Thank you, Helena-Sophia. OWS did some essential work - especially after Hurricane Sandy here in NYC. But, as you eloquently state, there are so many painful lessons to learn from that brief shining moment.
Thank you for your kind words and I hope to eventually live up to them.
Also, I hear you about Peace Action but I feel certain you'd view OWS differently if you had been there on the ground. And I say that as someone who's perhaps written more critical articles about OWS than anyone else!
And one more thing: The work we did with Occupy Sandy (hurricane relief) is something I remain proud of to this day. It could be used a template for future efforts of that type.
I knew a whole bunch of people, across the US and Canada, who jumped in to help with relief after Sandy. I collected stuff to be shipped, too. The organization was a marvel. I thought it would be hopelessly chaotic, but no. It wasn't that at all. Morale was amazing, even at great distances. It has lessons for anyone interested in a protracted people's movement.
There was a lot of flabbiness in the antiwar movement during the sixties and seventies. Rennie Davis arriving at Grant Park in a limousine, a lot of inflated male egos, etc. And very few people had critical analysis of what was going on, just preferring to think of it as a blip on the screen of American foreign policy. Which then allowed some of the giant pieholes to support the destruction of Iraq!
We lived in a different time. There was actually hope that we could live in a decent, peaceful world. Anyone who hopes this now is not paying attention. We're living in a failing state, and it's quite horrifying.
Well, some American soldiers did cross over and some stayed rather than coming back to the horror show that is the U.S. And I fucking hate those damnable POW flags at all the post offices.
As a funny aside, there is a TV station in Portland that loves to hire the obviously uneducated (it's almost worth it to watch for the hilarity). The latest is the pronounciation of Marine Corpse. You know someone then whispered to him "The S is silent!" so next time it was the Marine Corp.
Thanks, Susan. I was tempted to comment on this, too, but opted to leave room to let it breathe. But I concur. The activism of the 60s is a mixed bag that is too often viewed through rose-colored glasses now.
Surreal when you consider, that just a short decade later, many of those protestors would fall in line and worse, become "soldiers" for the tyrants, masked up and ready to take a trusting jab. Wow.
Indeed, Kathleen, it's utterly heartbreaking and demoralizing to witness people I stood with - shoulder to shoulder - transform into an unpaid PR team for Big Pharma, Big Tech, WEF, etc.
I watched and cheered them from the sidelines, sent a couple donations, but was working in CT for a financial services firm (sadly) at the time. I put a lot of hope, like many I'm sure, that it was represented a tide-turning moment. Ahh... I'm still hopeful, though would never have expected where the world would go. Long slog.
Yes, the hope was running so high that I was quoted calling it "the second American Revolution"! (yikes) But, like you, I have not given up and never will.
Wall Street has to be thoroughly evaluated & studied.
Leveraging, purchasing of currencies, rapid purchases bordering on gambling, (as well as Soros-like taking over foreign countries), hedge funding, etc...
Thank you, Helena-Sophia. OWS did some essential work - especially after Hurricane Sandy here in NYC. But, as you eloquently state, there are so many painful lessons to learn from that brief shining moment.
I'm curious. Were you directly involved with OWS, as in going to meetings or getting to know the individuals in the park?
Thank you for your kind words and I hope to eventually live up to them.
Also, I hear you about Peace Action but I feel certain you'd view OWS differently if you had been there on the ground. And I say that as someone who's perhaps written more critical articles about OWS than anyone else!
And one more thing: The work we did with Occupy Sandy (hurricane relief) is something I remain proud of to this day. It could be used a template for future efforts of that type.
I knew a whole bunch of people, across the US and Canada, who jumped in to help with relief after Sandy. I collected stuff to be shipped, too. The organization was a marvel. I thought it would be hopelessly chaotic, but no. It wasn't that at all. Morale was amazing, even at great distances. It has lessons for anyone interested in a protracted people's movement.
Thanks, James. You nailed it with every word...especially that closing sentence!
There was a lot of flabbiness in the antiwar movement during the sixties and seventies. Rennie Davis arriving at Grant Park in a limousine, a lot of inflated male egos, etc. And very few people had critical analysis of what was going on, just preferring to think of it as a blip on the screen of American foreign policy. Which then allowed some of the giant pieholes to support the destruction of Iraq!
I admire your long-term commitment but I'm not sure what point you're making.
Occupiers got arrested and jailed every single day. I don't view that as a barometer of commitment, focus, or effectiveness.
We lived in a different time. There was actually hope that we could live in a decent, peaceful world. Anyone who hopes this now is not paying attention. We're living in a failing state, and it's quite horrifying.
Well, some American soldiers did cross over and some stayed rather than coming back to the horror show that is the U.S. And I fucking hate those damnable POW flags at all the post offices.
As a funny aside, there is a TV station in Portland that loves to hire the obviously uneducated (it's almost worth it to watch for the hilarity). The latest is the pronounciation of Marine Corpse. You know someone then whispered to him "The S is silent!" so next time it was the Marine Corp.
Thanks, Susan. I was tempted to comment on this, too, but opted to leave room to let it breathe. But I concur. The activism of the 60s is a mixed bag that is too often viewed through rose-colored glasses now.
Surreal when you consider, that just a short decade later, many of those protestors would fall in line and worse, become "soldiers" for the tyrants, masked up and ready to take a trusting jab. Wow.
Indeed, Kathleen, it's utterly heartbreaking and demoralizing to witness people I stood with - shoulder to shoulder - transform into an unpaid PR team for Big Pharma, Big Tech, WEF, etc.
Well said. Yes one helluva propaganda assault.
We can be grateful, at least, that it didn't scoop all of us in.
It is a great pic, btw.
Thank you so much, Kathleen...and yes, as usual, there are plenty of folks who resist the programming.
Were you connected to Occupy back in the day?
I watched and cheered them from the sidelines, sent a couple donations, but was working in CT for a financial services firm (sadly) at the time. I put a lot of hope, like many I'm sure, that it was represented a tide-turning moment. Ahh... I'm still hopeful, though would never have expected where the world would go. Long slog.
Yes, the hope was running so high that I was quoted calling it "the second American Revolution"! (yikes) But, like you, I have not given up and never will.
Same.😊
Just one of many churches in NYC. I am a native NYer of 50 years. Now in warm and sunny Fla.
FLA sounds great, Nona! I'l bet you don't see many people wearing masks there, huh?
Wall Street has to be thoroughly evaluated & studied.
Leveraging, purchasing of currencies, rapid purchases bordering on gambling, (as well as Soros-like taking over foreign countries), hedge funding, etc...
SHOULD BE RE-THOUGHT.
MONEY IS MONEY.
TRUE & HONEST VALUE IS VALUED.
& ABOVE ALL
Meritocracy should pay the day.
~ IMHO
Yes! Enough with the money-changers!
Get Out !
Be gone with you.
(Crashing overturned tables & the clink of running coins !)
❤