Pacifism as Pathology – Book Review

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Jewish resistance fighters. Their brave desperate action, under the worst of circumstances, still inflicted significant losses on the Germans. What would have been the result of a generalized policy of all-out resistance, from the start of the Nazi onslaught across Europe?

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Pacifism as Pathology: Reflections on the Role of Armed Struggle in North America
(Book Review)
By Ward Churchill (2007 AK Press)

Pacifism as Pathology is a collection of essays centered around Ward Churchill’s original 1985 essay “Pacifism as Pathology: Notes on an American Pseudopraxis.” The premise of the essay is that the militant nonviolent stance assumed by the US progressive movement is based on irrational psychological reasons rather than strategic reasons or moral principle.

Viewpoints from a Range of Activists

[dropcap]T[/dropcap]he 2007 edition contains a preface by Derrick Jensen, who lays out compelling reasons for the necessity of “violence” in bringing about genuine political change in his 2006 book Endgame. Jensen’s argument, as in Endgame, is primarily ecological. Humankind is being systematically killed off by the capitalist class, via their poisoning of the air, water and food chain, as well as their heedless imposition of catastrophic climate change. Jensen poses the very reasonable question: are we willing to retaliate violently to save our own lives and those of our children and grandchildren?

The next essay is Ed Mead’s preface to the 1998 edition of Pacifism as Pathology, immediately following an 18 year prison term as a result of armed actions (bombings of state and federal buildings in Washington State) conducted by the George Jackson Brigade. Based on his experiences, he arrives at the following conclusions: 1) pacifism as a strategy of achieving social, political and economic change can only lead to dead end liberalism – the most vicious and violent ruling class in history won’t give up privilege without a physical fight; 2) because 99.9% of practitioners of political violence will eventually confront death or imprisonment, it’s imperative that political violence be carried out in a manner calculated to win; and 3) although the George Jackson Brigade applied the tool of revolutionary violence when its use wasn’t appropriate, he feels pride that they erred on the side of making revolution instead of the alternative.

The book also contains an afterwards by Canadian Activist Mike Ryan describing his frustration after 20 years of nonviolent resistance as part of the Canadian peace movement – and his conclusion that violent resistance must be allowed as a tactic for genuine political change to occur.

Churchill’s Infamous Assault Rifle Workshop

[dropcap]C[/dropcap]hurchill explains, in his 1998 introduction, that "Pacifism as Pathology" was originally written in 1985 as part of a four year debate over a workshop “Demystification of the Assault Rifle” that he gave at a 1981 Radical Therapy conference. He was invited to give the workshop owing to an admission by many activists that their fear of weapons was chiefly responsible for their rejection of violence as a political strategy. The reaction of some conference participants was to pass a resolution banning similar workshops in the future, as well as the presence of firearms (except those of the police or military) at any Radical Therapy conference. Churchill was invited to write an article on his views for the magazine Issues in Radical Therapy, which was subsequently Xeroxed and distributed widely throughout North America. While Churchill acknowledges the right of all activists to personally reject violent strategies and tactics, he challenges the right of nonviolent proponents to condemn activists willing to embrace property destruction and/or armed self-defense among a diversity of strategies. As he points out, activists willing to engage in violent resistance wouldn’t dream of trying to force their views on nonviolent activists.

Armed Jewish Uprisings Under Nazi Occupation

For me, the most valuable part of the book is the first section about Bruno Bettelheim and Jewish armed uprisings, in the Warsaw and Bialystok ghettos and in numerous concentration camps during the second world war. This is an aspect of World War II history I was totally unaware if, as the work of Bettelheim and other scholars documenting armed Jewish resistance are carefully sanitized from the history textbooks served up to US high school and college students.

Bettelheim, who contrasts the Jews who resisted violently with the majority of Jews, who followed the Nazis passively to the camps and even to the gas chambers, makes a strong case for his belief that the persecution of the Jews was aggravated by the pervasive lack of fight back. He blames their failure to resist on strong psychological denial – a pathological need to cling to an illusion of “business as normal” – that ultimately overwhelmed their basic survival needs. The logical position would have been to accept the cold reality that their own lives were doomed and to use their deaths to save the life of other Jews by making the extermination more difficult. He points out that Jews had easy access to guns in 1930s and 1940s Germany, and there was no reason why every Jew that was arrested couldn’t take one or two SS officers with them.

