1. 19:12 8th Oct 2011

    Notes: 211

    Reblogged from socialuprooting

    Tags: occupywallstreetoccupywallstoccupy wall streetowssept17anarchismanarchistscrimethincanti-capitalismcapitalismproteststruggleoccupation

    Dear Occupiers: A Letter from Anarchists

    The “99%” is not one social body, but many. Some occupiers have presented a narrative in which the “99%” is characterized as a homogenous mass. The faces intended to represent “ordinary people” often look suspiciously like the predominantly white, law-abiding middle-class citizens we’re used to seeing on television programs, even though such people make up a minority of the general population.

    It’s a mistake to whitewash over our diversity. Not everyone is waking up to the injustices of capitalism for the first time now; some populations have been targeted by the power structure for years or generations. Middle-class workers who are just now losing their social standing can learn a lot from those who have been on the receiving end of injustice for much longer.

    The problem isn’t just a few “bad apples.” The crisis is not the result of the selfishness of a few investment bankers; it is the inevitable consequence of an economic system that rewards cutthroat competition at every level of society. Capitalism is not a static way of life but a dynamic process that consumes everything, transforming the world into profit and wreckage. Now that everything has been fed into the fire, the system is collapsing, leaving even its former beneficiaries out in the cold. The answer is not to revert to some earlier stage of capitalism—to go back to the gold standard, for example; not only is that impossible, those earlier stages didn’t benefit the “99%” either. To get out of this mess, we’ll have to rediscover other ways of relating to each other and the world around us.

    (Source: occupywallstreet)

     

  2. 14:47

    Notes: 36

    Reblogged from champagnecandy

    Tags: occupy wall streetowsfeminism

    champagnecandy: P1000969 (by seasonofthebitch) Let me tell you a little story about me and Occupy Wall Street. This photo was taken the first day I stopped by there. I was skeptical; even scornful at first. Why are they occupying Wall Street on a Saturday? I figured it would be yet another protest ignored and gone by Monday morning. When they were still there 5 days later, I packed my camera and went down to see what it was like. I was impressed with the media center, smiled at the kitchen, but the thing that got me was the childcare center. And I really didn’t stop and think about that until yesterday, when Mike Konczal tweeted a link with just the phrase “spontaneous infrastructure.” I’m a bit of a nerd and that’s the type of phrase that actually makes me click, and it was a link to the New York Times’ interactive map of the occupation. But my favorite bit of spontaneous infrastructure wasn’t on their map. I’ve been seeing pushback from feminists against OWS for a while, and so last night I decided to write this up. Because I don’t have kids, I don’t want kids, I don’t even particularly like being around them, and yet it was the childcare center that changed me from a skeptic to a fan.  Because the childcare center, at which admittedly I have not seen children being cared for, is exactly the kind of thing that feminists should be asking of their protest movements, and exactly the kind of thing we mostly don’t have.   What having a sign that says “Childcare Center” really says is “Women and Children Welcome.” It says “Can’t afford a babysitter? Bring your children here and we’ll take care of them.”   An empty childcare center says “We thought about the needs of the people who might someday join us as well as the needs of people who are here right now and have the freedom and ability to give up all their time to camping out in a park.”  It’s infrastructure, of the type that this country especially has so dramatically hacked and slashed away from us or resisted ever building in the first place.  As we discuss and argue about Planned Parenthood and other reproductive health care services being cut, Occupy Wall Street built childcare into their plans.  Many have been saying that this is the resurgence of the anti-globalization movement, the one that declared “another world is possible!” Many others have complained that OWS does not have specific political goals and seems uninterested in buying in to (Democratic) politicians or institutions that support them.  This is my answer to that. They’re not building a political movement. They are building that other world. They have given up on asking for political action and have simply modeled the world they want to see.  That world provides free childcare.  (Do I have to add my disclaimer about it not being perfect? Of course it’s not perfect.) 

    champagnecandy:

    P1000969 (by seasonofthebitch)

    Let me tell you a little story about me and Occupy Wall Street.

    This photo was taken the first day I stopped by there. I was skeptical; even scornful at first. Why are they occupying Wall Street on a Saturday? I figured it would be yet another protest ignored and gone by Monday morning.

    When they were still there 5 days later, I packed my camera and went down to see what it was like.

    I was impressed with the media center, smiled at the kitchen, but the thing that got me was the childcare center.

    And I really didn’t stop and think about that until yesterday, when Mike Konczal tweeted a link with just the phrase “spontaneous infrastructure.” I’m a bit of a nerd and that’s the type of phrase that actually makes me click, and it was a link to the New York Times’ interactive map of the occupation. But my favorite bit of spontaneous infrastructure wasn’t on their map.

