centered obstructionists, and either confused, short-sighted, or malicious opponents of decent work-starved ordinary citizens, the government authorities plant the suggestion that it is they, the forces of Law, Order, Right, Reason, and Proper Personal Hygiene and Habits, who are the True Friends of the Little Guy.
The hygiene slurs always crop up when the homeless are discussed, but rarely consider facts about the scarcity of public toilet facilities in urban America as compared to say, Europe.
However, the elite emphasis on hygiene demonstrates a crucial weakness: the elite has so far been very unsuccessful in demonizing Occupy. The sixties peace protests were, for years, effectively demonized as communist. The anti-Iraq pre-invasion protests wre smeared as sympathetic to the terrorists, but neither the commie threat or terror threat has proved ineffective against Occupy. Also, the public is mostly in agreement with the anti-Wall Street sentiment.
The oligarchy is struggling to find a useful demonization meme, and that is a great weakness and a departure from previous practice.
Hygiene slurs have been useful through history. Not only the homeless, but just about every newcomer group to the US has been labelled as some kind of threat to public health. The other day a coworker said of South Asians in our town, "I don't mean to sound politically incorrect or anything, but those people are, you know, dirty." This was to explain the presence of rats in the alleys.
The person who voiced this opinion was of Irish descent. Need I mention how often Irish were categorized as unclean?
If I am correct, Vietnam war protesters were characterized as "dirty hippies"...
As regards the current round of demonization, I wonder if a counter-propaganda campaign would be worth the effort... or would it be better simply to press on?
Urban areas do not have a natural process or self maintenance, everything has to be done at the direction of a human being and as an artificial environment has a greater need for hygiene. That said, camping in an urban environment is not a natural experience and as most homeless will tell you is often a hostile place to try and live. There are some exceptions, people adapt. There are real concerns about so called clean environments that pose there own health risks. Chemical exposure to cleaning processes are an occupational hazard with health consequences as well. Even hospitals use chemicals that are known to cause cancer.
The occupation are born in this society and will reflect the larger society, the difference is that the occupation speaks to all the issues which if not addressed will only grow more difficult.
Still a good start for OWS, lessons learned.
It's interesting to watch the attempts to justify quashing the Occupy movements. A caller to Mike Malloy's show echoed a letter Mike read from the police department, mentioning how the Oakland PD is spending so much time and manpower on Occupy Oakland that they can't fight serious crime in Oakland. Also raised were the health and safety issues, the shooting death of someone near there recently. No mention, of course, about why even before Occupy Oakland, the OPD was already so underfunded that it was not responding to certain crimes in certain districts, including burglaries. No mention of school budget cuts and a general crisis of underfunded schools in Oakland.
As Malloy correctly pointed out, why is Oakland PD wasting its resources on a peaceful protest? If there is violence in the city, why don't they go deal with it and leave the peaceful protesters alone? As for cleanliness, if it is so concerned about cleanliness, why doesn't the city simply install port a potties? These are rather blatant ploys to justify a crackdown on the whole movement. We need to stay in the streets, because it is only our presence in the streets that puts pressure on the elites. It is our presence in the streets that gives us time to assemble, petition for redress of grievances, to become aware of ourselves as a collective, in solidarity with others, to be empowered by making decisions via consensus process. Ultimately, this movement will have to go beyond the street occupations. But we cannot allow these bogus rationalizations and permit processes destroy our movement or silence us.
"As for cleanliness, if it is so concerned about cleanliness, why doesn't the city simply install port a potties?"
They did. Hygiene is a fake issue in Oakland, where the camp has been fairly clean ...
A Mike Malloy fan...we may be few and far between but what a joy to find another one. What a voice of courage.
There are more among us than you may suspect. Mike Malloy has been presenting an undiluted voice of truth to power for a very long time now. I've been listening regularly since he was first featured on Air America (his rage is all that kept me sane during the Bush years), and can say from personal experience, that he is one of the truly few out there who have not altered their message to acquiesce to the interests of mainstream politics or parties. I can't think of any other talkshow hosts who have been as consistent, and morally independent (and guided) as Malloy.
A beacon of truth against the flying-monkey Right.
