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Progressive’s are good talkers but bad listeners. They don’t hear the silent screams of the disposessed; the people who don’t have access to TV talk shows, or politicians; these are the people who can only suffer in silence. Some of the houses they use to live in are now vacant and boarded up. Those who are left in these neighborhoods must somehow survive in a crime ridden environment with no way out.
They voted for “Barack Obama”, expecting something better, but things only got worse for the lower middle class. Barack Obama has left a vacuum. Those people realize they have 0 representation, but there’s nothing they can do about it. Progressives are a party without people, and they’re a people without a party. If Progressives heard their silent screams, maybe a match could be made.
One does not have to be a genius to figure certain things out, they are called “necessary alliances” for survival. People who don’t have money, or other access to power, must rely on other people, it’s called “people power”. MLK used it quite effectively. Since Progressives are very smart people, I’m sure they see where I’m coming from.
Does anyone remember, “Association of Community Organization for Reform Now”, better known as “ACORN”. Now I’ll give you the formula for success. This is guaranteed to work. First we combine: the dispossessed, OWS, and Progressive’s. These three groups of people have a desire to get from here to there; there being a powerful voice in Washington DC. The ACORN blueprint will serve as a means of connecting with dispossessed people all over this country. That would be implemented by OWS. The political head of this organization would be “United Progressive’s” with a name that reflected what they are about. They are about a government solution to our present day problems that would include the wisdom of FDR in regard to unemployment, and the compassion of MLK in regard to the dispossessed.
FDR’s WPA provided almost 8 million jobs between 1935 and 1943. Eight years of jobs cost less than 4 years of Obama’s war in Afghanistan; and that’s after converting those dollars into today’s dollars. Change progressives desire can only come about when they have a seat at the table. If OWS, dispossessed people all over this country, and “United Progressive’s”, under the umbrella of a party that reflected FDR and MLK, could come together in harmony and mutual respect, they could get a seat at the table of power, and “force” things to move in their desired direction.
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Necessary alliances, comrade?
Tain’t enuff. What would happen after the Big Bad Wolves were all put in zoos? Can’t blame the subsequent failures on them no mo.
You still seem to have the impression that Occupy Wall Street has the ability to turn out people at will. In fact people turn out to the actions that reflect their own commitments. And those right now are primarily local — if supported by the entire movement in one degree or another. What folks are working on right now is Sandy relief, blocking the Tar Sands pipeline, indigenous treaty rights, actions to reduce violence against women and end the era of wink-wink about rape, police accountability, opposing the privatization of infrastructure including health clinics, schools, and prisons. And dealing with a whole lot of law enforcement system hassles as a result.
As nice as it would be to recreate the successes of past progressive movements, that is not going to happen without a whole lot of work.
And the progressive who will be allied in all the above-mentioned activities are coming forth on the basis of the merits of the activity and not because of any abstract and formal necessary alliance.
There are no short cuts because the inside game is pretty much completely shut down–unlike during the 1930s.
OWS folks are rightly leery of collaborating with any self-styled “progressives” like those in MoveOn, who last spring and summer co-opted a fair amount of radical energy in the streets, diluting it into a lesser-of-two-evils get out the vote campaign for Obama.
The problem is that nearly all of these nice, polite self-styled “progressives” with LL Bean sweaters are careerists. They think (perhaps correctly) that their best shot at gainful employment lies in selling themselves to the corporate-friendly Democrats as people who can sweet-talk actual progressives into not leaving team D. The most radical action they’ll ever endorse is writing a big check to the Sierra Club.
Many rank-and-file union members, on the other hand, are more than ready and able to help form an independent left, oriented towards achieving social and economic justice.
Here’s my 2 cents for what it’s worth (hint: 2 cents). (1) Progressives are fine, but I can’t see any benefit in alliances with people in the Party (whatever wing they belong to). (2) I think the OWS era is winding down, leading into something new and better, hopefully.
All these initials remind me of that song from the musical “Hair”:
‘FDR, WPA,
OWS, MLK’…
…a la “LSD LBJ
FBI CIA.”
First, I want to thank you for a thoughtful response.
The Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now (ACORN) was a collection of community-based organizations in the United States that advocated for low- and moderate-income families by working on neighborhood safety, voter registration, health care, affordable housing, and other social issues. At its peak ACORN had over 500,000 members and more than 1,200 neighborhood chapters in over 100 cities across the U.S.,[3][4] as well as in Argentina, Canada, Mexico, and Peru.[5] ACORN was founded in 1970 by Wade Rathke and Gary Delgado.[6] It filed for Chapter 7 liquidation on November 2, 2010, effectively closing the organization,[7]. Many ACORN members and organizers formed new state-wide organizations
All politics are local. Yes it’s going to take a lot of work. When people don’t have money, necessary alliances are the only things that will enable them to survive. As you stated, OWS is local, and that’s exactly what’s needed. ACORN connected with the people in their communities, when those people discovered that ACORN was working in their behalf to empower them, they responded.
This is not a short cut, but a long term action that will get people without much money, who desperately need each other, from here to there.
Now that the lesser of the two evils has won the election, we can move on from there.
Many rank-and-file union members, on the other hand, are more than ready and able to help form an independent left, oriented towards achieving social and economic justice. That’s precisely what I’m thinking about. OWS people are smart enough to decide what’s best for them, in this case, they will be equal in making decisions.
These initials remind me of that song from the musical “Hair”:
‘FDR, WPA,
OWS, MLK’
I especially like those initials, they’re the ones that can get us from here to there. Although FDR, and MLK are no longer with us, we can resurrect their spirits in our movement; that will propel us forward.
“the inside game is pretty much completely shut down” and the outside game keeps all the proles busy.
There you go arguing to just sit tight and wait another century for the inevitable collapse.
Now why would you misunderestimate me, comrade? Everyone else knows that’s not what I’m for. Hmm. Did I flap you?
Change the fucking game, comrade.