Forum Post: Could The Occupy Movement Spawn A Political Party?
Posted 12 years ago on Nov. 29, 2011, 9:33 p.m. EST by XXAnonymouSXX
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I have just been curious lately if there's any chance this movement could spawn it's own political party. Not your typical party obviously, But one whose core values would include complete transparency and lack the corrupt hand of corporate influence. One made up solely of regular citizens and not Ivy League graduates who have been groomed their whole life for politics. People who show compassion for all beings. People who understand the importance of our connection to the Earth. A party of kindness and creativity. Not hate and destruction. Is this possible? I am overwhelmingly optimistic that the human capacity for love and compassion can turn things around. We need to shift our consciousness. Our biggest question right now should be, "How do we do that?" If we ever want to win this we must include everyone in the discussion. Spread kindness like a virus, especially to the 1%. They need it most!
I take a completely pragmatic approach to this. We absolutely need to get big money out of the political system.
We must stop the tar sands oil pipeline.
There are things that must be accomplished.
I don't think starting a new party is the solution. The reason is because there are at least two fringe parties already - and without a celebrity figure head it will be too easy for the opposition to paint the new party as fringe, whacko, undemocratic, communist, tree hugger, liberal, or pick any other pejorative you chose.
Take the tea party. they had tremendous success - they used popular anger, and invaded the repelican party. If you watched the budget debate, what happened was the tea party candidates all stood as a block, forcing the debate into the public using the very terms that got them elected, frightening the other repelicans with their popularity among the people -
meanwhile, the one percent kept the bushite tax break, and both parties engaged in brinkmanship right up to the last minute - literally.
By starting a new party you will have to reinvent the wheel. The public will remain skeptical of us, even if they agree with our positions. They will think, 'lack of experience.' Or they may even believe the spin the opposition is sure to throw.
Taking over parties that already exist has a much better chance of success, and it saves time that would otherwise be lost to organizing.
I think we can destroy the repelican party, all based on their own lies, hijack the dems, and in 4-6 years completely rewrite the rules of DC.
That's my opinion.
We see where "experience" has gotten us. I think it's about time for "lack of experience". LOL. There are a lot of extremely smart people involved in this movement. Could they really do a worse job? As long as money is more important than human life we're in trouble. When are the worlds elite gonna wake up and realize they can't eat money?
Probably when they run out of food and give it a try. :p
I don't think its possible to do a worse job, but on the other hand its nearly impossible to get elected in the first place without pandering to big business; and there are these beady eyed little economists telling elected officials fairy tales about how if they make big business happy by slashing taxes and deregulating everything, then the standard of living will magically increase for everyone.
Its easy to delude themselves into thinking they can have it both ways because happy donors lead to happy people.
Corporate money needs to be completely removed from politics, and limit on private and/or personal donations also, so the only equation left is "happy people" = "campaign money" + "votes"
But, Occupy is completely against the idea of dealing with parties and politicians. It's against the founding principals of the movement. From this website:
Some say that is the way to go.
I say I am a member of the Occupy Movement - and I disagree with that philosophy. It is a bit idealistic, and sets in motion a set of principles that become a dogma, that in the end are not viable.
People do not have the time to be sitting in GAs all the time - they have things to do. Over time this method ensures the movement itself falls apart.
I would see this movement maintain its purpose and momentum over time, and really fuck things up for the greedy and the corrupt.
I think you're on to something Zen. It does seem to make more sense hijacking the dems than starting a whole new party.
Even though I am much older than the majority of occupants in this movement I still feel as though I am deeply involved. I have a responsibility to myself as well as to others to do my part as a citizen and as a human being. I have been sent some important information pertaining to the “occupy “ movement. There seems to be a concept that has been posed to many key people of the occupy movement but not all key people of the occupy movement have received or are yet responding to this proposal. A proposal that has huge implications to giving the people an organized and manageable means to structure a political system. A system that has been high jacked by the 1%. We are all trying to be heard and all of us, should be heard. But, a battle is underway to stop us (99%) from our objectives. I will do my duty to pass on this information to the public that has a right to examine, question and contribute to the most important solution that has yet been made to the occupy movement to date. At the same time try to express my personal opinion and thoughts about the proposal. This proposal is not about what individuals, groups and communities had to say, complain, reflect or remark on from occupied spaces but rather how they unknowingly built an organic public political system through the means of the occupy movement.
