Confronting Tyranny and Stupidity -- recent updates

It's been a little over four years since I delivered a brief talk -- "Confronting Tyranny and Stupidity: What Works?" -- for a teach-in on democracy at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute.  The occasion was the abolition of the Faculty Senate at the university.  Much has happened since then, including this, this, and this from recent days. The natives are restless.  My talk was basically about the varieties of oligarchy that have afflicted many world societies and, alas, some contemporary American institutions as well.  (The YouTube video of the first part of the talk streams above.  Part II and Part III can be found here.) 

Dan Froomkin's essay in Nieman Watchdog describes the some of the broader patterns of oligarchy in the country right now, noting the forces now arrayed against the Occupy Wall Street movement.  Quoting political scientist Stanley Winters, he comments:

What this means, Winters says, "is that although U.S. democracy is founded on one-person-one-vote, each oligarch can bring to the political table the dollar impact of 20,000 Americans.  Decisions like Citizens United open the flood gate for oligarchs and their minions in the wealth defense industry to flex the maximum political muscle money can buy.  And that's just in the context of electoral campaigns.  No one is even talking about how the wealth defense industry silently and invisibly benefits American oligarchs every day, year-round."

By contrast, he says: "Anybody who wants to challenge the wealthy, they've got to get rained on, and eventually snowed on, and it means they have to stop whatever they're doing. Ordinary citizens actually have to join organizations and physically be there and participate, to the exclusion of anything else they might do. And that is at tremendous burden."

His conclusion: "This is one of the reasons a very small number of ultra-wealthy Americans can distort democracy in their favor against tens of millions of ordinary citizens."

My talk concludes with some reflections on Barbara Tuchman's wonderful book, The March of Folly, a work that grows in relevance each day.  Here is her optimistic vision of how citizens, leaders and whole societies might begin to dissolve the follies in which they are enmeshed:

"If the mind is open enough to perceive that a given policy is harming rather than serving self-interest, and self-confident enough to acknowledge it, and wise enough to reverse it, that is the summit of the art of government."  
        
             
                    

"Health and Safety" trumps 1st Amendment rights in L.A.

                        Guy Fawkes of Occupy Los Angeles stands in front of L.A. City Hall

Perhaps someone will explain to me why the so-called "liberal" majors of cities across the U.S. have suddenly decided that protecting "public health and safety" outweighs First Amendment protections of "the freedom of speech ...[and] the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances."  Are there worrisome signs of illness at Occupy sites?    Beyond the news of police beating, gassing and pepper spraying demonstrators, is there compelling evidence of danger to public safety?  The sites I've visited have been clean, orderly and welcoming with no signs of disease beyond ordinary autumn sniffling from allergies and colds.  Yet we are led to believe that the encampments are major hazards to our physical well-being.

Here's the crucial part of the statement of Antonio R. Villaraigosa, Mayor of Los Angeles, justifying his order to evict Occupy Los Angeles on Monday.

The Occupy movement is now at a crossroads. The movement faces the question of how it can build on its initial success.  It is a question of whether energy will be consumed to defend a particular patch of earth or whether that energy will be channeled to spreading the message of economic equality and signing more people up for the push to restore the balance to American society.

The encampment in City Hall Park is not sustainable. This is especially true from the standpoint of public health and public safety. Accordingly, we must close, repair and re-open the park to public access. For this reason, we will close the park on Monday, November 28th at 12:01 am. The park closure will include a set of measures that will assist Occupy LA participants to move their personal belongings and property from the park. We will also offer social and health services for those in need.

I am very proud of the fact that since the start of the occupation of City Hall Park, we have done things differently in Los Angeles. We have not stared each other down from opposite sides of barricades and barbed wire. We have communicated. We have listened. We have negotiated. It has allowed us to solve problems peacefully and to avoid the scenes of violence and brutality that have strained the civic fabric of other cities.

It is my hope that we can conclude this first chapter of Occupy LA in a similar spirit. I admire your courage and character. You have opened the eyes of your fellow citizens to the economic hardship in their midst. I am encouraged by your passionate commitment to social justice and look forward to the continued progress of your efforts.

