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The latest media memes after The Law Enforcement (aka Slave Patrol) raid on Occupy Oakland this week is that "the camps are unsanitary, dangerous and focusing in on internal strife between the activists, themselves and other occupants."
See Mikey Wally at 7:20 mark defend the media as wage slaves being part of the 99%
one of the reasons I haven't gone to the camp downtown is because I don't want my photo taken by corporate media or any of the numerous agencies gathering intelligence there.
Occupy L.A. is sponsored by City Council and co-organized by LAPD (until they decide what "they" will do with you).
I'm posting this here, just because I have love for Midnight Ridazz.
The good thing about Occupy LA is that it attracted a bunch of people who generally don't do shit, and now want to get involved.
Unfortunately...
-participants were offered a big dose of PR propaganda via city liaisons and PR team,
-badly abused consensus principles,
-allowed people to bully immigrant food vendors for the sake of the site's food tent,
-shot down it's own people during GAs,
-let their own core organizers call people out as agents and such just because they didn't like a critique,
-Lectured Occupy LAUSD for not "loving the police"
-allowed some committees to get trashed over the mic,
-allowed hierarchies to form while forming bureaucratic structures that made it even more difficult to challenge the internal structure,
-lack of transparency about discussions with LAPD/ City Council,
-stupid decision to create city liaisons,
-security committee became an internal police force,
-facilitation team's and committees lack of neutrality at GAs
-no contingency plans,
-bad organizing from the start (how the fuck do you reach out to LAPD and city officials, before reaching out to indigenous groups, local organizers, local orgs, local community, and in general larger L.A. demographic?),
-force fed a narrative about the LAPD, Mayor and such that borders on a revisionist account of Los Angeles history or just plainly considers Occupy LA as a blank slate (currently barfing),
-continues to ignore advice from seasoned organizers to dismantle liaison committees for the sake of transparency and honest discussions with the larger public,
-and has kowtowed to nearly every request by the city and LAPD so as to undermine the basic nature of the campsite --- I thought, correct me if I'm wrong, WE DIDN'T NEED PERMISSION!!!
It may be a surprise, but YOU DON'T HAVE TO CAMP (with pigeon mites). Show up somewhere, everyday, locally, in your community, and take over space. Shit, even the pretty much harmless bike scene knows better about permits and begging for legitimacy from the city. We also know how city council "support" has a lifespan of until the meeting is adjourned. Ask South Central Farmers about city council support (Jan Perry), about LAPD support, and about the consequences of actually re-claiming space.
Keeping a distance from LAPD and the powers that be, this isn't about violence, no matter if the gatekeepers at the GA want "MIIIC Check" you into believing otherwise. It's about not corrupting a movement, group, whatever you want to call it. Occupy LA is not a blank slate. City Council has been in office longer and LAPD has a colorful history that spans longer than most of these cats transfered anger at mom and dad toward BofA.
I hope shit doesn't go down at the site, but hopefully when their post-campsite depression kicks in, there will be more politicized people ready to ask, what the hell went wrong, and stay engaged. Because people are ready to help, but there are legitimate reasons to not get involved at the site.
Occupy LA (as is)? No thank you! I appreciated the return of a month long Sunset Junction Festival, but I'll get my weed elsewhere.
that's all; Ride On!
md2 responding to a comment by FBI
10.28.11 - 1:39 pm
Nice rant md2.glad youre back on the forum.
Occupy movement bacame what i thought it would become.
And.......
Mikey Wally for migrant rights representative!!
...and the chief difficulty, needless to say, is trying to separate the sloppy writing from the sloppy thinking--because the former makes the latter that much harder to analyze. Hmm.
md2 is so full of shit here that it's hard to know where to start. Or whether to start.
...and the chief difficulty, needless to say, is trying to separate the sloppy writing from the sloppy thinking--because the former makes the latter that much harder to analyze. Hmm.
PC
Is this what they call an "Ad Hominem" attack !? Instead of addressing what you may disagree with, it is the usual PC "full of shit" insult. Why not actually take a point that the writer is saying and counteract it with why what he is saying is not a valid point and why.
Instead you just attack the writing style. The points md2 make (if true or untrue) are easy to understand.
sexy responding to a comment by PC
10.28.11 - 4:44 pm
Dont even waste your time if youre torn. i gave my opinion based on experience there. Obviously others feel differently, but thats my take. We're not knocking on each other's door trying to organize together, so outside this forum you can have a look at all the fucks i dont give about what your response would be overall. Makes no difference and you know it.
md2 responding to a comment by PC
10.28.11 - 5:04 pm
11 simple ways to support the occupy movement without sleeping in a park
1. Understand the Movement
Yup, that is the one everybody including the occupation is trying to figure out. When ya all got that one worked out, let us know. Until then, you all have a good time out there in your pup tents repeating everything that was just said in unison.
sexy responding to a comment by Joe Borfo
10.29.11 - 8:56 pm
I love the "Fuck it, we can all do what we want!" attitude. No, asshole, you can't. I don't see how that bullshit attitude is going to make anything happen.
