Forum Post: To OWSers: learn from musicians, improve your dialogue, refine your talking points points, look better, sound better, be humble
Posted 12 years ago on Nov. 6, 2011, 6:09 a.m. EST by Anonymoose
(23)
This content is user submitted and not an official statement
In improvising there are three aspects to playing as I see it...
1) Knowledge of musical patterns, practiced and rehearsed so that they are ready to go when you want to play them. (practice)
2) Soul and passion...the fearlessness to play those things without playing with trepidation
3) Humility. The realization that no matter how good you are, there will always be those who are better and also realize that whatever you're saying, chances are someone else has said it before and probably better :)...this allows you to play and enjoy it "in and of itself" this will communicate the true art in your craft to others and they will hear the genuineness in your sound.
Translated to speaking:
1) Know the material you are talking about. If you haven't spent 3 years shedding on the tune "Giant steps" then step aside after a chorus and let the real cats speak. Know your place in the grand scheme. If you are not someone who has devoted a lot of time to studying economics or social injustice or philosophy, then say a small, well rehearsed piece that's hard to argue with but yet still communicates the passion of your intention...then step aside and let cats like Dr. West and Noam Chomsky riff on it...people who have spent and continue to spend a majority of their time refining their thoughts and speeches. It doesn't mean that what you have to say isn't important, but just keep it simple so you don't sound like a self righteous prick who really has nothing of substance to say.
2) You guys have this one down. But I'll say this much. Don't blow your load on the first chorus. If you're going to speak for 3 or 4 minutes, don't start off by yelling. Dynamics. Start slow, and let your words sink in. Leave space. Let the person you're talking with know you are actually waiting to see how they react and thereby including them in the conversation. People need to be massaged into agreeing with you, not shouted at. Shouting further entrenches people because instead of relaxing and opening up, they feel under attack and fight or flight kicks in and they entrench. What's your goal? To express anger? Or to affect real change? I see way too much of this. People aren't listening. Many times, the message to the "1 percenters" is "you guys are not listening to the 99 %!"...do you propose to change that by behaving in the exact same way and not listening to your dialogue partner? As the tao teh ching says,
"Only simple and quiet words will ripen of themselves. For a whirlwind does not last a whole morning, Nor does a sudden shower last a whole day... Deficiency of faith on your part Entails faithlessness on the part of others."
-Tao Te Ching 30 & 49 & 23-Lao Tzu
This brings me to the third point.
3) Humility. Do not be so self assured that your view point is correct that you act belligerently and arrogantly. I've been to jam sessions that sound like this. It ends up feeling hectic, unpleasant and LOUD. The end result is no one gets any better because we're not making music any more, we're fighting...it alienates any spectators and everybody looses. Remember, speech and music in a group requires mostly listening and only some speaking. Don't waste your breath when you have an opening...give the discourse what it needs to live and grow and allow it to bear the fruits of your collective genuine purpose, which is just.
fuck forgiveness, im gonna get even. Hows that sound?
In a way, we as a society have let the 1% bully much of the rest for decades in various ways (including accepted a twisted logic of "The Market As God"). http://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/1999/03/the-market-as-god/6397/
So, here is another way to look at "getting even" from "Bullies to Buddies" that one could think about how it might apply economically and relates to my previous suggestions about strengthening community ties and self-reliance and participation in local government: http://bullies2buddies.com/Sample-Chapters/lesson-6-getting-revenge.html "Getting revenge means that you have to give your teasers back all the pain they have caused you all these years. Try to add up all the pain you have had— the thousands of days of being depressed, of keeping hurt and anger bottled up inside of you, of thinking there was something wrong with you, of not having friends, of not being able to concentrate on your school work, of getting in trouble for trying to force them to stop— and you will realize that you would have to do something awfully terrible to truly get your revenge. Giving them back all this pain at once would either kill them or send them to the hospital for the rest of their lives. You may believe that this is exactly what they deserve. And maybe they do. But how would you feel if your wish for revenge really came true? How do you think you would you feel for the rest of your life knowing that you were a murderer, or ruined someone's life forever. The truth is that there have actually been a few kids in the past few years who got revenge by shooting up kids in their schools, and you probably have heard about them. The most famous ones were Eric Harris and Dylan Klebald, the kids who committed the massacre at Columbine High School. Do you think any of them are happy now after getting revenge? Eric and Dylan killed themselves, because they knew that their lives would have been worse than hell if they had stayed alive after getting revenge. They also completely ruined the lives of their own family members. Some of the other kids who murdered also killed themselves after killing their victims. The rest are all in jail, and possibly wishing they were dead. Do you want this to happen to you? Of course not! If you actually succeeded in getting true revenge, your life would be worse than it is now. So how can you get revenge in a way that doesn't make your life worse? There are four things you should understand. ..."
