#OccupyDigest - Thursday, September 29, 2011
Friday, September 30, 2011 at 2:01AM By D.J. Raspe - DJRaspy.com
As I sit here writing this particular entry in the #OccupyDigest, a song is playing through my computer speakers. It is this song. Here. Download it. Listen to it while you read this entry. It will help to put this all into perspective, while I relate to you a peculiar analogy which has come to me...
Flag of the 2nd American Revolution - 2011The song you are hearing right now, written between 1916 and 1918 by master Composer Gustav Holst during a time of great upheaval known in that day as "The Great War", is called "Saturn: The Bringer of Old Age". But it has another name, a nickname. It nickname is "Saturn: Guardian of Time", so called because of the central theme of this piece follows the rhythm of a swinging pendulum, as upon a clock.
It is an appropriate song to play, while writing this post in the #OccupyDigest. Why, you might ask? Because Time is ever a key factor in any Revolution, including the one which I am attempting to curate in these #OccupyDigest posts. And, even without the subtle yet apprehensive beauty of Holst's symphonic pendulum swinging back and forth in the background, Time is ever on my mind, as it is no doubt on the minds of many within the #Occupy Movement.
Time relates to the birth of a Revolution much as wear and tear relates to old clothing. This analogy might seem silly, but wait. Hear me out.
You see, the thing about Revolutions is that they do not come from absolutely nowhere. They occur after a certain amount of pressure has built over time within the very fabric of any given society. That pressure can take the form of mass-calamity, or starvation, unemployment, or war-weariness, or even all of the above, and often it does. But that calamity does not become a Revolution until the fabric of society, the economic and political and social systems in place, are no longer able to sustain the vast pressures which have been generated, and that fabric bursts at the seams. The time that it takes that pressure to build is often a very long while, often years, decades, even centuries. A well made shirt, after all, does not immediate develop holes, of its own accord, nor is it created from the start to be threadbare. But then, a very slight occurrence, a mere spark, a mere burning ember lands upon the cloth, and the tiny hole that that spark creates in the material spreads very quickly, leading to the bursting of that vast pressure as it is loosed through the hole created by that tiny spark. And, at that point, then Time inevitably starts to move very, very fast.
That said, American Society has not yet, it would appear, reached the absolute bursting point, but the fabric of that society is stretched to the limit, and already is straining against the pressure. It is tearing, it is ripping, it is fraying in many different areas.
Thus far, Time has moved incredibly slow...for the garment of the Capitalist Republic that we have worn for centuries was, in its time, a remarkably sturdy one. Something quite like Denim, perhaps. But the moment of bursting approaches, and already, we have given great thought, several times now, to replacing it with a newer, sturdier, more durable garment. But once that moment of bursting comes...Time will move very, very fast. And when it does, society will be laid bare, and we will be left naked and vulnerable...until the effort is made to patch it or mend it or refashion it entirely out of whole cloth...
The patching, the mending, the refashioning out of whole cloth, that is an analogy for what we must do when we have brought down the existing social order. Something must be done, after all. Though the nudists of the nation might disagree, most of us would assume that being exposed is not a desired position for us to be in (under normal circumstances anyways), and we must replace the tattered and discarded garment with another. So, Ladies and Gentlemen, Brothers and Sisters in #Occupy, it is time to select another one. Let's go hunting for some new clothing, shall we?
What point am I trying to make here, you might ask? It is this, simply put: We do not yet have a viable system, examined and discussed debated and agreed-upon, to put forth for the consideration of the people of this great Nation. We have taken to the streets, in many cities and towns across the land, and we have voiced our anger, our outrage, our indignation, and we have made our voices heard, loud and clear, that we are very upset with how our country has turned out. And such grievance is indeed legitimate. But what will we do now? What garment...what system will we choose now to replace the one we seek to replace?
To be certain, the matter is under discussion, at General Assemblies throughout the country, and on websites and social networks all over the Internet. People are sharing their ideas, and they are examining the question. But understand that Time waits for no man (or woman), and it waits for no Movement either. If we do not have at least a Provisional system in place when the spark of Revolution arrives, is it at all likely that History will stop and and allow us to take our sweet time in catching up? So I would urge the good people of #OccupyTogether to establish a quick and decisive consensus, about what we want to see implemented in lieu of what we've got now. None of us are likely to see all our ideas implemented, but we have to find common ground on what we want, and we have to put that forth as a solution, before we have reached our moment of bursting, and we are left with a Revolution without any aspirations.
That is the reality that Time leaves with us. We can either keep up, or we can be left behind.
There was another reason why I drew this strange analogy between Revolution, Time, and Clothing, though I left this part for further down here in this post, simply because, frankly, I personally find the notion distasteful. But I feel compelled by duty to share it with you nonetheless, because it is a valid point.
Tonight, while doing my rounds on the Internet, gathering news stories and data to write this edition of the #OccupyDigest, I ran across an article posted on Reddit by an #Occupy Sympathiser, who, quite frankly, told us the ugly truth. Many of us look like a bunch of bums. Granted, some of us...many of us, even, ARE bums, left without jobs, left without money, left without futures, marginalized by society (that is pretty much what a bum is, right?). But this particular commenter suggested that, if we want to gain mainstream appeal for our Revolution, we should dress professionally. Wear "Polos and Khakis", he suggested. You can view the comment he wrote on Reddit here.
