Nan Fandel-MacQueen begins: "Fighting for our Democracy comes in many forms, and on the day when the US pays homage to veterans who fought in 'wars,' I would be remiss if I did not honor the 'civil war' efforts of the current Occupy movement. It is magnificent in its fervor and its peaceful work to defend our freedoms. That it's happening at all is a miracle of modern technology and communication and vigorous youth. And it's growing ... fast."
A US interrogation chair. (photo: AP)
12 November 11
ighting for our Democracy comes in many forms, and on the day when the US pays homage to veterans who fought in "wars," I would be remiss if I did not honor the "civil war" efforts of the current Occupy movement. It is magnificent in its fervor and its peaceful work to defend our freedoms. That it's happening at all is a miracle of modern technology and communication and vigorous youth.
And it's growing ... fast.
And it's painful to watch, or to take the hits, as hateful, armed police jam their batons into the protesters' guts.
And it's the exact kind of mass disruption of injustices that needed to happen to get the "change ball" rolling. But as Robert Frost wrote: The woods are ... dark and deep ... I have promises to keep ... And miles to go before I sleep. More plainly, we have lots to do beyond this proud and difficult protesting.
Staying awake and marching are good, but not enough. Pulling money out of big corporate banks is good, but not enough. Shutting down universities is tremendous, but not enough. That's just the beginning. Now we need a solid mandate: We need to build an Occupy Party.
For the Occupy movement to go forward, and to effect more than justified anger at the 1% who propelled American democracy into outright conspicuous capitalism, it needs a solid platform for change that truly benefits all of the people. The Occupy movement has shed a bright light on the poverty of spirit and the poverty of common, decent humanity that exists within the ranks of the power wielders. But quite frankly, we American people still can't see clearly enough through the fog of propaganda spewed by the greedy people who we've put in power. We do not see how poor we really are, because they refuse to show us for real. Hell, they don't even see it themselves. They only see their vapid Big Lie, and they work only to keep the people believing that that is the absolute truth. As a result, most of us cannot fully comprehend how imperative a solid platform for change of this kind is to our very existence.
We might have awakened from the early-evening nightmare, but unless we clearly see this poverty we've been doused in, unless we organize with thought and purpose to move shrewdly, honestly, and fearlessly to work to succeed in making changes that stick, we will be propelled back into an everlasting nightmare with a force far greater and more painful than any baton or tear gas.
We have no choice. It's us or the corporate police state. We have to succeed.
And to do that we have to know that 15% of us are living in the deepest poverty this country has experienced since the Great Depression, and they are truly scared, and they are suffering daily and terribly for absolutely no reason, except for the greed of the powerful people now running our country.
To know this, and to do something about it that is life-altering change, we now need to form and support an Occupy Party with candidates that will challenge the existing US Congress, and in doing so, will adhere to the overarching mandate of the people: dismantle the current corporate-fed, corrupt American government for good.
This can and must be done. We can form a way out.
When Gandhi began his Satyagraha movement (civil disobedience to unjust rule), he did so because he was staggered by the disparity of wealth, the massive poverty he witnessed everywhere he went in India. The rich few ruled; the massive poor suffered beyond belief. His eyes opened. He saw people being bilked by greedy landlords who stole the fields from the Indian people and kept a feudal land system going. These people needed to be shown a way out.
They also needed someone strong enough to shake the change out of the pocketbooks of the powerful. They needed someone who would lead the 99.9% indigenous poor people to rise up against the .1% British oppressors and send them packing, at whatever cost.
They got Gandhi, and their governance was forever changed, but it did not happen easily or overnight, as the woods at that time were darker and deeper and less understandable than ever before. But he organized relentlessly, protested, journalized, went to jail, fasted till near death, and in time, with a core group of like-minded leaders, and the dedication of the masses, they did it. They convinced the bums in power to leave!
Gandhi's Satyagraha effort toward this end was twofold, and I say, it's the same for the Occupy movement: 1.) civilly disobey and protest against unjust laws created by the few rich in power, and 2.) succeed at changing governance. The only difference between them and us lies in our democratic process for changing that governance.
So in the Occupy movement's case, that success will not be found by just our hard, peaceful protesting; again, that's magnificent, but it's just the beginning, as it was for Gandhi's movement. The real success will come from politically ousting those who will always obstruct just laws. And we will only succeed in doing that with a full cadre of the American people recognizing that it is time for a new mandate, a new Occupy Party to represent them.
Yes, we must continue peacefully protesting, but we must model the duality of Satyagraha. We must not only stay aware of who wants the Occupy movement and America to fail - that's the easy part; as Robert Reich says, just follow the money - but we must also form a platform for change that will get the corrupt bastards out. And to do this, we must have a clear voice and a group of people who know how to convert the American people en masse, who can wake them up to see how really poor we are, how important this next step in the Occupy movement truly is to their survival!
We must create a mandate that shows the American people that the way out will only come about if we create, recognize, and vote-in Occupy Party candidates with the mandate to end our greedy corporate system of governance and the American nightmare for good.
Organize an Occupy Party to dig in to end the "war" and unjust rule.
Oust the bums!
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