Forum Post: Thank you jart.
Posted 12 years ago on Jan. 3, 2012, 10:46 p.m. EST by therising
(6643)
This content is user submitted and not an official statement
I think this forum is moving in direction of being back on track now where it's possible to interact. I think if we can hear each other, we'll challenge one another to innovate, clarify and find creative solutions. The post someone types that may initially frustrate another may later inspire him or her to share something that comes from the heart and takes things to a whole new level, inspiring others.
This doesn't lift or celebrate just one person. In fact, in my view, it highlights the power of collective effort. Thanks to jart's incredible fortitude, we all have a place to interact, challenge one another, question our own assumptions and rise to our best selves. That opportunity is there thanks to this hardfought fertile environment ... occupywallst.org . Such a gift. And the power of this gift will increase exponentially if we put our egos aside (myself included) and HEAR each other. That's not to say we don't advocate strongly for our true beliefs. Just saying we need to also take a deep breath when the comments come in in response. That deep breath allows us to accept our assumptions being questioned, allows us to really hear the questions posed to us.
I believe such an egoless ideal in its purist form is unattainable but that, in striving for it, we empower the collective. As we let go of our small selves a bit, the collective's power rises. A delicate dance, to be sure, but a productive and vital one.
The philosophical questions that arise here are legitimate and compelling. And yet it may not be as scary as we might think to give a little more, listen a little more, give up just a little on the idea of "me" being of prime importance. I wrestle with this, as I suppose we all do. However, I think I've concluded that we can become more free and more fully human as individuals if we stop protecting ourselves all the time and spend a bit more time lifting up and listening to others.
I'll do my best to live up to these ideals. When I fail, I hope you tell me. Thanks all of you out there who have done so much, especially jart for keeping this site up and running when it probably seemed fruitless at times. It was worth it. It appears the movement will emerge renewed and refreshed in the coming weeks and months thanks to the many tireless supporters, occupiers and posters as well as the glue that is this site. This is a beautiful hub.
Thank you!
You're very welcome! But you should be thanking agnosticnixie and the other mods. All I did was make the moderating tools efficient enough to deal with the latest wave of spam.
Look at what the poor mods have been dealing with :( //i.imgur.com/eiDcN.png
Ditto to "therising's" excellent post and appreciation of "jart", "agnosticnixie" and "the other mods" and I feel that this is as good a place as anywhere to attach this important (imho) link :
http://publicintelligence.net/new-york-police-circulating-mysterious-government-guide-to-criminal-tactics-of-protest-extremists/ .
NYPD = NOT Your Police Dept. !
fiat lux ...
That's a big something.
Thanks for this outlet that has educated so many. Thanks for not banning me, it is proof of your open mindedness.
Looking good. Thanks jart and everyone who was involved in the cleanup!!!
Thank You! This forum was getting out of hand completely. I am not assigning blame for that, in fact to do so would be a waste of time. The point is that it is clearly improved! I cannot overstate how important this is for our whole movement!
It really is a lot better.
Yes, it really is - and I don't think we can overstate the importance of that!
So what now? What are three key next steps in your view?
First, I think we need to deal with the leadership issue. If it was up to me, I'd chose you. A split in this movement was inevitable anyway because we have too many irreconcilable differences to stay under one tent. We should chose a leader now who can hold together as many of our numbers as possible. Having leadership will lead to concentration, rather than dispersion of protest effort.
In the mean time I think we need to be flexible, and create a revolving strategy. For example, a number a citizen action groups have started that are already having some real success Russ Feingold has one. There are others such as avazz.org and change.org that use citizen pressure to force change. Minimally we can swell the ranks of those organizations and participate in their petitons and boycotts.
Also, we should both endorce cadidates and run our own cadidates for office.
I think the key now though is leadership, because to my mind the NGA hasn't become functional. There needs at least to be an elected team of leaders, who can be removed by a 2/3 recall if necessary.
I think The 99% must now chose a leader.
I honestly think being leaderless is helpful. I certainly have no qualifications to be a leader and don't know anyone who would. I think the best people step forward at the right times behind the scenes and plan actions / rise to the occasion. I think the movement needs to have consistent action and hope this Feb 29th action shown in news section is helpful in galvanizing people and effecting real change.
It may be that the most impactful pursuit for this movement is executing planning and rallying support for a relentless series of actions that awaken Americans to what's really going on in this country. These actions also obviously serve to directly confront corporate power. I think this is the real fight here: humanity vs a corporate system that subjugates all of humanity, including the 1%. And I think corporate power could discredit any individual leader in a heartbeat. They have billions of pr dollars at their disposal.
I've never personally planned an action for OWS, even locally, because I don't have the skills to do that. There are so many great people out there who do have those skills and we all owe them a great debt. They and the people participating in actions are true patriots in my view. They're fighting for the soul of this country and the soul of humanity. At least once a day it hits me what heroes these people are. While I'm just a guy with a day job who types on an electronic device, they meet, research, plan, travel, camp and execute complicated yet fluid plans that result in real action.
I used to think this movement could continue to grow without a leader. Perhaps it can. The thing that concerns me is the dispersal of protest effort. There seems to be no mechanism to coordinate action, and that in turn leads to the impression that the movement is dwindling. I have been sadly disappointed in what I have been hearing about the split between OWS and the 99% Declairation. Many times I have seen left-wing organizations succomb to fruitless bickering and egitism. Partly, it is a weakness in the consensus model that can be easily exploited by our opponents. Quite likely a lot of those causing the dissention are infiltrators.
The question is, how can we get past that? I am not 100% committed to the idea of having a leader - I just don't see any other way out of this dillema.
I honestly think it would be possible to retake Zucotti Park, with fifty thousand people or so. But how can we coordinate such an action? When Zucotti was going, action was well coordinated, and that was a big part of why OWS was so effective.
Just thoughts I've been having.
I hear you.
Thanks for reading.
I hate spammers
cant we lynch spammers?
Why can't we lynch spammers?
o wait - where am I?
never mind.
146% recently surveyed rational and intelligent people hate your incessant left wing obama jacque throating, even worse.
it's not my fault yer a scum bag
Yeah we are.............. and stupid too.
Yes, I second the sentiment of gratitude.
Cool
I wholeheartedly agree with this post.. although I could never had written it so well.