Carl Gibson writes: "I'm becoming more and more convinced that the left's collective crying out for strong, effective leadership is going to have to come from the leaderful (not leaderless) movement of young people across America."
The occupy movement will have to figure out how it participates in the 2012 election season. (photo: Mark Collier)
Elect Occupy Wall Street in 2014
12 June 12
Reader Supported News | Perspective
'm becoming more and more convinced that the left's collective crying out for strong, effective leadership is going to have to come from the leaderful (not leaderless) movement of young people across America. The fellow Occupiers I've marched and protested with in Houston, Madison and Denver are all well-spoken, optimistic, visionary leaders in their own communities. None of us agree with those who represent us in office. We all agree government could work for the people if corporations were purged from the political process.
The Tea Party began as another leaderless movement that took to the streets to protest a lot of the same things we protest: A bought government, bailouts of the banks that put us in an economic freefall, and a government overly concerned with intruding into citizens' personal space and lives. Their massive rallies and marches attracted the media attention needed to change the narrative, then they proceeded to take over a major political party and make it bend to their every radical whim. OWS could do the same thing, and do it ten times better, even without the billions in corporate backing Tea Party ideologues like Scott Walker have at their disposal.
The 1 percent's source of power is the excessive, poverty-inducing wealth they've amassed for the last 30 years. They used to spend their wealth on racehorses and yachts. Now they spend it on buying elections. By taking away the 1 percent's excessive wealth, we take away their ability to buy elections. When we get corporate money out of politics, we weed out the politicians who were put in place by corporate money. By removing those politicians and putting in those who will work for us, we simultaneously scare those remaining in office to adhere to our agenda or lose their jobs, and we begin to fundamentally change the system for the better.
The 1 percent has always been in charge of government, but their unprecedented influence on our politics was largely brought about by the early 2010 Citizens United ruling and the Tea Party's electoral sweep of Congress, also in 2010. Since November 2010, obstruction has become a daily matter of course, and a radical agenda of deregulating the industries threatening the environment and the banks that caused our current depression is the only one those in power will accept. If the Tea Party continues their electoral successes the complete redistribution of wealth from the bottom 99% to the top 1% will be inevitable. The deficit will continue to rise as we continue to cut taxes for the 1% and wage endless war, and with a rising deficit will come an elimination of middle-class jobs and every existing social-welfare program and safety net for the 99%.
Democratic leaders in office are showing signs of caving on extending the Bush tax cuts for the wealthiest 2% of Americans, and putting the cap at $1 million instead of $250,000. Like many others, I'm disgusted by the cowardice of the Democratic Party and the great many Democrats who are blind servants of the status quo. The Occupy Wall Street movement represents the radical change needed in society, and could easily defeat corporate Democrats in primaries with a refreshing dose of economic populism that the establishment figureheads are too afraid to approach. And, once we take over one party, we can pave the way to taking over our government using all parties as our vehicle.
Occupy Wall Street's bold positions on civil rights, as seen in the demonstrations against the NDAA's indefinite detention policies and the invasive CISPA and SOPA legislation, could even be used against the Republican incumbents in primaries who voted for such authoritarian policies. Left-wing third parties, like the Working Families Party, are already gaining traction, taking over city councils and even putting candidates in state and federal offices. The Green Party is re-inventing itself as a populist force with a bold, sweeping vision for a new society with Dr. Jill Stein at its helm.
I agree with the OWS activists who say electoral politics isn't the solution. By itself, electing good candidates to office won't be enough to bring about all the changes necessary to make society sustainable for everyone. But kicking the worst offenders out of office and putting our people in is a hell of a start. The 2014 midterms are our year. If you don't like any of the candidates in office and don't feel represented by anyone running for office, run for office yourself. Don't let the proto-fascists run our government if you don't want them to. You can still vote: they haven't taken that away yet.
Carl Gibson, 25, is co-founder of US Uncut, a nationwide creative direct-action movement that mobilized tens of thousands of activists against corporate tax avoidance and budget cuts in the months leading up to the Occupy Wall Street movement. Carl and other US Uncut activists are featured in the documentary "We're Not Broke," which premiered at the 2012 Sundance Film Festival. He currently lives in Old Lyme, Connecticut. You can contact Carl at This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it , and listen to his online radio talk show, Swag The Dog, at blogtalkradio.com/swag-the-dog.
