Dear everybody, I have been working at the edges of the occupy/99% movement in Santa Fe, where we just put together a sizeable demonstration to welcome the governor and the legislature back to work. We are now trying to figure out which legislative actions to support and oppose in the short 30 day session. One strong possibility is a bill to tax Walmart's etc. at the same rate as local businesses. Yes, folks, national corporations in NM have worked out a deal where they pay fewer taxes than the local businesses they compete with. And New Mexico has a budget problem. I was surprised to see exactly zero FRIAMMERS at the demonstration. I don't think of myself as a leftist outlier.
The strain in the movement is a familiar one ... everybody agrees that the political system has fallen into the hands of thieves. To the extent there is disagreement, it is about what sorts of methods will recover it. The more optimistic view is that "all" we need to do is mobilize all the people who are being screwed by the current government (the 99%) and substitute new people in the legislatures and administrations. Call this the reformist view. The more radical view is that such reformist efforts will just result in the election of slightly-les- evil politicians (democrats?) and that we need new institutions from the ground up. These folks are more likely to be attached to novel methods ... the" mic check" and the "general assembly" and a desire to challenge institutions generally, rather than to issues and policies. I guess we have to call this the radical view, although the term makes me uneasy. Nobody has any stomach for violence of any sort. There are half a dozen organizations, loosely cooperating , that range across this spectrum, perhaps a thousand people in all. Each of them is googlable. They are, from Reformist to Radical: We Are People Here (Craig Barnes group, many members, working on the tax bill, primarily) Move On Org. A very vigorous LOCAL group. (I have criticized Move On for sucking political money OUT of communities, but this group seems to be reversing the flow.) Communications Workers of America Somos un pueblo unido is organizing around the driver's license bill. Occupy Santa Fe (Un)occupy Albuquerque I know I ought to be providing links, but I can't take the time now. If anybody will write me directly, I will do so later, but you should be able to find them on your own. All of them are in desperate need of technical help (but don't know it), and if any of you were wealthy enough and patient enough to down tools for a month or two and help with webpresence, you might have a very big effect on the movement. My sense is that we need some sort of web interface that is democratic but does not get totally out of control I have been experimenting with google groups, but I am not very good at it, and I am only person, and old and lazy at that. Thanks for your attention. Given that I am also ADD, I can appreciate what an effort it was. (};-]) Nick -----Original Message----- From: friam-boun...@redfish.com [mailto:friam-boun...@redfish.com] On Behalf Of Eric Smith Sent: Saturday, January 21, 2012 7:22 AM To: The Friday Morning Applied Complexity Coffee Group Subject: Re: [FRIAM] Understanding the Occupy Movementf Oops, sorry for two posts: To address the specifics of your post, which I meant to do. If social inequality is the main question, then it may be a partisan issue, because there will be a spread of opinions in the society of what is desirable, and at some level of approximation, the adoption of positions by parties provides a way to sort out how that spectrum will organize to come to a decision. Mechanisms for qualitative change presumably often originate as partisan issues, and then become mainstream if one party can hold them long enough that they become inculcated. If the question of the gap between the claims of the law and the reality of the law is the issue, then that would more naturally be a party-independent question, since any party depends to some extent on the existence of "rules of the game", and would on some occasions have reason to object if there are no rules. Of course, I understand that I also make these distinctions as if they were clearer than they are in practice, but I think they are a starting point from which one could try to sort out the mess and categorize a bit. E ============================================================ FRIAM Applied Complexity Group listserv Meets Fridays 9a-11:30 at cafe at St. John's College lectures, archives, unsubscribe, maps at http://www.friam.org ============================================================ FRIAM Applied Complexity Group listserv Meets Fridays 9a-11:30 at cafe at St. John's College lectures, archives, unsubscribe, maps at http://www.friam.org
