Ethics – Page 256 – Public Intelligence Blog

Restoring the Republic – One People – One Voice – One Community

Grand Strategy is about combining means (inputs) and ways
to achieve ends (outcomes).

In very general terms, the strategic outcomes that appear to be sought by the mélange of participants in the emerging nation-wide—even global—rebellion against the existing system—center around social justice as in justice for society at large. This is essentially a repudiation of the existing system in three parts: the electoral system that perpetuates a two-party tyranny; the governance system that trades 5% earmarks for 95% discounted disbursements of the public treasure; and a banking and corporate system that refuses to factor in both true costs to the public, or consider the public interest. It is a rigged system of, by, and for the 1%.

There are at least three outcomes that can be considered and two ways.

Constitutional Amendment. In the ideal, the corruption of the legislative and executive processes must be removed by enacting a Constitutional Amendment. In the USA, enacting an amendment requires either passage by two thirds of both the Senate and the House of Representatives, followed by approval by three-fourths of all state legislatures. Since the two-party tyranny owns both the federal and the state legislatures, it is virtually certain that this will never come to pass in isolation. It could, however, be made possible by first pursuing Electoral Reform.

Electoral Reform Act. Over the past thirty years a number of very specific proposals have been made to expand the existing two-party electoral system rife with fraud at all levels. Nine specific measures have been put together by a team drawing on best available sources. Those nine measures include:

01 Open Ballot Access
02 Make It Easier to Vote
03 Honest Open Debates
04 Instant Run-Off/Paper Ballots
05 Expanded Debates (Cabinet)
06 Full and Balanced Representation
07 Tightly-Drawn Districts
08 Full Public Funding of Diverse Candidates
09 No Legislation without Consultation

A tenth provision would have an honest Congress and an honest Executive championing the Constitutional Amendment, but passing the Electoral Reform Act of 2012 in time for Phase I (provisions 01-05) to take effect for November 2012. This objective is achievable! A nation-wide demand presented by 6 November with a demand for resolution by 15 February—or face a General Strike—has a possibility for success such as has never existed here-to-fore. This has the added advantage of opening the way for an Independent candidate for President, and for opening ballot access to the full spectrum of potential candidates, not just those approved by the two-party system, thereby cleansing the Senate and House of Representatives of corrupt partisans.

Secession & Nullification. There are no fewer than ten active secessionist movements in the USA:

01 Alaska
02 Florida
03 Georgia
04 Hawaii
05 League of the South
06 South Carolina
07 Texas
08 Vermont
09 Republic of Lakotah
10 Pacific Northwest/Cascadia

Among them, Alaska, Hawaii, and Vermont are the most persistent. States also have the right to nullify federal mandates, and in the future we may see the Western states and especially Alaska repossess state lands set aside as federal preserves. A dissolution of the USA is unlikely at this time, but could become a reality if there is a total collapse of the economy and the government, at which point localized resilience movements will spring up and independence from federal taxation and federal regulation will become the norm.

Ways to the first two ends include a General Strike (massive absenteeism) and a General Boycott (of all corporate goods less true essentials, withdrawal of all funds from banks and stocks)—or both.

Electoral Reform as a capital demand, presented by 6 November and demanded by 15 February, is in my view the only means of avoiding secession and eventually securing a Constitutional Amendment. St.

Original as Published

2011/10/112011/10/17

Mini-Me: OccupyWallStreet Entering Policy Phase?

11 Society, Advanced Cyber/IO, Civil Society, Cultural Intelligence, Ethics, Government, Methods & Process, Strategy

Occupy Wall Street shifts from protest to policy phase

Protesters face the difficult and interesting task of leveraging their influence to achieve concrete policy changes addressing their concerns.

By Michael HiltzikLos Angeles Times, October 12, 2011

How do you know when a protest movement is starting to scare the pants off the establishment?

One clue is when the protesters are casually dismissed as hippies or rabble, or their principles redefined as class envy or as (that all-purpose insult) “un-American.”

Read full article.

