There was no upside to taking over the lot at 19th and Telegraph. (As of early Sun AM) the cops have already easily cleared it. There was no way an encampment could be estabished there (even if a camp could be established and the lot held, it would have been a detriment to the movement, not a benefit).
After a positive peaceful march, OO again short-sightedly undermined itself (it’s a smaller scale version of the great Port march and misguided Traveler’s building takeover). The majority of the area’s residents and small merchants probably supported the movement’s intent, but now they’re rightfully questioning whether OO is savvy enough to further the movement or perhaps they’re pissed off and have written off OO. The same goes for other movement supporters and participants.
OO has demonstrated amazing energy, resolve, and ingenuity, but its primary weaknesses include a lack of a broader strategic focus and a lack of critical self-analysis, which hurts the movement. This is evident in several of its decisions and actions (e.g. the two takeovers, not opposing and working to minimize destructive behavior, refusing to talk with the City and the media until recently, OO culture dominated by machismo).
Before making any decision or statement, the question that should be thoroughly discussed is: will it help to grow the movement. Such discussions are impossible at GAs, however, because the format limits in-depth dialogue. Decisions are made after only brief pros and cons. Such a process does not allow for needed discussion, let alone understanding, of the broader impacts.There are many positive aspects of GAs, but the current format results in decisions made primarily on emotion, not objectivity.
The outcome of the movement’s fight against the establishment will be determined by whether enough power has been developed, how that power is used, and whether the movement is long-lasting. For Occupy, power is primarily about increasing the number of its supporters and participants far beyond current numbers. This must happen if the movement is to be successful.
Success means reversing current trends so that ordinary people are better fed, housed, cared for, educated, and employed. Success ultimately means dismantling plutocracy and cannibalistic capitalism, and building a system based on participatory democracy and economics that is humane, equitable, and ecologically sustainable.
Everything that the Occupy movement does should be done with the primary (but not exclusive) goal of growing the movement.
Proposal: OO should:
- Adopt a resolution that growing the movement is a top priority goal and assess all actions with regards to whether it helps achieve that goal or not.
- Restructure GA meetings to allow for in-depth discussion and analysis of key issues.
- Establish or encourage the establishment of a strategic planning committee.
I want to start a group to discuss Occupying Political Action. I believe there are concrete steps that Occupy Oakland can be taking to bring about real and lasting change in our community. I feel that I am not alone in wanting Occupy Oakland to come up with goals and to take steps to realize these them. I think that it has become necessary to engage local political groups, the media, for-profit, and non-profit entities so that we may have our collective grievances addressed.
This is purely a discussion group! We would not work autonomously from Occupy Oakland. Instead we would work together to propose ideas in order to guide Occupy Oakland towards becoming more politically engaged with the world that exists outside of the GA bubble.
I would like to meet Tuesdays @730PM at Le Bateau Ivre located on the corner of Telegraph and Carleton, across from Andronico’s 2629 Telegraph Ave, Berkeley, California.http://www.lebateauivre.net/
Please join me for some coffee and democracy.
There was zero upside to taking over the lot at 19th and Telegraph, yet more than 90% of GA attendees voted for it. What does that indicate? 1) Collective cluelessness; 2) The dominant energy at OO GAs is a macho, cowboy, take-no-prisoners one*, which, I believe, pulls more moderate perspectives into that vortex; 3) As long as that remains the dominant vibe, OO will continue to endorse short-sighted, counterproductive actions and oppose ones (like opposing destructive behavior), which hurts the broader movement (as well as endorse helpful ones, such as peaceful marches).
(* This is the same as Bush’s “we’ll smoke them out of their caves” attitude, just from the opposite political perspective, but is equally full of shit and harmful, e.g., ”fuck the police”, “Gandhi was a misogynist prick;” that attitude will really get folks on our side; “takeover the building and turn it into a community center,” what are you smoking bro, pass that blunt over here.)
David: I’ve been to several GAs (as I thought was apparent from my comments), as I said: the GA format doesn’t allow for in-depth discussion about proposals. Thirty seconds per speaker on pros and cons, immediately followed by votes taken on scant input and abundant emotions is a recipe for short-sighted decisions.
Small group discussions (which I’ve been part of) are helpful, but: 1) they don’t address the issues for the proposals to be heard at that GA that evening (at least not in the meetings I’ve been to) and 2) one small group discussion is inadequate to address important issues.
I also believe OO GA attendees aren’t representative of the broader Occupy supporters in the area. How to get those folks to attend to balance the folks who seemingly are always in attack mode (which often alienates folks who would otherwise support) is a significant structural problem.
The stakes are huge: the broader Occupy movement is the last best chance to prevent economic and environmental collapse. If OO can’t get its shit together, hopefully it won’t infect the movement in general.
These are all good ideas to consider, and I really urge you to start coming to the GAs and make the change you believe in happen. We do not only vote after brief pros/cons, quite often there is also a break into smaller discussion groups where I have seen a lot of the very best ideas and knowledge and perspective being shared.