Reader Supported News is the Publication of Origin for this work. Permission to republish is freely granted with credit and a link back to Reader Supported News.
Reader Supported News is the Publication of Origin for this work. Permission to republish is freely granted with credit and a link back to Reader Supported News.
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Comments
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Go take your insults back under the rock where you live.
Some Occupiers I met worked 4 jobs, and were occupying because those 4 jobs still weren't enough to meet basic needs. I'd rather have folks like them in charge than the same lawyers and businessmen who've been running our country into the ground for the last 3 decades.
Thanks for reading, though. When we take our government back, I'll look forward to reading your columns on why we need to put more lawyers and businessmen in office.
There's a reason in their training. It values law, not justice; conformity, not challenge; process, not content; ritual, not reality; tactical victory, not establishment of truth. If someone turns out to have been punished unjustly, those responsible for the injustice (starting with prosecutors and police) are never themselves punished for perverting the course of justice.
Fortunately, a few lawyers and journalists heroically apply their skills to the fight for justice. For an example (and one of the most shameful stitch-ups in Australian history whose 32-year unravelling was completed only yesterday July 12) have a look at http://www.abc.net.au/iview/#/abc1, select 7:30 then Tue12 Jun 2012. Move the slide to 8min 42sec, and watch the 7min synopsis. Slide is moved by clicking in front of it.
A great lawyer who used his skills for justice, by the way, was Abraham Lincoln.
Why wait until 2014, got time to get some really outstanding Occupy Leaders elected in 2012. They couldn't posibly do any worse than the idiots we have in office now.
Go 99'ers Go, you are the only hope this country has of regaining some real sanity in the government.
No, the basement dwelling thugs who promote the Tea Party are our future leaders.
And how does participating in a movement based on NON-VIOLENT resistance make people 'thugs'?
You sir or madam are so out of touch. I am a 62 white male and totally support the Occupy Movement. I work for a living, own my own home and am very tired of being run over by an insensitive government that is not doing right by the majority of its citizens.
The "Wealthiest Nation in the World" needs to share its wealth with all the citizens, enhance the environment, insure ( NOT INSURANCE) that all have access to good health care, good education and good standards of living.
The Day of Divine Rights is gone!
Money may attempt to buy everything but there is not enough money in Mammon to buy mine. And if all of you who agree with me would commit to voting only for candidates who pass OUR LITMUS TEST, then we will place people in office who represent us.
Here is why we must do it and do it now: Climate Change is the priority issue and it is not even being discussed by the wimps (most of them) in Congress nor our Presidential candidates. If we do not address this issue fast, our planet will be out of our control. Everyone in power knows this but can't act because the "loan sharks" aka Super PACS and corporations have a hold on a part of their anatomy that hurts a lot. I'll say it: they are cowards who let the real thugs bully them into whimpering submission.
A union of voters will be the engine of change that will renew the social contract between the governors and the governed. We are lost if we don't act.
What is happening in regards to climate change (the rapid, steep rise in global temperature - is irrefutably, directly linked to human activity based on burning of fossil fuels. You are free to deny that but so can anyone deny that the earth revolves around the sun. We either have the technology, are close to having it, or on a path to obtain it, that can begin the transition from fossil fuels to an economy based on renewable and sustainable energy. Rather than sit frozen in anger with baseless conspiracy theories and glumly watch as the world heads for a cataclysm, we should be uniting in opposition to the status quo and demanding that transition.
The 35 year olds are well represented and that would be evident if a corporate bought and sold media would give it the same coverage that it gives the Tea Party and the Neo-Cons.
There are also other leftist organizations and the members of the unions (the corrupted union leaders, not so much) which should be developed, and networked more with each other.
The thing to do is to be neither leadeful (in the sense of 'bosses) nor leaderless, but operate by distributed leadership with delagates (real anarchy, along the lines of social anarchism or anarcho-syndaca lism) -- authentic democracy. That means a lot more people learning a lot more about organizing, management skills and political science.
