"What Occupiers Learned From Obama - and What He Should Learn From Them"

[KoKo]

(This is a good read and goes on more about Occupy and Obama's former campaign activists than my snips could give)


Sunday, 13 May 2012 00:00 By Sarah Jaffe, Truthout | News Analysis


It doesn't seem like too much of a stretch at this point to say that Obama is responsible for Occupy Wall Street's existence. The failures of his administration to stop the bleeding caused by financial meltdown have been well documented, as well as the disillusionment among many former supporters.

What's been discussed less often is the fact that the Obama campaign trained a lot of first-time political operators, young people as well as older folks inspired for once to go beyond showing up on election day and then left without much to do. Organizing for America was supposed to continue the movement that sprang up around the campaign, but political movements are unwieldy things and the control of the Democratic National Committee shut down much of the free-flowing energy that helped elect the president. For three years, as Raneem noted, activists waited and wondered if they'd made a mistake.

But some of them were planning something else.

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Disillusionment with Obama, for many of these activists, led not to a search for another hero - as Micah Sifry noted - but a turn away from the idea of heroes and toward the specific problems that need to be fixed. "The conversations are between people who are looking at the politics of personalities and people who are looking at the politics," Evry noted and Raneem echoed her. Evry continued, "OWS is very issue-oriented. It's not being built around leaders. You start looking at what do you believe in, what do you want to organize around?"...Packard agreed. "With Occupy, by not having a person, an agenda, the dream is shared by everyone and can be worked on by everyone. The dream is similar: no war, no patriarchy, the least among us gets strengthened."...(this) bunch of activists learned not to wait their turn either. They learned to make things happen on their own and this year they've taken another huge step, calling into question not just the man who is president, but the way the system works from the bottom up.

As Husain said, "This movement isn't about left and right and center, it's about 'What does it mean to be a citizen of the United States?'"
MORE at:

http://truth-out.org/news/item/9081-what-occupiers-lear...

[No Elephants]

1. What we lost sight of somehow: It's about the 99%, not

Obama or Romney or Democrats or Republicans. It's supposed to be about us.

If only more of us would get up off our duffs.

We don't even vote in large numbers, ffs.

Sometimes, a people gets the government it deserves.

[KoKo]

2. Well said....

It's supposed to be about US..."We the People."

We let that lapse for too long.

[No Elephants]

3. I think we assumed that if we just kept working for our team,

our team would continue to work for us.

When we were successful in 2006 and 2008 beyond our dreams, beyond anything since the Democrats lost the "Solid South," some of us who were not as politically alert finally woke up.

ETA: In a way, it's too bad the article focuses on Obama. It goes way beyond Obama.

[KoKo]

4. Yes...I was going to edit my post...about those of us who voted all our lives

who might be a little ticked at those who just "didn't have the time."

But, maybe THEY who didn't vote...didn't find anyone they ever thought was worth voting for...so who knows. I was raised by parents who voted...they thought it was the most important thing you could do as a citizen of our country. I think they gave me my "HOPEFUL Streak."

We who had kids and were involved and remember the 60's and what the "Hope Was" are probably seeming "really weird" these days to those coming up behind us.

But, those of us who WERE involved aren't going to "TAKE STUFF"...from those younger or even our kids who "just didn't get" what the 60's were about, because the MSM said it was about Drugs (Petersen,Scaife,ALEC and others..along with Christian Righ) who were working to DESTROY the WORK FOR CHANGE of the 60's.

I never smoked pot, did COKE or was running around with flowers...but I WAS involved and many of us were.. And I Loved all of my fellow friends from that era who were there...and I've supported them and their creativity ever since.

Both Dems and Repugs want everything Politcal as put in "Little Boxes" ...but that isn't the way it ever worked...not matter how the Cables try to TRASH those of us 60's people "FOR CHANGE" that we were all Druggies and Flower Children.

THIS WAS A MUCH MORE DIVERSE MOVEMENT..but this is IGNORED!

I won't ramble on...it's not welcomed out there these days to talk "truth about 60's." DIVERSITY...not what MS/CORPORATE/MIC wants to get out there for the "younger folks."

[No Elephants]

5. Both Occupy and events overseas are hopeful signs.

I don't know if only voting is enough, though.