Power to the People

            With Occupy encampments under siege across the country and the world, it is clear the movement is accomplishing something, it is not as clear what that something is. While frustration with corporate greed and wealth inequality created the movement and continue to be the over arching ideals behind it, Occupy Wall Street is a leaderless movement. Organized without a central figure and without clear demands, the chaos of the movement is its true strength, and what will ultimately allow it to succeed.

            There are many things that are needed for a social movement to be successful from a permissive world context to a crisis occurring in its homeland but one of the biggest challenges facing any social movement is in not allowing it to be co-opted. That is why I believe that the leaderless movement of Occupy Wall Street will succeed. From Michael Moore to Lupe Fiasco, from Anne Hathaway to Miley Cyrus, from Moveon.org to Burlington’s mayoral candidates, all have attended events or shown support for Occupy Wall Street but the movement has resisted the urge to be co-opted, remaining true to the idea that, the people united can never be defeated.

            At its core, the Occupy Wall Street is about challenging the system and empowering people to create a new political paradigm. Occupy's ability to succeed largely hinges on its ability to remain a leaderless movement, if it is co-opted or adopts a leader to speak for everyone than it will become easy for the Occupy movement to be discredited.

A strength of the leaderless Occupy movement is the idea that no one person speaks for the group. When a Free Press reporter wants to write a story about Occupy Burlington he has nobody to call to give him an easy sound bite, he must actually show up at one of the local events to talk to the people in attendance. Even when interviewing people at the movement each one makes sure it is known they speak only for themselves and not for the movement as a whole. Lacking the central figure, allows Occupy Burlington to actually marginalize the media’s ability to represent the movement. It makes it impossible to get the whole story from the mainstream news, which in turn encourages people to attend events and become involved, which strengthens the movement.

Look at the current Republican candidates running for political office, their entire life becomes public and once something less than favorable is found that can be played on the 24 hour news cycle, their candidacy is over. With no central leader, the Occupy movement, which has been marginalized in the media from the beginning, as being led by societies less than desirables from dirty hippies to the homeless, cannot be destroyed in this same way. For instance, if a crime occurs in the encampment, the story doesn’t stay in the public consciousness very long, because there is no larger public figure to attach the story to, keeping it in the news cycle. Ask most people on the street what they remember about media coverage of the Occupy movement and they will answer with police brutality and pepper spray used against the people.

The best defense going forward that Occupy Burlington and the larger movement has to stay a leaderless movement, is also its most democratic, the general assembly. By making use of direct democracy to collect consensus before making decisions allows each individual voice to be heard and counted and doesn’t value one voice above any other.

A second process the movement uses to make sure it stays leaderless, might be its most annoying, the human microphone. Started out of necessity in New York City and spread throughout the country in solidarity, the human microphone allows a persons message to be amplified through repetition from many voices, not allowing that speaker to rely on eloquence. I, like many other people got caught up in Obamamania in the last election and was seduced by what he had to say in his speeches rather than what he his actions in congress said. The human microphone fights against this problem by not allowing the speaker to say more than maybe ten words before they need to pause so the people can repeat it.

All the reasons stated above are what make the leaderless Occupy Wall Street movement powerful and ultimately successful. It will take time and dedication to see this social movement succeed in the United States. It is important to allow Occupy Wall Street to continue as a leaderless movement because the elite in charge of the country don’t have the mechanisms in place to fight an idea with no face but a idea with a face they can destroy in days.

A New World Order

Courtesy of occupywallst.org

In recent weeks, people taking leisurely walks or throwing the Frisbee in City Hall Park in Burlington, might have looked towards the southern corner of the park and wondered if they had accidentally stumbled upon Burlington’s entry into the niche activity known as urban camping. In actuality, the two dozen or so tents set up on the south side of the park represent Burlington’s Occupy Wall Street encampment, organized to show solidarity with the growing Occupy Wall Street movement in New York City.

Now approaching 60 days in length, the Occupy Wall Street movement began in New York City on September 17^th after a call to action from the Canadian activist group, Adbusters. Protesters gathered in the middle of Manhattan’s financial district to fight against the power corporations and the ultra rich have over the democratic process, while also challenging the role that Wall Street played in the economic collapse which helped led to the recession the country is still fighting through today.

The protesters also want to bring attention to the wealth inequality in the country in which the top 1% holds a disproportionate amount of the wealth in the country.  Jonathan Leavitt, a community organizer, explains the movement this way, “The Occupy Wall Street movement is the rising up of people, who are fed up with corporate greed and the power they have in all facets of life, who have finally come together to build a movement to try and change the way the country functions. It is the 99% finally taking a stand against the 1%.”

The anger at corporate greed in the movement stems from the Troubled Asset Relief Program (TARP) bailout in 2008, where banks that had risked significant amounts of money and lost got bailed out with over 700 billion dollars with as much as 300 billion of that coming from taxpayers. During 2008, companies that received 295 billion dollars in bailout money spent 114 millions dollars in campaign contributions and lobbyists.

