Replies to This Discussion

Permalink Reply by Alex Anon on January 2, 2012 at 19:38

For this to have any impact at all, we would need a lot of people to participate. And by a lot, I mean a lot.

On the 15th October in London there was only about 3000 people protesting, for one day, only few hundred stayed for a night, not even talking about a week or month later.

Permalink Reply by anna_uk on January 2, 2012 at 19:49

Hi Alex,

I'm wondering what impact you mean? The idea is not to bring the system down or impress 'them' with how powerful we are. The idea is to put the energy where it is most effective, building the new, rather than protesting the old which achieves nothing. The impact of building the new is on each person who is able to contribute meaningfully in their daily lives.

This stuff is already happening, but it is below the radar. The most important task is to make sure people know about what is already happening so they can plug in.

Anna

Permalink Reply by James Albury on January 3, 2012 at 9:52

I'm fully supporting this.  I've invited all my FB contacts (even the ones that are a bit "funny" about this sort of thing) and tweeted about it a couple of times and will continue to do so.

So what if only a few thousand turned up on 15th Oct and only a few hundred stayed?  A lot of the people I spoke to on that day hadn't even heard of Occupy Wall Street at that point but they sure as hell have now.

Think about how many other people have been touched since then, awareness is growing daily though it's so slow and hard you'd barely know it sometimes.  Nevertheless, progress IS being made and there could be a LOT more pissed off people in 5 months time.  Best start building towards it now rather than arriving at that point and then wonder why nothing is happening.

Permalink Reply by anna_uk on January 3, 2012 at 11:20

What does this general strike mean to me? Not just for the collectivity, but for me personally? How do I support my wife and family? What alternatives are there for me?

These are the questions that people will be asking of themselves. For some of us in the movement we have already worked out our answers. We are doing what we want to be doing. For other people this represents a huge jump, to be doing what I really want to do in my life, instead of having to go to some boring, soul destroying work in order to survive. The risks - of self-indulgance, selfishness, of letting myself follw my heart, my passionate impulse to enjoy my every moment, isn't this childish? We have been taught such a cynical view of life that for most people these are unattainable ideals. We can see that it is wrong the way the system serves the few, and we can see the need for a fairer share-out of wealth. But for me, personally, what does it mean to 'live to my full potential'? What is required of me to be able to support this global transformation?

For each person this question will have a different meaning. For me it means being able to welcome change, rather than resisting it, while nevertheless going at my own pace, knowing I am a sensitive human being who needs care and tenderness. It means trusting that what is happening is OK even though I cannot see where it is going. It means being able to see this whole global process of crisis, messy and unpredictable as it is, as the birth pangs of a new creativity, like the birth of a baby.  It means being able to see my identity as universal, rathr than tied to one particular location or role.

These personal aspects of the new world we are building also need attention. They tend to be seen as your own private business not something to be discussed openly. But they are basic to understanding how much we cling to familiar ways, however outdated, in order to stay within our comfort zone, and it is helpful to acknowledge the courage that is needed to break out of them.

Permalink Reply by Secret Corridor on January 3, 2012 at 22:11

I was told something by a priest many years ago that has stayed with me, and I have used this as a benchmark many times to reassure myself that I am  following my own 'true' path.

He said that, shortly before he was ordained, he was sent away to try and find a way to NOT become Priest. He couldn't and that's when he knew his true destiny.

Whatever the choices you make in life, if you apply this same principle, then you can't go wrong.

Permalink Reply by Leon on January 3, 2012 at 22:18

This could be the biggest event of the year. Organization has begun all across the world. Best of all it's summer and in the case of London just before the Olympics. :-)

Look forward to the European Banking Forum happening in London that month as well.

Permalink Reply by Occupy UK film on January 3, 2012 at 23:05

I'm not sure you would ever get enough people to sign up for this to make it work as a long time strike. You would have to sell it really well and have a clear agenda. Why they should do it. Why it will be better for them and have a solid argument to back up the obvious criticisms.

So more detail please :)

Permalink Reply by Leon on January 3, 2012 at 23:35

I think there are two parts. One is an international day of action and the second is the call for a general strike.

The second will take much time and networking. It will depend on many people doing a lot.

The May 12th day of action is already in swing and we will have some sort of action. The size of that will depend on a lot of things that have not happened yet. While it may not seem likely at the moment we should still prepare and sow the seeds.  A lot depends on what happens in the next 5 months, but if we are prepared we can take advantage of any situation presented to us.

How long people strike will depend on how pissed off they are. No one knows what the state of the economy and global politics will look like over the next few months. Why strike? Well the reasons are becoming more and more clear. An attack on the welfare state, an attack on pensions an attack on wages. Workers see striking as one of the clear defenses against these attacks.

Will it be better for them. Well depends what you mean by better. Maybe not. Will it be better for the human race and the future of our species. People have to ask what's best instead of what's best for me. Will that perception shift ever take place in enough people, who knows. We can do our bit to encourage though.

Permalink Reply by Mungo on January 4, 2012 at 10:05

I don't think 5 months is enough time to have an alternative ready.  Without that (a feasible and existing alternative) I don't know if it would get public support.  Of course every striker is potentially a full-time occupier but can we really organise effectively enough in just 5 months to harness the potential? 

I do agree on the overall urgency of the issues and support the idea in principle, certainly sounds good to organise globally for May, not sure if we'll quite be at the stage of global revolution though.

Permalink Reply by anna_uk on January 4, 2012 at 14:55

Occupy UK film said:

I'm not sure you would ever get enough people to sign up for this to make it work as a long time strike. You would have to sell it really well and have a clear agenda. Why they should do it. Why it will be better for them and have a solid argument to back up the obvious criticisms.

So more detail please :)

Reply from EM on Occupy Sheffield:

A lot of this is happening already, we don't need to invent it all, we
'just' need to link it all up and do lots more of it, with variations!
Yippee!

Workers' and housing co-operatives; co-housing and eco-villages; food
growing and box-schemes; skill-shares and labour exchanges; reuse and
upcycling; squatting; alternative dwelling-places (tents, caravans, huts,
treehouses); truly ethical businesses only (that means ones which give
something to the community and put people and planet before profit);
community-controlled micro-renewable energy sources; sustainable forest
management...

Some of this seems normal to some of us, we need to make it normal to the
whole 99%!

Or, do tell me if I'm on the wrong track... I might just have jumped on my
favourite hobby horse and gallopped off on my own... ;)

Em x

Permalink Reply by Nick Hooper on January 4, 2012 at 15:28

"You have to understand, most of these people are not ready to be unplugged. And many of them are so inured, so hopelessly dependent on the system, that they will fight to protect it."

The Matrix.

People will fight to the death to keep things the way they are. The real battle is to show them that the way they live now is not realistic, and to convince them that there are alternatives. Enough to give them the courage to face what they will at first see as unbearable hardships, and enough to give them the courage not to look the other way when the current system tries to defend itself with lethal force. In my view, all action undertaken by the Occupy movement should have this as its central goal. 

Permalink Reply by anna_uk on January 4, 2012 at 17:32

'We have acieved so much with so little,it should not be difficult to achieve the impossible with nothing' - comment by someone from OWS on Global Strike IRC Friday discussion (held every Friday 7pm GMT on webchat.freenode.net/ , channel #takethesquare, all welcome)

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