Been really swamped with grading lately but today I am home with a flu bug, thus find myself with enough time to post a few links. In no particular order, these are some of the news headlines for the past few days. Of course, the conspiracy theorist in me wonders if there's rhyme or reason to some of them, or are they all just disconnected threads pulling our world in a coincidental direction?
1) President Obama announces that some U.S. troops will now begin rotation at a base in Australia, so as to shore up the U.S. presence in the Asia Pacific theater. Even as soldiers are leaving Iraq, they don't really get to come on home. http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2011-11-17/obama-says-u-s-troops-in-australia-will-keep-asia-pacific-region-secure.html
2) The Congressional Super Committee, which is charged with cutting the deficit by $1.2 trillion dollars, announces that it's deadlocked over the issue of revenues. http://www.cnn.com/2011/11/21/politics/super-committee/index.html
3) UC Davis students are pepper sprayed while seated during a peaceful protest against high tuition costs. http://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/world-wide-mind/201111/the-turning-point-the-moral-example-uc-davis-students
4) A bill was introduced into Congress to stop those same members of Congress from trading in the stock market on information they gained from their position in government. http://www.thenewamerican.com/usnews/politics/9864-stock-act-banning-congress-from-insider-trading-is-revived
5) Newt Gingrich is rising in the polls in an effort to beat Mitt Romney for the GOP nomination for president of the United States. http://www.usatoday.com/news/politics/story/2011-11-20/newt-gingrich-tops-republican-field/51324928/1?csp=ip
6) Cairo's streets look more like a war zone than ever before and youth unemployment hovers around 25%. http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/45383062/ns/world_news-mideast_n_africa/
7) Spain becomes the third country in two weeks to replace its head of state in response to the Euro crisis and still the debt problem is not resolved. http://www.nytimes.com/2011/11/22/business/global/signs-mount-that-european-debt-crisis-is-spreading.html
8) Iran continues to develop nuclear capability. http://www.usatoday.com/news/world/story/2011-11-21/iran-sanctions-nuclear-program/51337204/1
9) The Japanese yen is beginning to be viewed as a currency safe haven against the euro, which is something I predicted back on 6 August 2011 http://pinnaclesandthepedestrian.blogspot.com/2011/08/fighting-decline.html . http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2011-11-21/japan-s-exports-fall-more-than-estimated-as-yen-gains-europe-curb-demand.html#
10) A young man from Hawaii makes a videosong about Occupy http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xq3BYw4xjxE&feature=player_embedded
Showing posts with label Occupy Together; Occupy Sacramento; Millennials; Occupy Wall Street. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Occupy Together; Occupy Sacramento; Millennials; Occupy Wall Street. Show all posts
Monday, November 21, 2011
Sunday, October 16, 2011
I Didn't Write This: Sarah Van Gelder Did, But It's Worth Repeating
Here are 10 recommendations for ways to build the power and momentum of this movement. Only two of them involve sleeping outside:
1. Show up at the occupied space near you.
Use this link to find the Facebook page of an occupation near you. If you can, bring a tent or tarp and sleeping bag, and stay. Or just come for a few hours. Talk to people, participate in a General Assembly, hold a sign, help serve food. Learn about the new world being created in the occupied spaces.
2. Start your own occupation.
Use this Meetup site. Or call together friends, members of your faith group, school, or community group. Reach out to people from parts of your community you don't normally work with. Unexpected alliances keep the movement from getting labeled as partisan or representing only some people.
3. Support those who are occupying.
Most sites need food, warm clothes, blankets, tarps, sleeping bags, communications gear, and money. Many need people to do loads of laundry, to help with medical care, to provide legal support, to serve food, and to spread the word. Some people call in pizza orders from nearby vendors. Support the folks at Liberty Square in New York here, or check in with your local occupiers to see what they need.
4. Speak out. Get into the debates and the teach-ins.
Many occupation sites have workshops and discussions on critical issues of our time. Get into the discussion. Bring your expertise and reading materials to share. YES! Magazine is offering free copies of the current New Livelihood issue to occupied sites (request them by emailing JobsIssue@yesmagazine.org). Bring the discussions to other groups you are part of. Listen to perspectives you haven't heard before. This process represents a critical, but under-reported side of the movement: People are shifting from being passive, frustrated observers of politics to active, powerful players. Instead of waiting for our leaders to do the right thing, people from all walks of life are becoming leaders. It makes us unstoppable.
