We’ve lived so long under the spell of hierarchy—from god-kings to feudal lords to party bosses—that only recently have we awakened to see not only that “regular” citizens have the capacity for self-governance, but that without their engagement our huge global crises cannot be addressed. The changes needed for human society simply to survive, let alone thrive, are so profound that the only way we will move toward them is if we ourselves, regular citizens, feel meaningful ownership of solutions through direct engagement. Our problems are too big, interrelated, and pervasive to yield to directives from on high.
—Frances Moore Lappé, excerpt from Time for Progressives to Grow Up

Tuesday, November 8, 2011

The Future of #OCCUPY

Click here to access article from AdBusters. 

This brief article provides a good overview of how the Occupy movement is progressing which it must do if it is to become a formidable foe to the system of organized crime--capitalism. The New York City Occupy group is moving forward with a promising organizing innovation:
...how to gel into a global movement without sacrificing the decentralized, leaderless model. There is a widespread acknowledgment that there are challenges that can only be dealt with on a global scale, such as a climate change accord and overturning international casino capitalism, and that we must therefore forge a globally united people's movement. However, there is also a growing recognition that the general assembly model that has worked beautifully thus far may be fundamentally limited on a structural level.

A breakthrough came on Friday from the New York City General Assembly where the structure working group has proposed, and the general assembly has accepted, the adoption of a modified spokes council model....