Churchill describes how all the revolts inflicted significant damage on the Nazi machine. The revolt at Auschwitz killed 70 SS officers and destroyed the crematorium. Armed rebellions at Sorbibor and Reblinka were even more effective, and Sorbibor had to be closed following the uprising. There were also lesser insurrections at Kruszyna, Krychaw and Kopernik.

Militant Nonviolence: Racist, Deluded and Irrational
Churchill devotes the rest of the book to correcting historical distortions regarding Gandhi’s and Martin Luther King's nonviolent resistance movements (which have been totally whitewashed by the ruling elite); a brief historical overview of the ineffectiveness of nonviolence in contrast to campaigns incorporating violent resistance; an analysis of the inherent racism implicit in the dogmatic nonviolence promoted by white upper middle class activists; and an outline of the irrational psychological motivations underlying militant nonviolence.

Although Churchill couches his psychological analysis in much more polite terms than I would, he believes that some white upper middle class activists are deeply conflicted about whether they really want to dismantle capitalism and give up their position of privilege. Thus they adamantly reject any approach incorporating violent resistance, owing to its historical record of effectiveness.

OWS’ Goals, Strategies and Tactics — in the Movement’s Own Words

By John Iacovelli, Scribillare

“The exhausted political machines and their PR slicks are already seeking leaders to elevate, messages to claim, talking points to move on. They, more than anyone, will attempt to seize and shape this moment. They are racing to reach the front of the line. But how can they run out in front of something that is in front of them? They cannot. For Wall Street and Washington, the demand is not on them to give us something that isn’t theirs to give. It’s ours. It’s on us. We aren’t going anywhere. We just got here.”-–Unsigned editorial, The Occupied Wall Street Journal, Issue 2

Goals:

“Build a democratic, just, and sustainable world.”– Declaration of the Occupation of Washington D.C., November 15th
“We have gathered here to dissolve the bonds between corporations and government… reestablish justice and ensure economic, social, and democratic equality; and to promote the general welfare of the 99%”– Declaration of Occupation, Lexington, November 8th
“We stand together to take back control of our government from those who use their wealth to obstruct the democratic process.”– Declaration of the Occupation of Jacksonville, November 23rd
“…the opportunity and power to effect change will be evenly distributed amongst all.”– Declaration of Occupation, Missoula, October 27th

Strategies:

“Create a process to address the problems we face, and generate solutions accessible to everyone.”– Declaration of the Occupation of New York City, October 1st
“…face them together in Peaceable Assembly, acting in solidarity with Occupy Wall St. and the numerous Occupy movements around our Nation and the World.”– Declaration of Occupation, Lexington, November 8th
“…start(ed) a nationwide conversation about the realities of economic inequality and the meaning of Constitutional rights.”– Declaration of Occupation, Boston, November 29th
“…to raise awareness about corporate greed and corruption within the major banks as well as to bring attention to a multitude of community interests (including, but not limited to: assisting the homeless population, assisting our education system to meet the needs of students and teachers and decreasing violence in our neighborhoods)… We will educate the local community, regarding issues of National interest that have and are contributing to the collapse of the economy and to the saddening reversal of the American Dream.”– Declaration of Occupation, Atlantic City, November 7th
“Our response to these myriad issues rooted in undisguised greed, corruption, and inequality is to face them together in Peaceable Assembly…”– Declaration of Occupation – Lawrence – 2011-10-15
“…a call to all individuals to become actively involved in the financial, political, environmental, and social decisions that impact our lives and the well being of those around us.”– Declaration of Occupation, Lexington, November 8th

Tactics:

“Exercise your right to peaceably assemble; occupy public space.”– Declaration of the Occupation of New York City, October 1st
“Exercise your right to peaceably assemble and reclaim the commons.”– Declaration of the Occupation of Washington D.C., November 15th
“Together, we set a precedent and provide a foothold (emphasis mine) for people to demand a truer, more horizontal democracy (at the occupation).”– Declaration of Occupation, Boston, November 29th

Conclusions:

Goal: the Declarations are very clear and consistent that their goal is a more democratic government and a more equal society.
Strategies: again, the Declarations clearly and consistently call for education and discussion at a national level to generate solutions acceptable and accessible to all.
Tactic: consistently call for use of the right of assembly.

