Battle for the Soul of Occupy
Alright you jammers, occupiers and Springtime dreamers,
First they silenced our uprising with a media blackout… then they smashed our encampments with midnight paramilitary raids… and now they’re threatening to neutralize our insurgency with an insidious campaign of donor money and co-optation. This counter-strategy worked to kill off the Tea Party’s outrage and turn it into a puppet of the Republican Party. Will the same happen with Occupy Wall Street? Will our insurgency turn into the Democrats’ Tea Party pet?
It’s up to you to decide if our movement goes the way of Paris ’68, the dust bin of could-have-been-insurrections, or something more daring, more inspiring, something not yet dreamed.
Will you allow Occupy to become a project of the old left, the same cabal of old world thinkers who have blunted the possibility of revolution for decades? Will you allow MoveOn, The Nation and Ben & Jerry to put the brakes on our Spring Offensive and turn our struggle into a “99% Spring” reelection campaign for President Obama?
We are now in a battle for the soul of Occupy… a fight to the finish between the impotent old left and the new vibrant, horizontal left who launched Occupy Wall Street from the bottom-up and who dreams of real democracy and another world.
Whatever you do, don’t allow our revolutionary struggle to fizzle out into another lefty whine and clicktivist campaign like has happened so many times in the past. Let’s Occupy the clicktivists and crash the MoveOn party. Let’s #DEFENDOCCUPY and stop the derailment of our movement that looms ahead.
for the wild,
Culture Jammers HQ
OccupyWallStreet.org / Tactical Briefing #25, #26, #27 and #28 / Check out Oakland occupier Mike King’s take on MoveOn’s 99% Spring
306 comments on the article “Battle for the Soul of Occupy”
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Anonymous
United with whom? Democratic front groups? Now that's funny.
Anonymous
Let me summarize the entire comments below for everyone.
Occupy has two factions:
(1) A faction who wishes to remain small with the aim of overthrowing the U.S. government and establish...something else.
(2) A faction who wishes to reform the current system in substantial ways.
Group one is separationist/survivalist, inspired by some mix of anarchism, leftism and/or libertarianism, and advocates detaching from the system and all groups known to work to reform the system, such as MoveOne, Labor Unions, i.e., the so-called "Old Left."
Group two is engagement/reformist, inspired by some mix of liberalism, leftism, and libertarianism, and informed some by radical critiques.
Somewhere in there is a Venn diagram where both groups share interests that could form a basis for cooperation and a magnification of interests and political outcomes.
However, there's a key difference between group one and group two: group one is hampered by the same handicap that has historically hampered other ideologues, which is that they cannot fathom that they share the same country with people who do not agree with them on all points of doctrine, and so are unwilling to budge. Think "Puritans inverted" and you have the basic idea.
History says that, more than likely, group one will self implode to be replaced by group two.
Anonymous
No. No. And No. History says you haven't read any history.
Anonymous
Yes, yes, yes, and yes. You just don't like the way it sounds when said back to you.
Anonymous
Reforming the system in substantial ways can not happen if the movement gets in bed with the big money. Look at Obama. He's incremental all right, incrementally moving the country to the right - which may seem better than Bush/Cheney who moved it at a seemingly faster rate (and I could even make the argument the the big rightward shifts occur under Democratic presidents - Telecommunications Act of 1996 and Clinton's welfare reform and most of Obama's first term.)
However, the fact remains we're still moving in the wrong direction. We've tried the strategy of mild cooperation for the past 20 years and we're worse off than ever. Perhaps its time to try something new. And maybe the almost half the eligible voters who don't even bother will be inspired by a movement that stands strong. It's a myth perpetuated by the status quo that Occupy's goals are some mystery. It seems pretty clear to me and I'm not some insider.
I have to believe a lot of the rank-and-file supporters of groups like Move On and The Nation, etc. are only on board because it seemed like the only option. Maybe, if we play our cards right, they will realize that the decrepit machinery of the appeasing Left is a dead end and they will gradually come to respect and support Occupy as agents of real change.
Butter7
People who work for the democratic party will try to entice Occupy members to go work for the election of democrats. It's not surprising. It also isn't all that ominous. Let them.
Occupy should be clear that its purpose is to work on issues, not on elections. Any member of Occupy is free to go work on elections if they want, but the work of Occupy should be strictly focused on issues.
The typical cooptation involves diverting people away from issues and to support a candidate. I know, I know you don't like the wars, but you must get Obama re-elected or Romney will be even worse, so be quiet about that war issue until the election is over. This is how it always happens.
The way to stop that is to simply declare that the purpose of Occupy is not to participate in elections. The purpose of Occupy is to work on issues.
As far as I'm concerned, all the wars must be ended, most of our bases must be closed, and we need a full employment law so all Americans can always have a job at a decent wage. We should rescind all the trade agreements, and levy enormous tariffs on any business that has products or components made overseas. Apple took all its jobs to China? First, don't buy Apple. Second, tax all their products at four times the cost to make them unaffordable. If they take the jobs to China, let them sell in China, and make it essentially impossible for them to sell in the U.S. Why focus on Apple? It's simply an easy one to target. If we were successful with Apple, then move on to the next company.
It should not matter who is in office, the demand should be the same. End the wars, whether you are democratic politicians, republican or greens, end the wars now. Full employment. Invest at home. Ban importation of food or other products for at least a few years to allow U.S.-based businesses and farms to reestablish themselves.
The demands, the issues, should be consistent, regardless of whether it is or is not an election year, and regardless of who is in office. We can see now that obama getting elected, and Democrats getting the majority accomplished pretty much nothing. They still let Wall Street walk, still give away our money to those criminals, continue the bush wars and start new ones.
I wouldn't pay too much attention to "others." Honestly, the Nation is not the enemy, and I doubt Ben & Jerry are either. Move-on is apparently working for the democratic party. Fine, let them. Just be clear that the purpose of Occupy is not to participate in elections. The energy should be directed only at issues.
Anonymous
I agree with the goals, they are commonly touted solutions to most of America's economic woes. However I have two problems with this line of thinking. You're expecting a system that is built on nothing but greed, oppression and exploitation, to turn on itself and do the opposite of what that system creates? A quick look back at history will show you, that power structures are neither interested in the welfare of nations, or its populace. Power structures that have nothing in mind but the pursuit of the dollar, like modern day Western representative governments, are even more intractable. The second problem I have, is that without getting at the root of the problem; a capitalist consumer society, you can't remove corruption and greed, and therefore create an environment where people, corporations and governments act with justness and integrity.
Unfortunately, these reforms can't be achieved within representative democracy. Congress and the corporations won't pass any of these of their own volition. Power never takes a step back except in the face of more power. They openly scorn the American people.
So how exactly do you suggest getting them to enact these kinds of reforms?
Anonymous
Very well said. To me, this post stood out among the many I read.
Anonymous
Read about Paris 1968 before you even fucking comment. What happened? They nearly overthrew the system but were sold out by the union bosses (short version). Whats happening here? 99% Spring wants to use Occupy to re-elect the fucking CRIMINAL in the Whitehouse and thus keep everything business as usual. If you want Occupy to fail, go attend 99% Spring. Go do it.
Anonymous
fwiw, adbusters started Occupy. You all knew that right? You might wanna listen to them and not Van Jones.
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