Notes from the Underground
Communique' D-3
Determining future course of "Occupy" movement:
Impressions/Observations
The present concept being echoed by the various "occupy" movements of No "leadership", No "organizers," No "organization is baffling. This position of having no leadership,organizers (in traditional sense of authority, arbitrary decision making) etc as they publicly keep proclaiming, that "leaders" mean organization, organization means hierarchy and hierarchy is undemocratic may be what has this movement deadlocked, stalled in static unaccomplishment and what may be the major obstacle with respect to this "movement" moving forward, maintaining momemtum and gaining not only involvement, support of labor, religious grps,churches but also turning the 100% against not necessarily the voiced ideals but at least the tactics being employed by demonstrators. Where is the linking up of all these "occupy" movements/actions throughout the country with oneanother and a drive calling for National Mobilization and coordinated action ? It is as absent as a cohesive/coherent statement, list of demands and clarification of just what "occupy"'s goals,purpose and aims are. The idea of some how getting a political and social statement by camping out in city parks which are governed by city ordinances,curfews, closure times seems more like stubborn playful folly as opposed to having anything to do with countries economic collapse, restructuring of social, welfare, financial, political institutions.However, this non leadership, non organizer-organization ethos bears striking resemblence to the ethos,philosophy of the Students for Democratic Society (SDS) of the 60's and therefore begs the question of did/do and have these 16-25 yr old demonstrators seen in the mass majority of these demonstrations think up this ethos, philosophy out of the clear blue and out of their own educated thought process or is there some phantom behind this development? The SDS ethos and vision consisted of the following tenants of thought: 1) The establishment of a true democracy calls for/of individual participation governed by 2 central aims; a.) that the individual share in those social decisions determining quality and direction of his life; b.) that society be organized to encourage independance in men and provide a medium for their common participation; c) that true leadership in SDS ethos, must avoid imposing idea and values on the community/people/protestors, etc. If there was/is to be a transformation in values it had to come through personal relationships-community; d.) A 'leadership per se must exhibit great tolerance and no speaker silenced, no matter how irrelevent or repetitous. "Maintaining a dependancy on fixed leaders, who inevitably develop interests in maintaining the organization (or themselves) and lose touch w/the immediate aspirations of the rand and file." - Tom Hayden past SDS President (later married Jane Fonda). Clearly seen is this old SDS element within at least Pdx "occupy" movement with their "General Assembly" meetings, and speakers stating we have no leadership, iam not an organizer which i have heard repeatedly. Nonetheless, despite of or because of this for almost 2 months now these meetings have always ended with no uniform consensus, game plan, no active cohesiveness of people or action, no positive accomplishment other than a short "their at it again" clip on local evening news and at the end of the day/or meetings it all fades from the wks news like yesterdays garbage and the various 'grps' within the 'occupy' movement splinter off and go about acting independantly upon their own agenda whether nefarious, rational, constructive or destructive. This is no way to wage a war, or function as a movement. Of course todays youth 16-35 have no knowledge of the activism of the 60's, the Civil Rights Movement and its awesome, inspiring National Mobilization and organizing to bring about such paltry events as million man marches, May Day 1971 Wash DC, Poor Peoples March. The National Mobilization Committee to End the War in Vietnam, the "Yippie" party with Abbie Hoffman and Jerry Rubin at the leadership helm, the militant Black Panther Party (Bobby Seal,Eldrige Cleaver, Huey Newton as the founders and leadership); SNCC(Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee-formed by Southern black University students in 1960(Robert Moses Parris,founder,President. Every such activist, militant grp throughout 60-70's had a very defined grp of strong leaders, spokespersons to guide and organize,organize,mobilize were the keys to success of these movements. The organizing and organizational skills developed by these movements and their leaders which included founding and funding dozens of inner city(urban) movement projects, workshops, created jobs for staffing their offices,operations throughout the country and shockingly,..without the use of computers,present social networking technology as these satanic machines hadn't even been invented or available yet. These leaders and organizing skills were vital and essential to maintaining momentum,funding for the movements and to pass on to each other whatever they had learned about demonstrations(success and failures), community organizing, the do's & dont's,the how and why of setting up campus chapters the tactics and theory, or non-theory, of their movements. U can still be non-theory, non-ideological but still have leadership and organizational structure with a vision/plan of direction, focus, purpose to accomplish whatever your goal. It takes knowledgable leadership and extreme organizing or the result will be hollow nothingness which is the present status of "occupy". While paying constant lip service to credos like "unity", "solidarity" it is obvious their meaning is not fully understood for unity,solidarity means cohesive unified action and purpose with coherent specific demands,reason, and offering of some SOLUTIONS ! This has yet to materialize as the anal fixation appears to be just finding a park to sleep in so we can keep the community irritated, unable to use their parks as well, cause worse city, management fiscal/budgetary crisis from unexpected city workers overtime pay,needless repair costs of restoring destroyed city parks. Perhaps the 'old' Left style of sound leadership, organize,organize,organize is overstated since these movements only brought about desegregation, long awaited civil rights for Black Americans, equal stutus for women (Womens Lib Movement), Student rights and active participation in university,college policy making, stopped a thing called the Vietnam War, rescinded and stopped something called Mandatory military draft system. Obviously no lessons here to be learned from the past so are we doomed to repeat such failures of the past ?? MoE call me when phone on line.
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