Occupy Wall Street 3: Now What?

i mean the wobblies have been calling for a general strike for a hundred plus years, though tbf the idea of a gen strike makes a lot more sense in the context of "one big union" that can then administrate the meeting of demands of the strike

reeks of the French tbh

well just as you need a unionized labor force before you can have a regular strike you need a large percentage of the country to be on board w/ ows before calls for a general strike aren't just kinda....

i mean

am reminded of max's version of "the emperor has no clothes" where the kid is like 'he's naked' and everybody's like "....well, yeah"

"fuck you boss I'm not coming to work today" "I'll fire you" "...nevermind..."

like a call for a general strike at this point in history is kind of an optimistic appeal to a certain mindset, both an admission that groundwork must be laid and an expression of desire to lay it, though whether that desire extends beyond the day of your proposed strike is always in contention

whether that desire extends beyond the day of your proposed strike is always in contention

that is to say "whether the desire to lay groundwork extends beyond 'groundwork for a one day action'"

like, i'm pretty tired of "days of action"

i'm ready to build real community power that can be linked and exercised in concert, and that shit takes hard real often boring work that isn't quite as exciting as trying to get everyone in the streets to "shut down the corporations" on a random day in february or what have you, but i think in the end that that kind of power is infinitely more valuable and in fact what's needed to build parallel institutions.

so what i'm saying iatee is yes, i am mad super duper interested in building the kind of community awareness and power that leads to buy-in on an idea like a general strike, and that maybe calling for a general strike before building that power is backwards, but i also recognize the historical-sorta-mythical resonance of calling for a general strike and hardly begrudge it.

i'm ready to build real community power that can be linked and exercised in concert

do you have ideas on this?

there's a lot of work being done in dc right now on neighborhood assemblies, and we have kind of a yearlong vision that could bring the city to a kind of spokescouncil model where assemblies from neighborhoods are represented, not so unlike we do with working groups (and the spanish did during the revolution). in my mind from that point city assemblies could begin to link up in the same way occupations around the country have linked up to plan and synchronize actions. the interoccupy model has worked well for us in terms of communication and cooperation, and i think it could map over to intercity comm&coop pretty well.

but that's something like a step 4 or 5, and frankly right now we're on step 1. i honestly think we could get there though, with dedication and person power--and for the moment at least, we've got that.

though honestly the localism of this model is a big part of the power in my mind--that to a certain extent it's about dealing with issues where they hit people the most.

I like Bryant Park being a base for the NY MayDay as it's essentially closed for a fucking fashion week 4x a year.

aside: a big facefart to the AFL-CIO for making their presidential endorsement in "99%" terms.

I want to go to Charlotte because the unions sure as fuck aren't going.

big facefart to the AFL-CIO for making their presidential endorsement in "99%" terms.

seiu did this too! facefart to them!!

i figure if o is gonna steal my chicago showdown from me i can at least do him the courtesy of going to charlotte

it's like you're standing in a concert hall and this dude starts playing the opening riff of barracuda on an acoustic guitar

the people in the first couple of rows can hear him

and they know what he's going for

and they know what that shit is supposed to sound like

and if they've got any goddamn gumption they're gonna do what they've gotta do to get an amplifier and an electric guitar and turn the damn sound up so the rest of the hall can hear "barracuda" the way those first couple rows know its supposed to sound like

that is why the general strike is just like "barracuda" by heart

(i am kind of drunk btw!)

there's a lot of work being done in dc right now on neighborhood assemblies, and we have kind of a yearlong vision that could bring the city to a kind of spokescouncil model where assemblies from neighborhoods are represented, not so unlike we do with working groups (and the spanish did during the revolution). in my mind from that point city assemblies could begin to link up in the same way occupations around the country have linked up to plan and synchronize actions. the interoccupy model has worked well for us in terms of communication and cooperation, and i think it could map over to intercity comm&coop pretty well.

yeah this is the really important stuff. it'll take years but whatever; for all the THINGS ARE CHANGING! THIS IS NOW! thrill of the camps/november/january the real goal here is probably to just get the assemblies -- the soviets, in whatever form -- in place, get them integrated into their communities and into the national/(global) meta-community, get people accustomed to thinking of them as real institutions and mechanisms to express their will/organize local projects, and ensure that they and their radical openness are present+embedded+prepared by the time The Crisis really gets bad, if only so there's someone offering solutions besides the christian right.

"general strike" right now is kinda dress-up, sure, but i think the response will be big enough to avoid Looking Dumb, if nothing else, and there'll be plenty of time for generaller strikes later.

