[D66] Jodi Dean: Lessons from #occupywallstreet

[Henk Elegeert]

:)) De "we's" moeten nog heel veel leren ... lol

BTW: wat zegt (kennelijke bange:) 'Le Monde'? ;)

Henk Elegeert


2011/10/25 Antid Oto <protocosmos66 at gmail.com>

> Lessons from #occupywallstreet
>
> Now that the occupation has lasted more than a month, what have we learned?
>
> 1.  We have learned that they are afraid. The top 1% knows that we know,
> and
> that we know that we know, that its stories of "trickle down" and "what's
> good
> for wall street is good for main street" and "free markets" and "new
> economy"
> and all the rest is a sandwich of steaming shit. They know the gig is up
> and
> they are afraid. Evidence:  right wing talking heads warning about
> revolution;
> massive police force.
>
> 2.  We have learned that they will bend.  Eric Cantor's tail behind his
> legs
> retreat is a mighty triumph of the political power of Occupy Philly.  How
> many
> more retreats can we force throughout the country? We are legion.
>
> 3.  We have learned that people in the US, people all over the world, no
> longer
> accept business as usual.  "We are the 99%" resonates because people are
> sick of
> the exploitation, sick of the unfairness, sick of working for a world in
> which
> the very, very few take from us our lives and futures. The occupation
> movement
> is the crack, the rupture, the awakening: all over the world people are
> talking
> about extreme inequality, economic failure, the fact that capitalism is
> broken.
> All over the world people are talking with each other about what comes
> next,
> what to do, what to make--what new world should we demand of ourselves?
>
> 4.  We have learned that collectively we are strong. We've learned this in
> part
> through new practices of interacting and building consensus. We've also
> learned
> it more painfully, through experiences of blocking, trolling, derailing,
> and
> sabotage by contrarians who demonstrate neither care nor concern for the
> movement.
>
> 5.  We have learned and will continue to learn how hard it is to build and
> maintain these collectivities. This learning is painful. It is divisive. It
> involves learning that sometimes exclusion is necessary; it involves
> learning
> when to be decisive, when to coerce, when to say "enough is enough."
>
> 6.  We have learned that collectivity is not unanimity; it's almost like we
> are
> learning through experience a lesson suggested by Rousseau: the difference
> between the general will and the will of all.
>
> 7.  We are learning that the movement exceeds any single occupation. The
> movement to occupy, to assert our presence in our world, in the processes
> and
> systems through which we shape it, is now established and strong. We are
> already
> here. The point of occupation is to state that we are here, to make our
> being
> here register--that we are here means that what is here is ours.
>
> 8.  We will start learning the different tonalities and variations of this
> movement. Some sites might become more intensive as others regroup. Some
> might
> abandon one site in order to occupy new possibilities. Regrouping is an
> opportunity: an opportunity to build outside of the prying eyes and
> presumptive
> expectations of a 24/7 media cycle concerned only with pumping content
> through
> feeds.
>
> 9.  We will learn to plan--for the winter, for the upcoming election cycle:
> Cantor's retreat reminds us of the abundant opportunities we have for
> occupation
> in the upcoming year. How many campaign events? How many primaries? How
> many
> caucuses? What will happen as the fearful millionaries retreat in the face
> of
> the collective strength of those willing to occupy the campaign (or
> campaign to
> occupy)? How many more retreats can we force, demonstrating the bankruptcy
> of
> the political system and its obesiance to capital? How many advances can we
> make? Occupying not public squares but spaces claimed as private by the
> few?
> What would a real Bank of America look like? We won't know until we occupy
> it.
>
> 10.  We've learned that we can will differently. We need to learn how to
> sustain
> this will and how to forge it into a collective desire for a collectivity
> that
> can and will persevere.
>
> http://jdeanicite.typepad.com/i_cite/
>
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