5. Share your story.
Post how you're part of the 99 percent on Facebook, Twitter, blogs, or in print. Through this movement, people are discovering others who are also losing jobs and homes, who are overwhelmed by debt or working a dead-end job. Through this sharing, humiliation turns into compassion and self-respect. And it builds understanding of the sources and the impacts of our crisis: A Wall Street system that funnels wealth to the top 1 percent is leaving the rest of us behind. Community plus insight makes us powerful.
6. Be the media.
Show up with your video recorder, camera phone, or laptop and share the stories of the occupation. You can download a selection of posters donated by graphic designers and spread them around. Highlight the human dimension of the protests. It is harder for critics to disparage a movement when people see the faces of those involved.
7. Name the meaning of this moment.
What will make the world better for the 99 percent? How has the power of the 1 percent gotten in the way of your hopes and dreams? Make a sign, write a blog, update your Facebook page, or speak out on the issue that means the most to you. Include the phrase, "I am the 99 percent."
8. Insist that public officials treat the occupations with respect.
The eviction of the Liberty Square occupation on Wall Street was averted by massive public resistance from those in the square and from others. Other occupations also need support. The 99 percent don't have the money, political access, and media empires of the 1 percent; the occupations are one of the few ways we are building power. Ask your local officials to respect people's right to assembly.
9. Study and teach nonviolent techniques.
There are many examples of outside provocateurs who spark violent incidents that can discredit nonviolent movements such as this. The corporate media is hungry for violent images. (There's already been an example of an admitted provocateur from the right-wing American Spectator who provoked pepper spraying at the National Air & Space Museum). Learn how to lovingly and firmly interrupt and contain violence, and teach what you know. Here are some resources.
10. Be resilient.
This movement is here for the long term. Some efforts may fade because of cold weather or harsh police responses. Others may self-destruct through faulty process or violent outbreaks. The movement may be idealistic, but it won't be ideal. Don't get disillusioned; the demand for a society that serves the 99 percent won't go away. The movement may morph, but it has become unstoppable. Help it evolve.
The genie is out of the bottle. People will no longer accept the systematic transfer of wealth and power from we the people to the 1 percent. In this remarkable, leaderless movement, each one of the 99 percent who gets involved helps shape history.
Sarah van Gelder is co-founder and executive editor of YES! Magazine, a national, nonprofit media organization that fuses powerful ideas with practical actions.
1. Show up at the occupied space near you.
Use this link to find the Facebook page of an occupation near you. If you can, bring a tent or tarp and sleeping bag, and stay. Or just come for a few hours. Talk to people, participate in a General Assembly, hold a sign, help serve food. Learn about the new world being created in the occupied spaces.
2. Start your own occupation.
Use this Meetup site. Or call together friends, members of your faith group, school, or community group. Reach out to people from parts of your community you don't normally work with. Unexpected alliances keep the movement from getting labeled as partisan or representing only some people.
3. Support those who are occupying.
Most sites need food, warm clothes, blankets, tarps, sleeping bags, communications gear, and money. Many need people to do loads of laundry, to help with medical care, to provide legal support, to serve food, and to spread the word. Some people call in pizza orders from nearby vendors. Support the folks at Liberty Square in New York here, or check in with your local occupiers to see what they need.
4. Speak out. Get into the debates and the teach-ins.
Many occupation sites have workshops and discussions on critical issues of our time. Get into the discussion. Bring your expertise and reading materials to share. YES! Magazine is offering free copies of the current New Livelihood issue to occupied sites (request them by emailing JobsIssue@yesmagazine.org). Bring the discussions to other groups you are part of. Listen to perspectives you haven't heard before. This process represents a critical, but under-reported side of the movement: People are shifting from being passive, frustrated observers of politics to active, powerful players. Instead of waiting for our leaders to do the right thing, people from all walks of life are becoming leaders. It makes us unstoppable.
