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OWS, Police Brutality, and the War on Terror: An Empire State of Mind
Over the last week, among the multiple images that horrified and angered the American public, two stood out: One is an image of Dorli Rainey, an 84 year old protester at Occupy Seattle with milk dripping from her face after being pepper-sprayed by a uniformed Seattle officer. Another is the video clip of a uniformed Davis, California police officer pulling out two cans of pepper-spray and directing it at the faces of non-aggressive, stationary student protesters at UC Davis. Both images have gone viral. I suspect this is because there is something so grotesque and terrifying about watching a uniformed officer pull out a can of chemicals that are designed to seriously, if temporarily, cripple and paralyze the its victims. Watching the lurid spectacle happen in real-time has the effect of paralyzing the viewer.
Occupy Seattle's Dorli RaineyBesides the outrage that these events provoked, several questions have been raised, even by those who have followed most global political news over the last decade: “What are they thinking? Why these heavy-handed tactics? Why is it ok to assault people instead of arrest them?” And others, perhaps without knowing why, are horrified but not at all surprised. Why not?
These heavy-handed tactics should come as no surprise to any of us. The ability to assault people prior to—no, instead of arresting and charging them with crimes—has become an explicit staple of United States foreign policy since the passage of the USA PATRIOT Act, on Oct. 22, 2001. That bill, some 350 pages long and written over much longer than a month’s time, authorized the state police and army forces to wiretap, investigate, search and detain individuals as part of a pre-emptive strategy to seek out “suspected terrorists,” that is, before they could do damage to “US” (pun intended). Augmented to this was G.W. Bush’s presidential endorsement of torture and rendition strategies, along with the invasion of Iraq and Afghanistan under the auspices of waging a “War on Terror” and the associated military bombings of thousands of people in Iraq, Afghanistan, and Pakistan (with President Obama’s continued support of rendition, the expansion of military drones targeted towards “suspected Al-Qaeda” buildings, and of course, civilians). Tack on Presidential Obama’s enthusiasm to assassinate suspected terrorists in lieu of a trial (Osama Bin Laden), even when they are American citizens (Anwar Al-Awlaki and Samir Khan).
What does any of this have to with police brutality in response to peaceful political dissent and protests in NYC, Berkeley, Seattle, Oakland, Davis, and elsewhere around the country? Everything. We are in an “Empire State of Mind,” with apologies to Jay Z and Alicia Keyes. We have become conditioned to accept and expect police brutality to be imposed on everyone but “US”: African-American men and women; Muslim men and women all over the world, including Western and Northern Europe; Latino migrants in the US. We have also become used to justifying police brutality as directed towards “people who deserve it.” This, at bottom, is an Empire State of Mind. An Empire State of Mind is one where those who order and those who carry out the brutalization and murder, can do so with the assurance of complete impunity because they have the approval of political and media elites, and through them, a widespread public.
Think about it: it is still laughable to consider the possibility of GW Bush and Barack Obama being put on trial for the torture, warrantless detention, or the innumerable murders that have been ordered on their watch. Was there ever a moment when someone thought that President Obama would order the punishment and reprimands of rogue bankers, or the arrest of CEOs who authorized their staff to push toxic mortgages or carry out irresponsible trades that eroded the pensions and life-savings of everyday working people? The evidence of widespread fraud and misconduct is widely available. But in an oligarchy, the prosecution of elites is left to the fantasies of action movies.
Why then are we surprised that the chickens have come home to roost? We have become accustomed to police and army brutality around the world. We have stopped protesting it to a large extent, in part because our sentiments have been mocked (witness the most recent endorsement of the president by the SEIU, with its promiscuous cooptation of OWS rhetoric). We have stopped, if we ever did, seeing the connections between the gluttonous disemboweling of the economic security and safety nets once available to the lower and middle-classes, and the war on immigrants. At a basic level, the latter is a distraction from the former: “Hey, look, a foreigner is taking your job,” says Congress, while they are being paid off by Wall Street bankers to prevent the passing of legislation that would protect pensions, salaries, and benefits of working folks from being plundered. Similarly, we have refused to make the links between the persecution and torture of Muslim men in the name of “fighting terrorism,” and the ever-greater harassment of US citizens: “We need to track devious elements for your safety.” We vote for these folks continually, and then are shocked when the same spurious logic is turned against American citizens.
