What are you thinking/how are you feeling about this "Occupy _____" uprising?

I'm interested !

I'm proud of the brave people, but feel we could all be doing more to support them by, for instance, removing our support from large banks and other Wall-Streetish organizations.  But that would be hard. 

I hear the Marines have joined the protesters, or some Marines anyway!

I normally avoid politics and political activism. But here in the Seattle area, a local permie (he posts here occasionally, too) made the news while demonstrating in Seattle. Here's what I wrote to some friends about it:

Albert Postema, a friend, permaculture designer/instructor, permaculture community owner, a local, organic food grower and bio-diesel proponent both with his company Earthwise Excavation and as a member of NW Biodiesel, was in the news yesterday as part of Occupy Seattle – Seattle’s response to/support for/version of Occupy Wall Street.

Here’s a King 5 video of not only Albert, but an inspirational couple in their 90’s, who are regular activists for peace and economic justice.

Here’s the Seattle Times story with a big picture of Albert.

Well done, Albert!

Isn't economic justice on of the numerous permaculture principles?  Thanks, Jocelyn, for highlighting a worthy fellow Seattle-area-ite

I have no use for Twitter, except when I discovered that I could follow the global conversation re: the Arab uprisings with the 'hashtag' process.  '#occupywallstreet' on Twitter is currently very interesting  

Maybe there is hope.... the libertarians, progressives, original teapartiers, democratic socialists, lefties and righties, et al,  can find some major common ground and form a level playingfield!

Nancy Sutton wrote:
Isn't economic justice on of the numerous permaculture principles? 

Shhh! Not supposed to talk about that! 

I've been following the stories as they reach my computer.  It seems that there are plenty of reasons to believe the economic crash was deliberate.  So far I've watched just the first installment of this four part documentary; queuing up part 2 this morning.  http://english.aljazeera.net/programmes/meltdown/2011/09/2011914105518615434.html

Aljazeera certainly has their agenda to push, as do the US and European news media, but I believe that to come to any meaningful conclusion, one must listen to both sides to an argument, as each side is telling a slanted view of the "facts".

Very interested.  Will be at the local Portland occupation Thursday.
www.occupytogether.org <--to help find one in your area

Lolly K wrote:
I've been following the stories as they reach my computer.  It seems that there are plenty of reasons to believe the economic crash was deliberate.  So far I've watched just the first installment of this four part documentary; queuing up part 2 this morning.  http://english.aljazeera.net/programmes/meltdown/2011/09/2011914105518615434.html

not so much that crashes are deliberate as that they are inevitable if the goals remain set at having a growth economy

it seems to me that we should be looking to create a stable economy rather than one that expands till it runs out of resources then crashes

I'm thrilled about it!

Many complain that there are no "clear goals", but it is clear from the communiques and from the signs that one major object of the protest is the huge inequality of wealth in this country. Hence, the protesters call themselves the 99%.
To distinguish themselves from the 1% that own most of the wealth.

I believe the goals are not the whole story tho. There is a process going on - people learning how to fend for themselves, they have to feed themselves, amuse themselves, educate, discipline themselves.
They make decisons thru consensus, they have a general council.
These actions, stepping out of the conventional way of living, demonstrate even great bravery than facing down the riot cops imo.

My friends (all of them 50+ years of age) went in last week-end, and were very inspired. I (over 60 ) hope to make it in this week-end.

I hope the actions serve to politicize and activate a generation which to people of my generation - the '60's - seems quite complacent.

- If you wish, you can contribute food thru this unique way:
http://network.greenchange.org/blogs/41838-the-peoples-bailout

At the site, it give you directions to send fresh produce, organic food and general supplies directly to Wall St.
There is even a livestream to watch your order arrive.

When I go in, I am going to bring celosia and strawflowers from my garden, in a hat tip to the Textile workers who went on strike in Lawrence Mass in 1911 and said: "We want bread, but we want roses, too." 

I think the criticism of not having clear demands is based on the notion that we could just slap a few new regulations/policy changes/tweaks to our current system and be satisfied.  With globalization the top 1% is not only American, but wealthy people worldwide who hoard for themselves and repress others for personal monetary gain.  What we need is a full on cultural revolution that shows the world that this kind of practice is unacceptable.  Capitalism has instilled in our culture the idea that the world is a competition where you need to go "get your own" to survive and anyone is free to take as much as they want out of the pot as long as they know how.  We need something to shift our culture to one which holds co-operation up as the ideal and reflects that the world is finite and connected - that if you take more than your share it will be hurting everyone else and that we all are here and have to figure out ways to live together in peace.  That's my thought process about it at the moment at least.

This is why I think people are misguided when they say simply to shut down the FED.  The problems with our system require a full revolution.

I agree that we need a cultural revolution as well as a political one.

And that reminds me that what has not been publicized very much is this:
the original call for the occupation of Wall Street was made by
Adbusters, a very radical, anti-capitalist, cultural magazine and organization.

http://www.adbusters.org/

ellen rosner wrote:
"We want bread, but we want roses, too." 

I love that SO much! 

Nathan Johns wrote:
Very interested.  Will be at the local Portland occupation Thursday.
www.occupytogether.org <--to help find one in your area

How was your occupation?

I heard 5000 in Portland. That's a lot!
Was it that big?

ellen rosner wrote:
How was your occupation?

