Forum Post: Come creatives and help define a new story: "Separation of Powers 2.0"
Posted 12 years ago on Oct. 11, 2011, 4:09 p.m. EST by Raven42
(1)
This content is user submitted and not an official statement
I have a marketing/branding background. I work with entrepreneurs and very small start-ups to help them find a message that has a hope of sticking in a sea of noise. When you are small and just getting started you do that best by finding a theme or “meme” that is well known and well-liked in the general public and tweak it for yourself.
The Tea Party had the right ideas in trying to tap into the revolutionary spirit of this time, but they chose the wrong moment in history to focus on. And, of course, their message got co-opted because they thought the mass media was their friend. This frame will resonate with many, many of the 99% even if it doesn't really grab you. You are the choir - remember that when you are responding.
Most Americans are proud of our revolutionary history – it cuts across many demographics. Even the 1% is proud of it! We can build on that powerful theme/meme by looking to the well-loved notions of “Separation of Powers” and “Separation of Church and State” and by framing what we are doing as yet another necessary separation of powers – between corporate interests and the state. It’s clear, people will get it. They will think of it as reasonable. It could quickly increase resonance with our message.
I can't post the whole thing here because of length restrictions, but it's not very long
I’d like to work with some illustrators, film makers, graphic designers and other writers to edit a story I have written using this frame into something ready for publication. Think animated short and/or PDF. Please post your ideas and let me know if you are willing to help.
Working Title: Separation of Powers 2.0 - A Tale of Two Actions
It illustrates the similarity between the concentration of power in church/monarchs and what we have now. It traces it back to our beginning as a natural consequence. The revolution was mounted by a group of merchants that's why we have merchants in control now. Here's chapter 3 (there are 6 short chapters).
Chapter 3: Never forget! "Revolutionary ideas sprang up in many places and waves of fear went through the remaining Monarchs and Theocrats. Some willingly reduced their powers and stopped their bad behavior. Others, like in America, had to be forcibly removed. Having won their revolutionary war, the merchants in America created a constitution so no monarch could again control them. They created government bodies that separated powers so it wouldn’t become concentrated again. They elected representatives and judges from within their own ranks so they could govern themselves. And, because their memories were fresh, they passed laws that kept religion out of government and government out of religion. They passed a Bill of Rights to protect their personal freedoms. They became merchant rulers, applying their new freedoms only to the merchant class, but they saw themselves as benevolent, and therefore not so bad."
And here's the close:
Chapter 6: A Few People Rose up…Again In September of 2011, a few hundred of us took a stand for personal sovereignty, took a stand against the ruling merchants of our day. We called our action Occupy Wall Street because we meet the ruling merchants not in their “second home” in Washington, D.C., but right on the lawn of their favorite mansion on Wall Street. It is mid-October now and more and more people are standing up with us – all over. They too want to be heard. They are feeling empowered to do for themselves what we cannot rely on any of the ruling merchants or their structures to do for us – Stand with Dignity and Claim our Sovereignty.
What will happen next? Who knows?
This chapter remains unfinished because this is YOUR story. It is OUR story. WE are its author. Each of us holds a pen and we must write the story TOGETHER.
Come one, come all – join us in gathering to voice your dissent and work together to create something better. We need the voices of everyone! Come STAND IN DIGNITY and CLAIM YOUR SOVEREIGNTY. They are not too big to fail. WE ARE TOO BIG TO FAIL!
Today’s Partnership of Tyranny is between corporations and government who together form our merchant rulers. What was once benevolent has become corrupt and greedy and abused the trust of the people. We demand better. Our merchant rulers are in denial. They just don’t get it. It’s time for a new separation of powers – between corporate interests and the people’s interest. Separation of Powers 2.0 - Separate the merchants from the state!
Occupy everywhere! Occupy Together!
The whole "memes" concept is stupid. Tell the TRUTH and if that catches on, tell more truth. Treating this like a Coca-Cola campaign will only lead to co-opting.
Much like your story, the "villains" here are all fictional characters. They don't exist. Oh yes, the protesters beat up on poor Lehman Brothers. They're out of business. There is no conspiracy. There is no "corporations and government together." There are no merchant rulers. It's all fiction.
You're wasting your time. Stick to marketing. And you might not want to tell the "small start up firms" you're working with that you secretly think that corporations are run by Dr. Evil from Austin Powers.