A Horizontal World? Occupy Can't Win with Utopian Impossibilities

[Mosaic]

I don't agree with this guy's opinion. Just throwing it out there for some discussion.

by Bret Weinstein

Listen to conversations within the Occupy movement and you will hear an emerging vision of the world’s future.

It is a world where power is “horizontal” and local. Where populations have organized into true communities that provide increasingly for their own needs and trade with each other for that which they cannot produce. It is a world much better suited, physically and socially, to the creatures that we are built to be, than is the cruel and self-destabilizing world we currently inhabit.

It is a world that, were it possible, I would embrace.

Unfortunately, this vast imagined world of sustainable and interconnected farming communities is not possible – not within our foreseeable future.

http://www.thenewstribune.com/2011/12/04/1931713/a-horizontal-world-occupy-cant.html

[Huey P. Long]

1. It has entered the lexicon and spreads. Exhibit A-

quote:

PRIMO_RAIDER69 Paulo Reyna
#Raiders still n 1st place nd AFC West but now we have the #Broncos Occupying so we have to spray them with pepper spray.
1 minute ago

[saras]

2. It works for me locally. I don't get why others don't do it, but they don't.

The article is wrong in too many ways to count.

One - fossil fuels power the military and consumerism. Without those two, we have more than enough for a really long time.

Two - centralization of power has never worked in the past. Why should now magically be different?

[Zorra]

3. Hope to see the professor at the west coast "Ports of Woo" shutdown on 12/12.

"There are those who look at things the way they are, and ask why... I dream of things that never were, and ask why not?"
Robert Kennedy

Occupy will evolve, and the ideal will evolve right along with us.

Seems to me that Occupy was kind of misrepresented in the article. We're not exactly rooted in woo.

From Martin Luther King, Jr.'s "Letter from the Birmingham Jail":

"Nonviolent direct action seeks to create such a crisis and foster such a tension that a community which has constantly refused to negotiate is forced to confront the issue. It seeks to so dramatize the issue that it can no longer be ignored. My citing the creation of tension as part of the work of the nonviolent-resister may sound rather shocking. But I must confess that I am not afraid of the word "tension." I have earnestly opposed violent tension, but there is a type of constructive, nonviolent tension which is necessary for growth. Just as Socrates felt that it was necessary to create a tension in the mind so that individuals could rise from the bondage of myths and half-truths to the unfettered realm of creative analysis and objective appraisal, we must we see the need for nonviolent gadflies to create the kind of tension in society that will help men rise from the dark depths of prejudice and racism to the majestic heights of understanding and brotherhood."

"The purpose of our direct-action program is to create a situation so crisis-packed that it will inevitably open the door to negotiation. I therefore concur with you in your call for negotiation."


OccupyWallStreet
The revolution continues worldwide!

LIST OF PROPOSED "DEMANDS FOR CONGRESS"

CONGRESS PASS HR 1489 ("RETURN TO PRUDENT BANKING ACT" http://www.govtrack.us/congress/bill.xpd?bill=h112-1489 ). THIS REINSTATES MANY PROVISIONS OF THE GLASS-STEAGALL ACT. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Glass–Steagall_Act --- Wiki entry summary: The repeal of provisions of the Glass–Steagall Act of 1933 by the Gramm–Leach–Bliley Act in 1999 effectively removed the separation that previously existed between investment banking which issued securities and commercial banks which accepted deposits. The deregulation also removed conflict of interest prohibitions between investment bankers serving as officers of commercial banks. Most economists believe this repeal directly contributed to the severity of the Financial crisis of 2007–2011 by allowing Wall Street investment banking firms to gamble with their depositors' money that was held in commercial banks owned or created by the investment firms. Here's detail on repeal in 1999 and how it happened: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Glass–Steagall_Act#Repeal .

USE CONGRESSIONAL AUTHORITY AND OVERSIGHT TO ENSURE APPROPRIATE FEDERAL AGENCIES FULLY INVESTIGATE AND PROSECUTE THE WALL STREET CRIMINALS who clearly broke the law and helped cause the 2008 financial crisis in the following notable cases: (insert list of the most clear cut criminal actions). There is a pretty broad consensus that there is a clear group of people who got away with millions / billions illegally and haven't been brought to justice. Boy would this be long overdue and cathartic for millions of Americans. It would also be a shot across the bow for the financial industry. If you watch the solidly researched and awared winning documentary film "Inside Job" that was narrated by Matt Damon (pretty brave Matt!) and do other research, it wouldn't take long to develop the list.