Absolutely right! Having recently been in Paris and other European cities...if I had to "go", I always had a place to "go". Try that in NY, Chicago, Boston or ??????????? The hygiene thing is just a scam to allow repression. Priorities...as in needing to shit somewhere...have always been a means to exclude amnd margainalize the "poor". I'm about fed up with this shit!!!
Glitch generated duplication necessarily deleted.
Life can be better. Sometimes it's best to push and occupy. With Mitt Romney moving in the OWS direction and X Colin Powell already there it does seem our Tea Party president is on the way out.
Life can be better. Sometimes it's best to push and occupy. With Mitt Romney moving in the OWS direction and X Colin Powell already there it does seem our Tea Party president is on the way out.
KRON 4 in the Bay Area is using similar charges of "filth" and "sewage" at OWS sites to try and poison the air. Other stations are similarly offering up dishonest smears to try to sway their viewers against OWS. This is the propagandist's handbook, dictated by their corporate owners ...
So are the negative commenters on most sites.
That, and what the hell is the message. Or get a job. Like there are jobs available.
"Run, run, run/but they stil can't hide"-- message to US power elites. Hey, was I right in quoting Henry Wallace in 1942 about what's happening today with that "The people's revolution is on the march and the Devil and all his angels can't stop it"? It's gone international now, and like Wallace said it's time for "the people's century" not the US century which he rejected in his day as imperialist and the very thing we were fighting against in the early 1940s until the Axis' defeat. Oh below see reference to a Roots Action message-- thanks.
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In this moment when city authorities are violating our rights around the country, including at Occupy Wall Street, we're working on a plan to take our message of economic fairness directly to the Super Committee. Our goal is to raise $10,000 to make a big splash, which you'll be hearing about soon.
We’re off to a great start, and we have a matching grant. So if you donate generously now, your gift will mean double to us.
Will you contribute $10, $25 or even $99 to help us tell the Super Committee what’s good for the 99% is good for our country?
The Super Committee is nearing the November 23rd deadline for making its proposal. We must act now to protect our social safety net and make the rich pay their fair share. If just 1% of us donate $5, we’ll make our goal. But think about what we could do if 99% of us chip in!
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RootsAction. Just awesome. Thanks for all you do!!!!!!!! I gave my $5.......Let's help these great folks!!!!!!!!!
An independent health inspection needs to be done at City Hall.
Stone remarked: "An independent health inspection needs to be done at City Hall."
MENTAL health, you mean!
re: "This seeming "common sense" argument is the classic insidious divide and conquer strategy. By casting the Occupiers as self-centered obstructionists, and either confused, short-sighted, or malicious opponents of decent work-starved ordinary citizens"
Well put, OS. But did we ever have any doubts that the mainstream media, and US politicians would take this approach? Did we ever doubt that Bloomberg would use populist arguments to engage in an anti-populist shut-down of the OWS movement? (as his minions trash all the protesters belongings, the bastards).
I never had any doubt about it. This was inevitable, and their excuses and tactics were also more or less inevitable. The systems' first response of course is to try and appear reasonable and responsive to public concerns.
For this reason, it is all the more necessary to keep pushing the system, unfortunately, until it can no longer uphold the facade of being the reasonable party. The focus must continue to be, as you bring up, the endemic unsanitary nature of the corporate oligarchy, and the tyranny of the 1%.
We have to keep pushing back peacefully, until we force the 1% to get violent.
Basically, I think we needn't worry much that the media and gov't spokespeople will use their typical ploys and false narratives... At this point, I'd say most of the 99% are finally catching on to the methods of the indoctrinators and obfuscators. The 1%'s once effective tactics are beginning to wear thin, and no veils or mantras of lies can cover the growing inequity and insolvency of our corrupt system.
The artificial flavors... the nutritionally deficient, low-cal fillers... the GMOs and synthetics don't taste so sweet as they once did... And who needs 'diet foods' (i.e. official mainstream media pablum) when its main side effect is cancer?
Our political dialog matches our diets. And more and more people are spitting it out, or even choosing to not taste it at all.
