22 replies to this topic

[Punk Rock Geek]

Are you aware?

As of this writing (September 30th, 2011), protesters have been occupying Wall Street, the financial district of New York, for 14 days straight.

Adbusters, a radical leftist/anarchist magazine is behind the successful organization of Occupy Wall Street. The occupation has received endorsements by hacktivist group Anonymous, Noam Chomsky, the IWW and others. Names such as Immortal Technique, Michael Moore, and Cornel West have attended the occupation. The left seems to be united in a mass showing of solidarity that perhaps has not been seen for quite some time. Anti-Flag would also like to officially extend their support.

The protesters have expressed their contempt for the owners of the top 1% of America's wealth using that wealth to keep the other 99% of the U.S. population under its control and obedience. The official blog for the campaign takes it a step further in its mission statement:

We need to retake the freedom that has been stolen from the people, altogether.

If you agree that freedom is the right to communicate, to live, to be, to go, to love, to do what you will without the impositions of others, then you might be one of us.

If you agree that a person is entitled to the sweat of their brows, that being talented at management should not entitle others to act like overseers and overlords, that all workers should have the right to engage in decisions, democratically, then you might be one of us.

If you agree that freedom for some is not the same as freedom for all, and that freedom for all is the only true freedom, then you might be one of us.

If you agree that power is not right, that life trumps property, then you might be one of us.

If you agree that state and corporation are merely two sides of the same oppressive power structure, if you realize how media distorts things to preserve it, how it pits the people against the people to remain in power, then you might be one of us.

And so we call on people to act

We call for protests to remain active in the cities. Those already there, to grow, to organize, to raise consciousnesses, for those cities where there are no protests, for protests to organize and disrupt the system.

We call for workers to not only strike, but seize their workplaces collectively, and to organize them democratically. We call for students and teachers to act together, to teach democracy, not merely the teachers to the students, but the students to the teachers. To seize the classrooms and free minds together.

We call for the unemployed to volunteer, to learn, to teach, to use what skills they have to support themselves as part of the revolting people as a community.

We call for the organization of people's assemblies in every city, every public square, every township.

We call for the seizure and use of abandoned buildings, of abandoned land, of every property seized and abandoned by speculators, for the people, for every group that will organize them.

We call for a revolution of the mind as well as the body politic.

Bold added for emphasis.

Read More

Amber, one of the protestors currently occupying Wall Street, shared her story with us on our forum:

". . . I love that it's so organized, we basically are creating our own city in the park, we have a kitchen, legal center, library, and basically everything you can think of. It's amazing that everyone is remaining so peaceful, despite some police violence."

We hope that anyone involved can share their stories, photos, and videos with us, so we can broadcast them to the rest of the world.

If you're unable to attend, we have included a live stream below that will allow you to see what is going on in real time. The live stream is not available 24/7, but it will broadcast revolutionary news and events when it's not. Check back frequently to ensure you are able to see the occupation in progress!

Watch live streaming video from globalrevolution at livestream.com

http://www.livestream.com/globalrevolution

[James]

"It's amazing that everyone is remaining so peaceful, despite some police violence."

Sweet, sounds super revolutionary.

[Floyd]

I applaud their intentions, but it is unlikely that this will accomplish anything. That is, unless they actually start occupying wall st. Crowds of people standing on the side of the road are a minor inconvenience for people who can afford private helicopters. These people need to break down some doors and bust some windows and occupy the buildings of wall st. Steal the cop's weapons and make then and all the CEOs jump from the roofs, or at the very least, lock them all in the basements. Standing around peacefully watching the cops beat your fellow protesters and doing nothing to stop them is only going to get everyone arrested.

I have been looking for a way to say that since this all started, it has just taken me this long to formulate the words in a coherent manner.

[Punk Rock Geek]

Floyd, on 30 September 2011 - 08:58 AM, said:

I applaud their intentions, but it is unlikely that this will accomplish anything. That is, unless they actually start occupying wall st. Crowds of people standing on the side of the road are a minor inconvenience for people who can afford private helicopters. These people need to break down some doors and bust some windows and occupy the buildings of wall st. Steal the cop's weapons and make then and all the CEOs jump from the roofs, or at the very least, lock them all in the basements. Standing around peacefully watching the cops beat your fellow protesters and doing nothing to stop them is only going to get everyone arrested.

I have been looking for a way to say that since this all started, it has just taken me this long to formulate the words in a coherent manner.