The condescension that drips from this proclamation appears to be an attempt by Mayor Villaraigosa to salvage his reputation and (until now) promising political career at the very moment that he's calling in the riot troopers.  His promise of "health and social services for those in need" will come in handy for those likely to be injured in the tomorrow's melee, since Occupy L.A. has promised to stand firm.  His praise for the his efforts "to avoid the scenes of violence and brutality that have strained the civic fabric of other cities" leaves out an additional phrase -- "until now!"

The flagrant dishonesty of the rationale the Mayor offers has become standard boilerplate in justifications for brutal crackdowns on Occupy Wall Street protests nationwide.  If public health and safety have somehow become America's most urgent problem right now, why are budgets for Medicaid, public health services and local law enforcement being slashed in our towns and cities?

Do us a favor.  Just tell us the real reasons for the arrests, beatings and episodes of political cleansing taking place in America right now. We can handle it  (and make plans accordingly).
                        
                                          
                                   

Science fiction as prophecy: Robocops 2011

Here's a photo of  Portland's finest, the fabulous "first responders" now called out to quash dissent and suppress freedom.  One thing that strikes me is how closely they resemble "Robcop" from the 1987 movie. These costly, disgusting cyborgs and now on parade in dozens of towns, cities and even college campuses  across the U.S., paid for by lavish spending on "homeland security." Is this the image of America's future?

By the way, all of the excited chatter about "hybrids" and "cyborgs" in the humanities and social sciences in recent years helped venerate creatures of this sort. How does it look now, cyborg theorists?

UC Berkeley -- balloon tents and mini-tents defy cops -- Go Bears!

 

I'm proud of my alma mater.  Here's the story.

Quick-thinking #OccupyCal students “pitched” tents in the sky after police cleared their camp at the University of California at Berkeley on Thursday. The students claimed to have circumvented a police order banning them from pitching tents at Sproul Plaza by simply using balloons to float the tents over the plaza. Up to 5,000 students were reported to have been involved in the Occupy protest before 20 tents were dismantled.

Students also set up mini-tents which look a lot like paperback books folded open, stem side up.  Given the fate of books in the hands of police at Liberty Square in New York City, this option will probably not survive.  In America these days, books are for trashing.

                                                   

Big Apple mayor sends warm greetings to Patio Maravillas

 

General Assembly at occupation of Puerta del Sol, May 2011

                      

 

Last night I spoke to an audience at Patio Maravillas, a community center in Madrid where people with interesting political ideas gather.  Firmly established in a lovely old squatted building downtown,  the Patio was one of the places where plans for the May 15 demonstrations in Puerta del Sol were hatched.  

Veteran hacktivist “iokese” (trans: “what-do-I-know?”) invited me to give a talk comparing the movement of the Spanish “indignados” to similar events happening now at Occupy Wall Street sites.  A buzz filled the room as people shared news of the brutal crackdown on the Occupy Wall Street in New York City the night before.  In fact, much of my presentation featured questions and answers about Democracy Now videos of city police clearing the encampment. 

Shortly before I began my remarks, a wonderful surprise message arrived from the honorable Michael Bloomindales, Mayor of New York.  Here’s the full text.

My greetings to members of the flourishing the research center at Patio Maravillas!

I want to extend my most cordial invitation for you to attend the upcoming Grand Opening Ceremony of the newly cleansed and restored Zuccotti Park in the historic Wall Street district of New York.  To help plan your journey, here are some key points to keep in mind.

I know you’re eager to obtain news and photos of the forced eviction of Occupy Wall Street.  Regrettably, for the time being, direct news coverage is forbidden and all reporters have been banned from the site.  We assure you, this is for your own protection.

We New Yorkers take great pride in the right of free speech widely practiced in our fair city. However, as you know, all freedoms have their limits and carry very heavy responsibilities.  In view of your flagrant abuses of free speech in Spain last May, you will be subject to arrest if you venture anywhere near Wall Street.   As an alternative, may I suggest an uplifting afternoon at our world famous Metropolitan Museum of Art or, perhaps, Zabar's?

Another freedom we cherish in our city is the right to be free from searches of one’s person and possessions unless a warrant has been issued by a court of law. To that end we have begun a policy of random police searches of those who visit “Liberty Square.”  I assure you, there is nothing personal here – just random pat downs by our men in blue.  For some in the Patio group, this could be the highlight of your tour!

