Forum Post: the Oakland Liberation Front did ask a question, they do deserve an answer
Posted 13 years ago on Nov. 4, 2011, 2:31 a.m. EST by amen88
(173)
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the question, as stated in their flier, is this "are you with us or against us?" my question to OWS is why has this question not received an immediate and unequivocal NO!!! real strength lies in non-violent defiance. if the OWS aligns themselves with a group of rabble rousers, it has lost the battle that it has just begun. there is no place for non-reaction with regards to this issue. it is imperative that OWS reassert it's non-violent code in light of recent occurrences.
http://www.theblaze.com/stories/oakland-liberation-front-leaflet-slams-pacifists-
the whole " with or against" thing should get dropped.
not talking about with or against occupy oakland, i am referring to condoning or not condoning violent acts and damage to property.
The majority of the people are peaceful. Some of them are more easily provoked but they are not criminals. Only very few are criminals. If some protestors are provoked to act violently, other protestors should try to calm them down. If someone does unprovoked criminal acts, he should be taken to the police. The majority peaceful protestors have the right to protest and the best way to protect their own right is to keep on protesting despite violence caused by other people. To shun from further protests is to admit guilt.
i agree with you. to clarify, i was not saying shun oakland from protesting, i was referring to this anarchist group out there and was responsible for the damage. Oakland Liberation Front. click on the link and read the flier that this group was passing out.
I checked out the above Blaze site and read through quite a bit of the posts. And honestly have no idea what most of the posts are saying. Communism? Socialist? I just don't see how these systems of outmoded governance have any baering on this situation. I don't have many answers and I won't pretend to have a full grasp as to what is happening on a purely macro scale; its just too complicated and there are too many plausible theories out there to pick one and run with it. However, we can as an enlightened group of people, en mas, gather, unite in solidarity around certain principles after having over the last few decades witnessed the weakening for the majority of Americans thier quality of life. Liberty and justice for all....in part means that we give everyone a fare chance to have a decent life. It means that we all take part in giving and recieving of those elements within this society that have been established in order to bring about a more fare and perfect union. But perhaps most important of all is that we take responsibility. For everything, this society does not exist in some vacum that is void of any life giving oxygen. The oxygen I am talking about is knowledge. There are many tables to which one may partake of the food of knowledge, but as we are taught, by thier fruits shall you know them. When we eat of the grapes of wrath be beget wrath, when we walk in the shadows of fear we project fear and the whole demented cycle of insanity continues. This is a tremendous moment for all peoples of this planet. Let us try to forge ahead without the shakles of hatred and fear. Each and every person to go beyond that space inwhich our minds tell us that we have all the answers. Let us fight to not have all the answers, the answers will be given when the bonds of unity, understanding, and tolerance have been nutured.
agreed, very well said. i don't claim to have answers, but i do know that as we have claimed to be a peaceful movement, we need to assert this attitude whenever possible. my point was that in this flier that a small anarchist group from oakland were passing around, a question was asked directed at the occupy movement, "are you with us or against us". this question should have been answered by any means possible. i do also believe that this is such an important issue that it should also be addressed by the OWS crew in NY.
Anyone that doesn't realize that violence is exactly what the government wants us to do and would be thereby playing right into their hands is a complete moron.
i cannot argue with that
OWS is a banker plot full details with supporting evidence links is here. This was planned since at least 87... http://uponlocal.com/up-on-local-media/content/operation-occupy-communications-center
it seems that somebody has not understood that anarchism is a problem, not a solution, it seems that somebody has not understood that protesting is merely symbolic; only work on the wiki is REAL. http://occupythiswiki.org/wiki/Orientation_%2B_Introduction_to_this_Wiki
Clearly - OWS is conflicted.
i am beginning to think that the problem lies in not so much being in conflict, but rather that the OWS is so afraid of having leaders, that it has left them with a central body that is not able to stand up when the situation presents itself, and time is of the essence, and ACT. you may be right on this one though, i don't know, i would hardly imagine they would be in conflict over something so base as violent or non-violent means of action. i mean, come on, have we not learned anything from all of the protests that this country alone has seen in the past, much less the course of history in the world.
humans as a whole are mostly peaceful
civilization could not exist if humans were always fighting their neighbor
machines have got the worst of us
because destruction is easier than construction