Tuesday, November 15, 2011

Occupy Zuccotti: The Eviction

Day 31 Occupy Wall Street October 16 2011 Shan...Image by david_shankbone via Flickr(1) I am not alarmed.
(2) The operation was well done, well executed.
(3) It was the wrong thing to do.
(4) New York City should take pride in the fact that something that started in a small park in this city has spread across the world. Liverpool takes pride in The Beatles.
(5) There will be a regrouping.
(6) The eviction was top news on Google News for an entire day. It probably still is. The Occupy people could not have thought of a better way to spread their message around the country, around the world. An operationally well executed plan was a political defeat, if the purpose was to calm down the Occupy movement.
(7) The movement has to rethink, regroup, and do one better.

(8) It is not within this or any other mayor's power to address the concerns of the movement. The mayor does not have a political solution. The movement is above the mayor's pay scale. The movement is not asking the mayor for the solution. No city official can address.
(9) This movement is out of the box thinking. It is stepping out. It is saying the entire system is dysfunctional. Something fundamental is not working.
(10) The movement can sleep outdoors if it wants to. Why not? The right to peaceful assembly does not end when the sun sets.

(11) The movement has to go through some introspection.
(12) Public acts are important. 200 people in 200 basements hammering away on social media sites could not have had one millionth the impact. Of course Zuccotti Park mattered. That 24/7 character has to be brought back. (Occupy Wall Street Could Legitimately Go Indoors)
(13) Nonviolence is the only option.
(14) My favorite part of the movement so far has been individuals writing out on placards explaining what makes them part of the 99%. That has to be magnified.

(15) Mass actions like literally shutting down Wall Street and crossing the Brooklyn Bridge in ways that disrupt traffic might be great ways to get old media attention and magnify the message, but they go beyond my personal comfort level for now.
(16) But then financial bad behavior on Wall Street over the past decade was not exactly within your comfort level either.
(17) I wish the movement worked harder to achieve more sophisticated levels of organization.
(18) Isolated incidents of possible criminal behavior, or in one case suicide, would be a lame excuse to shut down the movement. There are murders taking place in New York City every day. Should the city be shut down?

(19) Message.
(20) Organization.
(21) The movement will take a few months to take both of those to the next level. The mayor wants debates. There will be debates.

The Occupy movement is not a mirror image of the Tea Party. To say it is to suggest Charlie Rangel is a modern day MLK. The Occupy movement competes with acts by MLK. It is a modern day movement, completely crowd sourced.

Occupy The World
Occupy Wall Street Could Legitimately Go Indoors
Occupy
The Conversation Is The Revolution
Tahrir Square In America
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Sunday, November 13, 2011

Occupy The World

Day 43 Occupy Wall Street October 29 2011 Shan...Image by david_shankbone via FlickrOccupy America has to be first and foremost about total campaign finance reform. I was Barack Obama's first full time volunteer in New York City. And I staunchly believe in the guy's reelection. But I have tried to see the Occupy movement for what it is and I have been open to options that might or might not be best for Barack Obama's political party. (A Multi Party System For America) But I believe 2012 has to be about The Agenda. The agenda is total campaign finance reform and progressive taxation (Sales Tax, Wealth Equity Tax) within 100 days of Barack Obama's second term. To that end giving him a second term, a super majority in the Senate and a majority in the House might be the best way. (Occupy Wall Street: My Idea Of Obama 2012) But that can be no blank check. The Occupy movement has to spell out the agenda by the summer of 2012.

Occupy China, Occupy Russia, Occupy Iran All Over Again

The Occupy movement can achieve globally what guns and tanks can not. The Occupy movement can end all wars for all times. You do that by turning all countries into democracies through peaceful protests. And once that goal is achieved, by achieving rule of law between countries. The UN General Assembly has to be reorganized and turned into a true global parliament.

Occupy Wall Street Could Legitimately Go Indoors
Occupy
The Conversation Is The Revolution
Tahrir Square In America
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