I understand that books and other written materials have been spotted in Patio Maravillas recently.  The city government of New York has now declared items of this kind a threat to public health and safety.  If you insist upon bringing any books, manifestos, anarchist software, or similar materials to Zuccotti Park, they will be immediately confiscated and taken to the nearest landfill.  We simply cannot risk another epidemic of unconventional ideas here.

As you may have heard, our nation’s Bill of Rights recognizes the “right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.”  The key term here is “peaceably.”  For that reason we have recently instituted occasional beatings of citizens in their assemblies. This step removes any hint of peacefulness and facilitates the difficult work of securing the safety of our streets and sidewalks.  Please keep this in mind if you intend trying anything peaceful during your stay.

Finally, I am pleased to announce that the evictions, kettlings, arrests, beatings, and gassings of both U.S. citizens and visitors will continue until democracy and public order are fully restored and Wall Street can return to business as usual.

I sincerely hope you enjoy your visit to New York City.

Yours truly,

Mike

(not be be confused with the ill-named "people's mike")

    

       

        

                

   

Bull fighting on Wall Street -- los máximos trofeos

As I prepare to go to Madrid to give some talks on the relationships between the events of May 15 in Spain to Occupy Wall Street right now, I've run across a video of a matador and some lively banderilleros at work in a corrida de toros the center of the financial district.  Perhaps because they misunderstand the traditional Spanish pageantry involved, the police come to arrest two of the participants.  However, the brave matador arranges his own victorious salida en hombros, but not on the shoulders of an admiring crowd.

From you friends at Occupy Wall Street -- A good question

I'm flying to Madrid in a couple of days to give talks at Universidad Complutense and participate in a  round table discussion with philosophers, a lawyer and activists in the 15-May and subsequent movements.  I've also been invited to Patio Marvillas, a squatted building that serves as a community center, to share my thoughts on Occupy Wall Street.

Another wonderful community center in the city, Tabacalera, an old tobacco factory dating back to the 18th century, is the subject of an interesting piece, "Fuera de Lugar," by publisher/public intellectual,  Amador Fernández-Savater.  The background here is that the future of Tabacalera, a place alive with social movements, is under a cloud because the conservative Partido Popular is likely to win the upcoming elections and withdraw any funding for the center. 

As I've noted before in these pages, a very easy way to translate articles from Spanish (or any language) into English in rough but readable versions, is to use Google Chrome and its built-in translation program.  When people complain that the translations are not perfect, I respond: "Give me a break!" (or something a little more obscene).

                                                                   
                                                                
                                             

Media meets Occupy Wall Street -- Chris Hedges makes CBC's Kevin O'Leary look stupid

Having spent a little time around the corporate media, I can understand how someone like Kevin O'Leary has a job at all and why he's so puzzled about Occupy Wall Street.  His encounter with Chris Hedges shows an unquestioned worldview under severe stress, totally unable to fathom or respond to the most basic criticisms about the U.S. economic system.  In his confusion, O'Leary resorts to name calling, a bad mistake.

CBC memo to file:  Don't mess with Chris. 

                                     

Statement of the general assembly of Occupy Wall Street in Zuccotti Park

The puzzlement in the mainstream media about the objectives of Occupy Wall Street and other "Occupy" demonstrations reflects a lack of attention, a perhaps, an unwillingness to leave behind the hollow frames of reference that dominate contemporary politics.  On October 7, the general assembly of Occupy Wall Street came to agreement on the proclamation below.  Keith Olbermann read it on his "Countdown" program and Thom Hartmann transcribed it for his web page.  In both style and content, it is reminiscent of another distinctly American document:  The Declaration of Independence.


