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Ignoring Empire: King, Gandhi, and the 99% Spring
‘99% Spring’ has been declared. ‘This spring, we will … rise up in the tradition of our forefathers and foremothers. We will not be complicit with the suffering in our families for another year. We will prepare ourselves for sustained non-violent direct action.’ The organizers of this effort list the many economic injustices and perils faced by America today and propose to train 100,000 activists ‘to join together in the work of reclaiming our country’ with methods of nonviolent direct action ‘We will take non-violent action in the spirit of Martin Luther King, Jr. and Gandhi to forge a new destiny one block, one neighborhood, one city, one state at a time.’
99% Spring will address such crucial issues as shrinking pension funds, skyrocketing student loans, foreclosures, budget cuts to schools, a poisoned environment, diminished collective bargaining rights, all ‘a result of rampant greed—the deliberate manipulation of our democracy and our economy by a tiny minority in the 1%, by those who amass ever more wealth and power at our expense.’ Some other critical matters, however, will not be addressed by 99% Spring.
The organizers of 99% Spring do not find room in their list of our country’s problems to include the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq, spiraling spending military spending, new nuclear weapons built, or the role of militarism and colonialism on the economy and the toll it exacts on America’s working people in general. They pledge that they ‘will not be complicit with the suffering in our families,’ but do not express the same refusal to be complicit in the suffering of families in Afghanistan, Colombia, Palestine or the many other nations blighted, threatened and murdered by the same forces that 99% Spring decries here at home. Not to give the war as much as footnote is a startling omission, especially as recent polls show that a growing majority of Americans are against it. This omission may define 99% Spring more clearly than the proclamations surrounding it.
I know that neglecting to mention militarism might be justified to the satisfaction of many as a deliberate strategic choice. Of course, no one can do everything and no one can address every injustice. I accept, too, that in building a coalition that includes some labor unions that promote armaments contracts and organizations like MoveOn,org that regularly support candidates for office with decidedly pro-war agendas, silence on the threat of the military industrial congressional complex is required for the sake of unity. However prudent it may seem, though, this omission raises serious questions.
What is all the more disconcerting is that 99% Spring claims the spirit of Martin Luther King, Jr. and Gandhi. Neither of these teachers held that justice at home was possible in a country engaged in murder and thievery abroad.
Gandhi’s life work was to free his country from British colonialism and he warned his English opponents and friends that they would never enjoy peace and prosperity at home while holding and tormenting India and their other foreign colonies. Is it conceivable that in this country today a movement can take action in Gandhi’s spirit without using the most decisive and clear language and action against US imperialism?
In 1967, Dr. King was asked why he, a civil rights leader, criticized the Vietnam War, a move that threatened to polarize the civil rights movement. 'Now it should be incandescently clear that no one who has any concern for the integrity and life of America today can ignore the present war,' King said from the pulpit of Riverside Church in New York. He had come to realize that it was not possible to condemn the violence and oppression suffered by America's poor without 'first speaking clearly to the greatest purveyor of violence in the world today- my own government.'
If it was true in 1967, as Dr. King noted then, that 'America can never be saved so long as it destroys the deepest hopes of (people) the world over,’ is it possible that 45 bloody years later, America can destroy the deepest hopes of the people of Afghanistan and yet be saved? Has something fundamental changed, so that unlike in Dr. King’s time, a movement can now be concerned for the integrity and life of America and yet ignore the present war?
Along with the spirits of Gandhi and King, 99% Spring invokes the example of Occupy Wall Street, a movement in which in many ways the words and work of these two prophets do resonate. In their ‘Declaration of Occupation of New York City,’ adopted by General Assemblies around the world, OWS lists these among the crimes of corporatism: ‘They have perpetuated colonialism at home and abroad. They have participated in the torture and murder of innocent civilians overseas. They continue to create weapons of mass destruction in order to receive government contracts.’
'The time comes when silence is betrayal,' and Dr. King confessed that he was ‘moved to break the betrayal of my own silences and to speak from the burnings of my own heart.’ Condemning the destruction of Vietnam and the wasting of fortunes and lives for an arms race in the face of poverty at home and abroad was not a strategic choice he could make or not, nor is it for us. Dr. King recognized that he and others would find that ‘the calling to speak is often a calling of agony.’ Despite this, he insisted, ‘we must speak.’ No one, Dr. King said, was exempt from the responsibility to protest the war in Vietnam. No one today is exempt from the responsibility to protest the war in Afghanistan- our credibility in all matters and our humanity depend upon this. Silence is betrayal.