We are shocked by the police brutality of Dorli Rainey and the Occupy Davis protestors because they are guilty of nothing but loud political dissent. Why then should we not revisit our suspicions of the unproven assertions of the criminal tendencies of millions of men and women around the world and here in the US? We need to see through the aspersions that have been unceasingly cast by the United States government, the 1%, and their minions in order to justify their assaults, brutality, and murderous actions? It’s an Empire State of Mind, not only abroad but increasingly here at home. And the way to dismantle an Empire State of Mind is to revisit our assumptions about the targets of violence and brutality. If brutality can be leveled at American students wrongly, then we need to accept that it’s been meted out unfairly in the Wars on Iraq, Afghanistan, Terror, and Latino migrants, among others.
We shouldn’t be shocked. We should, however, continue to be outraged: the War on OWS, the War on Terror, and the War on Immigrants, are all part and parcel of an Empire State of Mind. We need to consider that each of these wars is equally dubious, intended to distract US by casting a spurious guilt on political dissenters, the working-class, the unemployed, the foreclosed, and other innocent civilians. This is the most basic step needed to resist those state officials, the 1%, and their minions who plunder the government coffers, our taxes, our bank accounts, our equity, our homes, and our livelihood and security, while pretending that their theft and their brutality is conducted for our protection.
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81 Comments so far
Show AllMs. Sheth did a good job of connecting the major dots, and that "Empire State of Mind" she mentioned will no doubt please our forum's own Alan MacDonald. I would add that the War on Drugs greased the skids for the planned decimation of civil liberties that's now in place. The 1% hires the best minds trained in things like psychology and sociology, and with the human data extrapolated, plans its moves on the geo-political chess board with such stealth (and patience), that many fail to see where the pivot points connect. When these are taken together, they form the fabric of the current inverted totalitarian system... a/k/a Empire.
Good points, Siouxrose, but where are OUR pivot points? How do we counter this?
Outrage is important, as the author concludes, but outrage alone is rather impotent. It also makes us dour and paralyzed.
I can't help but keep wondering what our options are. If we really have none we should be honest about that and just enjoy what we can, like so many others. After all, there is still enough entertainment to go around. However, I strongly believe we do have options, or at least, one option. And that option seems not to be very popular because it involves energy and action and getting out of our comfort zones. It involves working with people, face-to-face, and living another reality. It involves doing with less and doing so with others in collaboration. It involves working, hard, to withhold our life energy from the system. Is this something we will choose to do? I haven't seem much support for it.
I don't have the answer. I have tried, right where I am, to organize others into simplicity circles and permaculture groups and such. With minimal effect. Living simply is hard work. Most people would rather just live within the box because it is so much easier...until the system maces us in the face or breaks our heads or ruptures our spleens...or keeps slowly grinding us down into something unrecognizable.
I have no solutions, obviously. All I have is a reinforced notion of what it may take to really change things. Unfortunately, I appear to be in the minority.
Possible initial "solutions" might be (a) boycotts of corporate media, large corporate banks, and corporations such a Walmart (b) support political action groups with money and volunteer effort (c) take an active part in the occupy movement, it is basic training for what is to come and (d) wait for the opportunity to form an effective third party. And finally, join the effort of informing our fellow citizens about the fatal inconsistencies of the official explanation of 9-11, the event that suspended our Constitution. When the ever-increasing repression that will result from the first four solutions I suggest above meets the public shock that will result when a majority allow themselves to see what is in plain sight, a major political paradigm shift may occur in our nation.