It's OK to be angry. As Mr. Rogers says, the issue is "What do you do with the mad that you feel?" http://pbskids.org/rogers/songLyricsWhatDoYouDo.html
If you really want to get "even" effectively, see: http://sociology.ucsc.edu/whorulesamerica/change/science_nonviolence.html "But given the freedoms, civil liberties, and voting rights achieved by a long line of American egalitarians and liberals, there is no end that could be justified by violence, property destruction, or armed struggle in this country. Such actions undercut the democratic rights won by past egalitarians and play into the hands of the government, which has the power to isolate and defeat any violent movement. Furthermore, property damage and armed struggle of any kind are overwhelmingly rejected by the vast majority of the American people. Due to their appreciation of the freedoms they do enjoy, and despite the economic unfairness they recognize and experience, average Americans are repelled by violent political acts, whether by right wingers or left wingers. If the goal is to build a larger movement that connects to a strategy to take over and transform the Democratic Party [or whatever], not just to force the authorities to react to one or another provocation with slight reforms, then violence makes no sense. It is therefore both immoral and counterproductive for American egalitarians to employ violent strategies. Or, as Cesar Chavez used to say about violence when he was leading the farm worker's movement, it's wrong and it's stupid."
Here are some non-violent healthy ways to "get even":
Forgiveness ultimately is a gift you give yourself so you can move on in positive ways with your own life. And even without it, one can still learn to be thankful: http://www.marcinequenzer.com/creation.htm#The%20Field%20of%20Plenty "The Field of Plenty is always full of abundance. The gratitude we show as Children of Earth allows the ideas within the Field of Plenty to manifest on the Good Red Road so we may enjoy these fruits in a physical manner. When the cornucopia was brought to the Pilgrims, the Iroquois People sought to assist these Boat People in destroying their fear of scarcity. The Native understanding is that there is always enough for everyone when abundance is shared and when gratitude is given back to the Original Source. The trick was to explain the concept of the Field of Plenty with few mutually understood words or signs. The misunderstanding that sprang from this lack of common language robbed those who came to Turtle Island of a beautiful teaching. Our "land of the free, home of the brave" has fallen into taking much more than is given back in gratitude by its citizens. Turtle Island has provided for the needs of millions who came from lands that were ruled by the greedy. In our present state of abundance, many of our inhabitants have forgotten that Thanksgiving is a daily way of living, not a holiday that comes once a year."
It makes you sound like you're going to blow up a building. Also, I don't recall putting the word forgiveness in my post. I'm merely saying that when you speak, you ought to sound intelligent. Much unlike what you are doing here.
Wow, this is one of the best posts I've seen on this site (at least relative to me). Thanks. I hope you continue to refine and distribute these ideas (maybe a YouTube video or a song?)
On your third point on "humility", here is a website about "A Newer Way Of Thinking" that helps people shift from thinking in "black and white" to thinking in "color": http://www.anwot.org/
Song about the OWS movement http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SBXrD9_DK1g
Song about police brutality towards the OWS http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3cUP1aoHPEk
What am I supposed to say to that?