The latter point about tactics, the call for assembly, could certainly be confirmed by the widespread and seemingly coordinated raids upon the occupation camps by local police forces. It’s not difficult at all to imagine an unfriendly analyst making a similar analysis to this one and then recommending a strategy of breaking up the movement’s ability to peaceably assemble. I believe, however, that the destruction of tents and semi-permanent structures as a tactic does not fulfill that strategy. It’s a simple matter for movement members to return during the day, without tents. Indeed, for some cities in the North, the authorities are probably doing the movement a favor; they could return for an “American Spring” far stronger than ever. It is worrisome, however, to consider that the authorities may realize that breaking tents is not effective, and that the militarized police forces may escalate to even greater levels of violence than those we have seen so far. America may see the return of the goon squads, as was once seen in the Pinkertons’ actions against the early labor movement. That would be another sign that the OWS movement is comparable to the great social movements this country has seen in the past.

A final word on the use of “goals, strategies and tactics” as an organization for this commentary. The military and the business sectors sometimes use these terms as a hierarchy to organize discussion of the why’s and wherefore’s of an overall plan of action. This is a link to a short article written by an Australian blogger which I found in a search. I thought that article might be helpful to anyone who may wish further reference as to the differences between the three terms.

Bibliographical Notes:

Below you’ll find links and quick-take summaries on all the local Declarations of Occupation that I have found. Note that in cases where an occupation has adopted the New York Declaration with virtually no changes I have not listed them. These are in alphabetical order by city. I guess it’s just my inner librarian surfacing. My apologies if I have gathered some of the documents from unofficial sites; there may be cases in which the search results promoted such URLs much higher than the official ones.

Declaration of Occupation – Atlantic City – 2011-11-07: emphasis on community education and good citizenship.
Declaration of Occupation – Boston – 2011-11-29: emphasis on the occupation as a microcosm of an alternative, better society.
Declaration of Occupation – Jacksonville – 2011-11-23: emphasis on community education and subsequent action. Note: while all the Declarations are implied calls for accountability for those responsible for national economic problems, this may be the only one that does so explicitly.
Declaration of Occupation – Lansing – 2011-10-24: variation on the New York document, incorporating local issues.
Declaration of Occupation – Lawrence – 2011-10-15: mostly a meeting announcement, but with a refreshing candor. “The problems which we face are numerous, and they cannot be distilled into a single issue or demand.”
Declaration of Occupation – Lexington – 2011-11-08: calls for community education and participation. This is one of the more moving of the Declarations. Note: the photo of the little girl above is from the news article which printed the declaration.
Declaration of Occupation – Missoula – 2011-10-27: probably features the most attention to environmental issues of the documents reviewed.
Declaration of the Occupation of New York City – 2011-09-29. The mother ship.
Declaration of Occupation – Tallahassee – undated: a short “who we are” statement.
Declaration of Occupation – Texas State University – undated: focus on education and community.
Declaration of Occupation – Tucson – 2011-11-12: many condemnations and demands. Much more a policy guidelines document than a grievances document.
The Declaration of Occupy (Washington) D.C. – 2011-11-30: somewhat greater emphasis on the anti-war and governmental power aspects than others.

This article originally appeared at scribillare.com.
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The New Age Of Consumer Activism

Our understandable rage at corporations is behind customer-driven like Bank Transfer Day
By David Sirota

As we all know, America is angry. Really angry. To put it in pop culture terms, we’ve moved from the vaguely inspiring agita of Peter Finch in “Network” to the wild-eyed, primal-scream rage of Sam Kinison in “Back to School.”

When we pay attention to politics, we get peeved at Congress and the presidential candidates. When we tune into sports, we’re annoyed with squabbling players and owners. When we turn on the news, we fume at the smug pundits. And when it comes to the economy, we’re in a tizzy at big corporations.

