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Sarah Maslin Nir the American Journalist and staff reporter for The New York Times has published an article titled ‘Storm Effort Causes a Rift in a Shifting Occupy Movement’ in which she states “Not long ago, the Occupy Wall Street movement seemed poised to largely fade from the national conversation with few concrete accomplishments beyond introducing its hallmark phrase, “We are the 99 percent.” Then Hurricane Sandy struck. In its aftermath, Occupy Wall Street protesters rushed to apply their rabble-rousing hustle to cleaning out houses, clearing debris and raising more than $1.5 million for relief efforts. In some minds, Occupy members had become less a collection of disaffected class warriors than a group of efficient community volunteers. Occupy Sandy, as the effort came to be known, became one of the most widely praised groups working on the storm recovery. As Occupy members around the country plan the movement’s annual May Day protests, a central question has emerged: whether Occupy Sandy represents a betrayal of the Occupy movement, or its future. …So far Occupy Sandy has spent $670,000, according to information the group makes public online, disbursed for essentials like medical supplies ($5,000) and tools for mold remediation ($93,454). But as immediate needs for relief have died down, the group has begun programs reflective of a shift in tactics and a broad interpretation of “rebuilding,” like “Wildfire,” a series of political action classes in the Rockaways, which so far has received $10,600. That shift, toward what one storm volunteer called “indoctrination,” has caused some discomfort among donors and recipients alike. Some Occupiers say that they are simply seeking to stay true to the movement’s goals, which drove them to the storm-ravaged region in the first place. “No one was being tricked into donating to Occupy Sandy,” said Daniele Kohn, who is part of the team managing Occupy Sandy’s finances. “ ‘Occupy’ is part of the name.”  Inspired by Sarah Maslin Nir, New York Times ow.ly/l32bf Image source Facebook ow.ly/l32Ie Rift in a Shifting Occupy Movement (June 3 2013)

 

Sarah Maslin Nir the American Journalist and staff reporter for The New York Times has published an article titled ‘Storm Effort Causes a Rift in a Shifting Occupy Movement’ in which she states “Not long ago, the Occupy Wall Street movement seemed poised to largely fade from the national conversation with few concrete accomplishments beyond introducing its hallmark phrase, “We are the 99 percent.” Then Hurricane Sandy struck. In its aftermath, Occupy Wall Street protesters rushed to apply their rabble-rousing hustle to cleaning out houses, clearing debris and raising more than $1.5 million for relief efforts. In some minds, Occupy members had become less a collection of disaffected class warriors than a group of efficient community volunteers. Occupy Sandy, as the effort came to be known, became one of the most widely praised groups working on the storm recovery. As Occupy members around the country plan the movement’s annual May Day protests, a central question has emerged: whether Occupy Sandy represents a betrayal of the Occupy movement, or its future. …So far Occupy Sandy has spent $670,000, according to information the group makes public online, disbursed for essentials like medical supplies ($5,000) and tools for mold remediation ($93,454). But as immediate needs for relief have died down, the group has begun programs reflective of a shift in tactics and a broad interpretation of “rebuilding,” like “Wildfire,” a series of political action classes in the Rockaways, which so far has received $10,600. That shift, toward what one storm volunteer called “indoctrination,” has caused some discomfort among donors and recipients alike. Some Occupiers say that they are simply seeking to stay true to the movement’s goals, which drove them to the storm-ravaged region in the first place. “No one was being tricked into donating to Occupy Sandy,” said Daniele Kohn, who is part of the team managing Occupy Sandy’s finances. “ ‘Occupy’ is part of the name.”

 

Inspired by Sarah Maslin Nir, New York Times ow.ly/l32bf Image source Facebook ow.ly/l32Ie