It already has accomplished something.  Vast networks of comrades have been created, there are support groups to help others with their problems (which go beyond economic), and people in the occupation have had a chance to live together in a bottom-up community, giving a taste of what an anarchist society might look like.

There seems to be a trend where the most pessimistic of the radical left are also those that focus entirely in the realm of the physical.  If an action does not result in putting the system in a critical condition, then it's not worth doing.  Hence, these people also tend to make no effort to boycott anything, they're almost always omnivores, and they shy away from making small changes in their lives as to better the lives of others.  Yet despite this, they place themselves on a pedestal above everyone else (which is completely counter-intuitive to anarchy), and they assume a hive mentality of workers, in which all are closet anarcho-communists willing to kill or use violence to free themselves from capitalism--and ostracize those that aren't (also counter-intuitive, as it robs people of their identity, and turns them into nothing but proverbial drones).  

I recognize that by saying this I am in fact placing myself on a pedestal.  But the point is that I shouldn't need to say this in the first place.  It's such a turn off to come to this site and see every political topic end with "This won't accomplish anything."  We know you feel that way.  But let others cope with capitalism in the way that suits their individual needs best.  If they find happiness--better yet, if they find the will to continue fighting in building networks and obtaining small, perhaps reformist victories, then leave them alone. Maybe some people find that preferable to giving money to a multinational corporation for alcohol and drinking their problems away.  You have no idea of what each individual person is going through.  Stop assuming that everyone is the same, and stop treating the serious problems of anxiety, depression or hopelessness as something insignificant, or as something with a universal, border-line dictatorial cure.  Anarchism goes beyond the physical.  It is a mental attitude from the bottom-up, and not from the top-down.  We can't even begin to have a non-hierarchical society when people approach every issue with a hierarchical "one method fits all" state of mind.

[All Dead]

Punk Rock Geek, on 30 September 2011 - 11:14 AM, said:

Hence, these people also tend to make no effort to boycott anything, they're almost always omnivores, and they shy away from making small changes in their lives as to better the lives of others.  Yet despite this, they place themselves on a pedestal above everyone else

You're a dick-knob, and meat is delicious.

And I'm better than you.

[YQS]

Being an omnivore is bad? oof...

[Punk Rock Geek]

YQS, on 30 September 2011 - 02:04 PM, said:

Being an omnivore is bad? oof...

It's not good for the animals, the environment, or people.  But neither are most of the things we participate in, in a capitalist economy.  An omnivore could do more or less damage than a vegetarian depending on what other things they do or don't do.

[Punk Rock Geek]

The Marines are Coming to PROTECT the Protestors of Occupy Wall Street

October 1, 2011 – TAMPA, FL - The Occupy Wall Street movement may have just received an unexpected surprise – United States Army and Marine troops are reportedly on their way to various protest locations to support the movement and to protect the protesters.

Army serviceman  Ward  Reilly posted the following on Facebook, “I’m heading up there tonight in my dress blues. So far, 15 of my fellow marine buddies are meeting me there, also in Uniform.

I want to send the following message to Wall St and Congress:

I didn’t fight for Wall St. I fought for America. Now it’s Congress’ turn.

My true hope, though, is that we Veterans can act as first line of defense between the police and the protester. If they want to get to some protesters so they can mace them, they will have to get through the [effing] Marine Corps first. Let’s see a cop mace a bunch of decorated war vets.

http://stevebeckow.c...py-wall-street/

[Punk Rock Geek]

Protesters Occupy Brooklyn Bridge, 400 Arrested

http://cityroom.blog...rooklyn-bridge/

I watched this happen on the live stream.  It was quite a site to behold, and reminiscent of Rise of the Planet of the Apes, if anyone saw that movie.  

[Punk Rock Geek]

Walter Davis, on 01 October 2011 - 10:37 PM, said:

Just wanted to make it clear that September 30th was the 14TH DAY of the protest, not the 12th. I know, pretty insignificant, but i hate disinformation. These protests are making constitutional rights relevant again, which is worth more than any corporation is.

Thank you for your clarification Walter.

I was going by the official blog, which for their September 29th post wrote "Day 12":

https://occupywallst...ay-12/#comments

My post was written on September 30th, but it was 2 in the morning, and long before the occupation began on September 17th.  So that's where the 12 days number came from.