I hope and pray that 99% Spring is more than successful in its goals, which are certainly worthy ones, even if limited. I fear, though, that its silence on the root of the problem, the military industrial congressional complex, will prove fatal to its ends. A movement that engages in ‘non-violent action in the spirit of Martin Luther King, Jr. and Gandhi to forge a new destiny’ is desperately needed in America in 2012. That movement will necessarily be one that demands economic justice at home and that clearly and unequivocally condemns the war in Afghanistan, nuclear weapons, militarism and imperialism in general. 99% Spring, unfortunately, is not that movement.
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Show AllI'm thinking of a U-Haul/Ryder/Penske/Hertz/etc. truck with a long flatbed trailer, not an auto, as such a contrivance will block 3 traffic lanes easily. But semi tractor-trailer rigs would work best, especially when induced to jacknife across all traffic lanes. Of course, other methods and means limited only by the imagination could also provide the same outcome without as much peril to the protesters.
I drive an old pickup, but never thought of that. The rental truck with trailer would work great because the innocent driver would seem to the police like some incompetent who doesn't know how to handle a truck and trailer (until the 30 or 40th of the day).
The author writes:
"I fear, though, that its silence on the root of the problem, the military industrial congressional complex, will prove fatal to its ends."
Not only do I share his fear, but I am in fact certain that a movement that does not call for and work towards the abolition of the Evil Empire at this late stage of our mounting ecological, economic, and political troubles, is merely a lame reformist movement. If that is all the OWS movement is about, then it ought to remove the word 'revolution' from its Web site.
Occupy Spring is NOT the original Occupy organized by people such as David Graeber, and David DeGraw, it's rather a pthetic attempt by the Dim party sock puppet Move On to co-opt the Occupy memes on behalf of their very tepid liberal reformism.
Good to draw attention, loudly and clearly, to the need for any social justice movement to widen our gaze to include the rest of the world and the impact the USA and the US way of life and foreign policy has on the rest of the planet. Absolutely!
And also good for as many people as possible to participate in trainings in non-violent direct action.
Let's do both.
On militarism and nuclear weapons, join Occupy Santa Fe in demanding an end to all nuclear weapons work and nuclear energy, and the clean-up of all nuclear contamination caused by these two industries.
Nuke Free Now - August 3rd to 6th.
http://www.facebook.com/NukeFreeNow
www.nukefreenow.org
And check out this film: http://www.indiegogo.com/Up-On-The-Hill?a=464836
In the eternal battle between rich and poor, conservatives tend to be either rich and greedy or mid class, poor and disinformed. If the latter could see it is in their best interests to support the 99%, we all win. What are the chances?
I signed up for the 99% Spring, but if it turns out to be a "re-elect Obama" front group, I'll drop them like a bad habit.
The important thing is putting together a structure that can stand up to the 1%. If we can do this, we win. If we can't do this, we can't win.
I'll give it a try and see what happens.
How about shifting from OWS to LMS.
LMS = LOCALIZE MAIN STREET
OWS fights with the darkness in the room.
LMS turns on the light.
Just sayin'.
The message of the real 99% is WEALTH IS UNJUSTLY CONCENTRATED
through a corrupt phony political system. Empire is an obvious symptom because of war profiteering and an a Socioeconomic draft system which they call an all volunteer miltary. The emphasis should not be on ending Empire. The emphasis should be more on who fights and who doesn't. The 99% movement should really ask every member of the military to ask every other member why rich kids don't fight? Empire will end when every military member
realizes "sacrificing" for the oligarchs is stupid and undemocratic
The military complex is a seed of the problem or a branch. It is not the root.
The root is in our minds. Our minds are behind it all. What kind of minds we have is what kind of world we have. We cannot change minds the world over till we first change ours.
Occupy Oakland has been repeatedly harassed by police. For example, on Jan 28, police mass arrested 409 Occupiers. Could the repression have anything to do with Occupy's refusal to become a Democratic Party front?
Good question!
"silence on the threat of the military industrial congressional complex is required for the sake of unity. However prudent it may seem, though, this omission raises serious questions"
The compromise is not prudent at all. Unless you want to call Merka's slide into fascism over the past several decades prudent. I don't think so.
Thankfully, the people are no longer buying the liberal philosophy of compromise. We've found our own way, our best way. We're taking care of business ourselves. We won't compromise. We don't have to. We never had to, and we will never need to. Because we don't need elites.
So the people will not be supporting the 99% Spring, with its hopelessly compromised military industrial unions and imperial front groups.
