Politics

Some thoughts on diversity, leadership and patience in Transition

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I must own up to something at the start of this: I have a bias. I have an agenda. I am not impartial. I see things through a complicated lens of culture, class, and gender. I am a mature male of African, Native American and European heritage, a son of the Americas. I decided at an early age that all of that, despite what was happening in the outside world, would be at peace with me.
[The author is a writer, educator, activist, poet – and a Transition trainer.]

To the 99% and #OccupyWallStreet

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I haven’t journeyed down to OccupyLA myself. In part that’s because it is quite a distance from me, and I have kids’ schedules to uphold. But deep down, those are simply excuses; really, my heart’s not in it. I see the Occupy movement as an outbursting of emotion, expressing that the existing System is horribly broken, a sentiment with which I wholeheartedly agree. But the protests, now shifting to from Wall Street to upscale neighborhoods, are a gigantic “blame game” which cannot possibly fix anything real.

#Occupy – NEWS & ANALYSIS – Oct 11

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– #Occupy summarized in one chart
– WaPo Opinion: A timely call for justice
– Michael Bloomberg: Wall Street Protesters Can Stay Indefinitely
– Occupy protests spread to Ireland
– Citizens of China rally to support the Occupy Wall Street Movement
– Occupy Protests Spread to Britain

Occupy Wall Street emerges as “First Populist Movement” on the left since the 1930s

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As the “Occupy” movement expands from the “Occupy Wall Street” protest in New York City throughout the United States, we look at its historical significance. “This is an incredibly significant moment in U.S. history,” says Dorian Warren of Columbia University. “It might be a turning point, because this is the first time we’ve seen an emergence of a populist movement on the left since the 1930s.” We also speak to Firedoglake blogger Kevin Gosztola, who has been reporting from the occupations in Chicago, Philadelphia and Washington, D.C.

Where did the President’s mojo go?

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Increasingly, those of us who were ready to move with President Obama four years ago are deciding to leave normal channels and find new forms of action. Here’s an example: by year’s end the president has said he will make a decision on the Keystone XL pipeline, which would carry crude oil from the tar sands of northern Alberta to the Gulf of Mexico.

The nation’s top climate scientists sent the administration a letter indicating that such a development would be disastrous for the climate. … But every indication from this administration suggests that it is prepared to grant the necessary permission for a project that has the enthusiastic backing of the Chamber of Commerce, and in which the Koch Brothers have a “direct and substantial interest.”

Why the metamovement will ultimately fail

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There have been, belatedly, attempts to connect the “We Are the 99%” Occupy Wall Street protests with the protests in the Mideast against anti-democratic regimes and in Europe against unemployment, austerity and government inaction. What is unique about the newest US protests (at least since the ill-fated anti-globalization protests of a decade ago), and perhaps the reason why it took so long for them to get media and public traction, is that they are anti-corporate more than anti-government.

#Occupy – Oct 10

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– “I have no trouble understanding what OWS are complaining about” – Alan Grayson (former D-FL) smacks down P. J. O’Rourke
– Business Week: Wall Street, Heal Thyself
– Slavoj Žižek Speaks to Occupy Wall Street
– Robert Reich: The Wall Street Occupiers and the Democratic Party
– How #OccupyWallStreet Is Evolving and Gaining Power
– The grievance is having no voice, being invisible