As much as I hate to say it...as much as I would love to indignantly rail against this mindset
Dress for Respect. and say "No! That's wrong! We have legitimate grievances! It is our grievances that are important, not our appearance!", the fact is, I think that the commenter who made the suggestion is quite correct. Whether or not we should be judged by our appearances, the fact is, we will be. It is damn near inevitable. The mainstream of American society does not want to cheer on a bunch of scrubs getting into altercations with the Cops in the Streets. The fringe of society, people like myself, might support that. But most people won't. They will however, support people who look just like them, rising up in the streets. History has proven that one before, when a dapper southern baptist pastor named Martin Luther King marched up and down the State of Alabama. Malcom X? He didn't rock the dreadlocks or a gnarly t-shirt. He wore a dress shirt and a bowtie. (Side note: Louis Farakhan is totally keeping that look alive. And people listen to him. Hell, he even gets to personally meet with U.S. Presidents and tell them what dumbasses they are.)
So perhaps, we should give the suggestion of a dress code at #Occupy some serious consideration. Like I said, I really hate to say it, and it goes against every grain in me to compromise what we are as individuals in order to score some points in the mainstream. It is certainly understandable if these suggestions outrage some. Hell, I'd even suggest that we might not want to make the dress code mandatory, but maybe we should weigh the benefits of giving a little ground here on our appearances against the frustration of watching Time continue its stately pace...without us.
With that, it's time for the details of today's notable #Occupy events.
- First of all, the Minutes of the OccupyWallStreet General Assembly (Note: Minutes were not taken this time. However, there is pertinent itinerary information included within the posted link)
#OccupyTogether: We ARE the 99%. Our time has come.- #OccupyNewYork has decided to cease holding afternoon General Assemblies. However, the evening General Assembly was held at 7pm.
- In Solidarity news, some more valuable allies joined the #Occupy cause today! The strength of the #OccupyWallStreet Movement was bolstered by the announcement of the solidarity of the New York Transit Authority with the ongoing #Occupy protests at Liberty (Zucotti) Park. Here's a smarmy, biased, snarkily-worded article from Matt Sledge at the Huffington Post about it. (Note from THIS Blog's "Editor": Yeah, that's right. I just called the article smarmy, biased, and snarkily-worded, because it is. Read it for yourself. And, see, I can SAY that. This is MY Blog, NOT the property of the Huffington Post, and I don't have editors breathing down my neck telling me to paint pro-Democracy Activists as rabble and fodder.) Yet, even though you could just see the contempt just dripping off of every paragraph of this article, it does more or less present the central facts of this new alliance, albeit very grudgingly.
The NYTA is a large union composed of 38,000 Transit Authority workers, and the NYTA Union voted unanimously to throw their support in with the #OccupyProtesters, beginning October 5th. (Another Note from the "Editor": I really, really hope that this news just totally keeps Matt Sledge and the Editors at the Huffington Post up at night, worrying about all those dirty hippies actually getting taken seriously by organizations that could make a serious impact in the war for social-justice. Here's to your sleep-deprivation, Huffington Post. :) )
- In further Solidarity News, Legendary Hip-Hop and overall Media Mogul Russell Simmons,
Russel Simmons - Yet another Friend of the Revolution causing apoplexy in the Establishment Media founder and former CEO of Island Def-Jam Records, the Premiere Record Label in Hip-Hop, announced his solidarity with #OccupyWallStreet. According to the Alexander Higgins Blog, Simmons was quoted as saying:
“Last time I got involved in a protest I brought a hundred thousand people there, for the Rockefeller Drug Laws. And if I get involved really heavily in this one, we find the agenda and have a common ground we can bring hundreds of thousands of people small seeds are planted, but it could grow into something very big.”
This is very big news, with potentially huge implications (above and beyond the great credibility Simmons, a veritable legend in a primarily politically-motivated and politically active music genre, can bring to the table). So here is a video of Simmons, interviewed by MSNBC today.
Visit msnbc.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy
(Note: I sincerely apologize for this, but in the posting of the embed code of the Russell Simmons video, it wiped out roughly the second half of this post. Therefore, even though I've been staring at this computer screen for hours typing this, I'll attempt to run through the rest of the content as briefly as I can. My apologies.)
- In other media news, Senator Bernie Sanders appeared on Countdown with Keith Olbermann today, delivering moral support (though not quite an announcement of solidarity) with #OccupyTogether. Here's the video.
Sanders, though a Senator (one of the lamentable institution of U.S. Congress that helped to create the current Doomsday Scenario), advises #OccupyWallStreet to keep the pressure on Wall Street.
- In articles published at Salon.com and dissenter.firedogswamp.com, Glenn Greenwald and Kevin Gosztola (respectively), took the battle to the Establishment Media today, publishing articles on the Establishment Media's noted contempt for the #Occupy Movement. They're great analyses which shed quite a bit of light on the subject of Big Media duplicity. Check them out.
Finally, I've decided to close out this entry of the #OccupyDigest with a new feature. I call it the Picture of the Day. I get these pictures from social media sites, so I don't know who owns them, but if any of these pictures are yours, drop me an email at Baka13@gmail.com along with your name, and I'll properly credit you in the subtitle. Thank you. And Viva la Revolucion, Hasta la Victoria Siempre!
A protester that kinda looks like me gives NYPD Blue some food for thought. Hmmmmm...
Reader Comments (4)
I tried to create a reference. I don't think it worked. Here is my response.
http://underlore.com/TBA/?p=663
My apologies that your comment did not originally appear. Well, it did, just not visibly, because, due to a recent site update, the text color was still set to black (against a dark background, making the text effectively invisible). I have have altered the comment text color in order to fix that problem. Sorry about that.
Read your response on your Blog, Brandon, and it was an interesting read. I'll try to write out a thoughtful response to it in the next few days. Sorry about the wait. A lot's going on in the #Occupy Movement currently, and I've been kinda swamped with covering it.
No rush. Just glad you read it. :)