CONGRESS ENACT LEGISLATION TO PROTECT OUR DEMOCRACY BY REVERSING THE EFFECTS OF THE CITIZENS UNITED SUPREME COURT DECISION which essentially said corporations can spend as much as they want on elections. The result is that corporations can pretty much buy elections. Corporations should be highly limited in ability to contribute to political campaigns no matter what the election and no matter what the form of media. This legislation should also RE-ESTABLISH THE PUBLIC AIRWAVES IN THE U.S. SO THAT POLITICAL CANDIDATES ARE GIVEN EQUAL TIME FOR FREE AT REASONABLE INTERVALS IN DAILY PROGRAMMING DURING CAMPAIGN SEASON. The same should extend to other media.

CONGRESS PASS THE BUFFETT RULE ON FAIR TAXATION SO THE RICH AND CORPORATIONS PAY THEIR FAIR SHARE & CLOSE CORPORATE TAX LOOP HOLES AND ENACT A PROHIBITION ON HIDING FUNDS OFF SHORE. No more GE paying zero or negative taxes. Pass the Buffet Rule on fair taxation so the rich pay their fair share. (If we have a really had a good negotiating position and have the place surrounded, we could actually dial up taxes on millionaires, billionaires and corporations even higher...back to what they once were in the 50's and 60's.

CONGRESS COMPLETELY REVAMP THE SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION and staff it at all levels with proven professionals who get the job done protecting the integrity of the marketplace so citizens and investors are both protected. This agency needs a large staff and needs to be well-funded. It's currently has a joke of a budget and is run by Wall St. insiders who often leave for high ticket cushy jobs with the corporations they were just regulating. Hmmm.

CONGRESS PASS SPECIFIC AND EFFECTIVE LAWS LIMITING THE INFLUENCE OF LOBBYISTS AND ELIMINATING THE PRACTICE OF LOBBYISTS WRITING LEGISLATION THAT ENDS UP ON THE FLOOR OF CONGRESS.

CONGRESS PASSING "Revolving Door Legislation" LEGISLATION ELIMINATING THE ABILITY OF FORMER GOVERNMENT REGULATORS GOING TO WORK FOR CORPORATIONS THAT THEY ONCE REGULATED. So, you don't get to work at the FDA for five years playing softball with Pfizer and then go to work for Pfizer making $195,000 a year. While they're at it, Congress should pass specific and effective laws to enforce strict judicial standards of conduct in matters concerning conflicts of interest. So long as judges are culled from the ranks of corporate attorneys the 1% will retain control.

ELIMINATE "PERSONHOOD" LEGAL STATUS FOR CORPORATIONS. The film "The Corporation" has a great section on how corporations won "personhood status". http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8SuUzmqBewg . Fast-forward to 2:20. It'll blow your mind. The 14th amendment was supposed to give equal rights to African Americans. It said you "can't deprive a person of life, liberty or property without due process of law". Corporation lawyers wanted corporations to have more power so they basically said "corporations are people." Amazingly, between 1890 and 1910 there were 307 cases brought before the court under the 14th amendment. 288 of these brought by corporations and only 19 by African Americans. 600,000 people were killed to get rights for people and then judges applied those rights to capital and property while stripping them from people. It's time to set this straight.

http://occupywallst.org/forum/proposed-list-of-demands-please-help-editadd-so-th/

[AntiFascist]

4. Horizontal power does not mean that there is no leadership....

and the movement is not just about localized, interconnected farming communities. First of all, farmers' markets are a really big deal in some quarters, and very successful at serving their communities.

The idea of decentralized energy is also extremely powerful, but it won't come from the fossil fuel industry. Wind, solar, hydro and other forms of renewable energy are by their nature best implemented in a decentralized way. We don't even necessarilly need big monopolies for distribution.

This author wants to end oligarchy, but he is critical of the Occupy movement. Nowhere does he mention "99%" and seems ignorant of the fact that the movement is already having an effect on our existing system.

[Mojeoux]

5. The Author seems unaware that a more horizontal work structure is how Japan beat Detroit.

It's how dying companies are revived. A horizontal business structure means that the opinions and ideas of the workers on the assembly line or the lowly clerk at the counter, are considered as important as the ideas and opinions of management.
For every product or service, these are the places is where the "rubber meets the road."

Since these new ways have been super successful financially and have revolutionized production and services in companies world wide, why would it (horizontal) not be the logical structure for Occupy to achieve success?

The life experiences and observations of each member of "Occupy," and every citizen have parts of their lives where the "rubber meets the road," in their interactions with the Government.

One of the greatest messages of Occupy to the world is that all humans are precious and that all of their Government interactions are unique and universal at the same time.

This author needs to read up on the works of Demming and watch and observe as the American Occupy Movement works to laboriously evolve our culture.

[mmonk]

6. A more equitable society isn't utopian. We had one more equitable

than now a while back.