Jodi Dean the 44 year old American International lecturer having written widely about politics and culture with activist interests include digital media, post-structuralism, neoliberalism, psychoanalysis, and the OCCUPY movement. Dean has published an article in The Guardian titled ‘Occupy and UK Uncut: the evolution of activism’ claiming the challenge these movements face is how to grow without becoming instruments of the systems they contest. Dean states “Earlier this month, Occupy Our Homes engaged in anti-foreclosure actions across the United States. In Atlanta and Minneapolis, activists helped families occupy vacant bank-owned homes. In Sacramento and Detroit, groups protected residents from eviction. In Philadelphia, Chicago, and St Louis, demonstrators protested against foreclosure. Thousands took part in these actions, yet coverage was restricted to local media outlets. Why did the protests get so little attention? Declining public interest in Occupy doesn't account for it. Occupy Sandy, a relief effort organised by Occupy Wall Street (OWS) protesters to assist the victims of the hurricane, was covered. …Occupy Sandy's mutual aid connected the hurricane to a critique of capitalism for failing to provide infrastructures adequate to the needs of an urban population in a changing climate. It has used its access to the community as an opportunity for consciousness-raising. Similarly, UK Uncut links its attack on Starbucks and Google with a larger analysis of the connections between profits for corporations and cuts for people. It channels anger at corporations' failure into an exposition of the deeper unfairness of the system itself. Both movements are embedding themselves deeper into society. Instead of jumping from issue to issue or rising up only to sink back down, they are building solidarity. They're organising for a longer struggle, finding ways to create spaces for debate within a broader commitment to collective, egalitarian solutions.” Inspired by The Guardian ow.ly/gwUNH image source lareviewofbooks ow.ly/gwULb Grow without becoming instruments of system (January 10 2013)

Jodi Dean the 44 year old American International lecturer having written widely about politics and culture with activist interests include digital media, post-structuralism, neoliberalism, psychoanalysis, and the OCCUPY movement. Dean has published an article in The Guardian titled ‘Occupy and UK Uncut: the evolution of activism’ claiming the challenge these movements face is how to grow without becoming instruments of the systems they contest. Dean states “Earlier this month, Occupy Our Homes engaged in anti-foreclosure actions across the United States. In Atlanta and Minneapolis, activists helped families occupy vacant bank-owned homes. In Sacramento and Detroit, groups protected residents from eviction. In Philadelphia, Chicago, and St Louis, demonstrators protested against foreclosure. Thousands took part in these actions, yet coverage was restricted to local media outlets. Why did the protests get so little attention? Declining public interest in Occupy doesn’t account for it. Occupy Sandy, a relief effort organised by Occupy Wall Street (OWS) protesters to assist the victims of the hurricane, was covered. …Occupy Sandy’s mutual aid connected the hurricane to a critique of capitalism for failing to provide infrastructures adequate to the needs of an urban population in a changing climate. It has used its access to the community as an opportunity for consciousness-raising. Similarly, UK Uncut links its attack on Starbucks and Google with a larger analysis of the connections between profits for corporations and cuts for people. It channels anger at corporations’ failure into an exposition of the deeper unfairness of the system itself. Both movements are embedding themselves deeper into society. Instead of jumping from issue to issue or rising up only to sink back down, they are building solidarity. They’re organising for a longer struggle, finding ways to create spaces for debate within a broader commitment to collective, egalitarian solutions.”

 

Inspired by The Guardian ow.ly/gwUNH image source lareviewofbooks ow.ly/gwULb

Spanish public won't accept a financial coup d'etat (October 10 2012) Spanish public won’t accept a financial coup d’etat (October 10 2012)

Katharine Ainger the Barcelona based writer interested in the points where art, creativity, radical democracy and ecological justice intersect, reports in an article for The Guardian titled ‘The Spanish public won’t accept a financial coup d’etat’, claiming that Spain’s government is right to fear the public reaction to this new round of suffering mandated by the financial markets. Ainger states “The attempt by the Spanish “Occupy” movement, the indignados, to surround the Congress in Madrid has been compared by the secretary general of the ruling rightwing People’s party (PP) to an attempted coup. Spanish democracy may indeed be in peril, but the danger is not in the streets. According to the Financial Times, the EU has been in secret talks with the economy minister Luis de Guindos to implement further austerity measures in advance of Spain requesting a full bailout. …The government is right to fear the Spanish public’s reaction to this new round of suffering mandated by the financial markets. … Spain is on the brink of insolvency and under huge pressure to accept a rescue package. In return, the eurozone’s fourth largest economy will have to surrender sovereign and financial control to the IMF, the European commission, and the European Central Bank. …Already many protest signs say: “We can’t take any more.” With a 26% unemployment rate, 22% of Spanish households now live below the poverty line and a further 30% cannot “reach the end of the month”… Loss of sovereignty is fuelling desire for Catalan independence with huge protests. Spanish citizen movements, like those in Greece, Ireland, Portugal, Italy and France have demanded a debt audit, to see who really owes what to whom.”

