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Begin forwarded message: > From: chtodelat news <donotre...@wordpress.com> > Date: 15 november 2011 21:25:34 GMT+01:00 > To: a.andr...@nictoglobe.com > Subject: [New post] A Few Notes on the Eviction > > > New post on chtodelat news > > > A Few Notes on the Eviction > by hecksinductionhour > Derrick O'Keefe > An open letter to 1 per cent: you cannot evict an idea whose time has come > > To the 1 per cent (you know who you are), > > I write to you, as a lowly ninety-nine percenter, to offer both my > congratulations and my condolences. > > First, my congratulations on sending in the NYPD to clear out Zuccotti Park > in the wee hours of the morning today. Congratulations for demonstrating, > with this cynically timed manoeuvre, that when push comes to shove the police > exist to serve and protect your vested interests. Congratulations on teaching > a new generation this painful but necessary lesson about the true function of > the police in a capitalist society. You deserve thanks for proving that when > consent falters you'll resort to force to maintain your hegemony -- liberal > democracy, when it is by and for the 1 per cent, must have its limits. > > Congratulations are also in order for the seamless way you have deployed your > media and your legal system against the Occupy encampments around North > America. From Oakland up to Vancouver, all the way over to Halifax and many > places in between, injunctions and smear campaigns have paved the way for > evictions. Congrats all around on the super job you've done reminding us of > the ultimate purpose of our society's superstructure. > > I also write, however, to offer my condolences. Because, for you, the sad > truth is that you can evict an encampment, but you cannot evict ideas whose > time has come. > > As it was with Cairo's Tahrir Square, I know that we, the 99 per cent, will > be back in New York's Liberty (Zuccotti) Park. And even if that takes some > time, I'm still sorry for you and your tiny minority, because you cannot > evict these ideas: they are simply too important, too long overdue, and too > big to fail. > > You cannot evict the idea -- at long last expressed in no uncertain terms -- > that you, the 1 per cent super-rich, have been getting away with crimes > against the people for far too long. > > You cannot evict the idea that the rich and the powerful are responsible for > the social and economic crisis we face. > > You cannot evict the idea that money must cease to dominate and corrupt > politics. > > You cannot evict the idea that everybody, all 100 per cent of us, deserves a > home, a permanent, safe and comfortable roof over their heads; this is an > idea that you cannot evict no matter in how many places you try to evict the > homeless who have joined our encampments. You cannot evict from sight and > from mind the social problems that your 1 per cent centric system has created > and perpetuated. > > You cannot evict the idea that the environmental crisis is driven by the > insatiable and irrational system of capital accumulation that you sit atop. > > You cannot evict the idea that the war machine is paid for with the blood and > treasure of the 99 per cent, and yet serves only your 1 per cent interests. > > You cannot evict the bonds of international solidarity that have already been > forged, with actions like the Egyptians' sharing lessons of struggle in New > York or the Boston Occupation of the Israeli consulate in solidarity with the > Freedom Waves flotilla to Gaza. > > You cannot evict this rebellion because it has become global, beginning in > Tunisia and spreading from there and picking up People Power and indignation > along the way. > > You cannot evict the joy we have all felt in joining a movement that has > finally spoken to class injustice, and to the exclusion of the 99 per cent > from power at all levels. > > You can clear out a park in the middle of the night, but you cannot evict > Occupy Wall Street, and you cannot evict this political moment and these > movements that have emerged. > > My condolences, again, to you the 1 per cent. Now that we've finally got > these ideas in our hearts and in our minds, you can never again evict the 99 > per cent from political life and from the struggle to create a better society > and a better world. > > _____ > > > > > > _____ > > Glenn Greenwald > A police raid suffused with symbolism > November 15, 2011 > Salon.Com > > Following similar raids in St. Louis and Oakland, hordes of NYPD officers > this morning forcibly cleared Zuccotti Park in Manhattan of all protesters; > New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg took “credit” for this decision. That led to > this description of today’s events from an Occupy Wall Street media > spokesman, as reported by Salon‘s Justin Elliott: > > A military style raid on peaceful protesters camped out in the shadow of Wall > Street, ordered by a cold ruthless billionaire who bought his way into the > mayor’s office. > > If you think about it, that short sentence is a perfect description of both > the essence of America’s political culture and the fuel that gave rise to the > #OWS movement in the first place. > > * * * * * > > Jesse LaGreca, who justifiably received substantial attention as an > insightful and articulate spokesperson for OWS’s grievances, here condemns > what he describes as the “1-party bankster owned oligarchy” (for more on what > he means, see here). Meanwhile, here’s a photo of the police earlier this > week clearing out Occupy Chapel Hill in North Carolina; the Baghdad-like > scene is but a small taste of how para-militarized America’s domestic police > forces have become and what we’re likely to see much more of if (more > accurately: when) protests, disruptions and other forms of unrest continue to > emerge in the face of a disappearing middle class and exploding inequality: > > > UPDATE: A New York state judge this morning temporarily enjoined the city > from keeping the protesters out of Zuccotti Park, but Mayor Bloomberg is > simply ignoring the Order and deliberately breaking the law by refusing to > allow them back in. Put another way, Bloomberg this morning has broken more > laws than the hundreds of protesters who were arrested. But as we know, the > law does not apply to the Michael Bloombergs of the