Forum Post: What does Occupy mean to me?
Posted 12 years ago on Feb. 16, 2012, 5:48 p.m. EST by ravicher
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My modern re-adaptation of Julien Benda's essay 'The Betrayal of the Clerks' or 'The Treason of the Intellectuals' from 1927. Morality predicated on Politics (and "political" movements), high on lofty wings of elite entitlements, built upon foundations of a utility that supersede it's own sustainability (aka capitalism), and any shape and style of obviously unjustifiable circumstance for violence, the self proclaimed birthright of the "civilized", with a stench of greed, power and popularity so overpoweringly foul enough to force life itself to wander blind with eyes watering through a pea soup of metaphysical low laying fog in the desolate clear cut valleys of self doubt, adorned with any manner of bling, indulgencia and illusion of hope to lead life itself unawares over the finite cliff of reality. Solipsism at its worst, humanity in its most vile selfish state. Welcome to TODAY™!(a very long day that's included all of my life as well as many others). Where you (or enter your chosen corporate entity name or brand here to remain in an ethereal moral $ bubble of anonymity and unaccountability, separate from life itself (pop!)), can stand on a patronizing patriotic profit driven pedestal of scientism and intellectualism above all land & sea, people, creatures, life and creation itself and feel safe... in our shared (yes, we do share it), dystopia (that's of course only if your eyes are open).... Our overall ability to empathize with and understand life as a whole is reflected in our overall morality and how we synchronistically act in solidarity from a point of empathy towards the Whole World™ around(ish (some think its egg shaped and most of the "civilized" once thought it flat, I choose to leave my options open). I truly believe that the Occupy movement represents an event unbound by time, world-wide, a cross cultural multifaceted (e.g. Keystone XL), human re-evolution of awareness through true empathy, and for the many deemed "weak", "uncivilized" or "insane" by the violent amoral Hammer culture addicted to its self fulfilling prophecies of apocalypse (pick one), true suffering (and some for generations, e.g. N. Korea's current defector policy of death for 3 generations). I believe that Occupy is not just another "American","political" or even "economic" movement seeking its voice under the thin and presently dull veneer of politics, nationalism and laws inseminated from their very beginnings with violence and foisted like rape upon life, but an occupation founded upon a morality infused with true action and voice, one that resonates harmonically with life itself, undeniable and without the need or even the use for defense, unlike the social (or sociopathic if you prefer), movement known as corporatism: the very malignant, metaphorical and also "very real" cancer of life itself (and if I may Chris Hedges, the "true" cancer of Occupy, the reason for it). For me and many many others, Occupy is the scab attempting to naturally form over the many life threatening open wounds caused by the self ordained and "acceptable" sacrifices and "soft targets" (with the usual comforting companions of media as propaganda, ignorance and arrogance), of the insatiable life thirsty blood drinking "cult of success". Don't pick it off the scabs just because they itch with shards of a broken corporate windows, heal the wounds for we all know there is no window big enough nor enough rocks to go around, take your brick back and build it anew, build it harmonically with Life and Nature.
As far as I'm concerned Occupy doesn't mean very much yet. It did shift the dialogue and bring both specific policy points such as the repeal of Glass-Steagall and the Citizens United ruling and the generalized language of income inequality back into the public eye. It even spun off a few buzzwords (99%, 1%, and so on) so that even people who couldn't be bothered to pay attention to the situation from a political standpoint could still get a sense of the message.
That's already happened, and Occupy's presence is no longer necessary to maintain that shift in the dialogue. The question from here is where we're supposed to go next. As far as I'm concerned, the answer is obvious; Occupy needs to make itself a force in the political realm, if not during the 2012 election cycle then by November 2014 at the very latest. It looks like Occupy Alabama has come around to this idea, and is in fact taking the lead with its own superPAC. 2012 is passing us by as we speak, which is quite sad, but it's entirely possible that we could put at least one or two of our people in Congress by 2014 if we set that as an explicit goal and work towards it. If we succeed in even one district it sends a message to the rest of DC that they have to start taking us into account if they want to keep their jobs. The Tea Party did it, the Populists did it, the Green Party does it on occasion, and generally speaking it works.
I fully believe that Citizens United is at its core a dirty ruling; it allows corporations and other groups to create war chests that can be spent across the country with little to no accountability and thus in effect it allows them to buy candidates. That said, since the law threw the floodgates wide open for anyone who wants to buy politicians, there is nothing in the law that says we can't do the same. Assuming that Occupy Alabama has a team of activists capable of raising large quantities of money from small donors in a short time period (which is definitely possible) it is entirely possible to build a People's SuperPAC and use that money as a counterbalance to people like Grover Norquist. Is it enough right now? Probably not. Is it better than nothing? Absolutely.
Now, I'm assuming that they're not going to go out and start soliciting corporate funding for it because that goes against everything we stand for, but imagine the power that an independently aligned national coalition of small donors would have to influence this country during elections season. We could throw our people (actual OWS'ers with community organization/activism/legal backgrounds or OWS sympathizers in that category) into Democratic and Republican primaries across the country, and even if we only take one or two seats most legislators will think of the Tea Party and be less willing to ignore our interests.
What does Occupy mean to me? It all depends on what happens this spring and summer, but right now it still means potential instead of actual power. Hopefully that's going to change as this election cycle gets further underway.
That pretty much summarized what it means to me too: incoherent, unfocused babble about everything and nothing.
"What does Occupy mean to me?"
For one, it is about people who are very tired of "Being Lied To".
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