tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4998334814224356647.post1862741065413964489..comments2023-05-07T09:07:54.776-04:00Comments on Meshalim/Amthal/Exiemplos: Notes from the Life of a Medievalist: Occupy Wall Street, via the SquareS.J. Pearcehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13768230178276229294noreply@blogger.comBlogger1125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4998334814224356647.post-10948054626419182322011-10-09T14:06:59.931-04:002011-10-09T14:06:59.931-04:00Two things: Yes, there is not a coherent demand co...Two things: Yes, there is not a coherent demand coming from the protests - yet - and while I respect your right to want to withhold judgment and not join them until they do, I think it is a mistake to think that this is a good reason to dismiss them or believe that they are naive. <br /><br />These protests are anti-hierarchical by design -- they are specifically aimed at the abuse of the individual by those in power, and so they abjure leader-driven structures of power for their own organization. Decisions are being made by consensus rather than by leaders or even by majority votes. This necessarily means that things move slowly, are decided slowly, but it is an integral part of the community and (dare I say it) the political movement that is slowly forming down there.<br /><br />And this is not to say that there are not concrete demands being made. The protesters have released a consensus-created statement of principles, and are working on more focused demands. Meanwhile, a Forbes poll of the protests has found that the overwhelming majority of the protesters agree on several specific things that should be done, including debt relief, the overturning of the supreme court decision that allows corporations to be regarded as people, and the reinstatement of the Glass-Steagall Act of 1933 that separates commercial and investment banking activities (and whose repeal arguably led to the current crisis).<br /><br />Again, I completely respect your right to distance yourself from the movement and to judge it based on its results rather than its beginnings. Take your time: I'm pretty sure that, absent more direct police action, they have no intention of going anywhere anytime soon. But if you are really curious as to what is happening there, I do urge you to come to Zuccotti Park -- where there is little chance of being arrested, at least when there is no march going on -- and see "horizontal" democracy in action.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com