"There shouldn't be any rules! Don't move my tent!" --> this is what happens when there is no centralized authority, no indoctrination, no engaging of shared sacrifice. This asshole should be working for a hedge fund, he's got the right attitude.
Anarchists and their GA are stumbling around their stupid principles. They cannot compete against a group with modest centralized authority, groups of male enforcers, and a propaganda wing. There is a reason the dream of the GA ruling us all will not work.
What does any of this have to do with having demands for material things like health care, income equality, prosecution of those who sunk our economy, etc. addressed?
Not very much, as far as I can see it.
Our government is in a massive hole, we have an economic system that should have collapsed in the early 1970's but we propped it up with 40 years of borrowing and resource consumption. The resources have run dry, the credit is maxed out, and now we have to deal with the squabbles of "Don't tell me what to do!" baby tears in the park? STFU and move your tent to "Don't tell me what to do land." you ignorant, selfish, piece of shit.
well, that's kind of reflective of the challenge at the site -- our city hosts soooo many different opinions. How do we make decisions together?
I think the site only needs to make a few major changes to get on a better path. They have a good deal of excited, enthusiastic people at the site. Hopefully those people stay excited about changing the system.
I think people should attend and try to get involved because I think the issues I noted above (outside my tongue-in-cheek comments) won't bother most people.
md2 responding to a comment by ubrayj02
10.30.11 - 8:20 pm
"These are exciting times. Times when your actions actually matter. Do stuff. Watch it work. Get inspired. Lose the cynicism and drop the sarcasm. Do good work. Get involved."
actions have always mattered. This is why some get frustrated with things like Occupy LA. They (OLA) can do a bunch of shit that is fucked up, but if only a small amount of people see it, they are marginalized; they get become the disgruntled, purist, cynics, etc. The people with the criticism have to overcome not only their frustrations but also have to respond like happy little hippies, because the OLA admires are not involved in community-based projects. Thats cool overall, but don't mistake tone or positivity for action.
Occupy movement is on the radar right now, but the L.A. version has made some really bad moves; moves that other sites have stayed away from doing. For some, as you note, this is their opportunity to get involved.
As an example and praise in a way, the best semi-Ridazz related project I know a bit about is the FMLY project. I was initially skeptical. However, they are trying to do things the right way. They are doing the pre-work for a long-term, sustainable project in Inglewood. They did not sacrifice the community building process to expedite their housing situation. They appear to be connecting with the right people, gaining local trust, and building a solid foundation that will create solidarity from the community. And they're pretty much a couple of young white males -- that's rad.
I would suggest, insofar as the project is open to the Ridazz community, for people to look at what the guys at FMLY decided to do in order to build their project. It looks to be on the path of acceptance in Inglewood; FMLY is doing it right so far.
Bikerowave, Bike Oven, Bike Kitchen -- long term, autonomous, and sustainable projects. Get involved. Those are community building, those will gain trust. Occupy is temporary and new, but wants to be treated as if it's done the work and put in the time (i.e they're wondering, "where is everyone?"). Well, people in communities know how they do and don not support. The fresh faces do not = trust, but rather skepticism. OLA organizers should have realized that small point. I hope people see the difference. Now OLA could have rallied more people, but they treated many in fucked up ways, so add that they did not have a foundation in the community, they really screwed themselves. Hopefully it changes.
I lean toward Occupy LA is worth trying to help in some fashion, but let's be honest with what it is and is not. Right now, it IS NOT a safe place for many. What they have done is worthy of criticism, and for people to be genuinely pissed off about. That is no reason to not be involved is something else that is trying to change the system.
md2 responding to a comment by Joe Borfo
10.31.11 - 11:06 am
urgh so tired of the whole "move your money" aspect of occupy wall st.
if you were a bank of america card holder you should have switched banks years ago, cause they're straight up thieves, but the notion that putting your money into the hands of another rich person being a meaningful form of protest is bullshit.
every paycheck you earn and every (non black market) purchase you make supports the failed social experiment we call America and plutocracy behind it.
If you really want to see change, sell your car, grow your own food and leave the major cities - where our very survival is predicated on stealing resources from other countries.
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