    I’ve been seeing pushback from feminists against OWS for a while, and so last night I decided to write this up. Because I don’t have kids, I don’t want kids, I don’t even particularly like being around them, and yet it was the childcare center that changed me from a skeptic to a fan. 

    Because the childcare center, at which admittedly I have not seen children being cared for, is exactly the kind of thing that feminists should be asking of their protest movements, and exactly the kind of thing we mostly don’t have.  

    What having a sign that says “Childcare Center” really says is “Women and Children Welcome.” It says “Can’t afford a babysitter? Bring your children here and we’ll take care of them.”  

    An empty childcare center says “We thought about the needs of the people who might someday join us as well as the needs of people who are here right now and have the freedom and ability to give up all their time to camping out in a park.” 

    It’s infrastructure, of the type that this country especially has so dramatically hacked and slashed away from us or resisted ever building in the first place. 

    As we discuss and argue about Planned Parenthood and other reproductive health care services being cut, Occupy Wall Street built childcare into their plans. 

    Many have been saying that this is the resurgence of the anti-globalization movement, the one that declared “another world is possible!” Many others have complained that OWS does not have specific political goals and seems uninterested in buying in to (Democratic) politicians or institutions that support them. 

    This is my answer to that. They’re not building a political movement. They are building that other world. They have given up on asking for political action and have simply modeled the world they want to see. 

    That world provides free childcare. 

    (Do I have to add my disclaimer about it not being perfect? Of course it’s not perfect.) 

     

  3. 21:04 5th Oct 2011

    Notes: 931

    Reblogged from socialuprooting

    Tags: is this what you want?occupywallstreetoccupy wall streetpolice brutalitypolicebrutalitynighstickcrazysickeningfoxnewscnnprotestmovementrevolutionrealitylifepoliticssituationnew yorknycnew york citymarchpeoplecopscopnypdoccupywall streetmoney

     

  4. 18:46 27th Sep 2011

    Notes: 3202

    Reblogged from telegantmess

    Tags: Occupy Wall Street

    tariqk:

    cognitivedissonance:

    Police pen up and mace female “Occupy Wall Street” protesters

    In a disturbing scene from today’s “Occupy Wall Street” protests, a group of peaceful female protesters were rounded up in an orange-colored mesh pen by police and subsequently sprayed with mace without any provocation.

    In spite of multiple reported incidents of possible police violence, major media outlets seem to be content to let the protests go by completely unreported, following the same “who-cares” attitude they have taken toward recent revelations that the NYPD has violated the Constitutional rights of American citizens by spying on them as possible terrorists and enemies of the state despite a complete absence of evidence of any crimes.

    This is absolutely disturbing. Penning people up to mace them is police brutality. Period. What will it take to get the mainstream media to pay attention? If you follow the #OccupyWallStreet, you’ll find out that at least 80 were arrested today. AP and Wall Street Journal mentioned the arrests briefly today. 

    What happened to telling others to uphold the principles of justice and freedom, Americans? Too much for you to do?

     

  5. 13:02 20th Sep 2011

    Notes: 35

    Reblogged from socialuprooting

    Tags: occupy wall streetrevolution

    Occupy Wall Street Working Group Needs

    From the General Assembly site:

    The Bedding Working Group has requested help with the following items:

    - Solutions: We need ideas and input about how to solve the bedding situation. We have continue to have people who are cold overnight. It is necessary to come up with strategies of how to make sure our sleepers are warm and comfortable.

    - Funding: We are requesting donations at this time help us acquire our sheltering needs.

    - Donations of blankets and pillows are always neeeded.

    - Rain gear, especially ponchos and tents that can be used to shelter from wet weather are urgently requested, as forecast has rain in next days.

    - Space Blankets, mylar heat insulating blankets, such as seen here http://www.rei.com/gear/feature/search/Google/space%20blanket?s_kwcid=TC|13029|space%20blanket||S|e|7282087925&cm_mmc=ps_google_CH-_-Category%20-%20HFS-_-HFS_Brand_Space-_-Space%20Blanket&gclid=COHXjaOpqasCFUt_5QodnlIb4A are very helpful.

    For any questions, please find Lizzy at Liberty Plaza.

    The Fun Stuff Working Group has needs for the following:

    Bubbles, chalk, face paint, glitter, noisemakers, shakers.

    Please find Becky Wartell at Liberty Plaza or email: rrwartell@yahoo.com for questions.

    (Source: nycga.cc)