Most of this indignation is nothing new; it is atavistic fury expressed in the modern vernacular. Yet, one strand of our anger – the kind directed at big business – may be truly novel, as our chagrin is no longer just that ancient animosity toward excessive corporate power. Instead, it has also become a personal disdain toward firms we deal with on a daily basis.

This is the key finding of the latest report from the Center for Services Leadership at Arizona State University. Its findings show that after years of rising anger, consumer rage has reached an all-time high.

Back in 2004, ASU’s researchers theorized that such apoplexy was an outgrowth of affluence.“Households simply have more products and services today, and thus more points of contact, increasing our chances that we will have a problem,” they wrote.

But, of course, 2004 was a comparatively prosperous time. Today, by contrast, recession-battered consumers have access to fewer products and services and yet are angrier at companies, meaning the sentiment likely reflects a response to deeper trends.

One of those is a decline in craftsmanship in the era of free trade and offshore production. With America now awash in foreign wares, we’ve imported the developing world’s lax regulatory standards and, thus, its lower product quality. That means poorly constructed furniture, malfunctioning electronics and all the other shoddiness that drives customers nuts.

Another maddening trend is the corporate sector’s shift from long-term customer care to short-term predation. Though firms have always tried to make quick money off clients, the intensity of this recession, coupled with investors’ insatiable demand for quarterly profit growth, has prompted unprecedented bill-padding, corner-cutting and inflexibility. Today’s typical air travel experience epitomizes the dynamic: You get hit with a baggage charge, shoved into an ever-smaller seat and then stranded in airport purgatory because you missed your connection. With this kind of experience being replicated in everything from debit card fees to interminable customer-service wait times, it’s no wonder we’re ticked off.

Finally, there’s what Mother Jones magazine calls “The Great Speedup,” whereby downsized companies are forcing their remaining employees to do more work at a faster pace than ever. While this means our workforce is generating more output, it also means that output often becomes less satisfying to the end user. So, sure, your energy company’s electrician may be servicing more homes, but he’s also more error-prone and no longer maintains a customer-friendly demeanor – because he’s being run ragged.

All of this is no doubt responsible for a spike in self-destructive temper tantrums. However, there is an upside: The angst is resurrecting the notion of consumer activism. And that’s a big deal.

Recent headlines tell this story. From moving deposits out of big banks to a mass abandonment of Netflix, customers are suddenly channeling the old Ralph Nader zeitgeist. We’re remembering that being a patron comes with power – and we’re finally getting mad enough to use it.

If that ends up bringing back a lasting consumer movement in America, then all the heartburn and stress of being a mistreated customer will have been worth it.

David Sirota is the author of the best-selling books “Hostile Takeover” and “The Uprising.” He hosts the morning show on AM760 in Colorado and blogs at OpenLeft.com. E-mail him at ds@davidsirota.com. David Sirota is a former spokesperson for the House Appropriations Committee.

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OWS: Too Big to Fail

By Stephen Lendman, Senior Contributing Editor
[Annotated]

Mother Jones magazine said participants represent “a horizontal, autonomous, leaderless, modified-consensus-based system with roots in anarchist thought.” In fact, they’re revolutionaries in the best sense of the term.

They’ve “tap(ped) into the rising feeling among many Americans that economic opportunity has been squashed by corporate greed and the influence of the very rich in politics.”

One protester’s sign read, “You can’t shut down occupation – We’re everywhere.”

Another said, “You cannot evict an idea whose time has come.”

Still another lifted high read, “OCCUPY EVERYTHING.”

In fact, it’s long overdue after decades of social injustice, heading America toward banana republicanization.

Wealth disparity is extreme. Ordinary people are increasingly marginalized, exploited, and left on their own to survive, sink or swim.

Jobs are harder than ever to find. Good ones paying living wages and benefits are disappearing. College students end up debt entrapped for life.

Super-rich crooks and corrupt politicians conspire to grab everything for themselves. Freedom is an endangered species. Growing poverty, hunger, homelessness and despair are increasing.

Federal, state and local officials plan budget cuts instead of help. Human deprivation isn’t discussed in high places, only ways to grab more wealth and power. In plain sight, America’s no longer fit to live in. Neither are other Western countries, depriving the many for the few.

Targeting Wall Street, corporate greed, and power brokers in high places, OWS protesters demand change.