The elites and elite apologists in those unions and front groups are counting on the people giving in but the news of the day is we won't! We have our own agenda of universal enlightenment, solidarity, equity and justice, and know we can achieve it, if we refuse to compromise. We refuse to listen to elites. We keep the good and the bad separate now. So we can fully support the good, without hesitation. Tough future for elites, ehh? Bright future for the people!
Thankfully, the people are no longer buying the liberal philosophy of compromise.
rtdrury, do you believe your own bullshit?
"Thankfully, the people are no longer buying the liberal philosophy of compromise. "
RT,
I take your comment to mean that there are certain values that should not be compromised. Compromise is a part of our daily existence. I cannot imagine any civil society that could exist without compromise.
"universal enlightenment, solidarity, equity and justice, and know we can achieve it, if we refuse to compromise. We refuse to listen to elites."
Compromise is not an exclusive "liberal philosophy." It is universal and exists in the application of any system. It is never about not compromising, but rather, what we compromise.
Changing a belief system, (or a civil society), is like re-building a boat on the water. You need to keep enough of the old boat afloat while rebuilding, or else, the whole damn thing sinks.
Take care of yourself
Thomas Gilbert-
Occupy members aught to be able to figure out that 9/11 was a series of controlled demolitions, a coup, to launch the wars, continuity of government, and the take-over of America's military by the NWO elite.
Until 9/11 is investigated and shown to the world for what it was, there is less chance of getting the support that is needed to resist the corporate media.
See the film, Hypothesis, for the lab analysis of the WTC dust, the nanothermite and molten steel caused by this military explosive. Those in the US government killed 3700 plus citizens to "motivate" them to war spending. To incite the public against Muslims. We have be dedicate ourselves to outing those who did this and bringing them to trial.
I was at the nefarious 99% Spring Training. We were shown a basic overview of the history of the US Economy and Non Violent Direct Action. It was lacking. We said so- and moved on to the real point of the training, which was a basic training on how to tell ones own story and engage in NVDA. I dont recall ever hearing Obamas name. When a couple of Moveon people acted like the whole room was Moveon, they were told that this is NOT a Moveon group- and it was never mentioned again. The 99% Spring simply intends to help folks to tell their own story. If your story is about US Empire (and well it should be if you are paying attention!) then 99% Spring wants to help you tell YOUR STORY loud and clear. The trainings are not about an overall analysis of the history of the US. The trainings are about YOU being empowered to take YOUR OWN ACTION. People talking about these trainings being some kind of a 'front' for anything are dreaming. It is another broke ass grassroots organizing event trying to empower people. Period. Maybe you should keep your eyes on the prize and focus your wrath elsewhere?
You are nothing but a shill, and Move On is NOT left, it's center right Dim party supporting corporatist, militarist and imperialist in its orientation, very much UNLIKE original Occupy founder David DeGraw and David Graeber.
The funniest thing about these diatribes against this 99% Spring effort is it seems to me just another case of the left crippling itself. The training was really great- and it was lacking. It was like many things that are done quickly by skilled people- brilliant- and there was room for improvement. 99% Spring could use some CONSTRUCTIVE criticism. If I give the training- I will change the things I think need to be changed. This training is a tool, I am responsible for how I use it and how I present it as a trainer. If I want to change it to include a whole piece on Empire and US Imperialism because that is appropriate for the group I am working with, I have the freedom to do so. Moveon will not spring out of the walls to stop me. The whole effort would have been more true to its intent if it had no content AT ALL. Apparently it was thought that this was an opportunity to add a history piece so folks could try to get a bit more on the same page. A for effort. There were some big holes. I wonder how many people talking smack about this training effort would consider actually going to a training in April with an open mind? If you luck out and get good trainers, you might actually walk away with some new tools you can use to work to STOP US Empire at Home and Abroad. Because that is what we really, desperately need.
If you want a real non violence training find a Ruckus Society or local Earth First! group, don't let this obvious shill for the Dim party front group Move On snare you!
MrCrow - it's funny you suggest Ruckus Society and EF!. Ruckus has been centrally involved in 99% Spring, including helping lead the much of the curriculum development. EF! hasn't been formally involved, but there are many people who identify and work with EF! who are.
Like others said - make the training what you will. This is an opportunity to engage a ton of people in your community - especially NEW people - to get involved, learn about action, and build relationships. MoveOn's politics aren't really a part of this effort- they are providing a technological platform for people to sign up with, and giving a lot of staff time to support community volunteers to put together trainings. But each training is very different, it all depends on people like YOU to get involved, shape it, and make it the best it can be.