We need strong unions and strong socialist and communist parties, like we had in the 1930s, but this time we have to do it right and not settle for goodies while keeping the fascist/capital ist structures the same, or the plutocracy will just get to work to reverse it all again, like we have seen happen since then.
The Occupy movement has to usurpe the Democratic Party the way the Tea Party did the GOP. That, in and of itself, will create the much needed third party.
It's in the preparation that the work needs to be done -- and yes that takes time, but there is no way around that. First the social and communication organization needs to be done, get it up and running and sustainable, and vision and plans worked out. Only then can people start to work on forming a political party, when the people are already there -- at least enough for a core or vanguard -- like a foundation and a house, and then the roof is put on.
One man tried to run for Congress and was told by the Democrats they wouldn't help him unless he raised #300,000 on his own. There is on'y one place to get that kind of money from -- corporations.
The important meetings are not public but 'informal' -- that's the same as many organizations: decisions are made before of after public meeting over lunch, for example. At public meetings it's tough to even get a question on the agenda.
It's a rigged game.
A political party needs to reach 'critical mass' if they're going to have *any* meaningful impact on the political process!
The Green Party is a good example; good platform, good candidates, but they don't have the numbers *yet* to win the Presidency and/or Congress. As such, the result is that they pull votes away from Democrats, and Republicans wind up winning.
We should also heed the lessons of the Reform Party. Ross Perot founded it, but in 2000, Pat Buchanan - who had NOTHING in common with their positions and ideals - co-opted the Reform Party by bringing his own people in, so he could appropriate the $12 Million in Federal matching funds that Perot and company earned.
How much have we heard from the Reform Party since then?
Occupiers work hard not to help just themselves, but to help their communities. Specifically, those who have been disenfranchised by tea party policies that enable warmongers and banksters on the backs of the 99%.
Tea partiers are the ones who want things for free. They want roads that aren't filled with potholes, schools that educate their children, firemen to put out fires, police to stop murderers and rapists, food inspectors to e-coli-proof their dinner, air traffic controllers to keep their planes landing safely, and disaster relief when their house floats away in a flood, all without having to pay any taxes.
If my daughter brought someone home who believed in making statements against plutocracy using non-violent direct action inspired by art, music and street theatre, I'd welcome them with open arms, offer them coffee, and be genuinely interested in the things they had to say.
We need more Republicans like Eisenhower. You know, the ones who taxed the richest 1% at 91% to pa for the interstate system, the space program, and an expansion of social security and national parks. We need more Republicans like Teddy Roosevelt, who busted up monopolies that hurt competition and contributed to inequality almost as dire as the inequality prevalent in society today.
If hard work equals wealth, and if we tax workers at 35%, how about we tax capital gains at 35% for the wealthy hedge fund owners who make millions by throwing imaginary numbers around to other millionaires? Let's not discriminate.
Reference: James Bradley's book "Imperial Cruise". It may change your mind about good old Teddy.
Wealth can create poverty. Look at supply side economics (tax cuts for the wealthy) that is suppose to trickle wealth downward. Three corresponding trends should sober any delusional belief in supply side economics: 1)since Reagan and the Republicans pushed supply side on us wages for working Americans have stagnated - flat lined; 2) wealth inequality is growing ever wider; 3) capital moves unhindered globally meaning that tax cuts are not restricted to reinvestment into domestic production.
Nobody is saying that throwing money at poverty will fix it. Stop privileging wealth over labor will.
Several decades ago, Margaret Thatcher claimed: "There is no alternative". She was referring to capitalism. Today, this negative attitude still persists.
I would like to offer an alternative to capitalism for the American people to consider. Please click on the following link. It will take you to an essay titled: "Home of the Brave?" which was published by the Athenaeum Library of Philosophy:
http://evans-experientialism.freewebspace.com/steinsvold.htm
John Steinsvold
“Insanity is doing the same thing over and over and expecting a different result."~ Albert Einstein
As Occupy Wall Street stated in the very beginning, we need a new party of, by, and for the people, and not for corporate America as it is now!