You are correct though, and it seems that the blog was only intending to recap Day 12, not to claim it was Day 12.  I have made the correction, this time using the number 14 as to avoid further confusion.

[rg37]

https://www.occupywa...wall-st-moveme/ If these are the demands... I want no part of this, this will all give the government WAY more power than it has now. All this protest seems to be doing is demanding more government expansion. Seems a tad weird for Anarchist..

[Floyd]

That's because none of these people are anarchists, they are whiny liberals and smelly hippies with drum circles texting their way to mediocre stardom.

[EatShitAndCry]

True story: at the solidarity protest meeting there was a drum circle playing so loudly that we couldn't hear and we had to move to another park lol.

[Punk Rock Geek]

Floyd, on 02 October 2011 - 07:18 PM, said:

That's because none of these people are anarchists, they are whiny liberals and hippies with drum circles texting their way to mediocre stardom.

That's not true.  The event was organized by anarchists and many people there are anarchists.

[Punk Rock Geek]

rg37, on 02 October 2011 - 06:25 PM, said:

https://www.occupywa...wall-st-moveme/ If these are the demands... I want no part of this, this will all give the government WAY more power than it has now. All this protest seems to be doing is demanding more government expansion. Seems a tad weird for Anarchist..

Those demands are from the forum.  They are not official.  The only "official" demands are the ones I posted, and they include seizing the workplaces collectively and creating a people's revolution.

But let's suppose they decide to push for some "larger government" demands. I remember bugging anarchists about this for years before I became one.  It seems to be a complete contradiction, right?  But, here's how I see it:

Most anarchists want specific forms of government expansion in the short run, because they recognize that corporate power has long since become a bigger threat to people domestically than state power.  Still, they want massive government reductions when it comes to its army and police.  Or in other words, they want the government's power to remain neutral (just redirected from military to working class benefits), while corporate power is in effect reduced due to a declining gap between rich and poor.  (Though this gap will never cease completely, as long as capitalism continues to exist.)

More importantly than that, there is a strong anarchist emphasis on using direct action as to politicize the working class, not just in their physical actions, but in their mental understanding of the world and their view toward authority.  This occupation is one of the most powerful demonstrations of people power that I have seen in the United States in quite some time, and I can't help but feel energized and proud of them.  Even if it accomplishes nothing physically, the mental attitudes of the people who are living in a, to paraphrase them, "people's city inside of the city" has me optimistic.  Those who have lived there, slept in the cold for two weeks, who have provided free food, health care, learning materials, who have attended every general assembly, who have helped those less fortunate then them--these are the people who have done everything they can to promote people power and to show that a society doesn't need to be organized from the top-down.  And I'm seeing everyday, more and more people, new faces, people participating in meaningful decision-making and discussion for the first time in their lives.  I'm seeing tens of thousands of people watching a live stream of the events as they unfold, every day, every hour.  The movement is completely leaderless.  And what it accomplishes goes far beyond anything tangible.

[Floyd]

Punk Rock Geek, on 02 October 2011 - 08:17 PM, said:

That's not true.  The event was organized by anarchists and many people there are anarchists.

I can call myself a Bajoran Monk, but that does not make it true.

[Punk Rock Geek]

Floyd, on 02 October 2011 - 10:07 PM, said:

I can call myself a Bajoran Monk, but that does not make it true.

Neither does stereotyping an entire crowd as "whiny liberals and hippies".  Yellow journalism at its finest, Floyd.

[rg37]

I understand that you're wishing to use government to stop corporations in the short run. But you're asking the very people that helped these corporations become such big massive oppressive establishments to then stop them from being so oppressive. Your asking a bunch of people with guns that are funded by oppression and corruption.. to stop oppression and corruption. It just doesn't make sense to me :/

I think Stefan Molyneux addressed this protest best I'm sure since he's an Ancap that he's not very popular here, but what he says there makes a lot of sense.

[rg37]

Punk Rock Geek, on 02 October 2011 - 11:28 PM, said:

Neither does stereotyping an entire crowd as "whiny liberals and hippies".  Yellow journalism at its finest, Floyd.

Like, I'd definitely say they were out there with a good cause and amazing intentions. I just feel like they're going about it in a rather counterproductive way. They're asking for the government that's sicking cops on them and arresting and beating them...to solve their problems. Oh, and who would help carry out their wishes... those same cops!  

Edited by rg37, 02 October 2011 - 11:48 PM.