Tony Vodvarka
I would add an important item to your list:
Support your local unions! The relationship between the unions and OWS is symbiotic. The unions provide resources, support and defense of OWS, while OWS infuses US unionism with a militancy that had been mostly forgotten by US unions.
A new day is dawning!
Dreamjoehill, In a better world, you would be absolutely correct. However, many unions are totally coopted by the Democratic Party, one wing of the corporate party. Observe the recent endorsement by the Service Employees Union of Obama's reelection campaign, using the language of the occupy movement. Would that we could form "one big union", like the IWW, a genuine political action union that fosters genuine citizen solidarity and escape the trade union/ two party good cop/bad cop trap.
"(d) wait for the opportunity to form an effective third party. "
Why wait, Tony? We can join the Greens tomorrow and help them get their act together to elect some senators in 2012.
Bernie Sanders is getting lonesome there all alone.
Bernie Sanders is a Dim who won't admit it.
Bernie does have an understanding with the VT Dims and he will admit it, corvo, that's why he is elected and is able to give us a voice. He has agreed to vote with them on certain matters.
He does the best he can given the situation at hand.
port_lookout, The Green Party hit its high point in 2000, a bit more than 2% of the national vote and has declined ever since. Although their platform is great, it should be the Democratic Party's platform, they only have the new age and vegetarian vote sewn up and have shown no ability to organize blue collar and rural folk. I'm not sure that electoral politics can change much in this country anymore, the entire process from beginning to end has been totally corrupted. The Bush regime, that brought the suspension of our Constitution, the suspension of Habeus Corpus, domestic disaster and endless war to our country, stole both elections that brought it to power.
I agree with most of that, Tony, but because the Greens have had little success in the past, we should not assume they cannot be improved and made more effective.
Progressive success at the polls has recently occurred in countries even more corrupt and oppressive than the US.
When the people are awakened (as is happening thanks to the OWSers), surprising thing can happen.
Ted: As to this idea of "solutions," its logic is rather linear and materially-based. Between the activities mentioned below by Tony V & Stone's recent, interesting arguments about the "organic" nature of what's taking place, solutions are found IN the process itself.
Remember: the beauty of this amorphous movement is that no leaders are in sight for the elites to aim at. And without a small list of grievances, the PR machine cannot go to work actually decimating the goals. That's why it's focused on the "poor hygiene" of this new generation of "dirty hippies."
When an ocean liner changes direction, it takes time for it to shift entirely and begin to amass a new momentum. That's the best analogy for our times. With the magnitude of movements emerging in so many nations, it's obvious this genii won't fit back inside the old bottle. Humpty Dumpty fell off the wall...
MANY prophecies speak of this era as a phase of MASSIVE changes, the END of an Age. Amid the chaos, the new will arise from the ashes of the old. We are all playing our parts. Even when we sit on our tushes, if we send ENERGY or financial support, or share arguments that reinforce the changes... we are doing our part. Not everyone has the courage of a Frida Berrigan, although her piece today highlighting the details of the arrest process, added to what it means as a moral statement, shows the importance of that sort of direct action.
Part of the organic nature of this shift... aimed at the core principles governing societies is listening for our own inner cues. Doing so, we know when we're prepared to take action, and what other things we might do to lend our weight and intelligence to the WAVE of change.
Pardon the personal note, but I always enjoy your writing Siouxrose.
Thank you, Hue. Compliments keep me going... it's tough to self-publish book after book without the support of a publishing house (or its publicity campaigns) behind me. When people say they resonate with what I feel the need to share, it makes the effort worthwhile.
I like when people take the time to compliment a writer. It reminds me that behind the words exist a real human being. A person capable of appreciating the existence of the other....
Thomas Gilbert-
Yes indeed. I am absolutely aspiritual but find that Siouxrose brings a lot of wisdom and insight to this forum.
Well said, Siouxrose, and I largely agree. This is and must be an organic process.