Statement of the general assembly of Occupy Wall Street in Zuccotti Park:

As we gather together in solidarity to express a feeling of mass injustice we must not lose sight of what brought us together. We write so that all people who feel wronged by the corporate forces of the world can know that we are your allies. As one people, united, we acknowledge the reality that the future of the human race requires the cooperation of its members. That our system must protect our rights, and upon corruption of that system, it is up to the individuals to protect their own rights, and those of their neighbors. That a democratic government derives its just power from the people, but corporations do not seek consent to extract wealth from the people, and the Earth, and that no true democracy is attainable when the process is determined by economic power.
We come to you at a time when corporations -- which place profit over people, self-interest over justice, and oppression over equality -- run our governments. We have peaceably assembled here as is our right to let these facts be known.
They have taken our houses through an illegal foreclosure process, despite not having the original mortgage.
They have taken bailouts from taxpayers with impunity, and continue to give executives exorbitant bonuses.
They have perpetuated inequality and discrimination in workplaces based on age, the color of one's skin, sex, gender identity, and sexual orientation.
They have poisoned the food supply through negligence, and undermined the farming system through monopolization.
They have profited off the torture, confinement, and cruel treatment of countless animals, and actively hide these practices.
They have continuously sought to strip employees of the right to negotiate for better pay and safer working conditions.
They have held students hostage with tens of thousands of dollars of debt on education, which is, itself, a human right.
They have consistently outsourced labor and used that outsourcing as leverage to cut worker's health care and pay.
They have influenced the courts to achieve the same rights as people with none of the culpability or responsibility.
They have spent millions of dollars on legal teams, but look for ways to get them out of contracts in regards to health insurance.
They have sold our privacy as a commodity.
They have used the military and police force to prevent freedom of the press.
They have deliberately declined to recall faulty products, endangering lives in pursuit of profit.
They determine economic policy despite the catastrophic failures their policies have produced and continue to produce.
They have donated large sums of money to politicians, who are responsible for regulating them.
They continue to block alternate forms of energy to keep us dependent on oil.
They continue to block generic forms of medicine that could save people's lives, or provide relief in order to protect investments that have
already turned a substantial profit.
They have purposely covered up oil spills, accidents, faulty bookkeeping, and inactive ingredients in pursuit of profit.
They purposefully kept people misinformed and fearful through their control of the media.
They have accepted private contracts to murder prisoners, even when presented with serious doubts about their guilt.
They have perpetuated colonialism at home and abroad.
They have participated in the torture and murder of innocent civilians overseas.
They continue to create weapons of mass destruction in order to receive government contracts.
To the people of the world,
We, the New York City general assembly occupying Wall Street in Liberty Square, urge you to assert your power.
Exercise your right to peaceably assemble, occupy public space, create a process to address the problems we face, and generate solutions accessible to everyone.
To all communities that take action and form groups in the spirit of direct democracy, we offer support, documentation, and all of the resources at our disposal.
Join us and make your voices heard.

            
                       
            

My favorite story from Occupy Wall Street

The mainstream press and the undercover cops know there just has to be "a leader" for the Occupy Wall Street and other Occupy protests.  The best story I've read about this comes from an essay by Chris Hedges, "Why Corporate Elites Should Be Petrified by Occupy Wall Street." The story is told by Ketchup, a twenty-two year old woman from Chicago who's active in the Zuccotti Park demonstrations.

“The undercover cops are the only ones who ask, ‘Who’s the leader?’ ” she said. “Presumably, if they know who our leaders are they can take them out. The fact is we have no leader. There’s no leader, so there’s nothing they can do.

“There was a woman [in the medics unit]. This guy was pretending to be a reporter. The first question he asks is, ‘Who’s the leader?’ She goes, ‘I’m the leader.’ And he says, ‘Oh yeah, what are you in charge of?’ She says, ‘I’m in a charge of everything.’ He says, ‘Oh yeah? What’s your title?’ She says ‘God.’ ”

  
   
      

We Are the 99 Percent

An extraordinary site for direct, personal comments and photos about America's predicament is We Are the 99 Percent.   The stories are diverse in content, enough to make you cry.

Best Occupy Wall Street photo so far

I believe this will go down in history as a classic photo from the ongoing Occupy Wall Street demonstrations.  It reminds me of some of the pictures that galvanized public opinion during the Vietnam War period.

My source for the photo is here.