Even though I am much older than the majority of occupants in this movement I still feel as though I am deeply involved. I have a responsibility to myself as well as to others to do my part as a citizen and as a human being. I have been sent some important information pertaining to the “occupy “ movement. There seems to be a concept that has been posed to many key people of the occupy movement but not all key people of the occupy movement have received or are yet responding to this proposal. A proposal that has huge implications to giving the people an organized and manageable means to structure a political system. A system that has been high jacked by the 1%. We are all trying to be heard and all of us, should be heard. But, a battle is underway to stop us (99%) from our objectives. I will do my duty to pass on this information to the public that has a right to examine, question and contribute to the most important solution that has yet been made to the occupy movement to date. At the same time try to express my personal opinion and thoughts about the proposal. This proposal is not about what individuals, groups and communities had to say, complain, reflect or remark on from occupied spaces but rather how they unknowingly built an organic public political system through the means of the occupy movement. on FACEBOOK George Papadamou's wall
Even though I am much older than the majority of occupants in this movement I still feel as though I am deeply involved. I have a responsibility to myself as well as to others to do my part as a citizen and as a human being. I have been sent some important information pertaining to the “occupy “ movement. There seems to be a concept that has been posed to many key people of the occupy movement but not all key people of the occupy movement have received or are yet responding to this proposal. A proposal that has huge implications to giving the people an organized and manageable means to structure a political system. A system that has been high jacked by the 1%. We are all trying to be heard and all of us, should be heard. But, a battle is underway to stop us (99%) from our objectives. I will do my duty to pass on this information to the public that has a right to examine, question and contribute to the most important solution that has yet been made to the occupy movement to date. At the same time try to express my personal opinion and thoughts about the proposal. This proposal is not about what individuals, groups and communities had to say, complain, reflect or remark on from occupied spaces but rather how they unknowingly built an organic public political system through the means of the occupy movement.
Even though I am much older than the majority of occupants in this movement I still feel as though I am deeply involved. I have a responsibility to myself as well as to others to do my part as a citizen and as a human being. I have been sent some important information pertaining to the “occupy “ movement. There seems to be a concept that has been posed to many key people of the occupy movement but not all key people of the occupy movement have received or are yet responding to this proposal. A proposal that has huge implications to giving the people an organized and manageable means to structure a political system. A system that has been high jacked by the 1%. We are all trying to be heard and all of us, should be heard. But, a battle is underway to stop us (99%) from our objectives. I will do my duty to pass on this information to the public that has a right to examine, question and contribute to the most important solution that has yet been made to the occupy movement to date. At the same time try to express my personal opinion and thoughts about the proposal. This proposal is not about what individuals, groups and communities had to say, complain, reflect or remark on from occupied spaces but rather how they unknowingly built an organic public political system through the means of the occupy movement. THE OCCUPANT ADVISORY COMMITTEE(OAC) AND HOW IT WORKS. THE OCCUPANT ADVISORY COMMITTEE (OAC)
-organizes meetings (GA) - takes minutes - facilitates order -rotates committee volunteers PUBLIC VOICE PLATFORM (PVP) -The PVP is for individuals and communities to voice their opinions to the OACs -The OACommittee takes these verbal, written or recorded presentations and route them to a second meeting of community volunteers (OCCUPY UNIVERSITY of HUMANITY- group) that …
OCCUPY UNIVERSITY of HUMANITY …-Organize and provide reciprocity, through community volunteer’s with knowledge, skills and experiences pertaining to departments such as HUMANITIES – EDUCATION – ECONOMICS – LAWS – POLITCS – HEALTH CARE – FOOD – ENVIRONMENT – CULTURES – HUMAN SCIENCE – TECHNOLOGY – RELIGION/SPIRITUALITY/ ATHEISM – POLICING/WAR These departments along with others will be held in trust by (community volunteer’s – called ) fiduciary DEANS and will be responsible with certain obligations to find, resolve, answer and clarify the PUBLIC VOICE PLATFORMS recommendations and advice. All fiduciary deans are given an email invite so they can attend any meeting and have the right to speak, articulate and help resolve the PVPlatforms issues. The general public is allowed to attend and take part (at the OCCUPANT UNIVERSITIES meetings) but must provide id so that a safe space can be guaranteed. The first half of the meeting allows all OAC’s minutes, notes, all written & recorded presentations that were offered by the PUBLIC VOICE PLATFORM to be available in plain view. Everyone is encouraged to have a one on one discussions and keep notes.