November 17 marked two months of activism. Occupy Wall Street.org called it a “Historic Day of Action for the 99%.”

In New York, over 30,000 rallied. NYPD estimated 32,500. Likely it was thousands more, the most anywhere in America so far on one day. Protesters sense “a powerful and diverse civic movement for social justice is on the ascent.”

Hopefully they’re right. One protester spoke for others saying:

“Our political system should serve all of us – not just the very rich and powerful. Right now, Wall Street owns Washington. We are the (left out) 99%, and we are here to reclaim our democracy.”

Dozens of other cities participated nationwide and globally. #Occupy Police got involved. They call themselves part of the 99%. An anonymous sergeant said, “I’m a cop and I support the ideal of Occupy. We’re on the same team.”

[Editor’s Note: Despite the frequent instances of unnecessary violence and brutality, often a result of precisely the same tensions and prejudices that burden America at large, the police are workers, too, and many quietly refuse and still many more will refuse to carry out the most extreme repressive orders issued by the ruling class at a certain juncture. OWS should maintain a firm but open dialog with the police, exempt of facile demonization, as morally and tactically counterproductive, seeing them as human beings also caught in the maws of a monstrous system. Indeed, the police and the army are by definition working class, 99% class, occupations, and in any social conflict, while afflicted by loads of indoctrination and a semi-military structure, they find themselves in the middle protecting, de facto, an unjust status quo that oppresses their fellow workers, too. Sooner, rather than later, fractures will appear, reflecting their real-life experiences in society at large. The Facebook page for OccupyPolice is at http://www.facebook.com/pages/Occupy-Police/175588792526859?sk=info . Their new website is at http://www.occupypolice.org/ ]

A web site logo read, “We are the 99% protecting 100%.” Philadelphia police captain Ray Lewis joined New York’s OWS and got arrested. He vowed to stay involved when released. He doesn’t fear arrest, he said, when people are starving or freezing to death on streets.

“All the cops are just workers for the 1%, and don’t even realize they’re being exploited,” he said. “As soon as I’m let out of jail, I’ll be right back here, and they’ll have to arrest me again.”

Occupy Marines(OccupyOMC) are involved, saying they’ll “support the movement. We will support demonstrators with organization, direction, supply and logistics, and leadership.” They feature a logo saying “Semper Occupare.” [Reported Business Insider: Last week’s dressing down of the NYPD by Marine Sergeant Shamar Thomas at Occupy Times Square has started a movement of its own….Thomas unleashed on the police at length about the use of abusive tactics on unarmed civilians and the YouTube video of the exchange went viral.

Since then, #OccupyMARINES has sprung up, calling for former Marines to don a civilian uniform and join the Occupy protests. OccupyMARINES have now called on veterans of other branches of the military to lend their support to help “talk sense” to police and recruit them into supporting the Occupy movement. Read more: http://articles.businessinsider.com/2011-10-23/news/30312652_1_youtube-video-dress-code-cargo-pants#ixzz1eGmV2Q3W —Eds]

They also highlight Operation Returning Freedom, including a New Common Sense Charter for equality and participation in government for change. They represent the 99%’s “collective conscience” against “oligarchic” America.

Occupy Veterans, Veterans for Peace, Occupy Writers, and Occupy Filmakers are involved. So are people from all walks of life who care and want change. Fordham University Professor Paul Levinson said OWS represents direct democracy. Cornell University Professor Cornel West called it a “democratic awakening.”

Over 1,000 writers signed an online petition, saying:

“We the undersigned writers and all who will join us, support Occupy Wall Street and the Occupy Movement around the world.”

Celebrities are involved, including folk singer Pete Seeger, Joan Baez, [Michael Moore], and Arlo Guthrie.

Slovenian philosopher Slavoj Zizek said:

“They tell you we are dreamers. The true dreamers are those who think things can go on indefinitely the way they are. We are not dreamers. We are awakening from a dream which is turning into a nightmare.”

World systems analyst Immanuel Wallerstein calls OWS “the most important political happening in the United States since the uprisings in 1968….”