How do we get the uninformed "progressives" on board? The ones who are blinded by the idiot box as not to see the People arising in Beauty. Hedges is right on cue. This is the stage of brutal repression with incipient defections from the state. Much too many posters cannot comprehend the sea change this movement is creating, the sooner the wake up and get on board the sooner the system will collapse, mass and persistence. The camps are the land in the sand, brutalize us but we will occupy this little scrap of ground no matter what. Symbols are extremely potent. Please see the huge amount of energy being exerted to create a better world, see the fear of the fascists, see the synergy of the Middle Class and Homeless in Solidarty. I leave you to decide which side you are on, do nothing reactionary critic or rebel!
Great point gf.
re: "How do we get the uninformed "progressives" on board?"
I think we need a distinct logo, flag, set of colors, symbol or something that people can wear or display everywhere (and love my Guy Fawkes shirts, but if that's the only option... I'm afraid it has its limitations). So far I have received tepid and mixed feelings on the issue... I understand it's all very personal, that everyone has their own opinion...
But there has to be a way to 'sex up' OWS to the average viewer, and to help them feel that not only is participation important to our nation's future, its also invigorating, life-affirming and even fun...
More flags and insignia, more well planned and coordinated marches on obvious symbols of oppression and malfeasance.. OCCUPY MOVING LOCATIONS! We can occupy all the streets and and sidewalks where we march and sing our chants. We can occupy everywhere — with our symbols and flags we can occupy schools and classrooms, with our colors and logos we can occupy our workspaces, and afterward, anywhere we go!
More activist art projects... More street painting... More films projected onto the sides of buildings and makeshift movie screens.. Official artists' endorsements and gallery exhibits... Benefit concerts! OWS themed parties... OWS Read-Ins... OWS Love Ins... : ) OWS labor syndicates.... Perhaps there could/should be an official OWS membership status? An OWS political party based on bottom-up structural models, and synergistic, social and peace oriented anarchism?
My point here is that its time to be hyper-creative, and hyper productive. Now is not the time to consider all that we've done and begin to rest on our laurels until spring. That is not the answer! Now that the system is decided to smash us, THIS is the time for us to give it back and SMASH THEM (peacefully of course).
Its time to consider consolidation, and some unification through symbolic measures. Its time to do whatever we can to spread the movement to the regular Jane and Joe, to the college student and the professors, the TV watchers and the pleasure seekers... They will need to awake and activate if the movement is ever to succeed.
Cheers and Peace gf.
Salusa Secundus sez: "More flags and insignia, more well planned and coordinated marches on obvious symbols of oppression and malfeasance."
***
Meaning no disrespect, but while reading your post I kept flashing back to images of Nuremburg in 1933. Lots of flags and insignia to go with the planned and coordinated marches. Sorry; I know you didn't mean it that way ...
Collectivism (how I see OWS, as a de-centralized, bottom-up direct democracy) is a big leap from ultra-nationalism... I am myself wary of the fascist tendencies of any nascent, highly charged movement. So I don't take your comment lightly (though I get that you're being 'cheeky').
I definitely agree with maintaing as much amorphism and independent thinking and action as OWS began with... But even in a city run by anarcho-syndicalism, the stop lights and bridges have to work.
The whole hygiene thing, and those folks who complain about it, reminds me of something MLK wrote in his "Letter from a Birmingham Jail."
Allow me edit it to better suit the OWS movement:
"First, I must confess that over the last few [months] I have been gravely disappointed with the white moderate. I have almost reached the regrettable conclusion that the [OWS's] greatest stumbling block in the stride toward freedom is not the [paid-off politicians] or the [police thugs], but the white moderate who is more devoted to "order" than to justice; who prefers a negative peace which is the absence of tension to a positive peace which is the presence of justice; who constantly says, "I agree with you in the goal you seek, but I can't agree with your methods of direct action [because of your sanitary issues]"; who paternalistically feels that he can set a timetable for another man's freedom; who lives by the myth of time and who constantly advised the [OWS] to wait until a "more convenient season." [ahem, all those who argue we can eventually win at the ballot box].
