Reply #9: wow, somebody is unhappy

[FirstLight]

recced to zero...sheesh!

I think you are right in a lot of ways...the Old paradigm vs new paradigm is part of the whole movement. It's kind of like those who keep telling us to "write your congressman" instead of taking to the streets...

the whole reason this movement has grown and encompassed so many from all walks of life is that people are waking up to the fact that the old rules just don't apply anymore. and we need to REBUILD the system. Of course that makes many uncomfortable because the system is all we have known for so long...and if we un-do the system, then it will all fall into anarchy and chaos, right?

wrong. I give examples of these Occupy camps as the perfect form of leaderless govt. People say leaderless can't work...look at Tribal Council, look at the indigenous peoples the world over ...there is a reason the Native Americans built their community around a CIRCLE, not a tier of power... because the COMMON good was the core of their decision making. These occupy encampments have provided services to those pushed to the brink of society, those who had already fallen off the radar...they didn't WANT to turn into a social services group, but they embraced it as part of the concept behind the movement. The committees and actual organization of the camps is another marvel, libraries? legal? medical? all the things a FUNCTIONING society offers it's people, and the Occupiers provided for each other and welcomed ALL... it right out of the gate.
Watching a GA in action is a beautiful thing. It is better than the democracy we are used to, because it's not even about representation, it's about DIRECT participation.

I have said for years, democracy works on a small scale, but you get into thousands of people, and it gets sticky, because factions will begin to garner for control. that's human nature. Perhaps we are leaning towards a more direct type of self governance.