Courtesy of ibtimes.com

 Another general complaint out of the Occupy movement is the staggering wealth inequality between the top 1% and the bottom 99%. In 2009, the top 1% of United States households owned over 35% of the countries private wealth. That is more wealth than the entire bottom 90% percent owns. The top 10% also owns more than 80% of the stock market wealth and the ultra rich 1% own over 38 % of the total stock market wealth. 

both courtesy of inequality.org

While the issues raised by the Occupy movement are important, the movement has many critics, with the main critiques of the movement being that, first, the movement offers no solutions to the problems they raise, second, the movement doesn’t have a clear list of demands, and finally, the protesters are simply lazy, unemployed people who are waiting for a handout. Jon, a UVM graduate student, who is critical of the Occupy movement, says this, “I feel like the people protesting don’t know what they are protesting for, they found issues that they don’t like about the country but aren’t trying to fix them.” What many critics don’t understand about the movement is the idea that the encampments being set up around country are real attempts by the Occupy movement at offering solutions to the problems they see in the current society. As Leavitt says, “If we wait for politicians to make the changes we want to see than we will be waiting for a long time, the people need to be the change we want to see, we need to make the politicians make the changes we want to see.”

On October 28^th, the Occupy Burlington movement began its occupation of City Hall Park. On that Friday afternoon, soon to be campers put tents up while other searched for rocks to anchor the tents since the use of stakes were not allowed. After a rally and some music the encampment of City Hall Park began. 

Courtesy of the Defender

When you walk through the encampment it is impossible not to get drawn into a conversation, often many conversations, exchanging ideas, philosophies or simply making small talk. It is equally impossible to be able to leave the encampment without having accumulated an surprisingly large amount of literature. The campers, who range from young to old, from employed to homeless, from well dressed to tie-dyed enthusiasts, all seem to exude hope in the occupation and what it might be able to accomplish. Occupy Burlington empowers the people as it is a leaderless movement looking for all people to lead in their own way rather than having one central leader of the movement.

The decision to occupy the park came out of a general assembly, which is the Occupy movement’s decision making process. Leavitt has this to say about the movement and general assemblies, “what is so great about this is that there is no leader, the people truly decide what their next move will be.” A general assembly is a form of direct democracy where a people gather to make decisions through consensus, allowing each persons voice to be heard before a decision is made.

In Burlington, there are general assemblies every Sunday at 2:30 on the steps of City Hall (held daily during the encampment), anyone can attend all that is needed to have your voice heard is taking the time to actually attend. The assemblies are led by facilitators, who guide the attendees through the agenda for that day, though they should not be confused with leaders of the movement, as again anyone can be a facilitator. With attendees gathered on the steps of City Hall these meetings can sometimes last for several hours before the whole agenda is worked through the general assemblies engage in a more direct form of democracy than ever takes place just feet behind them inside City Hall. 

Courtesy of Reddit.com

While to some the length of the assemblies might seem tiring to some, at least one person in attendance doesn’t mind them. “I found the general assemblies to be very uplifting because I felt myself being heard and listened to in a way that a politician hasn’t ever listened to me," says Joanna Marshall, a Burlington resident who has attended several of the general assemblies. "I mean, even in a small state like Vermont, I have hardly ever see the senators I vote for, let alone talk to them in any meaningful way. I knew that when I supported something or didn’t support something my voice would be counted.”

Working groups are another way that Occupy Burlington involves the people in the process of governing. Working groups involve people coming together to work on different issues presented by the Occupy movement, some might be camp related but not all are. Working groups in the Occupy Burlington movement range from Environmental and Anti-War to Comfort to Media and Technology. The media and technology group seems to be a particularly important group, “with mainstream media having so many corporate sponsors, the movement, even in a place like Burlington can’t be expected to be portrayed fairly by the media," Leavitt points out. "That is why it is so important to create our own media for the movement to allow the people to decide for themselves what we are about.” Though not all people who see the working group media think it does very much good, Jon, talking about his viewings of some of the media, “I’ve looked at some of the clips people in the movement have created and they seemed to me that they were nothing more than propaganda to support their views. It didn’t seem like they were trying to be objective with any of their clips.”

The most  visible aspect of the Occupy movement have been the marches up and down Church Street on Sundays and other select days of action. Beginning in late September and often led by a community band, marchers create signs to creatively express their frustration with the 1%, while they use the tried and true call and response method to have their voices heard over the eclectic soundscape that arises from Church Street. “It is great to march up and down Church Street, I can see people watching us as we walk by chanting and singing, I can see them wondering what we are doing. I hope we are showing them what it means to stand up for what we believe in,” Marshall, who has been at several of the marches, says.

