Now that the labor unions have joined the General Assembly (an amorphous ever changing coalition of the concerned across the Republic), the way is open to begin focusing on what is to be done in the next six months.
My view of the Core Message:
CORRUPTION is the common enemy, both in government and in the private sector.
Merit. Be right. Non-violence and moral conduct at all times is vital UNLESS attacked illegally, at that point you “rush and crush.” Offer Truth & Reconciliation, not revenge and certainly not confiscation of assets outside the rule of law. The point here is to achieve a “cease and desist” on government corruption and financial terrorism.
Message. Electoral Reform
Money. Big Bat for the Republic. 25 million times $10 is $250 million. 50 million times $20 is 1 billion. 100 million times $40 is 4 billion. Wall Street cannot match a public combination of money and mass.
Means. Use mass power on individual Senators and Representatives. Any Senator, any Representative, and any Governor that fails to introduce Electoral Reform Act for national and state passage should be toast–run out of office. Create coalition cabinets and balanced budgets at every level from zip code and municipality to county, state, bio-region, and national.
This is an updated version of the 2002 original, “Citizen in Search of a Leader.” We are now in Epoch B. Instead of leaders, we need facilitators, and the leadership comes from within the larger collective as it achieves ethical transparent consensus.
Summary of Qualifications
America needs a facilitator that is balanced, thoughtful, integrative, supportive of dissent and debate, and above all, educated enough to craft a national strategy for security and prosperity that will stand the test of time. I want a facilitator who is at least as committed to the future of my children as to the passing security and prosperity of the moment. Individuals obsessing on being elected or re-elected need not apply.
In my view as a citizen, there are four areas where the right individual, as a team builder rather than a personal icon, could help America restore its balance. These four areas are: 1) electoral reform, 2) intelligence reform, 3) global issues & national security reform, and 4) governance reform inclusive of corporate ethics and accountability.
I would sum up the objective of all four reform initiatives with the phrase: “Creating a Smart Nation,Of, By, and For the People.”
Along with a lot of other people, I've been wondering what's going on with Occupy Wall Street. Although it obviously shares energy with the Wisconsin occupation and Arab Spring, its mix of persistence and lack of demands makes it a puzzle, dragging it right out of the usual boxes we think with. It gets under the skin like a disturbingly peaceful ongoing Stonewall riot or something…
I've been trying to sort it out because Occupy Wall Street's sibling, the October2011DC occupation, is imminent. Should I go there? Will it be a watershed “trigger event” I shouldn't miss if I want to weave my ideas, visions, and life energy into its impact on the world?
About a week ago I decided not to go. I'm trying to focus on writing a book on empowered public wisdom. But every day I feel more ironic. I mean, isn't that what I'm seeing?! How old fashioned is it to focus on a book when exuberant Transformational Aliveness is exploding before my very eyes! Nevertheless, I'm sticking to my decision. At least I think I am.
I've read a few brilliant articles about Occupy Wall Street that dig deeper than the usual commentaries from the Left, Right, Center and Alpha Centauri. Two this morning – here and here – stimulated the bloggy response you are currently reading. But I don't know whether any of these analyses – including my own – are correct. But then again, is “correct” what's going on here?
My own tentative take is that Occupy Wall Street – and perhaps each of its offsprings and siblings – is a catalytic butterfly. “Catalytic” because a catalyst makes big things possible, easier, and faster without, itself, seeming to do or change much. “Butterfly” because the “butterfly effect” arises in complex, chaotic systems like 21st century global civilization – and any given small flap may (unpredictably, depending on circumstances) generate hurricane-stimulating power. My own suspicion is that important things will happen because Occupy Wall Street is happening. But they probably won't be anything that Occupy Wall Street is trying to make happen.
This type of protest has been very effective over the last year in toppling regimes in north Africa. It's proving relatively successful in the US too.
Open source protest is an organizational technique. Probably the only organizational technique that can assemble a massive crowd in today's multiplexed environment. Essential rules of open source protest include:
A promise. A simple goal/idea that nearly everyone can get behind. Adbusters did pretty good with “occupy wall street.” Why? Nearly everyone hates the pervasive corruption of banks and Wall Street. It's an easy target.
