http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/ezra-klein/post/the-four-habits-of-highly-successful-social-movements/2011/08/25/gIQAeifVNL_blog.html
Movement building, as Klein tells us, is "exhausting, highly skilled work." Like any skill it looks easy when done right. So you could say that the "spontaneous" out of the blue appearance of such protests is there when they are done right. In truth, building a successful movement is anything sooner than the work of momentary impulsiveness. And as Klein also points out "organizers have to keep the threads of resistance from unraveling, and, following their lead, supporters have to just show up over and over again ready to do boring work."
Most important "There’s a better chance they will keep showing up if they think that the movement connects directly to their everyday lives, that if it succeeds, those lives will be changed in an obvious and better way."
There needs to be a real sense that there is an endgame, that this will improve their every day lives. I guess this is why I tend to share some of the concerns and misgivings of Debra in her post at The Politcal Circus Around Us yesterday as shown by my own post from yesterday.
Here it is http://diaryofarepublicanhater.blogspot.com/2011/10/occypy-wall-street-mike-bloomberg-calls.html
And here is Debra's post http://strangerinapicture.us/ I would recommend reading her regularly along with Motor City Liberal, Extreme Liberal, alnd Blogging Blue.
Her concern is similar to mine about whether or not there is a coherent agenda to the protests and whether there is a real strategy for achieving it. As I already suggest in my previous post while I support and share their concerns-it may be that the form protests take is not really me. Maybe like Adorno I fight for change in my own way which is for example in writing Diary of a Republican Hater. I'm not sure if my temperament and "skill set" would be best served in this type of action-or that I would best serve it . Jesse Jackson once said that he is a "tree shaker not a jelly maker."
Such an attitude may well offend movement people who will read that as Jackson seeing himself above getting his own fingers dirty. But it may well be that you need both tree shakers and jelly makers and not everyone can be all things.
I certainly wouldn't want to say Occupy Wall Street can't achieve the kind of reforms we need but till now have not been able to achieve.
Krugman himself has given his support in a little piece he titled Ten-Hut! http://krugman.blogs.nytimes.com/
"Rich Yeselson, writing on Ezra Klein’s blog, says that my army may have arrived.
Self-promotion aside, it’s a good, thoughtful take on what the Occupy Wall Street protests may lead to. Never mind the street theater and annoying antics of some participants; this might be the start of something both big and good."
As he says, "why don’t they try to work within the system? Well, how’s that been going for those who did indeed try? When palace intrigue undermined the likes of Elizabeth Warren even within the Obama administration, and Republicans have thrown their full backing behind the malefactors of great wealth, why shouldn’t protesters go outside the usual channels?"
Like I said yesterday there is something about the form of social protest movements that makes me a little wary. When large crowds get together all chanting the same slogans and brandishing signs saying the same things there is a part of me that feels that in such protests, the individual disappears. There is 'no I in team" they say but for me that's what makes me distrust teams. I always feel there is some implicit assumption that "the future belongs to the crowds" (an actual quote from the book Mao II) and that the individual's concerns will finally have no weight with social evolution. I don't tend to do well with staying between the lines and putting aside my individuality which is probably why I ended up being banned from The Big 3 liberal blogs-FDL, KOS and Democratic Underground.
No question though I am in solidarity with the concerns of Occupy Wall Street. I too have been unemployed for 2 years-and was "under-unemployed" prior to that. In their desire for a better future I can only respond Ten-Hut!
As he says, "why don’t they try to work within the system? Well, how’s that been going for those who did indeed try? When palace intrigue undermined the likes of Elizabeth Warren even within the Obama administration, and Republicans have thrown their full backing behind the malefactors of great wealth, why shouldn’t protesters go outside the usual channels?"
Like I said yesterday there is something about the form of social protest movements that makes me a little wary. When large crowds get together all chanting the same slogans and brandishing signs saying the same things there is a part of me that feels that in such protests, the individual disappears. There is 'no I in team" they say but for me that's what makes me distrust teams. I always feel there is some implicit assumption that "the future belongs to the crowds" (an actual quote from the book Mao II) and that the individual's concerns will finally have no weight with social evolution. I don't tend to do well with staying between the lines and putting aside my individuality which is probably why I ended up being banned from The Big 3 liberal blogs-FDL, KOS and Democratic Underground.
No question though I am in solidarity with the concerns of Occupy Wall Street. I too have been unemployed for 2 years-and was "under-unemployed" prior to that. In their desire for a better future I can only respond Ten-Hut!
Well I found your comments very interesting for sure and appreciate the link. I must say they are some of the most interesting comments we've had all week!
ReplyDeleteDon't know if you saw it but Zizek-who considers himself both a Marxist and Lacanian actually spoke at OWS on Monday.
http://occupywallst.org/
I will quote you a piece of that he said.
"The only sense in which we are communists is that we care for the commons. The commons of nature. The commons of what is privatized by intellectual property. The commons of biogenetics. For this and only for this we should fight."
"Communism failed absolutely. But the problems of the commons are here. They are telling you we are not Americans here. But the conservative fundamentalists who claim they are really American have to be reminded of something. What is Christianity? It’s the Holy Spirit. What’s the Holy Spirit? It’s an egalitarian community of believers who are linked by love for each other. And who only have their own freedom and responsibility to do it. In this sense the Holy Spirit is here now. And down there on Wall Street there are pagans who are worshipping blasphemous idols. So all we need is patience. The only thing I’m afraid of is that we will someday just go home and then we will meet once a year, drinking beer, and nostalgically remembering what a nice time we had here. Promise ourselves that this will not be the case."