Post by kim on Dec 7, 2011 21:53:21 GMT -7
Interesting article about Occupy Boston from the Nation. Another story that closely parallels our experience!
www.thenation.com/article/164932/hard-times-occupy-boston:
------Excerpt-----------------------------------------------------------
"The problem, one woman believes, stems from the fact that somewhere along the way, people started to view encampments not as a space for unfiltered political conversation but as models of exemplary society. You can’t create an alternative society—and that’s what Occupy Boston tried to do—without a lot of planning and preparation. Our intention was to address the system, not the individuals who got caught in the system.”
To her, the only solution is exclusivity. “I closely followed Tahrir,” she says, “and one of the ways they were successful is because activists used barricades to prevent people displaying weapons or violent behavior from coming into the square.”
[.....]
It’s true that the burden of maintaining Occupy Boston’s physical encampment has channeled its organizers’ energies into an improvised version of social work. But there is something deeply impressive about what these activists have accomplished on that front too. They’re spending day in and day out with the ninety-ninth of the 99 percent, the people the rest of us work so hard to forget about. They may be enabling substance abuse, but they’re providing a haven that’s far safer than a back alley; they’re serving a thousand meals a day, and the food is far better than it is in the shelters; they’re listening and talking to the people everyone else ignores. I think to myself: If any of these young leaders ever held elected office—the idea of which is anathema to everyone I spoke to—they’ll be so much more equipped to deal with our biggest problems, because they intimately know the poorest of the poor.
It’s past 1 am and I go to the library, where John has offered to let me crash. Two young campers are inside, drafting a new mission statement for Occupy Boston.
“We need to tell people what we want. We need to move on from just talking about ‘democracy.’ ”
“Yeah, but the old statement is general for a reason. It’s what’s brought everyone in.”
“But the Media Team is begging us for new material. We need to tell people what we specifically want.… OK, how’s this part? ‘We want a society that that prioritizes the needs of all before the profits of a few.’ ”
“Too soft.”
“I’m trying to say, we want capitalism under control.”
“That’s an oxymoron.”
“Yeah, but saying something like ‘end capitalism’ is divisive.”
They continue till well past 2:00 am
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www.thenation.com/article/164932/hard-times-occupy-boston:
------Excerpt-----------------------------------------------------------
"The problem, one woman believes, stems from the fact that somewhere along the way, people started to view encampments not as a space for unfiltered political conversation but as models of exemplary society. You can’t create an alternative society—and that’s what Occupy Boston tried to do—without a lot of planning and preparation. Our intention was to address the system, not the individuals who got caught in the system.”
To her, the only solution is exclusivity. “I closely followed Tahrir,” she says, “and one of the ways they were successful is because activists used barricades to prevent people displaying weapons or violent behavior from coming into the square.”
[.....]
It’s true that the burden of maintaining Occupy Boston’s physical encampment has channeled its organizers’ energies into an improvised version of social work. But there is something deeply impressive about what these activists have accomplished on that front too. They’re spending day in and day out with the ninety-ninth of the 99 percent, the people the rest of us work so hard to forget about. They may be enabling substance abuse, but they’re providing a haven that’s far safer than a back alley; they’re serving a thousand meals a day, and the food is far better than it is in the shelters; they’re listening and talking to the people everyone else ignores. I think to myself: If any of these young leaders ever held elected office—the idea of which is anathema to everyone I spoke to—they’ll be so much more equipped to deal with our biggest problems, because they intimately know the poorest of the poor.
It’s past 1 am and I go to the library, where John has offered to let me crash. Two young campers are inside, drafting a new mission statement for Occupy Boston.
“We need to tell people what we want. We need to move on from just talking about ‘democracy.’ ”
“Yeah, but the old statement is general for a reason. It’s what’s brought everyone in.”
“But the Media Team is begging us for new material. We need to tell people what we specifically want.… OK, how’s this part? ‘We want a society that that prioritizes the needs of all before the profits of a few.’ ”
“Too soft.”
“I’m trying to say, we want capitalism under control.”
“That’s an oxymoron.”
“Yeah, but saying something like ‘end capitalism’ is divisive.”
They continue till well past 2:00 am
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