What I have done is what I already illustrated above. And while I won't say that it's been a failure (I don't know the full consequences of my deeds, and never will), I am frustrated by the need of others for a leader to keep things going. But that's my shortcoming. And it is rather linear - thanks for reminding me of that.
I'll tell you what, though: In my travels I have come to understand that what people seem to need the most is connection and recognition that they are not alone in their struggles. But this culture that we are all a part of (and it is world-wide), doesn't stress fellowship - it stresses the cult of self and materialism. And this, IMO, is what many people are reacting to. It is what OWS is all about - the push-back against materialism.
So, my current path has brought me to a place where I ask: What would our lives be like if we lived in real community based not on rank materialism, but on sharing - of things and time and energy and, well, ourselves? Is this not what we really want, deep down? Is this not what has been taken from us?
I completely agree that this is, and needs to be, leaderless. And I am not advocating for leaders. I am advocating for individuals to start building a new reality. The thing is, we can't do this in isolation. Isolation is a tool of the system and it offers us no support. We simply have to learn how to reach out to one another and start building, together, a new reality.
Finally, you are right about everyone doing what they can. And no, not everyone has the same courage. However, personal (and planetary) change happens only when each of us has the courage to stretch our own bounds, to start pushing against the sides of our personal boxes. Energy is necessary, but growth takes the courage to change ourselves. We are all needed in this fight and we must, IMO, stand taller than we have before. We will need to ratchet up our courage.
Siouxrose, thank you for thinking of me when the seminal subject of Empire comes up.
Yes, Siouxrose, I was more than "no doubt pleased" that the message is getting through and being repeated publicly by many people like Falguni Sheth --- and the message of Empire is starting to infuse the Occupy movement and its strategy Summits and proposals, in the form of broader use of the term, "Occupy Empire". I have even seen recently some humorous, but serious, video analogies to the Star Wars theme of battling the EMPIRE. Whatever it takes to broaden the popular understanding, exposure, and willingness to 'confront Empire' is fine in my book.
I particularly like Sheth's promulgation of the term "Empire State of Mind", that you noted, as this correctly suggests that "Empire-thinking" (which is the precise opposite of "democracy-thinking") is the sociopathic insanity of the 1% that is essential to truly believe that THEY have the right to conspire as a non-democratic, and totally illegitimate Empire --- controlling the political, economic, social, cultural, legal, financial, judicial, and ecological spheres of OUR lives.
A perverse sense of "Empire-thinking" must precede the establishment of an actual Empire, and it can be clearly seen that this pathology, this causal cancerous tumor of "Empire-thinking" obviously is the common thread of the current disguised global corporate/financial/militarist EMPIRE that has captured all the levers of power of our former country, by hiding itself behind the facade of its modernized TWO-Party 'Vichy' sham of faux-democratic and totally illegitimate government --- just as the Nazi Empire tried to use an earlier and much cruder form of single-party 'Vichy' facade in France c. 1940.
I'm not sure that ingrained and metastasized "Empire-thinking" can be successfully excised from the minds of those in the 1% who have grown-up and lived their whole lives believing that they deserve to be the Emperors (whether in the US, UK, Israel, Germany centers of the global Empire, or in the oppressed territories like Egypt, Saudi Arabia, Yemen, Syria, etc.) but such Empire-thinkers must be at least removed from controlling positions, and contained within sociopathic wards or socialization renewal programs to avoid further destruction of our only sustainable and fragile planet.
"Empire-thinkers" can not be allowed to control the levers of power in a society dedicated to normal and sound "democracy-thinking" by the vast majority and Multitude of normal human beings.
The actions required need be entirely recuperative and non-violent in this Second American Revolution --- which must now be global in scope, since the Empire being confronted is now global in scope.
Best luck and love to Occupy, and you, Siouxrose.
Liberty, democracy, justice, and equality
over
violent/Vichy
empire,
Alan
PS. Siouxrose, regarding your valid concern that, "The 1% hires the best minds trained in things like psychology and sociology, and ... plans its moves on the geo-political chess board with such stealth ... form(ing) the fabric of the current inverted totalitarian system... a/k/a Empire".