5. Share your story.
Post how you're part of the 99 percent on Facebook, Twitter, blogs, or in print. Through this movement, people are discovering others who are also losing jobs and homes, who are overwhelmed by debt or working a dead-end job. Through this sharing, humiliation turns into compassion and self-respect. And it builds understanding of the sources and the impacts of our crisis: A Wall Street system that funnels wealth to the top 1 percent is leaving the rest of us behind. Community plus insight makes us powerful.
6. Be the media.
Show up with your video recorder, camera phone, or laptop and share the stories of the occupation. You can download a selection of posters donated by graphic designers and spread them around. Highlight the human dimension of the protests. It is harder for critics to disparage a movement when people see the faces of those involved.
7. Name the meaning of this moment.
What will make the world better for the 99 percent? How has the power of the 1 percent gotten in the way of your hopes and dreams? Make a sign, write a blog, update your Facebook page, or speak out on the issue that means the most to you. Include the phrase, "I am the 99 percent."
8. Insist that public officials treat the occupations with respect.
The eviction of the Liberty Square occupation on Wall Street was averted by massive public resistance from those in the square and from others. Other occupations also need support. The 99 percent don't have the money, political access, and media empires of the 1 percent; the occupations are one of the few ways we are building power. Ask your local officials to respect people's right to assembly.
9. Study and teach nonviolent techniques.
There are many examples of outside provocateurs who spark violent incidents that can discredit nonviolent movements such as this. The corporate media is hungry for violent images. (There's already been an example of an admitted provocateur from the right-wing American Spectator who provoked pepper spraying at the National Air & Space Museum). Learn how to lovingly and firmly interrupt and contain violence, and teach what you know. Here are some resources.
10. Be resilient.
This movement is here for the long term. Some efforts may fade because of cold weather or harsh police responses. Others may self-destruct through faulty process or violent outbreaks. The movement may be idealistic, but it won't be ideal. Don't get disillusioned; the demand for a society that serves the 99 percent won't go away. The movement may morph, but it has become unstoppable. Help it evolve.
The genie is out of the bottle. People will no longer accept the systematic transfer of wealth and power from we the people to the 1 percent. In this remarkable, leaderless movement, each one of the 99 percent who gets involved helps shape history.
Sarah van Gelder is co-founder and executive editor of YES! Magazine, a national, nonprofit media organization that fuses powerful ideas with practical actions.
Sunday, October 9, 2011
Occupy Sacramento: Doing My Part
For several days now I have been following the Occupy Wall Street movement with interest and sympathy. My interest stems from trying to understand what they are saying, and the sympathy comes from realizing that the country we have become is not the country we once were when I was a kid.
It would appear that young people realize our political, economic, spiritual and social trajectory is not sustainable and they are engaged enough in a vision of the future that they want to do something about it. To me, that's cool and I support them in their efforts.
A few pieces of information that seem relevant to consider.
First, there are about 312 million people in the United States right now. About 92 million of them are called Millennials. That's young people born between 1982 - 2003. They consist of nearly 1 out of every 3 persons in this country. Although half of them are still not yet adults, many of them are and they are beginning to throw their demographic weight around. Occupy Wall Street is just an early expression of the ways in which Millennials are bringing their power to bear on American society. I cannot wait to see what else they will do to shape their future.
Second, the Millennials of the U.S. mirror the Millennials of the world. They are steeped in technology, not because it's new and exciting like it is for some of the older generations, but because they have literally grown up with it and view it as a natural part of their existence. Furthermore, global numbers of this generation are as astounding as the U.S. numbers. As the planet's population reaches 7 billion, nearly 60% of the world's population are under the age of 40. Thus they are "history’s largest and most interconnected population of young people . . . transforming global politics and culture" ever known to the human race. In short, it's an exciting time to be alive!
Third, the vision Millennials have for their world may not look much like the vision older folks have about the world. The perspective is different because Millennials have many more decades in front of them, while the rest of us can count the decades before us on one hand. Also, they are a cooperative, collaborative bunch who LIKE to work together to get things done. This attitude shapes their world view in important ways. Rugged individualism is not part of Millennial make-up. A go-it-alone personal responsibility narrative does resonate for the young people today. They thrive on working problems together. They like to help each other out. They are a gregarious bunch. Thus, when they say they want to occupy public spaces in order to get the attention of authorities, it's because they see collective action as the key to their success. It's a signature trait of this generation's personality.