A plausible promise. Prove that the promise can work. They did. They actually occupied Wall Street and set up camp. They then got the message out.
A big tent and an open invitation. It doesn't matter what your reason for protesting is as long as you hate/dislike Wall Street. The big tent is already in place (notice the diversity of the signage). Saw something similar from the Tea Party before it was mainstreamed/diminished.
Let everyone innovate. Don't create a leadership group. The general assembly approach appears to work.
Support anyone in a leadership role that either a) grows the movement or b) advances the movement closer to its goal. Oppose (ignore) anybody that proposes a larger, more complex agenda or those that claim ownership over the movement.
If a new technique works, document it, use it again, and share it with everyone else. Copy everything that works.
Spread the word of the movement as widely as possible.
That's the gist of it.
What's the real goal of this protest? Frankly, it's probably a recognition that the center of power in the US doesn't reside in Washington anymore. It's on Wall Street. This protest dispenses with the middle men (the US government) and goes straight after the real power.
My guess is that the Adbuster team that launched this open source protest felt that an October financial meltdown was possible, hence the September start-date. If the meltdown does occur, this movement is going to go global, just at the moment when the banks are going to be at their most vulnerable. Regardless, this effort is going to set the groundwork for a fast launch in the future when the next financial meltdown occurs.
What's the big picture? Global guerrillas are getting better at building open source protests. We are going to see more and they are likely to become a prominent feature of the geopolitical landscape. It will also be interesting to see if open source protests could end up taking down a Too Big To Fail bank (i.e. Goldman) or a US President in the next 5 years. That would be very cool to see.
Phi Beta Iota: Goldman Sachs could be destroyed by liquidation in the face of government claims starting with Greece. All evidence points to the high likelihood that Goldman Sachs as an institution, and its partner-owners, will be bankrupted by legitimate documented claims. What the OccupyWallStreet movement can do is bring down the two-party tyranny and restore integrity to the US electoral system. As we have been saying for some time, there is nothing wrong with America that cannot be fixed quickly by restoring the integrity of the electoral system, and hence of the government. This is what we see when we look at Day of Rage and OccupyWallStreet:
CORRUPTION is the common enemy, both in government and in the private sector.
This is the most important decision in your career (or even your day).
It didn't used to be. What next used to be a question answered by your boss or your clients.
With so many opportunities and so many constraints, successfully picking what to do next is your moment of highest leverage. It deserves more time and attention than most people give it.
If you're not willing to face the abyss of choice, you will almost certainly not spend enough time dancing with opportunity.
Maureen Dowd writes about Roger Ebert’s memoir, and about the disfiguring surgical failures that have rendered him unable to speak, eat, or drink – the lower half of his face is pretty much gone. Despite this, Ebert is “effervescent” but overly detailed in accounts of his early life. However he has great stories to tell, and he nails the movie industry:
“Hollywood dialogue was once witty, intelligent, ironic, poetic, musical,” he says. “Today it is flat.” He mourns that “it sometimes seems as if the movies are more mediocre than ever, more craven and cowardly, more skillfully manufactured to pander to the lowest tastes instead of educating them.”
Found this while browing, in comments to Robert Ringer's Triumph of the Lie, itself worth reading.
Doug Casey .. Douglas “Doug” Casey is an American-born free market economist, best-selling financial author, and international investor and entrepreneur.
Gerald Celente .. Gerald Celente is an American trend forecaster, publisher of the Trends Journal, business consultant and author who makes predictions about the global financial markets and other events of historical importance.
Bob Chapman .. Bob Chapman publishes International Forecaster, and brings to bear a lifetime of trading experience in gold and silver.
Bill Fleckenstein .. William A. Fleckenstein is president of Fleckenstein Capital, a money management firm based in Seattle. He writes a daily Market Rap column for his Web site, Fleckensteincapital.com, as well as the popular column Contrarian Chronicles for MSN Money.