Yes, this is a serious aspect of Confronting Empire, but the "democracy-thinking" side also has a large number of committed minds; like those of George Lakoff, Sheldon Wolin, Chris Hedges, Michael Parenti, etc. in the sciences, social sciences, economics, political philosophy, education, media, etc. etc. ---- although you are certainly correct if you are implying that the most deceitful, stealthy, and political fields have always been, and are still in the 21st century, dominated by truly superb "Empire-thinkers" like; Obama, Bush, Clinton, Netanyahu, etc., etc., etc., etc.
Bravo Falguni A. Sheth!
What a powerful and sobering piece. You're right, we should be outraged; we ARE outraged. I had to turn off the video of the students getting pepper sprayed by that thug cop at the UC Davis incident. I could feel every cell in my body shudder watching that display of cowardice on the cops' part. What a bunch of bully thugs we've become as a nation. I hate violence yet watching assaults against non violent protesters actually makes me want to fight back with physical force. That isn't the answer, I know.
Some of us are not desensitized to violence. How do we stop it without getting the shit kicked out of ourselves? I don't have the balls or the courage to get beaten up by bully cops exercising abuse of power. It's appalling as hell what's happening to innocent, peaceful protesters. How are we going to stop it? (I ask honestly, not in a way that suggests surrendering to oppression).
Looking forward to reading suggestions from other CD commenters.
I beleive Homeland Security is coordinating the response - and providing equipment to - the local police departments (i refuse to use the term 'law enforcement until they arrest themselves).
As such these assaults are the work of that rat bastard Obama.
Anyone who claims to be a progressive or liberal or whatever the hell they call the 'left' nowadays and votes for Obama is truly proving the obama admin's description of us on the left as being Fucking Retards!
Screw Obama and screw the democrats!
Obama created neither the DHS or the Patriot Act. He is just using the hammer he was handed.
That specious, odious honor goes to G.W. Bush and his cabal of MIC thugs.
Is it criminal that Obama is no different from the previous moral vacuum? Definitely.
But if you really want to assign blame, to find the one responsible, you need only look in the mirror.
So I'm to blame for the actions of Homeland Security?
Or is it still bush's fault?
I call bullshit on both of those! So I call bullshit on your logic and your statement.
Quit with the it's bush's fault Mantra - he's been gone for almost 3 years for christ sakes!
You've delivered a Pathetic response in supoort of obama.
The Obama Admin is the one Coordinaing these responses AND most likey providing the equipment. Ignore the Truth at your own risk. But stay silent if you're going to trot out the obama apologist BS - it just makes you look silly.
mtdon, you are on the right track. Of course Bush passed on the hammer. So what? According to civil rights scholars, Obama has done more to destroy our civil liberties than possibly any other president in history. Worse than Bush. The use of drones has increased many times over. He was handed the hammer, he took it, and he used it to further abuse innocent people, including his own base. I also don't think that Bush lied to his base the way Obama did. I used to say that anyone who voted for Obama was wearing blinders but actually, I never listened to candidate Obama's speeches. I'm not all that interested in what they say, it's all performance, but Obama supposedly said in a speech that he would reform NAFTA and then it was leaked that that statement was not to be taken seriously, it was only "campaign rhetoric." His flock continued to hold fast! I studied Obama's record, his history, and especially the money trail. That was enough for me to know what kind of "leader" he'd turn out to be - more of the same, but worse. Recently, I've gone back and listened to the speeches. Whoa! What a load of BS this man dished out to his flock. It's no wonder the hopelessly guileless supported him with so much enthusiasm. I blame the schools and tv.
>>>> We should, however, continue to be outraged: the War on OWS, the War on Terror, and the War on Immigrants, are all part and parcel of an Empire State of Mind.
Left out that little caper on 9/11/01.
Otherwise, very good article.