 

Inspired by The Guardian ow.ly/ebhGS image source Twitter ow.ly/ebhC5

Michael Francis Moore the 57 year old US filmmaker, social critic and activist has published an article calling out for the occupy movement to take political action from within the political system. Moore states “Here’s what we dont do: don’t turn Occupy Wall Street into another bureaucratic, top-down organization. That will certainly kill it. Baby boomers who grew up working within traditional organizations need to calm down and not shoehorn this movement into the old paradigm of “Let’s elect people to office and then lobby them to pass good laws!” Let Occupy take its natural course. The candidates for office that we need are in this movement. (Are you one of them? Why not? Someone has to do it, and it would be better if it was you!) The laws that must be enacted to make this a more just nation will come in due time. And not ten years from now; some of this will happen this year. The leading candidate for Congress from my hometown of Flint, Michigan, has already taken a pledge to make “getting money out of politics” his top goal once in office. Others have joined him. We need to vote for them and then hold them to it.”

 

Inspired by Michael Moore http://ow.ly/9MLc0 image source David Shankbone http://ow.ly/9MM8H

Renata Salecl the 49 year old Slovenian philosopher, sociologist and legal theorist has discussed the challenge of choice confronting the Occupy movement with Nikolas Kozloff in reference to her book ‘The Tyranny of Choice’. Salecl states “I realised that the ideology of choice is a perfect pacifying mechanism for post-industrial capitalism in that it encourages this inward turn. People have the illusion that they can make it and are masters of their own destiny, and thus they feel guilty about disadvantages and experience anxiety and a constant feeling of inadequacy. In society, we have observed a shift from the notion of mere consumer choice to the idea of choosing oneself… Given the American ideology that anyone can make it and it’s all up to us, then you’d have to say that on a certain level Occupy was a surprise. I’ve always been perplexed how people who don’t have health insurance would still be against universal health insurance. In essence, what they’re doing is following the idea of choice, even though this winds up being very detrimental to their own well-being. It’s clear that something shifted in people’s perceptions with the Occupy movement…”

 

Inspired by Nikolas Kozloff http://ow.ly/9E7p6 image source Finance.si http://ow.ly/9E8ql

Ellen Cantarow the US peace and climate change activist claims a minor revolution is occurring in the US as anti-fracking develops its own Occupy movement, “a resistance movement that has arisen to challenge some of the most powerful corporations in history”. Cantarow released an article on TomDispatch.com stating “At a time when the International Energy Agency reports that we have five more years of fossil-fuel use at current levels before the planet goes into irreversible climate change, fracking has a greenhouse gas footprint larger than that of coal… Fracking uses prodigious amounts of water laced with sand and a startling menu of poisonous chemicals to blast the methane out of the shale. At hyperbaric bomb-like pressures, this technology propels five to seven million gallons of sand-and-chemical-laced water a mile or so down a well bore into the shale. Up comes the methane – along with about a million gallons of wastewater containing the original fracking chemicals and other substances that were also in the shale, among them radioactive elements and carcinogens. There are 400,000 such wells in the United States.”

 

Inspired Ellen Cantarow http://ow.ly/8TlDz by image source http://ow.ly/8SzzN

Santiago Zabala the 36 year old Professor at the Spanish University of Barcelona discusses the similarities of the Occupy Movement and the Barcelona protests in terms of “Karl Marx’s words of 1845: “Philosophers have only interpreted the world in various ways; the point is to change it”. How can these words still be valid today? Is there a philosophy for these protesters?” Zabala states there is, “In the midst of our global economic crisis, which sees financial centres such as Wall Street occupied by protesters who call for change, Marx’s statement points out that we are still framed within the thought system that sustains the crisis, but it also demands a change in thought, that is, a philosophy for these same protesters. This philosophy is available and is called hermeneutics, the philosophy of interpretation… one of the few philosophies that reflects the pluralism of our postmodern societies because, like truly democratic procedures, it includes and allows structural changes to take place every time citizens demand them.”

 

Inspired by Santiago Zabala http://ow.ly/7OAqS image source Amazon http://ow.ly/7OAlG

Vandana Shiva the 59 year old Indian philosopher and activist, believes the 99% as represented by the Occupy Movement have nothing to lose but their disposability and dispensability. In an article published by Aljazeera, Shiva states “Freedom in our times has been sold as “free market democracy”. “Free markets” mean freedom for corporations to exploit whom and what they want, where they want, how they want. It means the end of freedom for people and nature everywhere. “Free market democracy” is in fact an oxymoron which has deluded us into believing that deregulation of corporations means freedom for us … The new movements understand this. And that is why they are indignant and are occupying the political and economic spaces to create a living democracy with people and the earth at the centre instead of corporations and greed.”

 

Inspired by Vandana Shiva http://ow.ly/7A30w image source http://ow.ly/7A3lI

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