The 99% Dot Com

It's been far too long since I've protested. It's been far too long since I've worked out... eaten... bathed.

That all is not the point of this post. I've decided on my ultimate 'demand', my goal, my future state of being from which I can look back on the Occupation and say, wow, we really did it.

I'm convinced that, whatever might come after, the right first step is democratic control of the political process, democratic regulations on the media, and economic democracy within firms.

I read a little bit of Lenin writing on Marx. Two things strike me boldly, upon reflection on the topics of State and Revolution. First, that military force is no longer comprised of 'men at arms'. Operational control of a military as sophistocated as the US' is practically impossible by any imaginable revolutionary force, short of the generals and admirals themselves. I'm not holding out hope for a Revolutionary Occupying Force to which the military will deflect. I know, it sort of happened in Libya. I'm not saying violent revolution is impossible, I'm just saying it doesn't sound practical.

Second is the fact that there's no guarantee that a Revolutionary Occupying Force, like the current group in Libya, will form a government in any way preferable to the one we have. Look how things turned out for Russia with the Bolshevics in 1918. Lenin, the people's revolutionary, the champion of True Marxism, got off to a flying start with the murders and the censorship and the forced single party government. Classy!

No, I don't see revolution from without. I have seen the arguments, and I'm not buying the idea that a people's revolution from without, whether it be a Marxist proletariate taking over the State and all means of production in it in the name of 'the people', or an anarchist move towards total destruction of state power. I'm really thinking that revolution comes from within. Once there are practical democratic controls over government and industry (same thing), paired with fair flows of accurate information, then perhaps we can vote the state out of existence by uniting the economy with people's needs, one piece at a time.

I'm talking about General Assemblies at every level acting as 'committees' to vet out and pass along legislation. Keep legislative debate and voting procedures. But nothing gets in to be *considered* - in city hall, the state capitol, and Washington - without the okay of the people. Special interest legislation, earmarks, pork? No chance. In terms of time, it's not actually that impractical, given how much time bills spend in committee already.

Create one source (or several, limited) for factual information. Ban politically persuasive advertisements. Sure, it might not pass a supreme court challenge, but personally I think such a ban would uphold the people's first ammendment rights more than harm them. The 'press' can print anything they want...we simply demand that they print it to be published in the same place as everyone else. Why should big money entitle you to a wider audience and higher production value, when it comes to political participation?

And that right there is where it really boils down to. People have a right to have money. There's nothing wrong with being filthy rich. But political participation should not be for sale, not in the form of public speech and media, and not in the form of special access to the legislative process.

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Star Spangled Banner

I understand now how that guy managed to pen that epic poem about the flag and the battle and everything. An entire night is a long time to spend anxious and surrounded by anxiety. Being in my tent at 11:30 in Grant Park (30 minutes after closing) is a bit unnerving.

We've been told about the ordinance we're violating. We've heard about how to get arrested without inciting violence. We've been told to move out if we can't tolerate being arrested. Everyone's been talking since 10 as if arrest was iminent and assured.

I'll believe it when I see it.

But in the meantime, there's the waiting. Sitting, waiting for what's going to happen next. I kind of wish that I could come up with something as epic as the star spangled banner. I've got all night...maybe I'll give it a shot.

Meh...it's not dawn yet, and I seriously have to pee.

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Therapy

Have you ever been in a relationship that had issues brew and stew until finally someone says, "we need to talk?"

Dear federal government: We need to talk.  We need to talk about Wall St. and the banking system.  We need to talk about laws and regulations for corporations.  We need to talk about taxes.  We need to talk about the military.  We need to talk about the media.  We need  to talk about the political system.

Yes, we need to talk about our feelings.  We feel frustrated.  We feel disenfranchised.  We feel ignored.  We feel taken advantage of.  We feel left out.  We feel dehumanized.  We feel demoralized.

A number of people, myself included, have taken to the streets.  We have forced the issue.  We are expressing these feelings in a way that cannot be ignored.  The way we feel is not going to change any time soon.  We are not going anywhere until you convince us that you are listening and that you care about us.

Leadership

Okay, I'll admit it.  I'm looking for catch phrases.  I'm looking for language that gets an idea across well, is inherently persuasive, to the point, with wide appeal.  I am using twitter and now IRC chat as a sounding board.  I am using this blog as a way of brainstorming, thinking critically, and organizing my thoughts.