The same Kochs have the money to crush any attempts at organizing 3rd parties and even well organized citizen revolts (Wisconsin)
What terrifies them is OWS...massive civil disobedience. We also need muscle on our side, not for violence but for protection, in the form of police and the military rank & file coming to our side. The military are just beginning to realize they're pawns of the plutocrats.
Those Kochs etal bastards are ruthless and murder is not beneath them to advance their agenda.
Not that it isn´t worth the effort though.
If you hate The Kochs, Hate Republicans, and love the OWS .. you really need your head examined or ... TO SPEND SOME TIME ON YOUR COMPUTER AND FIND THE FACTS INSTEAD OF FICTION.
Nothing I can say will educate you ... you have a freaking computer ... ask the right questions, GO LOOK at government websites for the real information .. RAW and uninterpreted ... and then .. MAKE UP YOUR MIND. You might find .. 90% of what you think you knew is spin, propaganda ... and generally ... WRONG?
Go find out ...
The purpose is not to capture a hill, or even win some battle, but to win the war -- and it's very much like a guerilla war. It's still building.
A very interesting event that just occurred is that Ron and Rand Paul just sold out the "right wing" liberty movement by endorsing Romney the RINO. These liberty movement people
could be seen protesting very loudly at Bilerderberg this year, led by Internet Radio/TV jounalist Alex Jones. It was even called "Occupy Bilderberg". Meeting there were the common enemies of the American people (indeed of the world's people), the international finance capitalists who seek to rule the world and reduce all countries, including ours, to the level of feudal serfdoms. These imperialists were being identified and confronted, not by Democrats and not by leftists, but by "right wing" libertarians. What happened to the left? They are in some kind of trance, hypnotized by the snake charmer Obama. There was only one real progressive there, and that was the best political analyst on the Net, Webster Tarpley (tarpley.net). See the post there of the Tarpley debate with Alex Jones. The libertarians just had a rude awakening when Ron and Rand sold them out. Jones has declared political divorce from the Pauls. Tarpley is there to explain to him and his literally millions of patriotic, good-hearted liberarian followers, what is wrong with the Libertarian economics, that libertarianism is really an imperialist philosophy, concocted by bankers to get people to cut their own throats.
Tarpley has a five-point plan for economic recovery similar to that of the Syriza party in Greece. Syriza may take power in the election next week. This is very significant because they will defy the dictates of the European central bankers to have even more austerity to pey their usurious debts.
What the left needs to do is to get finally disillusioned with Obama and the Democratic party in the same way as the libertarians are disillusioned with the Republicans and join together with the millions of these good hearted patriotic libertarians, together agree on who is our common enemy and the broad outlines of what needs to be done. Visit tarpley.net and listen to Alex Jones (infowars.com and prisonplanet.tv . Also visit ae911truth.org for the real facts.
The Tea party threw out of whack any ability to cross party lines...and turned the Republican Party in to a Frankenstein Monster.
The Dems will fight tooth and nail to keep an Occupy presence off the ballot. And money will turn things. The Empire is plenty happy with the duopoly--anythi ng that changes the game will be fought.
A thing to remember is that working inside the system or outside are two different approaches. Working inside is very different from 'protesting', such as 50 people showing up at a public meeting or demonstrating outside of a meeting or building. It requires slowly, methodically, and deliberately infusing yourselves into the organization, and becoming an important part of it, while avoiding being assimilated.
One good way to show, and after a little while volunteer for tasks -- especially the ones other don't want to do (recording secretary might be one of those). That's gets you 'inside', and is a path for further entrenchment. Recruit others of like mind. In other words -- infiltrate. Like the right wing has done. This can be a 'special project' of a larger, looser, more populist, organization, or an affinity group.
Beware of either beign assimilated by the political organization, or just as bad, becoming a clique yourselves or getting attached to power or hierarchy (always a temptation).
A good source for learning is the books from Carlos Castaneda -- forget the supernatual stuff and strange stories: look at what is there regarding stalking, hunting, and warriors -- the psychological lessons. Machiavelli and Sun Tzu also has some good material. If you can keep your integrity and moral values and not abuse the knowledge.
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