Conditions are right. Accurately calculated, not Census data based on a long out-of-date threshold, poverty in America affects 100 million or more and rising. Unemployment’s at 23%. Over 26 million Americans wanting work can’t find it. Nothing’s being done to help them.

Every social measure shows Depression-level human need. America’s middle class is its working poor. People everywhere in need are mad. Global protests show it.

“It doesn’t really matter” what spark ignited things. They’re happening, growing, and inspiring others because real grievances demand addressing responsibly at a time politicians are turning a blind eye.

Asked what they wanted, people said long denied justice. Even the initially dismissive New York Times said “(e)xtreme inequality is the hallmark of a dysfunctional economy, dominated by a financial sector that is driven as much by speculation, gouging and government backing as by productive investment.”

It was a remarkable admission by the nation’s leading establishment broadsheet – wealth and power’s longstanding voice.

According to Wallerstein, “(t)he movement has become respectable,” but with that comes “danger.” Already, federal, state and local overt and covert counterattacks are apparent.

Success also breeds other problems, including a “diversity of views.” At issue is not becoming “the Scylla of being a tight cult….too narrowly based, and the Charybdis of no longer having a political coherence because it is too broad.”

No simple way exists to avoid either extreme or other pitfalls. One is lack of leadership, including a national voice like Martin Luther King for civil rights. Another is a coherent, unified message, focusing on what matters most.

It’s not enough to denounce Wall Street and corporate greed. Key is demanding real solutions and sustaining long-term struggle. This one’s the mother of them all.

Most important is returning money power to public hands where it belongs. Without it, little else is possible long-term.

It’s vital to make banking a public utility, break up too-big-to fail giants, close or nationalizing insolvent ones, establish laws and regulations with teeth, and prosecute crooks when they’re caught, especially high level ones so everyone knows grand theft won’t be tolerated.

Other key issues include ending corporate personhood, getting money out of politics, ending duopoly power and imperial wars, making corporations and the rich pay their fair share, and forcing government, in fact, to be of, by and for everyone, not solely for America’s privileged like now.

None of this can happen short-term. Decades perhaps are needed to transform today’s America into a socially just new society. In other words, little is accomplished by achieving things part way. Total change is needed. Softening today’s system won’t work. It never did before and won’t now because gains are easily lost.

Wage slavery replaced its chattel antecedent. Hard won labor, civil, and social gains are gone or on the chopping block to disappear. So aren’t voting rights when corporate-controlled machines do it for us, yet does it matter under a duopoly money-controlled system offering no choice whatever.

Wallerstein believes “the movement (may go) from strength to strength.” Perhaps it can “force short-term restructuring of what the government will actually do to minimize” real pain people experience.

Longer-term perhaps people will address capitalism’s “structural crisis (and) the major geopolitical transformations” now occurring “in a multipolar world.”

Even if OWS wanes, its legacy will last, like “the uprisings of 1968….” Better times are possible. Change never comes easily or quickly. Enough committed people can make a difference. OWS “is making a big difference.”

Indeed, building a global movement is significant. Key though is giving it legs in the face of exhaustion, winter cold, police repression, and political leaders paying it little more than lip service so far while they slash social justice programs to continue serving wealth and power interests at the expense of all else.

Off to an impressive start, what’s ahead for OWS isn’t known. Given the state of today’s America and where it’s heading, the stakes are too high for failure. There’s no turning back now!

Contributing Editor Stephen Lendman lives in Chicago and can be reached at lendmanstephen@sbcglobal.net.

Also visit his blog site at sjlendman.blogspot.com and listen to cutting-edge discussions with distinguished guests on the Progressive Radio News Hour on the Progressive Radio Network Thursdays at 10AM US Central time and Saturdays and Sundays at noon. All programs are archived for easy listening.

http://www.progressiveradionetwork.com/the-progressive-news-hour/.

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Forced Eviction Takes Occupy Wall Street into Its Next Phase

By Nathan Schneider

Perhaps the time has passed for the movement to be so focused on encampments…

Liberty Plaza (or Park or Square) looks an awful lot like Zuccotti Park again—aside from the damaged flower beds and a broken plastic peace sign lying in the gutter. At 1 in the morning, hundreds of police in riot gear stormed the plaza, shining floodlights and tearing down tents. Sanitation workers loaded occupiers’ belongings into garbage trucks, including the books of the occupation’s library. LRAD sound cannons were on the scene, and as many as five police helicopters hovered high overhead, where airspace was closed to media aircraft. On the ground, police cornered reporters out of view from the plaza during the eviction of the protesters, some of whom locked arms around the kitchen area and nonviolently resisted removal. They faced pepper spray and batons for doing so.