I am of the opinion that 'leadership' in this context means that people take the initiative to do things that need to be done.  Leadership is inevitable (one of my catch phrases).  The ideas that catch on will catch on.  Ways of organizing and working together collectively will come to be.

What do catch phrases have to do with leadership?  Well, things need to happen.  I said in one of my previous blog posts that I was optimistic that ideas would gel, demands would become coherent and practical, and the power of the movement would be harnessed for real change.  That can't happen without language.

At some point, someone is going to have to speak for the movement.  Demands will have to be presented.  The demands will have been decided collectively (if all goes well with respect to leadership) and delivered by someone.  And there's the key - leadership will be the people who make sure that collective decisions are collective, that everyone gets to speak, and that the language we ultimately use to make explicit what we want is truly supported collectively.

If I contribute language that ultimately shapes goals, suggestions, demands, then I'm a leader.  If I suggest ways of organizing that prove to be effective, then I'm a leader.  In general, if I get my ideas out there and people accept them, then I'm a leader.  If I manage to do that in a way that respects everyone else's right to 'lead' in this sense, then I'm a good leader, at least in terms of what 'good' leadership means in this context.

Do I want to be a leader?  Not particularly.  But I admit, I like the idea that something I say might help shape the movement and move things forward.  I'm already past worrying that what I'm doing is worthless.  I can already see that what I've done in the past few days has had an effect, made a difference, and helped the movement achieve its (currently nebulous) goals.

My best catch phrases so far?

Leadership is inevitable.
The movement needs a new vision for leadership, not a lack of it.
It's okay to be nobody and speak.
The power of the movement is not in any individual's voice, but in the collective.

Well, these are the ones I like anyways, and the ones that have been best received.  Take them for what they're worth think about them.  I sincerely hope that these help focus the collective voice.

Focus

The 99% don't have answers, but we need to be asking the right questions. Among the many goals shared to varying degrees is an end to apathy. So what do you say to a typical American to convince them that they should care?

Imagine that you are an East Texan living in a small town relatively unaffected by the recession. Good standard of living thanks to low cost of living and plentiful economic resources, i.e. fertile land sitting on top of an oil field. Heavily Christian, solidly Republican. We're talking steer, oil, guns, and football. Half the people you meet tell you within a minute how many tours their son or daughter did recently in Iraq or Afghanistan.

How are these people victims of corporate domination in politics and the media, perpetual foreign war for profit, and the enormous government sponsored concentration of wealth in the top 1%? What do they lose? What do they have to gain if any of that changes?

Let's start with foreign wars. Their kids are dying. Isn't that enough to get any parent out on the street, occupying the nearest major city demanding that the troops come home?

Unfortunately no, for at least a couple of reasons. Families are rightly proud of their service men and women. They are also laboring under the delusion that the wars are just and necessary for our security. This is tied back to media. In terms of emotional manipulation and misinformation, the damage is done.

Perhaps a more fruitful avenue for discussion might be the defense butget. If it's not enough that we're destroying thousands of lives with no tangible benefit, perhaps it will get them in the streets to think about the fact that we are literally blowing up billions of dollars. These are dollars we can ill afford to spend with our budget problems.

Corporate legislation and taxes might be approached the same way. Maybe it's too much to hope for, but in a town built by 'independent oil men', the idea that corporations have a first obligation to working families, then to the social and environmental health of communities, before they are allowed unchecked spending on frivolous luxury and politics, just might stick. Let's allow our corporations to pay no taxes when they create and sustain living wage jobs, and bleed them dry on tax penalties for polution, outsourcing, buying private jets and, worst of all, ad campaigns.

Okay, enough blathering. To the point. You, well off Mr. Smith, have the financial health of the government to worry about. There are economic consequences in your town when healthy wage jobs become fewer and farther between, even if you happen to have one.

And as a Christian, where is your sense of moral obligation in any of this? People are needlessly suffering. Blessed are the meek- blessed, then, are the 99%, who deserve a chance to speak up for themselves in meaningful ways.

I just might get a chance to put it to someone in East Texas. What if one of your independent oil men...

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