I heard 5000 in Portland. That's a lot!
Was it that big?

It's really hard to tell when you're in a crowd how many people are there.  There were definitely a lot of people - at least 3,000 and some estimates floating around there as high as 10,000, which I think would be an exaggeration.  A lot of people left early or were still trying to find the group later on so I imagine the total number of people who showed up was quite large. 

Great picture!
I made it in to New York Occupy Wall Street Saturday.
walked around the encampment- truly amazing the amount of organization and planning that was going on.
Some people were eating. (pretty healthy food from what I saw)
People were making signs. Others sit in a circle discussing. Someone reminds people to not leave garbage around. Music of course.

Then we walked up to Greenwich Village Washington Square Park. There we were met by about an equal amount of people who had been gathering there. There was a general assembly meeting which unfortunately I missed, cuz I went to find some food.
This general assembly meeting is how decisions are made, everyone has an equal voice - I am curious to see how that works.

More music, dogs, artists...

Lot and lots and lots of cops, from 3 boroughs of New york, even tho a totally peaceful gathering.

Awesome, inspiring event.
I heard someone on the radio just now say that this event (the event that is spreading to all over the country) is the first time since the '30's that the Left has appropriated the concept of Populism.

Sounds good to me. 

the "occupy" movement has finally reached Tulsa OK (aka the dark side of the moon, the last place on the map, the boonies, etc) Nov 5th is the date scheduled for our event.

As far as how I'm feeling about it:

I typically do all I can to avoid politics!  I stay out of as many religious and/or political conversations as possible.  This is an exception to my rule.

Being a former nutritionist and student of naturopathy, I have serious concerns for food safety, and food democracy.  I avidly protest one corporation in particular, (the Monsanto corporation, manufacturers of genetically engineered foodstuffs,) who easily stands as the poster child for corporate greed and food fascism. 

Many Americans are not aware of the extent to which all of their "choices" have been made for them by one giant, interconnected, multibillion dollar, multinational corporation.  We exist in the fog and haze of our amusements and entertainment, and "feel" free because we are told we are.  In fact, nothing is further from the truth. 

Those giant, interconnected global corporations run our government, and not simply through lobbying.  A so-called revolving door exists between those who currently head our FDA and USDA, and former or returning heads of the Monsanto corporation.  The relationship between governmental and corporate honchos is incestuous, and many generations deep.  The foxes are running the hen house!  Not only is our own government run from within these hydra-headed corporate monstrosities, but so are those of the rest of the world.  The US gov't is not shy about forcing its will upon anyone standing in its way.  Instances too numerous to document have occurred wherein other governments have refused GMO foods and later reversed this decision under pressure from the Monsanto corporation.

Since when is Monsanto corporation a global governmental leader?  Since we let them be!  The strategy of Monsanto (et al) seems to be "let sleeping dogs lie."  By not arousing us - the 99% - from our stupor, they have silently taken over the globe.  And they are not the only multibillion dollar, multinational, highly interconnected corporation to do so.  Thus the 1% at the very top own and rule it all, and the 99% sleep.

I am proud of those who stand and speak against the corporatocracy.  If we want to be a government of, for and by the 99%, now is the time to let our voices be heard!  My only hope is that they are successful in securing a return to true democracy through peaceful, non-violent demonstration.  And I am proud to stand with them in the cause.

Hi Monidew,
I agree with everything you said (well- except I am very interested in politics
and well-put.

since this is your area of interest, this is some info about how the Occupy Movement thinks about Industrial Food.

"Take Back Our Food; The Scourge of Industrial Farming"

Heather Squire, the coordinator for Occupy Wall Street‘s (#OWS ) food preparation and delivery: From washing dishes to feeding over 3,000 people in a single weekend, Heather explains how she and the food team in Zucotti Park have devised a large-scale food distribution system: The Peoples Kitchen.

Delving into another facet of the food justice movement in tandem with Occupy Wall Street is dairy farmer and activist Lorraine Lewandrowsky and fromager Tia Keenan. The group discusses cheese economics and the plight for more transparency (sic) which comes from more small dairies and less industrial farming and processing. Learn how you can help this movement, from volunteering to sending food supplies or attending the Occupy Big Food movement....

http://ediblearia.com/2011/10/28/take-back-our-food-the-scourge-of-industrial-farming/?

thank you, Ellen!

I was already thinking about being the "person" who provides for the vegan/gluten free contingent at Tulsa's Occupy events.  I'm very interested in the how-to's.

The closest I have got to this "movement" was when I was on holiday recently.  I saw one guy carrying a sign that said "End the Fractional Reserve system!" - I was walking over to ask him if he knew what that was, and what alternatives he might suggest when it started raining.  The whole group (25 people) deoccupied the area very quickly.  There must have been a dozen causes represented on this groups signs - from my perspective they may as well have been all carrying a sign that said "Fix stuff!"  One lady had a sign that said "We are the 99%" - and she was smoking "big tobacco" branded cigarettes, thus carefully redistributing some of her wealth to the 1% that are profiting from tobacco.

Personally, I'd respond better to a positive message than a negative one.  How about signs like "Support local businesses", "Barter in your community", or "Learn about the fractional reserve system"?

Cynical though I am, I disagreed with these groups being arrested and/or moved along.  The public (even this lot) using a public park seems fine to me - if individuals break the law, then arrest the individuals.