When I arrived at around 2:20 a.m., riot police were preventing anyone from getting closer than a block away from the site. By the time I returned there just after sunrise, after hours following marches and spontaneous assemblies and affinity groups meeting in the streets, the place had been completely cleared and washed. It was blocked off with barricades,despite a court order that the occupiers should be allowed to return. Back in Duarte Square on Canal Street, though, where hundreds had temporarily gathered, it was surprising how positive the mood actually was.

So, then, what next? What does the Occupy movement do when its flagship occupation is, at least for now, gone?

It happens that just hours before, Adbusters magazine—which originally called for the occupation—promulgated “Tactical Briefing #18: Occupy the High Ground.” It suggested that perhaps the time has passed for the movement to be so focused on encampments, and that it might move on to bigger and better things instead. This is a notion that has come up repeatedly in my recent conversations with early organizers; after almost three months, they feel, the movement is starting to outgrow the occupation. Mostly in a good way—the working groups, websites, and other infrastructure are already at such a point that most of the occupation’s business has been happening outside the crowded plaza for weeks. Organized resistance actions are taking place around the country without being specifically tied to occupation sites.

It’s also true that the camps have suffered from problems of health, sanitation, and crime, which were the excuse for what appears to be a coordinated attack on occupations by the mayors of cities around the country. But the occupiers have insisted that they can resolve these problems themselves, and nonviolently, in contrast to their governments’ policies of forced, armed eviction. Now that these coordinated attacks are happening, they seem to call for a coordinated response.

I’m reminded of a conversation I had in the first week of Occupy Wall Street with Monica Lopez, a Spanish journalist who took part in the May 15 movement in Madrid (and who was featured in our video “The Demand Is a Process“). This occupation won’t last forever, she predicted. It shouldn’t. The time eventually came in Madrid that the movement decided it would be better off ending the occupation than keeping it going—on June 12, less than a month after it began. Since, as WNV’s Ter Garcia has reported, the Spanish movement has shifted its attention to direct actions ranging from preventing evictions, to organizing a global day of protest, to engaging the political process. And, as I recently witnessed in Greece, those who occupied Athens’ Syntagma Square are now focusing on cultivating neighborhood assemblies concerned with local issues.

For the rise of the Occupy movement so far, though, the tactic of occupation has been absolutely essential. Mayor Bloomberg suggested in his explanation for the eviction that the encampment was not included in the protesters’ First Amendment rights to freedom of speech and assembly. However one interprets the law, though, from a strategic point of view, the encampment was precisely what made their free speech heard, allowing it to cut through the din of politics as usual and jump-start a public conversation about wealth and corruption.

Still, an encampment alone poses little real threat to the pillars upholding the power of the banks and the corporate elite that the Occupy movement hopes to undermine. Even the encampment in Cairo’s Tahrir Square, for instance, likely couldn’t have brought down Hosni Mubarak without the support of a coordinated general strike that threatened to bring down the Egyptian economy. If focusing too much on encampments distracts the movement from conducting more threatening actions like this, encampment is better left behind.

For those in it and those trying to understand it from the outside, the Occupy movement has never been easy to predict. As it enters this next phase, I’d bet we should be prepared to be surprised again.

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IF YOU THINK THE LAMESTREAM MEDIA ARE A DISGRACE AND A HUGE OBSTACLE
to real change in America why haven’t you sent at least a few dollars to The Greanville Post (or a similar anti-corporate citizen’s media?). Think about it. Without educating and organizing our ranks our cause is DOA. That’s why our new citizens’ media need your support. Send your badly needed check to “TGP, P.O. Box 1028, Brewster, NY 10509-1028.” Make checks out to “P. Greanville/ TGP”. (A contribution of any amount can also be made via Paypal and MC or VISA.)

THANK YOU.
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