From Puerta del Sol to Occupy Wall Street -- a movement spreads

                                  One of the 99% at Liberty Square, NY City, October 1, 2011

The rapidly changing situations at the Occupy Wall Street and other Occupy sites around the country have some interesting similarities not only to the widespread upheavals of the Arab Spring (and summer, fall...) but also to continuing mass protests in Spain which began at Puerta del Sol on May 15.  I have no special grasp of the direction or significance of these unfolding events.  But here are some scattered observations from my visit to Liberty Square in New York last Saturday and from recent readings and conversations.

1.  The perception that 99% of the USA is victimized by the wealthy 1% is growing throughout the country, topic of widespread discussion in the press and on the Internet.  Hence, the name the New York demonstrators have chosen -- “the 99%” – is appropriate and resonant.

2.  The corporate news media is upset, reduced to babbling incoherence, when faced with the mystery of  “Who are they?” and “What do they want”?  Evidently, citizens gathering together to bear  witness to an obviously dysfunctional economic and political system is not sufficient to merit coverage and comment.

3.  As in Spain, there are “General Assemblies” in the plazas of the Occupy gatherings.   Demands and proposals evolve from these ongoing discussions.  Because the processes of debate, deliberation, and decision-making are “horizontal” rather than top/down “vertical”, mainstream journalists and pundits simply cannot understand how agreements arise.  These seem similar to the circles of debate I saw in Madrid last June, ones still going strong well past 11:00 pm in some neighborhoods.  This is the reinvention of public space.

4.  Celebrities are flocking to the sites of protest, Michael Moore and Cornell West, for example, but are by no means the “leaders” the media hopes to identify.  As in Spain, there are people who take on specific commitments – the “legal team,” “media team,” etc.  But this is deliberately not a step toward the selection  or even self-selection of “leaders.”

5.  The police ban on electronic amplification has actually played to the advantage of the protestors because they have invented the “The People’s Microphone”  in which people loudly repeat the words of the speaker so they can be heard on the periphery.

6.  Protests are spreading and their size seems to be growing.  This coming Wednesday is Occupy Colleges day in the U.S.  Students will walk out of classes and off campus.  Here’s a report from my alma mater, U.C. Berkeley, in The Daily Californian:

“ Occupy Colleges — a movement that stemmed from Occupy Wall Street — is calling for a national campus walkout Wednesday at 12 p.m. to protest rising college debt and a lack of jobs for graduate

“Do not go to school. Go fight for yours and everybody else’s rights at Occupy Wall Street, Occupy Los Angeles or your nearest Occupation. The time is now to join our fellow %99!” stated Occupy College on its Facebook page.

7.  As I noted in an earlier post, it seems as if the protests have begun use novel forms of software, e.g., Vibe instead of Twitter.   Net video sites also present live streams and video archives of events.  To some extent this makes up for the media blackout of Occupy events.  If software, online communication and face-to-face gatherings achieve synergy -- watch out!

8.  Gatherings and demonstrations in this genre are self-policing, effectively so far. .  For example, people who gather in Liberty Square in New York to avoid possession or use of alcohol and drugs in the park.

9.  The press and a scornful public decry the presence of “smelly hippies” and unsightly places where then sit, lie down and sleep.  This is a self-fulfilling prophecy, however.  The police have banned tents, camping equipment and other facilities that would otherwise keep protest sites clean and neat. And from what I saw, Liberty Square volunteer janitors are doing a good job.

 

10.  As in Spain and the “No les votes” (Don’t vote for them) campaign, Elections and “one’s vote” now seem much less important than previously.  The 99% recognized that the political parties, the ruling elites and political leaders (including Obama) no longer understand their needs and do not even begin to represent them.   They express a common question:  Are these the best leaders our nation can produce?  Much like the “indignados,” the Occupy Wall Street and similar strands of the movement will probably continue voting, but will look for new ways of participating and applying pressure.

11.  While no one is talking about the movement in exactly these terms yet, actions of this may carry some of the pungent force of Vietnam War protests.  “What are we doing?  We’re raising the costs of your goddam war.”  In this case:  “We are raising the costs of the economic devastation our ‘leaders’ have caused.”

12.  As in Europe, creating an economy in which there are millions of young people unemployed with no jobs in sight is a formula for social unrest.   My placard for Liberty Square might read: 

America take notice – We’ve Got a LOT of Time on Our Hands!