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Community discussion on the world we wish to create
To Shift Power to the People We Must Weaken the Pillars that Hold the Status Quo in Place
On Saturday, November 26, we held an open community discussion in Freedom Plaza. Initially planned as a way to build community amongst those living here on the plaza, many people from the surrounding community joined us and so the discussion moved into a broader exploration of what kind of world we wish to create and how we can get there.
Through our introductions to each other we found that we share many things in common. We all see that our country is going in the wrong direction and we believe that it is up to us to take a stand and change it. Some of us are long time activists. Some are new to advocacy and activism and some actually came from a background of opposing activism.
We started our conversation by listing the values that we believe are part of this movement. We found unanimous agreement on the following as important: Factual information, equality, honesty, community, diplomacy over militarism, democracy, diversity, tolerance, harmony, concern for all species, balance, companionship, courage, tenacity, fairness, optimism, nonviolence, creativity, love, forgiveness, empathy, idealism, personal integrity, self expression, justice, health, liberty, actualization, peaceful coexistence, humor, mindfulness, responsibility, dignity and prosperity.
Then we spoke about what we would like to see in the new world that we create. We discussed what it would be like to see equality of opportunity, which means sharing our resources fairly so that people can reach their full potential. Resources include education and access to information, credit and health care.
One participant expressed his desire to see that the global population has universal access to food, water, shelter, hope and dignity. Another participant wishes for global peace.
- We would like to see the end of fossil fuel use.
- We believe in free high quality public education.
- We agreed that a reasonable profit without gaping wealth inequality is acceptable.
- We want to see full democratic enfranchisement and a political process that allows more candidates a fair chance of running for office.
- We believe in accountability and fair application of the law.
- And we would like to see a press that is really free to provide honest information.
Naturally, the discussion then turned to what it will take to make the above values and vision into reality. The occupants of Freedom Plaza strongly believe in the ability of nonviolent tactics to shift power.
One of the reasons that the concept of the 99% is so important is that we do not have the monetary resources to take on the power elite, but we do have the human resources. In the USA, the top 400 people have the same wealth as the bottom 154 million people. But, we, the 99%, confer power on the top 1% and the current political system through our obedience to it. We have the ability to shift the power by using our collective wisdom and resources to meet our human needs outside of the system.
Gene Sharp of the Albert Einstein Institute writes that there are pillars which support the current power structure. It is up to us to weaken these pillars in order to shift the power.
The pillars are:
We hope to continue these discussions weekly in Freedom Plaza. Join us if you can!
In solidarity.
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1. The American Dream is dead and it’s a good thing for the planet. It is not possible to continue to consume resources, especially petroleum, much faster than the earth produces them. To survive, we must learn to meet local needs with local resources used at sustainable rates. This means scaling way back. Get rid of TVs and cars. Buy local. Grow your own food. Pedal your own bike. Care for your neighbors.
2. It is imperative that we demilitarize the American Empire. We need to build attractive alternatives to the military for our youth. Refuse war taxes and speak truth to the lies of empire. Bring all US troops home and give foreign bases back to the nations they’re in. Cut military spending dramatically. Replace the standing army with a network of local militias trained in gun safety, nonviolent conflict resolution, resistance to oppression, and emergency response.
3. Global corporate capitalism is not working. General strike, broad boycotts, and nonviolent noncompliance are the tools of our revolution. Until Congress takes back their power from the Fed and creates enough money to solve problems without debt or taxation, we must learn to get by on a gift economy and our local currency. A state bank would be helpful, but not a cure-all.
4. Build a functional, multi-party democracy from the grassroots. Organize your watershed to re-charter local governments, using empowered neighborhood meetings, proportional representation, and ranked preference voting (such as IRV). Hold out for a new Constitution for North America, but don’t expect some powerful leader to deliver change from the national level.
Along with the idea of building a multi-party democratic process (no choice, NO DEMOCRACY) We The People, the 99%'ers need to develop grassroots discussion about the problem of continued, fear-based voting for the Dems 'in the meantime'.
"In the meantime" is merely code for "never!". We have to REJECT the duolpoly starting NOW, and vote in every state for all TRULY progressive, independent, grassroots candidates & we can START with VOTING for the Greens. Imperfect as they are organizationally & with members & even leadership too often
confusing the message & power by cow-towing to the very idea of Dem-co-optation that they SAY they oppose....the Ten Values offer at least an existing political platform for the 99%'ers & Occupiers & all affiliated critical groups to back, siupport, and VOTE for. As STEPPING STONE STRATEGY, such is the way we can actually go from rhetoric, demonstrations &
bodily committment into the FUTURE of real democratic ACTION.
We at PeopleForANewSociety.org (see Facebook Video Teach-In)
support STEPPING STONE STRATEGY. Without REJECTING THE DEMS (the Libertarian, Neo-ConReactionaries, Republican plutocrats etc) we can NEVER create the 'New World/New Society' we all
profess our belief in....Voting for the VISION YOU BELIEVE IN IS THE NEXT REVOLUTION! see www.PreopleForANewSociety.org as a model for that vision of real democracy, where we live AND where we work. For now, vote for real forward movement & support a Stepping Stone Strategy....to the future we WANT!
PFANS
Was the McPherson OccupyDC represented there? You don't mention.
I can't tell you where people were from at the discussion. There were many people I hadn't met before. McPherson is welcome at all of our events. We are holding another discussion on tactics this Saturday at 4 pm.
A change is blowing in the wind, but will it loose steam and fade into the past or not. That all depends on the inner convictions of the people to be where they want to be, irrespective of whether they get money, help, support , etc. To be truly independent everyone should see that there is someone who does support us always when we aim towards the highest ideal. That someone is the background of the world. Trance or samadhi leads to awareness of the true reality of who we are are what is going on over and above everything else. To reach that divine rapture is free. It does not cost anything but the intelligence to pursue it, throughout the life. If it is not attained in one life, then there is always another.
The Occupy Community is bringing people together who want a better world, and who will no doubt face insurmountable resistance from those that hold the keys to power, even though that power is eroding at a very rapid rate. Still, time is there for all of us. That time is limited in the sense that no one knows the hour of death-when we will be called. So, it is really most pertinent to us who want to live purposefully to get active on two dimensions at least: one the political, which may or may not succeed, and two, the spiritual which with proper guidance and a sustained effort will succeed daily as we put our soul first.
Without a transcendent purpose or agenda then life really becomes a mere shadow of existence. That poor shadow of a player that Shakespeare referred to is us. We can be full of sound and fury but in any moment the curtain may be drawn. Then what?
So, I say, march, protest and speak openly about the need for the government to get real, the congressmen to get real and the judges to get real, but bottomline we have to know ourselves what is real. Is this life all in all , or is there something beyond the purview of our senses that we need to understand. My conviction is that there is something many of us have not addressed. We should find out from those who really know the facts of material existence and spiritual existence and begin the process of self-realization to make sure that even if they blow off a slew of atomic bombs in an all out war of world control, we have understood be virtue of inner realization the meaning of life and the actual true goal of the living beings in the material world.