I have always been outraged at the brutality of the US on innocent civilians. From the time we came to this country to now, the US has killed over 10 million people.
There was a write up in my local paper of a pilot that at first refused to fire on a German tank because the German had French people on it for that reason.
He and his crew were ordered back to take out the tank. Innocent people be damned.
Some heroe! And yes, that little Caper was done for just these reasons.
I am with Rev. Wright. GDA!
I am surprised that Martial Law hasn't been declared, but it will be.
Then what?
Repost.
Obama's STUPID policies are only one aspect that's pushed things passed the critical point, as you phrase it. I'd say there's a trifecta operating which includes the tipping point of climate change. How many people have not been directly impacted (or otherwise seen family members impacted) by tornado outbreaks, floods, fires, earthquakes, freak weather, or hurricanes lately?
Then there's the fiscal tsunami that's hit so many either through diminished pension funds, no viable work opportunities, a decimation in the values of their homes, added to the knowledge that yet more public services (likely including Social Security, the mainstay!) will be cut.
The insults are coming at people EVERY which way, and when government figures & agencies grant only lip service while doing nothing to contain the damage, as they meanwhile continue to support big business AND war and Wall Street... regardless of the extensiveness of the PR apparatus, the truth is too powerful to deny. It's as if the bell has rung, and only the densest sleepwalkers can remain inured to its call.
but, but, but my glazed eyed nieces and nephews tell me that Obama told THEM that the Gulf was now clean! The fish are safe! Fukoshima did not affect us! These 30ish O-Bots remain loyal to him, no matter what op- ed, news article that I place in front of
their "I Pod, Pad, Phone" little faces. These are college grads, with masters degrees whom have seemed to have lost the ability to free think.
Hiro: I can't say that I've put my Margaret Mead efforts to work examining the "30 somethings," but lots of "20 somethings" are out in the OWS trenches. Nonetheless, if your ad hoc research is accurate, it once again shows the power of packaging over substance, the triumph of marketing over The Genuine Article. Still, the truth (in the way of what's going on in the way of so much opaque, clandestine, and illegal activities) is so over-powering that even those who wish to be lied to, or remain asleep, will have little choice but to respond to the Great Awakening. Even nature is knocking, and/or knocking sense into people.
The purpose of higher education has become to cripple people's ability to think critically, and groom them as House Negroes in service to the master, defending and aiding the 1%, in exchange for social status, security and trinkets.
Much as some of us in higher education continue to fight the good fight, I'm afraid that by and large you're right. There are huge pressures exerted on us to conform.
It's amazing how acts that at one time would have horrified us soon become routine. There was a time when the acts that occur now would have been unthinkable - the wars, the crimes committed by the 1%, show how low we as a society, a nation, perhaps a planet have sunk. We have become inured to the suffering of other. As resources become more and more scarce our neighbors will become our enemies, even our family members will become competition for scarce necessities. That will be the end of the planet unless we all take action now to stop it.
Although I agree with what has been posted thus far, I feel impelled to note that what is happening has always happened, only not to Caucasians. After all, minorities have always been treated like this. African-Americans rightly speak of being pulled over by traffic cops for "dirving while black," and anyone who looks Hispanic in the southwest is likely to be stopped for no reason. A Native American might say to us "Welcome to the Reservation."
SHEEP: Your posts often have a way of normalizing the disasters in operation. Isn't there a difference between, "It's always rained," and "it's raining 10 inches in a day"? Again, this is about frequency, intensity, and regularity!
While there may have always been wars, the U.S. was not prancing about, in the light of day, making REASONS to go to war. And half of the US budget was not dedicated to war, soldiers, or weaponry... especially after the Cold War ended. Nor was that the evident priority when benefits were spread in and through the Middle Class.
