Forum Post: #OccupyWallStreet – Phase 2 “A Suggestion”

The message is simple. Simplify you objectives. On the surface, of course there is nothing wrong with demonstrating. It is your constitutionally protected right to do so. There are a few problems with settling on this as the only line of attack.

One response I’ve had in the past few days is that to move Occupy towards a more political agenda is a waste of time because the game is ‘rigged’. I must say without an ounce of doubt that because the prevailing mindset is that you cannot affect the political establishment using the 99% collective mindset then this movement will amount to nothing if not some minimal semblance of victory 30 years or so down the road.

In response to my suggesting #OWS take the movement down the political path using the road-map laid before them by the Tea Party, I was told, “You don’t get it. Do you remember civil rights(and so on and so on)…, that didn’t happen in just one year.” Actually I do get it. I get it more than more than one would imagine but there isn’t a need to go into why here.

What is important is that we use our minds to come to a very obvious conclusion. While demonstrations and civil obedience are effective tools over the long haul, they do not produce the desired result in a timely manner. Certainly not without considerable personal violence suffered by those demonstrating.

You can push against the establishment in this way, but the system is set up to push back. To suppress the will of the people. To bust up your protests. To resist the changes that will affect the general population positively. If we cannot wrap our minds around simple equations and make these conclusions faster, we are inevitably dragging out the length of time this will take. Change your thinking.

So it has been a year since #Occupy took shape. I have viewed the most horrible footage on the NYPD harassing and assaulting protesters as if the NYPD were common criminals and thugs. This is very interesting. Why? Because not a single arrest was made in connection with any clear evidence, even video evidence of assaults by law enforcement on citizens, journalists, and in the most severe case an NYPD white-shirt nearly taking a woman’s head clean off her shoulders with a vicious punch caught on camera.

All this ruckus. I get it, #OWS will push on. #OWS will not be intimidated. #OWS will continue to demonstrate according to your constitutionally protected right to do so. But to what end? Have you really considered the substance of this question. For all the demonstrating, what has been accomplished? Think about it before you answer quickly.

I will try my best to answer for you without intentionally offending many who are invested in this on the ground level. All this demonstrating has accomplished – NOTHING. The sooner you can admit that, the sooner you can begin establishing a viable alternative action that is cost-effective in terms of time, effort, human resources. Again, this does not diminish the value of traditional demonstrations. However, after reviewing past and recent history, we find effective alternatives to the notion that demonstrating is all you can do. Adapt and move on.

If we by now have moved past the idea of using civil disobedience as a solitary method of bringing change to this country, we can discuss advancing the movement to an arena where police cannot abuse and protests cannot be suppressed. Where traditional and unconventional ways to suppress political dissent have no value or opportunity to disrupt the effort and resolve of #OWS.

These police and the powers behind them will never allow a disruption of the Wall Street Stock Exchange. NEVER. Feeding into this illusion is a proven distraction and evidence has already been presented that this is a flawed ambition. The end result will only be violence against demonstrators and arrests. Again, more power to you if you are willing, but the end results do not justify the cost. Especially if after a year, the main initial objective to actually Occupy Wall Street itself has never materialized. Attack the root.

I don’t have all the answers, but I have a serious suggestion. We need to evaluate structure of the powers working against our country and the 99%. At the top of the heap is Wall Street(Corporatism). Then Congress. Then we move onto the well knows words of wisdom, “All politics is local.” With this we have a basis to formulate an effective alternative action and we know what institutions to focus our efforts against. We can begin to formulate plans of action that will produce acceptable results less the violence and arrests.

Last year was the perfect time for this movement to take shape. I will admit we have lost a big opportunity here on this proposed front. It is never too late however and as one opportunity is missed another always presents itself. But this new opportunity comes with a hidden silver lining. If we had taken this step a year ago following the initial protests, we would have had less than a year to prepare to shake up the political stage. But since this years elections are right around the corner, we now have 2 years to really maximize the potential of any new efforts on this proposed front.

Attacking the local and state primaries two years out how the tea party did to send shock-waves through the Republican Party can, and is proven to work. We have to simply formulate plans that will allow the 99% to place candidates in political offices that will work for the 99%.

It only takes one. We should endeavor to crawl before we walk. It only takes one. One person, working with another, and on down the line until #OWS gets one candidate in any local or state political office. We don’t need to immediately have an #Occupy President. We don’t need a #Occupy super-majority in congress.Such ambitions are admirable, but unrealistic at this stage of the game.

We need to start at the root, uproot it at the base, and plant the seeds for our future. We can water those seeds and in the next few years we can watch those efforts produce a harvest of results. Look to 2-4 years down the road. Rather than the endless time it will take for any politician to notice or change anything based simply on protests.

The Mayor of NYC appoints the Chief of the NYPD. If 99% of this country is with us in this movement as we claim we can get Bloomberg out of office and find a Police chief that respects the constitutional right to assemble. A chief that won’t allow his NYPD subordinates to place agent provocateurs among the peaceful protesters in order to break up our demonstrations, or intimidate and assault our citizens and journalists.

You have local politicians, council men and women supporting you, standing side by side with you, being assaulted and arrested with you. Shift your thinking to progress they cannot break up. Move these council men and women up the political ladder in NYC and place them in positions of authority to stop the brutality of abuses being committed against you. Then your demonstrations will have much more effective results when the police and the mayor aren’t doing everything in their power to suppress you and discredit your cause.

This potential for a shift of this magnitude in attitude and effort is exponentially underrated. #OWS can begin unseating the true power behind the politicians who grant corporations and wall street the power to destroy this country and our populace. No method will achieve a desired result overnight. The system is not set up in this way. But, some methods are clearly proven to work in a timely manner when compared to others. By writing this post I only wish to inspire you all to optimize your efforts and in no way wish to diminish what has already been done on the ground at #OWS or what is still continuing.

Our thinking and methods must change, and in this respect they will never be able to suppress, arrest, or assault you. Having a defeated mindset unwilling to challenge what is before you is unacceptable. I don’t want to hear another #OWS supporter throwing the idea of impossibility in the face of the sacrifices being made on the ground. We owe this to those who have been jailed and assaulted to make something of material substance happen out of all this. No more standing by idly, mentally self-defeated while we send more protesters into the fray to place their bodies on the line for dismal results.

Adapt and move on.

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Thanks for reading. I'd love to hear your feedback and ideas on advancing the movement on this front.

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