Finally, because of the Millennials' heft in population, it would do some of us old cats a bit of good to pay attention to what they are saying rather than just disregard them out of hand. To do the latter will be a recipe for irrelevance. Older generations can do one of three things: watch them passively without offering mature guidance, dismiss them as lazy and on the fringe, or embrace them and assist them through mentoring that comes from experience. Frankly, I choose the latter so as to have some semblance of influence on this, our 21st century's most powerful generation.
All of that frames my trip to downtown Sacramento today. You see, on Thursday last week, this region saw the birth of an Occupy Sacramento movement in the spirit of Occupy Wall Street. Figuring I needed to see what they were up to, and realizing that the media was not adequately covering this movement, I decided to see for myself. And so, this afternoon, I headed down to Cesar Chavez Plaza for a little look around. These are the things I saw:
It would appear that young people realize our political, economic, spiritual and social trajectory is not sustainable and they are engaged enough in a vision of the future that they want to do something about it. To me, that's cool and I support them in their efforts.
A few pieces of information that seem relevant to consider.
First, there are about 312 million people in the United States right now. About 92 million of them are called Millennials. That's young people born between 1982 - 2003. They consist of nearly 1 out of every 3 persons in this country. Although half of them are still not yet adults, many of them are and they are beginning to throw their demographic weight around. Occupy Wall Street is just an early expression of the ways in which Millennials are bringing their power to bear on American society. I cannot wait to see what else they will do to shape their future.
Second, the Millennials of the U.S. mirror the Millennials of the world. They are steeped in technology, not because it's new and exciting like it is for some of the older generations, but because they have literally grown up with it and view it as a natural part of their existence. Furthermore, global numbers of this generation are as astounding as the U.S. numbers. As the planet's population reaches 7 billion, nearly 60% of the world's population are under the age of 40. Thus they are "history’s largest and most interconnected population of young people . . . transforming global politics and culture" ever known to the human race. In short, it's an exciting time to be alive!
Third, the vision Millennials have for their world may not look much like the vision older folks have about the world. The perspective is different because Millennials have many more decades in front of them, while the rest of us can count the decades before us on one hand. Also, they are a cooperative, collaborative bunch who LIKE to work together to get things done. This attitude shapes their world view in important ways. Rugged individualism is not part of Millennial make-up. A go-it-alone personal responsibility narrative does resonate for the young people today. They thrive on working problems together. They like to help each other out. They are a gregarious bunch. Thus, when they say they want to occupy public spaces in order to get the attention of authorities, it's because they see collective action as the key to their success. It's a signature trait of this generation's personality.
Finally, because of the Millennials' heft in population, it would do some of us old cats a bit of good to pay attention to what they are saying rather than just disregard them out of hand. To do the latter will be a recipe for irrelevance. Older generations can do one of three things: watch them passively without offering mature guidance, dismiss them as lazy and on the fringe, or embrace them and assist them through mentoring that comes from experience. Frankly, I choose the latter so as to have some semblance of influence on this, our 21st century's most powerful generation.
All of that frames my trip to downtown Sacramento today. You see, on Thursday last week, this region saw the birth of an Occupy Sacramento movement in the spirit of Occupy Wall Street. Figuring I needed to see what they were up to, and realizing that the media was not adequately covering this movement, I decided to see for myself. And so, this afternoon, I headed down to Cesar Chavez Plaza for a little look around. These are the things I saw:
 |
 |
| A modest turnout of youthful and used to be youthful individuals |
 |
| Some creative signage |
 |
| Some provocative signage |
 |
| Some interesting concepts |
 |
| Some athletic juxtaposition |
 |
| Some clearly stated needs |
 |
| Some throw back to the 1960s |
For more information about Occupy Sacramento, they have a website, a livestream and a Facebook page. Here's more information about the Occupy Together movement, including the planned Global Occupy on October 15.
Here's to catching the youth's vision!
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