Re:If I didn't think it was so important
Monday, October 24 2011 @ 10:12 PM CDT

Re:If I didn't think it was so important
Tuesday, October 25 2011 @ 07:33 AM CDT

Quote by: damiengh

Good straight-up clip Damien.

Re:If I didn't think it was so important
Tuesday, October 25 2011 @ 01:33 PM CDT

It might be that "the problem" is bigger than just Wall Street or D.C. Personally, I'm not hopeful for the short-to-medium term. The whole world system needs purging of endless debt and yet there's little evidence that is seriously being addressed. I'm not a big Ron Paul fan, but his take on the economic woes of the U.S. and Europe are pretty solid in my view.

Here's a sobering analysis shared without any particular recommendation. It just brings to mind that in order to have a proper remedy proscribed, it is essential to have an accurate diagnosis of the problem... not an easy thing to come by with the fog of many so competing points of view and agendas.

Days Of Reckoning
http://tinyurl.com/6lxc2cq

I'm hoping that despite the hardships being experienced (and more than likely will get worse), that a demand from voters for fiscal and monetary responsibility will help the corner to be turned. But then again, maybe I'm just whistling past the graveyard...

Re:If I didn't think it was so important
Tuesday, October 25 2011 @ 02:02 PM CDT

[QUOTE BY= Dadai.2]
It just brings to mind that in order to have a proper remedy proscribed, it is essential to have an accurate diagnosis of the problem... not an easy thing to come by with the fog of many so competing points of view and agendas.

Hi Dadai,

The diagnosis is the easy part: the problem is societal corruption and deconstruction that has been allowed to occur under many different names such as "deregulation", "trickle down" and "free markets". The corruption is the problem, holding people accountable in a corrupted system is the hard part.

The U.S. used to have systems of justice that held criminals accountable but we purposely removed them slowly, one by one. The Citizens United case, removal of Glass-Steagall, NAFTA, numerous tax code changes, WMD lies, torture camps, criminal banking practices: all allowed to occur by dumbed-down Americans who are little more than propaganda puppets incapable of thinking of larger societal issues. Until now...

The OWS movement is America's last chance for peaceful accountability to take place. If it fails, America will quickly descend into a Greece-like riot state wherein frustrated citizens take the law into their own hands just as the corrupt 1%ers have already. That will be a sad day indeed because it will mark the end of the United States as we know it and will require a complete, ground-up reconstruction of the country through years of fighting, deaths and civil war-like conditions.

I've been warning people for years that this will occur but most people are not open to anything but reinforcement of their false propaganda-induced paradigms. That's another thing OWS people are well aware of which is the main reason there is no sloganeering or branding of some single issue which could be easily "sold".

Re:If I didn't think it was so important
Tuesday, October 25 2011 @ 02:08 PM CDT

Like I said,

... not an easy thing to come by with the fog of many so competing points of view and agendas.

Chacun son goût...

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Tuesday, October 25 2011 @ 03:09 PM CDT

* This message has been removed *

Re:If I didn't think it was so important
Tuesday, October 25 2011 @ 06:48 PM CDT

Re:If I didn't think it was so important
Wednesday, October 26 2011 @ 08:38 AM CDT