nation; the law, instead, > has simply been exploited into a weapon used by the politically and > financially powerful to prevent challenges to their standing. > > Could #OWS have scripted a more apt antagonist than this living, breathing > personification of oligarchy: a Wall Street billionaire who so brazenly > purchased his political office, engineered the overturning of a term-limits > referendum and then spent more than $100 million of his personal fortune to > stay in power, and now resides well above the law? > > UPDATE II: To justify his raid, Mayor Bloomberg said: ”We must never be > afraid to insist on compliance with our laws.” Leaving aside the fact that > torturers, illegal eavesdroppers, wagers of aggressive war, Wall Streets > defrauders, and mortgage thieves are some of his best friends who thrive and > profit rather than sit in a jail cell, this is the same Mayor Bloomberg who, > now beyond all dispute, is knowingly and deliberately breaking the law by > violating a Court Order of which he is well aware. He’d be arrested for that > if he weren’t a billionaire Mayor (and indeed, having seen that bevvy of > political and financial elites break the law in the most egregious ways with > total impunity over the last decade, why would Bloomberg be afraid of simply > ignoring the law?). Today really is the most vivid expression seen in quite > some time of the two-tiered justice system I wrote my new book to highlight; > the real criminals are not only shielded from the law’s mandates, but > affirmatively use it as an instrument to entrench themselves in power and > protect their ill-gotten gains. > > _____ > > Stephanie Luce: One of the amazing things about OWS in New York has been the > degree to which organized labor has come on in support, and been able to > intersect some of its own organizing with that of OWS. There is a long way to > go, but this level of interaction seems remarkable to me in this city where > unions have been known to be insular and not good at working with others. > Unions have already contributed support in a variety of ways: offering money, > food, medical training, supplies, meeting space, storage space, and publicity. > > And OWS has participated in ongoing labor activities, from the campaign to > get a contract at Verizon, to supporting locked-out Teamsters at Sothebys. > Public sector unions have been fighting to extend the millionaire’s tax in > New York, and on October 11, 2011, the 99 percent and unions joined together > for a march against the millionaires and billionaires. > > The general assembly, consensus model has drawbacks. It can be used poorly in > ways that allow a small minority to block consensus, and control decisions. > With large groups of people, it can be possible for small cliques to develop > and function in non-transparent ways. But the same can be said for our other > models of functioning—notably, traditional union structures. > > Despite its weaknesses, the Occupy model can provide tremendous inspiration > for rank-and-file unionists. It has worked so far to allow “ordinary people” > to feel they are participating in democratic decision-making for the first > time in their lives. They have seen how it’s possible to develop an idea and > run with it, working to organize with others to make their vision a reality. > The horizontalist model is new for many union members, and will take some > work to learn and develop, but is a tool that can strengthen movements. > > OWS provides another important lesson for unions, which I think expands on > the UE fight at Republic Windows and Doors, and the fight back in Wisconsin. > The lesson is that we should not be afraid of “the public.” Unions have been > spending millions of dollars on consultants, polls and focus groups to craft > a careful message that will play with the public. But the messages that come > out of these tend to be ones that people have been hearing in the media and > from politicians. They tend to be conservative, backward looking messages, > and not ones that push people to new ideas and greater possibilities. > > No focus group would have come up with the “message” of a plant takeover in > Chicago. And no poll would have predicted that a mass teacher walkout and > citizen take-over of the Capitol building in Madison, Wisconsin was a wise > public relations strategy. > > Instead, the labor movement has been trying to frame itself as “reasonable.” > Top union leaders in Wisconsin stated emphatically that they were “only > asking for the right to collective bargaining.” The same is true with the > Verizon strike in August, where union leaders said they were on strike “for > the right to bargain.” Unions and labor coalitions declare that they are just > trying to save the middle class, or reclaim the American Dream: nothing > radical, nothing confrontational. > > OWS turns that idea on its head, and within a few weeks, with no consultants > and no polling, asserts a very bold and expansive “message”: we are the 99 > percent, we are in a class war against the 1 percent, we demand public space, > we demand the right to protest, we want another world. OWS uses images that > link its fight with the Arab Spring, suggesting that our fight is a > fundamental struggle for democracy and basic human rights. These are bold, > visionary demands, and ones that ignite the public imagination. > > — Farooque Chowdhury and Michael D. Yates, "The Occupy Wall Street Uprising > and the U.S. Labor Movement: An Interview with Steve Early, Jon Flanders, > Stephanie Luce, and Jim Straub" > > Thanks to Louis Proyect and Marxmail for keeping the flame and the heads-up. > > > > hecksinductionhour | November 15, 2011 at 8:25 pm | Tags: Derrick O'Keefe, > Glenn Greenwald, Liberty Park, Michael Bloomberg, Occupy Wall Street, > Stephanie Luce, the 99 percent, US police state | Categories: activism, film > and video, interviews, leftist movements, political repression, protests, < a > href="http://chtodelat.wordpress.com/?cat=492266"; style="text-decoration: > none; color: #0088cc; text-decoration: underline; color: #2585B2;">trade > unions, urban movements (right to the city) | URL: http://wp.me/pbH8F-Wj > Comment See all comments > Unsubscribe or change your email settings at Manage Subscriptions. > > Trouble clicking? 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