The shift in our nation's geni co-efficient shows a sea change. And similarly, the Disaster Capitalism modus operandi (as orchestrated by elites) has caused more economic pain of late; and it's directly impacting more and more persons. Add that factor to the sickening fact that U.S. elites have sold all sorts of weapons to all sorts of unstable regimes, and the RECIPE is in place to aim these insidious devices at the citizens put in a position to protest.
When one says "there's always been..." it disguises the upping of the ante, along with the understanding that empowered factions have become all too prepared to use high tech weapons and surveillance devices in their effort to maintain a highly unjust status quo.
It's possible that you don't notice the way you frame arguments, and that your slant lends an unnatural disguise to the PROGRESS at play.
Sioux--You say the U.S. was not prancing about in the light of day, making REASONS to go to war? Surely you remember the Domino Theory!
It is not a question of whether or not it is raining, but upon whom it is raining. A light drizzle on middle class whites hardly represents an escalation compared to the continual downpour on people of color.
White, suburban, educated, "middle class" people are now threatened with the same Hell that the US has visited upon the rest of people here and around the world for decades. I saw a sign that said "I played by the rules, worked hard and got a college education and now can't get a good job." That is a complaint about a privilege that was taken for granted, and has now evaporated, a privilege that was out of reach for most of the people in the country throughout the history of the country.
The police brutality against the Occupy movement is a pale reflection of the daily police brutality against people of color, against immigrants, against poor people.
Absolutely. There is a strong bias. The outrage is much greater, even though the brutality is much more mild, when it is white people the cops are going after. When it is white college kids, the outrage reaches fever pitch.
As you rightly point out, the way that Occupy participants are being treated is standard operating procedure against people of color, and always has been.
I'd only add one other group--the poor, (which have been historically predominantly of color BTW, but there are white poor, like in WV for example.) What we are seeing is more and more whites dropping into the poor class status, not having been there before, and who are now experiencing how the "state" actually treats the poor.
You have it almost right Sheepherder. The circular nature of life brings The Great American Genocide around and upon the descendents of the invader occupiers. The clock is moving and the day draws near. The changing energies are evident everywhere. As the time draws closer the accelerative impacts and foreboding will enfold us. Foundational beliefs will be swept aside and people's minds and spirits will be left naked in the winds of time,. Time untime is approaching.
So far the people being protested have the advantage of being better equipped to pull off the dodges that allow them divert the protestors attention and head fake everybody to carry out some other devious plot elsewhere and they have the lack of conscience to plot deceive and connive and carry out onerous acts such as pepper spraying 80 year old women(certainly no respect for women of any age these days) as one would expect a psychopath to do. The 1% think of themselves as gods that deserve what they have criminally done to others to benefit themselves. Money to them is power and rights and everything that was created by the founding fathers for the people. But they are too arrogant to allow those THEY made broke and homeless to be a part of the country or even the world. They want it all and with the current conditions they are scared and will do anything to stop the 99%. So expect that one day the drones will be used against the protests as an extreme measure.
Great points and perspective, our young men and women returningfrom war in the middle east are committing suicide at a rate of 20 per day. Thier commanders told them that killing Muslims was just like killing dogs. But when they get home and look themselves in the face they realize they killed humans just like them. What horror that must be. Our government has justified murder all over the globe, using our youth to kill and die for corporate raiders looking for treasure. We must take the momentum of the moment, and get behind it with all of our energy. It will not be easy to change the 1%.
ZIP/Postalts and perspective, our young men and women returningfrom war in the middle east are committing suicide at a rate of 20 per day. Thier commanders told them that killing Muslims was just like killing dogs. But when they get home and look themselves in the face they realize they killed humans just like them. What horror that must be. Our government has justified murder all over the globe, using our youth to kill and die for corporate raiders looking for treasure. We must take the momentum of the moment, and get behind it with all of our energy. It will not be easy to change the 1%.
ZIP/Postalts and perspective, our young men and women returningfrom war in the middle east are committing suicide at a rate of 20 per day. Thier commanders told them that killing Muslims was just like killing dogs. But when they get home and look themselves in the face they realize they killed humans just like them. What horror that must be. Our government has justified murder all over the globe, using our youth to kill and die for corporate raiders looking for treasure. We must take the momentum of the moment, and get behind it with all of our energy. It will not be easy to change the 1%.
