<nettime> A Movement without demands?

[nativebuddha <nativebuddha@gmail.com>]

J. Dean said:

>It probably won't be surprising to hear that the poorest places in the US
don't have active occupations going on (I say this based on looking for
evidence

>on the web, not from visiting). The more active occupations are in the
biggest cities (not a surprise, but worth keeping in mind when we think
about

>the social composition of the movement in the US).



I see this as a major unresolved weakness of the movement. Not only the
poorest places, but also the suburban and rural areas. Right now, it?s
basically a city thing that still appears  to be led by middle class youths
and *hippie, whack-o?s*. Occupiers can discount this general public framing
as *not what we?re really about*, but that won?t get rid of the
frame/public perception. No matter what the demands, structural changes
won?t occur unless you engage the lower classes and the suburban and rural
populace. The Occupy foreclosures/evictions initiative in the Poughkeepsie
area is a good start, but much more needs to be done to include those
beyond the urban sphere.


And, as several have already mentioned, the movement should focus more on
the capitalist system. All this internal striving for consensus and direct
democracy is superfluous, and from what I?ve witnessed, a lot of BS. Occupy
is becoming highly stratified and hierarchical, which isn?t necessarily a
bad thing, but let?s not pretend that it?s all about  the virtuous god of
democracy. (Even the whole hand signal ritual for running GA?s excludes
those who don?t know the code. It immediately creates an in-group/out-group
dynamic.) Hacker and Pierson?s point is not that democracy is at fault, but
rather that capitalist forces are the culprit.  So, think of different
forms of economic organizing, and teach it to others. Come up with
innovative forms of exchange and practice it with those not in the Occupy
club.

-nativebuddha


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