"Shallow understanding from people of good will is more frustrating than absolute misunderstanding from people of ill will. Lukewarm acceptance is much more bewildering than outright objection. I had hoped that the white moderate would understand that law and order exist for the purpose of establishing justice, and that when they fail to do this they become dangerously structured dams that block the flow of social progress. I had hoped that the white moderate would understand that the present tension of the [OWS] is merely a necessary phase of the transition from an obnoxious negative peace, where the [OWS] passively accepted his unjust plight, to a substance-filled positive peace, where all men will respect the dignity and worth of human personality. Actually, we who engage in nonviolent direct action are not the creators of the tension. We merely bring to the surface the hidden tension that is already alive. We bring it out in the open where it can be seen and dealt with. Like a boil that can never be cured as long as it is covered up but must be opened with all its pus-flowing ugliness to the natural medicines of air and light, injustice must likewise be exposed, with all of the tension its exposing creates, to the light of human conscience and the air of national opinion before it can be cured." - MLK
-------------------------------------
I hope that MLK, in spirit, doesn't mind that I used his wise words. I don't think he would because I think he would be on the streets with the OWS fighting for justice had he not been taken down by the same thugs who protect the 1%. And to all of the "white moderates" who complain about sanitary issues, and whether or not the OWS movement is "doing it right".......
"Shame on you, for setting the lowest value upon the most precious things, and for rating inferior ones more highly!" - Socrates
Eric.A.Blair:
Timely quote, The prophecy of Dr. King stands forth as it enriches the spirit of those who initiate and support the #Occupy Wall Street movement. The decision to "occupy' as opposed to "protest", The use of 1% and 99% to describe the injustice in America goes beyond Flesh and Blood and speaks to the ageless struggle of man to live in peace with his neighbor. To be alive during a period when these forces are being exerted is a challenge and a blessing. "The work goes on". (Kennedy)
Despite the fine rhetoric of outrage offered up by Mr. Hedges, the question that I find most pressing still lingers: What next?
Go back and re-occupy. OK. But to what end this time, beyond getting the message out there via a press that will not help to further the cause?
OK. Then form an ad-hoc committee to formulate a platform of reforms and changes that are to brought forward by whom? Politicians? Good luck with that. Or form a new political party then. Think the other ones would play fair with you? At any level?
OK. Then agitate for a city/county/state/country-wide work stoppage or strike. Sounds good. Think working joes like me can afford to be fired from our jobs? Nope. I can't pay bills with hope and outrage. Neither can most people who arn't taking out student loans/second mortgages to maintain. If I become willing to give up my job, as a middle aged guy with few prospects, then the damn revolution better actually be happening. For real. Otherwise, I'd be screwed. No thanks.
So, you all can start actually being serious about a real challenge to authority, or get with their program. I, myself, would agitate and advertise for a national march on multiple sites:
Where the wealthy live first: they would be far more alarmed about people showing up in front of their primary residences - and not letting them in or out (!). And yes, the police will use violence.
The mall in DC, with no application for permission. Every time you follow their rules, they win. Surround the capital building, and don't let anyone in or out. And, again, there will be violence from the authorites.
Again, surround state houses and box them in.
You can't engage in civil disobedience while following thier rules. That would be civil obedience, not the opposite. No permissions/permits are needed to engage, and I would posit this will be neccessary in order to get to the next level.
Good ideas, Suetonius. (Please note correct spelling.) But I think these actions you propose needn't supercede the action of marathon occupation, which by its very longevity expresses the will not to back down until things change. I think all these different actions should occur at the same time. It would help give a feeling of a truly national and international wave of imminent change.
"You can't engage in civil disobedience while following thier rules. That would be civil obedience, not the opposite."
Absolutely perfectly-stated. What really is needed is that so many tens of thousands are arrested, regularly, that the jails literally can't hold them all. Once released the tens of thousands go right back to occupying the place they were evicted from. Lather, rinse, repeat. Of course, if doing all of this over and over for months on end doesn't cause any change in the corrupt system that is Amereicha, and the 1% continues its looting and law-breaking and austerity and buying the government unabated...I then have to ask: what next? If unending protests do not yield any change to the Power Structure...well, someone once said "insanity is doing the same thing over and over again, but expecting different results each time."
My suggestion:
All we who want changes are facing a long march.
This is, of course, just my opinion, but I feel it is the
reality. The essentially oppressive powers-that-be
did not gain their powers immediately, and we shall
not negate their powers immediately. The work must
be begun and labored at in the mode of the occupation
of the Wisconsin state house, and of recall elections.