The goal cannot be to change them it must be to request they make changes especially in the area of redress of grievance. If you are willing to stay connected to them personally but their behavior infringes on your well being as a human this is a relationship for you to sever. If they prove to be unwilling to honor your requests for redress of grievance then you change your relationship with them, you sever the ties that bind. Those ties are as much mental and emotional as well as a physical exchange with money and votes following them etc. The change is upon us primarily because we want it. They may or may not be willing at this point to work for us as we make our needs clear. We will see. Occupy Obama's campaign, occupy the white house, occupy justice buildings occupy a third party. Make your approach as multi-pronged as you need to usher in the change you are fighting for.
Occupy change.
"Request they make changes???" You must be kidding. Why on earth would be assume and accept that they will remain in power, and that we are nothing but unruly peasants asking for a few crumbs from their tables?
We are not in voluntary association with the 1% - we have been forced into this - so there is no option to "sever" that "relationship."
Diplomacy is always the best policy for a starting place. This is already happening.
Yes, this Empire State of Mind was planned long ago. It is simply more blatant now.
These two videos show how it was (and is) done.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&v=8B5MXEaRpiQ
http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&v=sJTaw0GhY_s
The only way to stop this is to stop the bankers and banking.
Elizabeth asked:
"Some of us are not desensitized to violence. How do we stop it without getting the shit kicked out of ourselves? I don't have the balls or the courage to get beaten up by bully cops exercising abuse of power. It's appalling as hell what's happening to innocent, peaceful protesters. How are we going to stop it? (I ask honestly, not in a way that suggests surrendering to oppression)."
Heart-felt questions indeed. People around the world are grappling with the same thing. Just look at Egypt tonight -- what a difference 10 months of a U.S.- backed military coup makes.
The Federally coordinated (through DHS) police crackdown on OWS encampments across the country are the inevitable hostile, brutal and overreaching response to peaceful citizen dissent in a country that long ago slipped from a democracy to an autocracy, backed with militarization of police by a plutocratic Global Corporate Elite. But their cowardly releasing of goon squads are only going to make the movement stronger, that is, if we are not cowed by it. That's what the crackdown is designed to do, to reduce the swelling numbers responding favorably to the OWS movement. To make you afraid. To make you stay home. But don't stay home. Get out there with fellow citizens who are fed up. Stay away from the front lines if you must, but support marches and other type actions with your presence, your mind, your voice. That is democracy.
For real systemic change to happen, (not merely campaign rhetoric by bought-off corporate tools and imposters for change) the numbers in support of change need to swell and are swelling, as Nov. 17th's Day of Action was clear proof. Stay strong, even if you have to dig deeper than ever for courage. This is all going to take time.
Power has never ceded an inch without a demand.
One's requests have to be made clear with utmost respect and diplomacy. Fighting fire with fire will make the world burn more. One has to have consequences if the requests are not met in a timely manner and one must be willing to follow through.
" It's appalling as hell what's happening to innocent, peaceful protesters. How are we going to stop it?"
The short answer is "We're not". It's going to get much worse before it gets any better. As long as the OWS movement is relatively small, they're easy pickings. Now, if there was 500,000 people in the street, that's a different story.
I applied to the state I reside in and received several years ago a Concealed Weapon Or Firearm License and carry it on my person along with a firearm any day I am out of my house. I stay sober and have never once brandished my pistol. I have never been in a war nor have I ever shot at a person. I have only practiced at a legally licensed firing range. I urge every one of you who do not wish to be martyred in the Upcoming Upheaval to avail yourselves of effective martial recourse while you still can by any means necessary. Stay sober. Stay alert. Don't bring your weapons to peaceful rallies. Avenge the martyred. Live Free or Die Trying.