Courtesy of 7days blog

Until recently, the city of Burlington, didn’t know what to make of the occupation of City Hall, with Mayor Bob Kiss initially taking a wait and see approach to the encampment. One reason Kiss might have had this approach is that with a kitchen, library and sleeping arrangements, the encampment offered a place for some of Burlington’s homeless to be more accepted. “We can meet all the basic needs and services that a person needs here in camp, which is one reason there are more homeless in the encampment than might be expected, its interesting that the Occupy encampment can provide all the services that City claims to offer,” Leavitt says.

With the encampment doing so well in offering an alternative to the current society from direct democracy to independent media, it was unfortunate that tragedy struck the camp. On November 10, Joshua Pfenning killed himself and in the aftermath of the accident, Kiss changed his wait and see approach, calling for police to breakup the encampment in City Hall with the threat of violence. It remains to be seen where the Occupy Burlington movement will move from here, but Leavitt is still encouraging more people to join the movement, “Get involved, be engaged, become a leader.” Marshall shows a similar sentiment, “I hope people don’t think this means the movement is over, its not, its still growing, we believe in changing how society work, just because the encampment is gone doesn’t mean that belief is.”

Interview

An interview with Jonathan Leavitt, a community organizer in the Burlington area

What is the Occupy Wall Street Movement?

JL: The Occupy Wall Street movement is the rising up of people who are fed up with corporate greed who have finally come together to build a movement to try and change the way the country functions. It is the 99% finally taking a stand against the 1%.

Why did you help start the Occupy Burlington movement?

JL: It was important to me to show solidarity to the movement in New York, but it is also very important to show that the corporate greed has affected people all over the country, not just people in New York City. People in Vermont have lost their homes and jobs while CEO’s and Bank continue to make huge amounts of money off the suffering of others.

Do you believe that this movement will create the change the protesters want to see in the country?

JL: It will be hard to achieve everything but I believe that with the way the movement is growing and gaining strength around country that eventually the government will have no choice but to make changes to the system.

Do you feel that they Occupy Wall Street movement should try and mobilize behind a political party like the Tea Party did several years ago?

JL: I don’t think that the movement should try to get behind any political party because both parties have had the chance to make change and neither one has. To create the change that the country needs, this truly needs to be a movement of the people of all walks of life and political beliefs, joining a political party might limit the people who joined the movement.  

How would you answer critics of the movement who accuse the protesters of not having clear demands or any solutions to the problems they are protesting?

JL: I believe that there are pretty clear demands being made, people want the corporate greed that is hurting this country to stop. They want jobs that can support their basic needs and they want the banks and financial institutions that caused the economic collapse to be held accountable. To answer the second part, I believe that the protesting began out of generally anger of the people and the longer the protests continue the more defined the demands and solutions will become.

With the growing support of the Occupy Burlington movement, what is the next move for it?

JL: There is a general assembly meeting on Sunday (October 16) at 12:30 in City Hall Park to decide how to proceed with the Burlington movement. That is what is so great about this movement there is no leader, the people truly decide what their next move will be.

Occupy Burlington

courtesy of adbuster.org

The Occupy Wall Street movement has just reached its one month anniversary. For thirty straight days protesters have been jamming Liberty Square in Lower Manhattan to protest against corporate greed, and social and economic inequalities in country. What began with 150 protesters spending the night on September 17^th has grown into a movement with solidarity protests in over 100 United States cities and 82 countries around the world.

The Occupy Wall Street movement began with a call to action from the Canadian activist group, Adbusters; they called for the original occupation to begin on September 17^th. The movement has also received lots of support from the hacker group Anonymous. The movement grew slowly for the first couple of weeks with little major media coverage outside of until September 24 when video of police spraying protesters, who were already restrained by orange mesh netting, with pepper spray went viral. Within days there was major news coverage of the incident and of the protests in general. The movement began to gather momentum with more and more people showing up to Occupy Wall Street.

The protesters who have been occupying Liberty Square have set up make shift kitchens, library’s and medical centers to help the people occupying the area. The movement is leaderless, meaning that the protesters meet twice daily at general assembly meetings to decide what will be on the agenda for that particular day. They also decide on what jobs people will have to help keep the park clean and functioning. They have set-up for all intent purpose a commune right in the heart of New York City.

The movement has endured threats from Mayor Bloomberg of needing to “clean” the park which would force all the protesters to leave, though in the end Bloomberg didn’t follow through with his threat. The protesters have also faced criticism of being, “whiners” who don’t want to work hard and want someone else to fix their problems for them, or of not having any clear demands of their grievances. Through all this the protesters have stood strong in unity to try and create the change that they feel is so sorely needed in the country.

Through the success of the Occupy Wall Street movement, other movements have begun in cities across the country including Burlington. Protests in Burlington began on October 2^nd in City Hall Park. Initially organized by Jonathan Leavitt and Matthew Cropp, the protests gave grown from about 200 hundred people at the first protest to around 500 people at the most recent protest in Saturday, the October 15.  There was a general assembly meeting to decide how the Burlington movement should proceed with their movement.