Phi Beta Iota: This is the first mainstream media article we've seen with real intelligence. What is actually happening is that the various groups that have structure to begin with (MoveOn, labor, issue NGOs) are trying desperately to force fit the kind of “demands” or “strategy” that media expects to be spoon-fed; push-back is coming from the original actors, who are reluctant to join anything that reeks of the old structure–and to be perfectly candid, MoveOn, labor, and the NGOs are all accustomed to feeding at the two-party trough and they are frightened out of their wits by a populist uprising they can neither understand nor control. Our best guess is that the groups will generally refuse to engage in policy demands, and go for broke: electoral reform and a constitutional convention, which we rate right now as 55% and 15% probabilities.

2011/10/112011/10/17

Katrina Heuvel: Reshaping US Politics with Moral Clarity

09 Justice, 11 Society, Advanced Cyber/IO, Blog Wisdom, Civil Society, Counter-Oppression/Counter-Dictatorship Practices, Cultural Intelligence, Ethics, Government

Will Occupy Wall Street's Spark Reshape Our Politics?

Katrina vanden Heuvel on October 11, 2011 – 2:21pm ET

Editor’s Note: Each week we cross-post an excerpt from Katrina vanden Heuvel’s column at the WashingtonPost.com. Read the full text of Katrina’s column here.

When the organizers of Occupy Wall Street first gathered to discuss their plan of action, the strategy that resonated most came from those who had occupied squares in Madrid and Athens, Tunis and Cairo. According to David Graeber, one of Occupy Wall Street’s organizers, “they explained that the model that seemed to work was to take something that seemed to be public space, reclaim it, and build up an organization and headquarters around [it].”

Six weeks later, on September 17, the occupation in downtown New York began, with scant attention, minimal and often derisive media coverage, and little expectation that it would light a spark where others had not. Now, in its fourth week, Occupy Wall Street has the quality of an exploding star: It is gathering energy in enormous and potent quantities, and propelling it outward to all corners of the country.

The protesters in the nascent movement have been criticized for being too decentralized and lacking a clear list of demands. But they are bearing witness to the corruption of our politics; if they made demands to those in power, it would suggest those in power could do something about it. This contradicts what is, perhaps, their most compelling point: that our institutions and politicians serve the top 1 percent, not the other 99.

The movement doesn’t need a policy or legislative agenda to send its message. The thrust of what it seeks–fueled both by anger and deep principles–has moral clarity. It wants corporate money out of politics. It wants the widening gap of income inequality to be narrowed substantially. And it wants meaningful solutions to the jobless crisis. In short, it wants a system that works for the 99 percent. Already Occupy Wall Street has sparked a conversation about reforms far more substantial than the stunted debate in Washington. Its energy will supercharge the arduous work other organizations have been doing for years, amplifying their actions as well as their agendas.

Occupy Wall Street is now in more than 800 cities and counting. Each encampment has its own character, from thousands marching in San Francisco to a handful gathering in Boise. These are authentic grassroots operations, so each one will reflect the local culture of protest while reproducing what seems right from the original.

Republicans have reacted bitterly.

Editor’s Note: Read the full text of Katrina’s column here.

#ElectoralReform #OWS Two-Sided Demand Hand-Out

#OccupyWallStreet Rolling Update + US Revolution RECAP

2011/10/112011/10/22

Mini-Me: Katrina vanden Heuvel on Electoral Reform

09 Justice, 11 Society, Advanced Cyber/IO, Civil Society, Counter-Oppression/Counter-Dictatorship Practices, Cultural Intelligence, Ethics, Government, Legislation

Katrina Vanden Heuvel, writer for the Nation was interviewed on Democracy Now and mentioned electoral reform (after Danny Schecter segment) in hopes that it would sprout from/around Occupy Wall Street.