CHANGE ALL THE THINGS

a HOOS should go international: http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/us-news-blog/2012/mar/16/occupy-america-looking-back

love that 9 day gap

so

http://www.ustream.tv/channel/uneditedcamera

better

http://www.ustream.tv/timcast#utm_campaign=ss-post-backlink&utm_source=9824271&utm_medium=social

reports of around a thousand people in zuccotti

first new tent up

http://www.thenation.com/blog/166854/occupyusa-blog-special-weekend-edition

happy 6 months, yall

wooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo
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oo

Meanwhile in Washington D.C.

With the so-called JOBS bill, on which the Senate is due to vote Tuesday, Congress is about to make the same kind of mistake again -- this time abandoning much of the 1930s-era securities legislation that both served investors well and helped make the US one of the best places in the world to raise capital. We find ourselves again on a bipartisan route to disaster.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/simon-johnson/fiscal-affairs-a-colossal_b_1362060.html

Liberal economists and some Dem Senators versus Apple, Boehner, Obama and bipartisan types

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mWMu0cTnBZ4

http://sphotos.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ash3/557176_10150679445323808_727383807_9317163_1865164840_n.jpg

wedding at the square tonight btw

http://www.wtop.com/?nid=109&sid=2800609

they used my shit photo that i tweeted lol

Sunday march to Cadman Plaza in Brooklyn

http://occupywallst.org/article/april-1-march-commemorate-brooklyn-bridge-action/

The bridge will become symbolic either way.

pretty sure it already is sort of symbolic.

"the 99% spring" is starting in the next few weeks, (hopefully) massive direct action/organizing trainings (spurred by a coalition of dem-to-left groups) that they're hoping will unleash a torrent of inspired organizers (in, surprise, election year).

a lot of people, maybe myself included, are skeptical of the ends to which this clearly Dem coalition intends to press their new trainees--but honestly? training tens of thousands of people in messaging & direct action? i'm all fucking for it, even if a few months down the line they try to direct their shiny new organizer machine to the re-election campaign. there's no rule that says you can't take the training and run.

this weekend is odc's 6 month anniversary, and we're having a carnival with issue-themed carny games etc to celebrate. it should be rad & fun.

oh also check out the winner of the post's annual Peep contest:

http://sphotos.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-prn1/541570_10150636235347293_6250307292_9371890_394225943_n.jpg

that's great, love "Power To The Peeple"

oh haha i didn't see this was just half of the image!

http://a1.sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-prn1/542466_10150650356725897_611215896_9173264_2113132269_n.jpg

omg peep mcpherson statuuuuuuuuue

A+

overflowing trash can otm tho

rats probably unnecessary though.

i meeeeean there's no denying there are lots of rats, side effect of having an outdoor kitchen for 4+ months

yeah, but really side effect of being in washing dc for 4+ months.

def

cute http://www.nydailynews.com/new-york/subway-gates-chained-open-allowing-riders-free-6-stations-article-1.1051974

finally, we're taking a strike at the real enemy, our overfunded public transit system

http://www.aflcio.org/Blog/Political-Action-Legislation/Transit-Workers-Urge-Mass-Transit-Funding-Endorse-Occupy-Transit-Day

meanwhile, in spain

http://www.guardian.co.uk/business/2012/mar/29/eurozone-crisis-spanish-general-strike?fb=native

hah, I got a M*ve On direct action training email, anyone else?

it's kinda sad how relatively easy it is to get a good protest together in europe, tho I guess 50% youth unemployment is gonna do that

hah, I got a M*ve On direct action training email, anyone else?

― Literal Facepalms (Dr Morbius), Friday, March 30, 2012 9:47 PM (Yesterday) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

ha i'm getting various scripts encouraging me to join the 99% spring from moveon, 350.org, people for the american way, and nat'l organizing institute

getting separate "reaching out to our members" emails from all the orgs is sorta eye-opening in revealing the degree to which this is a coordinated super-not-grassroots push

it's kinda sad how relatively easy it is to get a good protest together in europe, tho I guess 50% youth unemployment is gonna do that

― iatee, Friday, March 30, 2012 10:55 PM (Yesterday) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

i mean spain is also the home of the largest functioning radical labor cooperative on earth, a direct descendant of the anarchist unions that held cities against the fascists during the spanish revolution & they were taking the plazas & twinkling their fingers 6 months before anybody was on wall street. first ows facilitators came from barcelona iirc

raised my eyebrows when i saw that this was their first nationwide general strike "in 18 months" for sure tho