Forum Post: OWS is more powerful as a collaboration than most suspect
Posted 12 years ago on Nov. 26, 2011, 3:57 p.m. EST by Insight
(9)
from Cedar, MI
This content is user submitted and not an official statement
Conventional wisdom wants quick solutions, single leaders, and silver bullets but that's not the way irrevocable positive change happens - A horizontal organization is not leaderless. Rather it is "leaderfull". As each step, each critical issue is encountered, persons with relevant passions, skills, experience and wisdom step forward, providing all with the best guidance available. This "power with" paradigm is significantly more powerful and effective than dependence a single leader. In sports the superiority of members with relevant skills and experience stepping forward at the right time is acknowledged as the ultimate in teaming. The hijacking of hierarchical organizations by one or few who impose their own interests or agendas on everyone "below" is at the heart of many of the injustices the OWS movement is identifying. Adopting and applying "power with" connectivity, collaboration, convergence, concurrence and cooperation makes the many not only numerically superior but superior in agility and effectiveness as well. It has taken those who have rigged current organizations and institutions quite some time to arrange things in their favor. They dominate outcomes inside certain boxes. They, however, are not well suited to deal with options outside the systems they have tilted. We are free to deploy everything else with many hands and minds. Think limited challenged by limitless. Today the technology of communication allows diverse and geographically dispersed persons to team for mutually desired outcomes as never before. Two simple processes will enable success: One involves identifying each piece of the current system than isn't working, isn't sustainable, isn't just. When "what we don't want" is broadly acknowledged and understood, minds are well positioned to identify what we "do want" instead. Appreciating the many "do wants" then positions the mind best to develop a "desired outcome state" that achieves them. A well subscribed desired outcome brings up the most effective (80-20 rule) resources to make the transformation from the "don't want state" to the "desired outcome state". Complimentary actions will "just happen" from many places to shape needed solutions. The second process occurs simultaneously with the first. To become committed to take personal action, each must advance up the curve, becoming 1) aware of and 2) understanding what needs attention and why, so that 3) the commitment to take 4) right actions will be there when the desired outcome emerges. We are at the beginning - awareness - assembling clear messages that will produce a "knowing" to replace the illusions those that want illegitimate power and privilege (over) have been selling. A few hundred million people clarifying "what is" ought to be able to set straight what 20 or 30 think tanks funded by a few Rogue Predatory Billionaires, and a few transparent politicians have spun up, to start the process of lighting the darkness and righting the ship.
The establishment folks would love us to crown an OWS king so that they can spend some of their corporate war chest funds to discredit the person. I think the fact that there is no single point leadership is what is driving them nuts.
Here's my 2 cents (only read it if you have not seen it already).
There are a lot of improvements that need to be made. The list reforms people Americans want to see is long and varied depending on who you talk to. That said, I believe there is one reform that would provide the American people the best chances of seeing other meaningful reforms actually happen - that is real, loop-hope free CAMPAIGN FINANCE REFORM! I have seen others on this site calling this the "fulcrum" or pivotal issue. Right now the current legalized bribery, pay-to-play system of campaign donations and paid lobbyists has disenfranchised the American voter. Until this is fixed, any other reform the politicians may try to placate us with (be it a change to healthcare, clamping down predatory school loans, new financial regulations, etc.) will be about as effective as a farmer putting a new roof on his CHICKEN COOP, but still letting the FOX guard it.
We need to go back to the original political currency. Instead of the current system of who can collect the most money from corporations and special interests it should be who has the BEST IDEAS to EFFECTIVELY RUN THE COUNTRY (we don't need "Wealth Redistribution," what we need is "Political Influence Redistribution")!
For the sake our our children and future generations of Americans, we need to take back our democracy from the rich and powerful who are using their vast sums of money to "speak" as if they represent millions of Americans. They are twisting our laws and manipulating our policies in their favor at the expense of the average American. The $50 or $100 a normal American may give to a political campaign becomes meaningless when corporations or other special interests are handing our millions to buy political access to the decision making process.
For decades now the corporations and special interests have had our "representatives" bought and paid for (both on the right and the left). Concentrating our efforts on getting the money out of our politics is the best way we can create an environment in which further reforms can be realized. Until we end the current system of legalized bribery (campaign donations) and paid lobbying our politicians will continue to be the LAP DOGS of the corporations and special interests. What we need first and foremost is real, loop-hole free CAMPAIGN FINANCE REFORM!!!! If the corruption is not dealt with first, the chance of any other meaningful reforms becoming a reality is almost zero - the special interests will just use their money to buy votes and put forward bills that create loop-holes or otherwise twist the law in their favor. If we want our children to live in a country where there vote matters, we need to get the money out of our politics, otherwise they will increasingly become the 21st century version of the "landless peasant." Spread the word - End the LEGALIZED BRIBERY!!! CAMPAIGN FINANCE REFORM needs to be THE main goal of the protests!!!
The establishment folks would love us to crown an OWS king so that they can spend some of their corporate war chest funds to discredit the person. I think the fact that there is no single point leadership is what is driving them nuts.
Bingo, all they really have at this point is to play dumb and repeat "I don't understand", that's the only criticism they can really manage. All their usual bullshit can't work. All they've got is to be dumb, repetitive, and violent. Those things can work but only in concert with the bullshit. They're flying on one wing ...
Lots of good stuff but it is dressing up the direct democracy pig.
Knowing what you want and why, is good. Getting good, corruption-free governance is the goal and the means to achieving our potential.
Jumping to a ship has never left the harbor, is not the way to get where we need to be.
brilliant-- beautiful- friend you are right on. awareness creating a knowing, replacing illusions--
----------------------- what we are experiencing is an evolution in consciousness-
In reference to OWS , it is presently evolving from an organization with no leaders to one where everyone is a leader-- and heaven help anyone or thing that gets in their way.