The second half of the meeting allows the fiduciary deans to listen, take minutes, and allow other deans along with the public who are attending the meeting to speak or to present a written proposal or present a recorded message – attached files , attached videos etc. The specific fiduciary DEANS that have specific skills, wisdom, knowledge and experiences are responsible to gather all presentations. The accumulated info from both OAC meetings and from OCCUPY UNIVERSITY of HUMANITY ‘s meeting are analyzed. A solution is given at a later date to the OCCUPANT ADVISORY COMMITTEE. OCCUPANT ADVISORY COMMITTEE (OAC) The OAC holds a meeting specifically to listen and receive a written proposal from the fiduciary DEANS; recommendations, resolution, advice or answer. Then the OAC articulate the recommendation, resolution, advise or answer to include it in the final proposal to city council. The OAC is then responsible to upload the PUBLIC VOICE PLATFORMS and the OCCUPANT UNIVERSITY of HUMANITY’s findings. National and international OACs can lookup solutions on web pages and also help other OAC committees resolve issues. Web sites that already exist such as all occupy movement web sites; can simply have a page info. The posting of info will allow transparency so other fiduciary deans can lookup solutions. This type of networking would create solution sharing, oversight and compose communication to eventually building a transparent new Occupy Political Party. NATIONAL & INTERNATIONAL OACs This new Occupy Political Party creates government awareness of the 99% ‘s demands for resolution. The National & International OACs unify mandates and apply national & international political pressure (peacefully) . The National & International OACs will directly be influenced by you. Yes you. You are the guardian of all our individual and community voices.
Don’t you think we could all use an Occupant Advisory Committee in each of our cities? Rather than worry about our tents (which is important), let us stay focused on making a world change by harnessing the power of the 99%.
I agree. OWS can't just camp out indefinitely. The movement is growing and eventually it's inevitable that if we want to really spread this movement, there will have to be some kind of organized leadership. Not leader. Leadership. If this movement is the model for the kind of democracy we want, we are gonna have to start some kind of movement "party". We are being taken more seriously now. They are afraid of the power we have when we work together. Polls show that most Americans believe that the government is inherently wasteful and incompetent, and that corruption is a major problem. Only 29% trust the government to do what is right always or most of the time. And nearly half see government as a threat to their rights and freedoms. With facts like these the streets should be flooded with protesters. But sadly a lot of the people who support OWS still have jobs they hate that barely pay the bills and they feel powerless. How do these people get involved. These are the ones that the movement needs to find a way to connect with. These are the numbers we need. I believe an organized transparent party might be just the way for this important group of supporters to get involved. With real votes that really matter. Just sayin'.
www.thrivemovement.com
No because canidates are leaders and ows has no leaders
It could spawn a 3rd party bigger than Ross Perot's but that's the last resort. First the 99% has to put both parties on notice that we are coming out of our cradle and we'd like to have a few words with them ; ) It's called 'tough love'
https://sites.google.com/site/the99percentdeclaration/
You keep recycling this same statement. C'mon!
www.thrivemovement.com
I think that's a great idea.
But to keep it all inclusive, it would have to be open to anyone regardless of ideology, provided they won the nomination. Maybe so long as no corporate donations and promises to work for the 99%? Or maybe even better, allowing constituents to vote on each of his/her congressional votes?
Just throwin' ideas around..
Alternatively, it would be nice to abolish parties altogether. People vote republican, but who would actually vote for the guy who wants to scrap their healthcare? It would be nice to have nothing but independents running on their own merits (with very strict campaign financing rules to keep it fair).
The party hardy party! The party animal could be the dolphin and if necessary the whale all swimming together in the same sea
Interesting. Not quite sure what you mean.
About the party or about the sea creatures?
Take your pick.
Well if it is going to be a party it might as well be fun. And I really like the idea of an emphasis on positive commentary; a sort of solution oriented turn of paradigm; giving positive accolades for what is good and just; boldly speaking truth. The various sea creatures could represent different political leanings so everyone would feel represented. The libertarians could be octopus'(ha ha), the dolphins, those with more democratic leanings; whales, those who might be more conservative.
There's already a political party that has been existence for a hundred years in America... Communist Party of America or Socialist Party of America. They've had candidates struggling because the stupid youth not paying attention to how politics work, the very people who are protesting, and they even up complaining how their voices aren't being heard. You want the government to be up in your business? Support a Communist Party of America.
Finally some honesty around here!
Bad idea. Occupy is not a political party, it is a social protest.
No, because the spectrum of followers of the movement differ greatly in there ideology. It may be able to spawn several different little parties but not a central one.
No. Occupy is completely against this idea. Read the homepage text in the right column: