Forum Post: This is going beautifully. If we stay calm and non-violent, the future is ours. HERE'S what I think we should be doing right now to ensure success. . ..
Posted 12 years ago on Oct. 10, 2011, 4:30 p.m. EST by aswewalk
(104)
This content is user submitted and not an official statement
There's a phrase that's popped up in a few posts I've read recently: "position of strength." Contemplating that notion of what constitutes a position of strength really changed my mind about the necessity of having official demands and designated leaders. I realized (thanks to many people commenting on my posts) that if we take the cake out of the oven too soon, it won't reach its potential.
If, on the other hand, we allow more people to discuss, propose, strategize and align, we will get to know each other and we will each feel OWNERSHIP of the movement. It will be OUR train instead of a train we jump aboard.
After dealing with many organizations over the years, I recognize in no uncertain terms how important it is for people to be fully vested in the process. The outcomes are far more positive and successful this way. If we let the movement mature more, we'll be in a position of strength when it's time for demands and non-violent direct action. We're weeks or months away from that though.
Right now, we're getting to know each other and feeling, for the first time, what it's like to say out loud what we've all been feeling for so long. It feels pretty damn good, doesn't it?!. We're stepping out of our roles and relating to one another as human beings.
To paraphrase James Baldwin: We may not yet know the precise shape of the future, but we know it is ours.
It feels good. For so long I thought I was one of the few - its good to see all the other lunatics around here!
It is wonderful to simultaneously realize that the future could be bright and that we hold the power to make that bright future in the palms of our 617,364,000 hands.
Well said. We are all students here. And we are learning as fast as we can. We can afford to be wrong as long as we are willing to admit it and continue to work to build a better country for 100% of us. This will bring out the best in us. We may have forgotten it was there.
I think that's a great way of putting it: "This will bring out the best in us. We may have forgotten it was there." Right on. For too long the 1% have pitted various parts of the 99% against one another. You could list pages of such examples.
It's been exhausting struggling with our neck under the boot of the 1% while fighting fellow 99%ers with our arms and legs. Now we're starting to realize we have the power to get that boot off our collective neck. And that power comes from the very recognition that we don't need to fight each other for scraps. We have the power to create real and meaningful change. The process itself is cathartic after feeling repressed for so long. Some of that repression came from the 1% and their minions. Some of it we brought on ourselves, allowing fear to cloud our vision. But now the clouds are lifting. And it is starting to feel like a beautiful new day.
It was Breyton Breytonbach who said the following before starting his prison sentence in South Africa: "Whether we win or whether we die, freedom will rise like the sun through the morning clouds."
Martin Luther King, Jr. put it like this: "Truth crushed to earth rises up." and "No lie can live forever."
And Bongo Jerry, the Rastafarian poet put it this way: "Sooner or later but mus' The dam going to bus' And everyone will be free What force can stop a river that knows it's course?
The idea isn't new and always works, if the practitioners are dedicated enough to work hard enough and, if necessary, to suffer enough. The sad thing is to suffer, and end up with nothing to show for it. Our people are suffering and suffering, and.... separately. Suffering together, Occupying Together, can produce redress of the legitimate grievances of all of the people. At least this doesn't have to be wasted suffering and it could produce something really good..
Excellent point. Many people say it will be a sacrifice to engage in non-violent resistance. But certainly it is a much bigger sacrifice to keep our heads downbin fear and fight over the scraps while flipping channels on the tv.
Stiglitz and Krugman know the way
I agree aswewalk, and the commitment to non-violence and democracy is essential. I also know the incredible power of "the group." Our decision to come out of hiding, let go of fear and stand together to heal and change the status quo, is indestructible. This is exactly what the PTB do not want. Therefore, I am very happy!
It really is beautiful, seeing us all shed our fear. Once that drops away we can talk, really talk. An in the process, it begins to occur to us that together we are greater than the sum of our parts. Unstoppable as long as we remain true to the principles of non-violence. We are finding our voice. And we are about to sing!
<3 :-) <3
honestly, i can't understand why the point that we need a wiki anbd sub forums and open source direct democracy think tanks and science centered problem solving process to generate a detailed political platform.. how that ends up not going instantly viral as the thing to do ... I have put the REAL solution on the table, and people like you are coming up with the general gist of the direction that moves in but not seeing or repeating or hearing or etc the solution i keep putting forth over and over. It seems that this forum is the problem, we apparently must findsomebody to put up a wiki and sub forums because this site can't manage to do so.
http://occupywallst.org/forum/thetruth-socialismcapitalismcommunismmarxism/
http://occupywallst.org/forum/capitalism-versus-corporatism/
http://occupywallst.org/forum/help-me-understand/
http://occupywallst.org/forum/capitalism-a-love-story/
http://occupywallst.org/forum/sociology/
http://occupywallst.org/forum/energy-101-solution/
http://occupywallst.org/forum/ethics/
http://occupywallst.org/forum/break-your-left-right-conditioning/
http://occupywallst.org/forum/nader-kucinich-and-paul/
http://occupywallst.org/forum/5-facts-you-should-know-about-the-wealthiest-one-p/
http://occupywallst.org/forum/i-am-homeless-joe-jp-morgan-chase-accidentally-for/
http://occupywallst.org/forum/can-we-end-the-fed/
http://occupywallst.org/forum/why-end-the-federal-reserve-and-what-do-you-replac/
http://occupywallst.org/forum/teaching-the-occupation/
http://occupywallst.org/forum/this-forum-needs-structure/
http://occupywallst.org/forum/ows-is-not-your-personal-billboard-for-your-politi/
http://occupywallst.org/forum/systems-theory-primer/
http://occupywallst.org/forum/organize-inform-take-action-effect-change/
http://occupywallst.org/forum/better-website-needed/
http://occupywallst.org/forum/stop-playing-the-devils-games/
http://occupywallst.org/forum/nonviolence-the-only-path/
http://occupywallst.org/forum/ows-not-against-capitalism/
http://occupywallst.org/forum/this-is-not-about-political-stripe-it-is-about-bas/
http://occupywallst.org/forum/national-initiative-for-democracy/
http://occupywallst.org/forum/a-third-political-party-the-movement-of-the-middle/
http://occupywallst.org/forum/300-fema-camps/
http://occupywallst.org/forum/ows-is-a-false-flag-operation/
http://occupywallst.org/forum/why-this-will-not-work/
http://occupywallst.org/forum/paradigm-shift-now/
http://occupywallst.org/forum/a-proposal-for-focus/
http://occupywallst.org/forum/stop-the-bullshit-posts-and-get-organized/
I'm cautiously hopeful myself. I will hopefully be able to start getting a rally together in the town I'm living in now.
I think we should start concentrating on rallies over occupations because with cold weather coming, we could probably keep numbers high for a while longer (winter is going to be hard. This would have all been easier if it was started in the spring/summer.
If it hasnt been done yet, we should probably form online chat rooms/forums like Anonymous had set up... only censoring posts that call for illegal actions/violence.
I agree with you. Need to really do some planning here. This is a chess match that requires we think 3 or 4 moves ahead (or more) while at the same time not rushing the process. All this energy being put into planning the knee-jerk small time protests could be better put into planning large mass non-violent demonstrations and protests, all taking place once the numbers have grown exponentially and the ideals of non-violence and calm tactical action have firmly settled in our hearts and minds. Once that happens, there's no stopping us. As the great saying goes, there's nothing like an idea whose time has come!