General Discussion
In reply to the discussion: Zuccotti Park has been re-occupied [View all]Eleanors38
(18,318 posts)The lack of coordination probably is a problem. I cannot answer that question perhaps because Occupy seems to have, as one Earth First! activist called it, the "biology of a slime mold." As far as the strikes are concerned, perhaps the workers didn't see any relevance in aligning with Occupy. Perhaps another problem.
I won't accuse Occupy folks of this kind of phenomenon, but I did experience an unfortunate problem during the spate of anti-nuclear power activism in the latter 70s. At the hdqtrs. of the local campaign, people were pouring in to take part in some kind of action and volunteer work. But the meetings were bogged down with questions of "process," especially as it related to "consensus" vs. "hierarchy." For hours nothing got done. One participant remarked to me that the atmosphere had turned almost theocratic. People were leaving as fast as they came in, and some of the old hands in the movement were unconcerned, saying the turnover was newbies who weren't committed enough to "consensus-building." And here I thought it was about the dangers and expense of nuclear power. On the other hand, I saw successful actions taken by Earth First! in conjunction with other more mainstream organizations, and the EFs WERE using consensus process. But everything was time-certain, with duties assigned, usually through affinity groups.
The question everyone is concerned with seems to be this: Do we want Occupy to remain same as it ever was?