Forum Post: Speeches

Excuses If I double posted, but I can't find my post so I tried again.

Why not organize a big speech writing contest, have a lots of people vote which speeches are most inspirational, relevant, ... and have the writers address the crowds in Wall Street. People could even write together, make propositions, rewrite, criticize. You know, wisdom of the crowds, ... These speeches should reflect the thoughts of the many. Their content should maybe be collectively agreed upon, they could be debated. Just ideas. Maybe some are written by individual writers. Someone from Occupy Wallstreet could read out these inspirational letters from all over the world. What about Chris Hedges, Ralph Nader - Maybe it's a good idea to have readings of passages from certain books - I haven't followed the OWS movement, there's almost no media coverage here, so maybe the things I'm proposing are allready being done. But nonetheless an international speech writing effort would be great, for it would provide the opportunity for people to give voice to their concerns, their fears and hopes. It would be nice if they were somewhat more philosophical, and in parts transcend "ordinary" writings on politics, economics, facts, ... a nice mix, in short a great speach. What do you think? They could impart a sense of importance, of urgency, of meaning ...

Anyone ever read 'The Vanishing of A Species' by Peter Gretener or Overshoot by William Catton. As a species it seems we cannot for very much longer afford business as usual. It's nice to see that this movement tries to go beyond ordinary politics. We need something new.

If someone perhaps knows people in the OWS who could do more with this proposal, maybe you can forward this message.

Best of luck, regards Willem.

All human systems–political, economic, and religious–have the capacity to function. The fact that none of them does function is not the fault of the systems but rather due to the fact that they all must rely on the same deficient “brick”–Homo not so Sapiens.

"I would oppose the view , particulary prevalent in some universities, that to abolish the capitalist system and become a left-winger will solve anything. We have every indication that the left is as greedy and egocentric as the right, and there is really not much to choose between the two. I agree with Lorent'z view. Does it matter whether your title is vice president and you own property on Vancouver Island, or you are a commissar and own a Dacha at the Black Sea? I fail to recognize a fundamental difference. In Russia, the number of secret police is making life plain hell for a great number of people, and in the West, organized crime operates in a somewhat subtler way but still makes life very unpleasant, to put mildly, for a possibly lesser number of people. In both cases, those that are not directly stepped on look the other way and pretend that all is well. I am afraid that even a cursory assessment of the situation clearly demands that one look for a new solution, and that, of course, is a hell of lot more difficult. It is far easier to compare existing and past merits, than to produce something brand new. This requires originality–a quality suppressed in homo techicus. Yet our previous record shows that so far nothing has worked. Now we are in a position where it either works or we are out–clearly, a third down (fourth down if you live in the U.S.) and long situation. (Peter Gretener - The Vanishing of A Species)