Independent Media Stalwarts Katrina vanden Heuvel & Danny Schechter Speak Out at Occupy Wall Street

Democracy Now!, 11 October 2011

“The moral clarity of this movement is what I think has moved people to get up and walk and be in motion,” says Katrina vanden Heuvel, editor and publisher of The Nation magazine. “And what’s so interesting to me is—I was here last Wednesday for the march to Foley Square—that so many groups, which have been trying to get some energy, are finding the spark in here and coming together.” [includes rush transcript]

QUOTE: “The moral clarity of this movement is what I think has moved people to get up and walk and be in motion,” says Katrina vanden Heuvel, editor and publisher of The Nation magazine. “And what’s so interesting to me is—I was here last Wednesday for the march to Foley Square—that so many groups, which have been trying to get some energy, are finding the spark in here and coming together.” [includes rush transcript]

Phi Beta Iota: Katrina's interview begins at 41:20. A pox on the two-party tyranny–one bird, two wings, same shit. OccupyWallStreet is not just independent, but independent of those who pretend to organize “independents.”

#OccupyWallStreet Rolling Update + US Revolution RECAP

2011/10/112011/10/17

John Robb: Permanent Global Protest #ows

03 Economy, 07 Other Atrocities, 11 Society, Civil Society, Collective Intelligence, Counter-Oppression/Counter-Dictatorship Practices, Cultural Intelligence, Ethics, Hacking, IO Deeds of Peace

JOURNAL: Permanent Protest #ows

One of the most interesting aspects of Occupy Wall Street (#ows) is the work it is doing to set up permanent occupations in EVERY city (over 1,000 locations globally, and growing) of note.

Here's a quick overview:

Navigation of the complex legalities of sleeping/living in an urban, public space (park, square). Every major city has a thicket of regulations in place to prevent people from congregating, let alone sleep overnight.

Defusing provocations from police to prevent more aggressive action. The police made a couple of attempts at provocations already (lots of pepper spray, lots of beatings with batons, and lots of arrests) in NYC. So far, the protesters just took it and didn't fight back.

Acquiring provisions. On-line support has helped the protest acquire many of the food, water, and other items it needs (although its unclear how many locations get anything approaching the level of support seen in NYC).

Food preparation. By keeping the permanent group small, the need for food/food prep stays manageable.
Shelter. Most locations selected prohibit tents. Lots of variants (cardboard, tarps, etc.) have emerged. This is going to be tougher in winter in the northern climes, but not undoable with small numbers of overnight residents.

Defense. Currently, the occupy movement is strictly adhering to the regulations and non-violence to avoid being ejected from their locations. The best medium term defense is a flashmob.

Media. 24x7x365

Local Governance. Open source. Consensus needed. Leaderless (pitch in if something needs doing, but don't assume you are running the show).

A permanent camp in each location means that there is a gathering point for HUGE protests in the future (quick response to shocks/events/etc.). Also, protests that span hundreds or thousands of cities simultaneously.

Pretty cool dynamic developing: a protest Horde?

2011/10/10

John Robb: Bitcoin is surging out of start-up status

03 Economy, 11 Society, Advanced Cyber/IO, Budgets & Funding, Civil Society, Commerce, Commercial Intelligence, Ethics

JOURNAL: Bitcoin is getting past start-up cruft

A Bitcoin wallet ID for me: 18YYkAMVyZVt6gzpZvBEF5RgsJ7aT7a8Yh

Bitcoin, the digital currency system, is starting to mature. As is always the case, maturity isn't based on age (weak correlation) or success level. It's based on experience. More specifically, maturity is based on how many difficulties the system overcomes. The greater or more fiendish the difficulties successfully navigated, the more maturation gained.

Few systems have been through meat grinder of experience as much as bitcoin. From the media to pundits/experts to (the) government to hackers to criminals. Even a bubble! Everyone has taken a shot at it. Despite all of this, it is still trading at around ~ $4. The software is getting better (there is encryption built into the desktop wallet now). The core system remains intact and unbroken despite a huge number of attacks.

Most importantly, people are starting to learn how to handle real/tangible digital cash. Handling digital cash, particularly lots of it, is serious business. It needs to be protected and you can't leave it in the care of anybody you don't trust.

Essentially, bitcoin has repeatedly proven that digital currencies can work in the wild.

NOTE: The most interesting us of bitcoin to me? If it was used as a PLATFORM for private currencies or publicly traded securities rather than as simply as a currency.

2011/10/092011/10/09