If Ruckus is involved then they are sadly sold out from the days when they did non violence trainings of tree sitters and people involved in the Seattle anti WTO protests in 1999, which had NOTHING to do with the Dim party front group Move On I assure you!
For people who are not aware of the non statist origins of Occupy I suggest you read this articles to get up to speed:
http://www.wnyc.org/articles/its-free-country/2011/nov/17/david-graeber-occupy-wall-street-2-months/
http://ampedstatus.org/a-report-from-the-frontlines-the-long-road-to-occupywallstreet-and-the-origins-of-the-99-movement/
This also has more to do with the black block and radical left anarchism than the progressive equivalent of the tea party faux 99% Spring.
The fact you use the word training is an example of "liberal/progressive/statist" top down thinking, a real general assembly is collaborative, not top down, and learning to participate in it takes all of 5 minutes.
David Grabber lays down the smack on the different when he says:
"A general assembly meeting seemed necessary to determine what course of action might be most viable.
So a few of us, me and my friends, showed up at this announced general assembly on August 2nd to plan the Wall street action on September 17th. And we were rather disgruntled to discover that it wasn’t a general assembly at all.
Graeber characterized what they found instead as organizers standing on a stage, rallying through microphones, calling for the assembled people to march with a list of demands the organizers had already printed.
You know, the whole conventional thing. And some of us looked at each other and said we don’t have to do this.
He said there was a feeling that many actions use radical language, but fall into a pattern in which a few leaders tell the masses what to do. Graeber and his friends decided this was the moment to change structure and embrace a what he called “direct democracy.”
Have a group of people, without a leadership structure, come together and make decisions collectively. And people within the anarchist, anti-authoritarian and also feminist traditions in America have been working for years on how to do that, people kind of knowhow you can conduct a meeting in a real democratic way. There’s been a lot of people putting a lot of thought into that. But he hadn’t really done it on a mass basis. So we thought, let’s try.
He said that organizers tried to keep control of the action and would not shift the structure to one he would find more democratic.
So we formed a circle on the other side of Bowling Green, and gradually everyone started breaking off from the rally and came over to ours, and that was the real birth of the movement.
Eventually, he said, even those who created the rally were convinced to come take part. The group split into subgroups to think about structure and consensus, and then reported back to the group as a whole."
From the first above linked article.
Hey Mcrow, you are so right about the word "training' being a top down word. Also- as a trainer- I find it horribly inaccurate. I lead groups through a series of exersizes designed to help them access their own truths. What would be a better word for that? Facilitated excersizes? Its not even a skill share. I have nothing to teach! Any suggestions will be warmly received.
Sadly I disagree with you that a group could be deemed to have "sold out" if they work with folks whose analysis is not the same as their own. If that is the case that would mean groups that are working to stop the Keystone XL pipeline have 'sold out' because they are working in coalition with wealthy republican ranchers who have much to lose from the pipeline.
Radicals address the 'root causes' of injustice. Through finding common ground with others whom we would otherwise completely disagree we can forge the trust or at least the communication needed to bring others into a more radical place. At least I don't think just saying that they are lame or misguided will bring them over to the radical side. But who knows.
Your example of a group simply going ahead and doing a protest the way they wanted to do it- until everyone else had joined them, is a great example of proactive change. Now that the 99% Spring training for trainers has happened, the training is out of the bag. It is up to the people who have it to use it the way they see fit. If you had the curriculum, you could train it in your own way. I think you may have imagined a bit more control is being held over these trainings than is possible. These trainings belong to the people who give and receive them, not Moveon, or Ruckus, or Earth First or anyone else, unless that is who is in the room. One of my favorite group agreements at these 'trainings' is "Use what works for you, but understand that something that doesn't work for you may be the most profound thing that has happened to someone else all day, so be respectful". That could be true in many different situations.
And- um- really- any other names for a 'training' would be great. I hate that word. Its just incorrect. Thanks.
You don't need a new word, you need a new process namely consensus that is ALREADY being used in the REAL Occupy general assemblies. Consensus is inclusive, participatory, collaborative, and assures all voice are heard and respected.
http://www.consensus.net/ocac2.html
I'd bet a hundred dollars Move On won't let you use consensus as then they would lose all their juicy obedient recruits to their vision of Occupy not as a radical movement to change society, but as the new progressive tea party to bolster the Dims. Consensus allows everyone to make proposals which again would break Move On's hold on the group through top down "training," ie indoctrination to work within the system and it's hierarchical structure.
Sigh!