[We should have as much right to vote AGAINST a
politician as to vote for him.] Little by little, a-few-and-
a-few people in (minor?) positions of power, who are
in favor of change and common sense, comprise the
alternative if quick revolution does not happen: We
must increase their numbers.
Some will say: The revolution must come immediately,
otherwise people would have to vote, and we don't
believe in voting. Much remains to be said, but the
public library is soon closing.
Thanks Suetonius. I am a working stiff myself, one of those overpaid lazy public sector workers who wrecked the world economy with my overly generous pension plan. That was us, remember? Not the banks. Anyway, the day I join the ranks at the barricades may not be the day I lose my job, benefits, retirement, kids college and house, but eventually that day will come, if I keep using vacation days to go back to the barricades. Then, as you say, WHAT? I suppose I would be willing to give it all up for myself, but what about my kids? Do they deserve what will surely happen to them if I lose my place in the evershrinking middle class? Do they deserve what is going to happen to them if we all don't go to the barricades. If I believed in God, he'd be on my speed dial. This is the beautiful and terrible moment, right now. Decision time, gut check time, time for the big test of moral courage. Wish I knew what I was going to do next.
jareilly, my advice to you and your family is to do what you can. You don't have to sacrifice your children's future. Our children come first. But you can speak out, you can support the movement materially, you can teach your children about the OWS movement, your kids can make posters for others to take to protests, they can speak to their friends about OWS, you can take your money out of big banks and put it into a credit union - take your children with you when you do this! you can support small businesses, and never step foot in a vile corporate one. There is so much each of us can do without going into the streets, sleeping in tents, getting our heads bashed in. Some of us will choose street resistance, a lot of us hopefully and necessarily. But we understand, not everyone can do that. The time may come when you decide to move to another level but don't feel forced or guilty if you can't. There's plenty to do from where you stand right now. My best to you and yours!
I don't like "the look" of a militarized police force used against US citizens. Another legacy of the Patriot Act. Note to OWS: Don't try to put flowers in the riffle barrels. It did not do much good in Egypt to win over those with the guns.
SJRyan:
The militarized police in the U.S. appeared long before 9/11. The 60s saw the the creation of SWAT squads which used (and use) military weapons, tactics -- and often hardened combat veterans.
Also, the National Guard, a paramilitary forced, has often been used to surpress labor disputes and has been regularly used against citizens, especially in urban ethnic uprisings, etc.
Additionally, both states and the federal government have often used private militias.
My point is simply to reaffirm Hedges' point that once the mask of fraud has been stripped away, the rulers have nothing left but organized violence, including employing regular military troops, to attempt surpress the normal human instinct for freedom.
And I also agree with Hedges that once the dogs are unleashed, they eventually become exhausted both physically and morally. We must remember that police, military -- and even private mercenaries and rent-a-cops are our brothers, fathers, uncles, cousins and neighbors. And now: mothers, sisters, daughters, nieces, wives and lovers. They will get sick of their "work" sometime.
The problem is when that sometime comes. Every revolution is a civil war and civil wars are the most violent kind there are.
These are tough times. We have tougher times ahead. But in the end, we have no choice. Even surrender is no longer an option. The capitalist system takes no prisoners.
Solidarity,
tj
OWS also OCCUPIES THE MORAL HIGH GROUND.
This is not debatable
Impossible to loose in the long run.
Patience is a virtue and is required.
Focus.
Organize.
NEVER QUIT.
The corrupt system will be purged, rearranged, cleansed, and restructured into an egalitarian based human (not profit) system.
Given the severe and declining condition of MOTHER NATURE, we have no choice.
So you're comparing Obama with the dictatorships you mentioned? He's the current leader, so that must be what you're saying. Or are you saying the police and military are controlled by a few corporate leaders, and they are to be brought down. How would that be a dictatorship?
And you're saying we need to confront the largest military and prison system ever assembled, larger than all others in the world to bring down this dictatorship?
And then what happens?
Dictatorship: no. The term implies there is a single all-powerful leader. Amereicha is a Plutocracy, run by a tiny group of powerful wealthy individuals and the corporations they helm. And yes, the Plutocracy controls all the levers of power, which obviously includes the police and military. If you don't believe this, you really have been asleep for a few decades.