As much as I enjoy the links that have been posted here - and have learned from them - I'm equally interested in there being more dialogue on the issues.
The thing that always impresses me the most when I'm at Zuccotti Park is the number of people engaged in discussion. The diversity of the people and the issues. It's like walking into a swap meet of ideas - and when the general assembly is happening, I feel like I'm being transported back to ancient Greece and witnessing the baby steps of democracy in an open air forum.
On Sunday morning someone called out "mic check" and announced that they were looking for volunteers for a body-mind artwork starting in 10 minutes. I was intrigued so I went to the meeting place. About 15 of us assembled and found a place to work together. The facilitator had some cardboard scraps - markers and colored chalk.
He asked for 4 volunteers to represent ideas. I was one of the four. We each were free to pick our idea. One was "the death penalty" - then "student debt" - "deforestation" and I chose "patience". In turn we each explained why we chose our issue and what it meant to us as others weighed in while another person in the group took notes. After each issue was discussed the facilitator drew a circle around the main speaker and labeled it by topic - then drew lines out to satellite bubbles with the related issues raised during discussion. The end result was a chalk drawing of 4 planets - each having 5 or 6 satellites. Then we used chalk to draw lines between related issues from satellite to satellite crossing groups as we discussed how "patience/fast food" related to "deforestation/cattle ranching" for instance. By the time we were done we had created a densely webbed visualization of how seemingly disparate ideas are all interconnected. Finally we all tried to find a way to place a foot on satellites and reach our hands across to others doing the same to make the connections. This required a lot of cooperation and laughter as we became a 15 person game of twister.
As simple and fundamental as this game seems - the experience was incredible.
This is the kind of thing that happens there in one form or another on a regular basis. I feel really privileged to have the welcoming inclusion of this group of highly motivated young people. My faith in the future is restored every time I'm there - and I find it very hard to stay away for more than two days.

In an effort to create such a forum I'm changing the name of this thread to "Occupy MacJams". Thanks to everyone who has contributed thus far.
At the park we make an effort to stay as inclusive and apolitical as possible.

Re:Occupy MacJams
Wednesday, October 26 2011 @ 09:08 AM CDT

Oh, I do love it when everybody gets all political

LL

"99%" by Bud, is a good example of a musician using his or her skills to convey a message, ideology, or anything in their mind to a much wider audience. It(music) entertains and gets to more people than blogging or standing on a soap box.

It's a tool we have and you should use it. (It's more effective- Believe me)

Re:Occupy MacJams
Wednesday, October 26 2011 @ 10:28 AM CDT

Quote by: bud As much as I enjoy the links that have been posted here - and have learned from them - I'm equally interested in there being more dialogue on the issues. The thing that always impresses me the most when I'm at Zuccotti Park is the number of people engaged in discussion. The diversity of the people and the issues. It's like walking into a swap meet of ideas - and when the general assembly is happening, I feel like I'm being transported back to ancient Greece and witnessing the baby steps of democracy in an open air forum. On Sunday morning someone called out "mic check" and announced that they were looking for volunteers for a body-mind artwork starting in 10 minutes. I was intrigued so I went to the meeting place. About 15 of us assembled and found a place to work together. The facilitator had some cardboard scraps - markers and colored chalk. He asked for 4 volunteers to represent ideas. I was one of the four. We each were free to pick our idea. One was "the death penalty" - then "student debt" - "deforestation" and I chose "patience". In turn we each explained why we chose our issue and what it meant to us as others weighed in while another person in the group took notes. After each issue was discussed the facilitator drew a circle around the main speaker and labeled it by topic - then drew lines out to satellite bubbles with the related issues raised during discussion. The end result was a chalk drawing of 4 planets - each having 5 or 6 satellites. Then we used chalk to draw lines between related issues from satellite to satellite crossing groups as we discussed how "patience/fast food" related to "deforestation/cattle ranching" for instance. By the time we were done we had created a densely webbed visualization of how seemingly disparate ideas are all interconnected. Finally we all tried to find a way to place a foot on satellites and reach our hands across to others doing the same to make the connections. This required a lot of cooperation and laughter as we became a 15 person game of twister. As simple and fundamental as this game seems - the experience was incredible. This is the kind of thing that happens there in one form or another on a regular basis. I feel really privileged to have the welcoming inclusion of this group of highly motivated young people. My faith in the future is restored every time I'm there - and I find it very hard to stay away for more than two days. In an effort to create such a forum I'm changing the name of this thread to "Occupy MacJams". Thanks to everyone who has contributed thus far. At the park we make an effort to stay as inclusive and apolitical as possible.

... incredible narrative Kevin .... thanks for the snap shot.