Forum Post: Are the roles of OWS clear?
Posted 12 years ago on Nov. 1, 2011, 5:33 a.m. EST by Thrasymaque
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This content is user submitted and not an official statement
It seems to me everybody has different talents and thus different roles to play in a movement, and that this has perhaps not been made clear enough by the OWS camp.
Protesters who are braving the winter cold have a function. They are the heart of the movement. They are seen by the world. They are the flag of the movement.
However, they should not be the critical thinkers of the movement. The critical thinkers need to be in warm houses drinking coffee and doing a lot of writing and reading. They are the brains of the movement.
Likewise, speakers should be well rested and in good shape to make the best speeches possible.
At the moment, everybody seems to be attacking the protesters for their lack of wisdom, when it shouldn't be their responsibility.
The self appointed "leaders" of OWS have decided that this movement is NOT about doing something about the bankster cartel. Rather, OWS will be used to support big labor. Here's an email from one such "thinker" making it quite clear that international finance is not the target:
Mark, I agree with you completely. In fact just last night I was reading the section in Grieder's book on the Fed where he contrasts the class base and resulting politics of 19th vs. 20th century populists (progressive and reactionary respectively). (See bottom of page 265 for his punchline on this.) That's why I spoke of both left and right wing populists today. The kids today at OWS who are proworker, antiracist, antisexist, anti-imperialist, but who think the solution is ending the Fed, or restoring Glass-Steagall, or breaking up the big banks, or moving our money to credit unions -- isn't left populist a fair term for them? And it's meant not in an elitist or dismissive way, but as a sign of their lack of exposure to basic socialist ideas -- for which we all, of course, share some responsibility.
http://www.marxmail.org/msg96959.html
http://www.marxmail.org/threads.html#96936
Interesting.
If you peruse those emails and plug some of the names into Google, you'll find more.
If you peruse those emails and plug some of the names into Google, you'll find more.
OK, thanks.
The critical thinkers are going after the root of the problems - Government, bureaucrats and the federal reserve.
The rest are having a slumber party.