Eric -
I appreciate your thoughtful analysis of the question... FRIAM is prone
to deep dives (relatively) into answers without necessarily looking
carefully at the questions.
Nick -
I also salute your engaging (participating) with Occupy. I'm supportive
of the movement but not particularly motivated to do more than wave
happily as I drive by any public event. I'm glad you have found a way
to help and I hope someone else can pitch in and help you. Often the
shape of the negative space is as informative as that of the positive.
What is this lack of involvement by the technorati of Santa Fe? Are we
too comfortable?
I believe that the *general* occupy movement actually negates the
popular assumptions/statements about "getting involved". The illusion
that we do not deserve to have an opinion unless we are getting
involved, having strong opinions, even voting. I'm afraid we *do*
deserve our opinions (and even their expressions) at any level of
involvement, thus Occupy's unwillingness to be reduced to any simple set
of demands. This is not to say that those who do vote, who do stand in
the streets or sit on the lawns or wave the signs, or sadly even those
who throw rocks and bottles and overturn police cars, do not deserve
their opinions.
Remembering the slogan of the 60's "Power to the People" and juxtaposing
it with a good friend's assertion "Power doesn't corrupt, it IS
corruption" suggests that as "we the people" wrest power from "them the
enemy" we should be ever vigilant to not take more power than is
intrinsically our own. It is surely as heady to drive the police from
the square, or pull down a despot's statue, or jam up business for a day
or a week or a month, as it is to win a major election (or better to
steal it).
We have at least two examples of effective retaking of power (and then
not immediately becoming the next despot) in Gandhi and in Nelson
Mandela... so I'm not without hope for us. Occupy, as well as even
some of the more violent groups in the Arab Spring has at least some of
this tenor. I believe that while it may take great conviction and
effort to retake the power we have lost (no, not lost, *given*) to the
despots of wealth (don't forget many of us are part of some percentage
significantly greater than 50% in our populations, US or elsewhere, if
not 99% exactly) and of political power, it takes greater amounts to do
it humbly and with care to maintain the ideals we started with.
Pamela -
I was not surprised that New Mexico uses tax incentives to lure and keep
big businesses in the state. It is anecdotal in State Economic Develop
circles that had we been more progressive about that Microsoft would
still be in ABQ. I don't think retail businesses like WalMart are as
appropriate for such incentives, however. I vote against WalMart by not
shopping there (and choosing local over big-box national as often as
possible which for me is nearly exclusively). I'm not sure, but it is
likely that Target, Lowes, Best Buy, etc. have similar if not equal tax
breaks to WalMart. The Movie industry incentives go beyond lower tax
rates, and most progressives applaud that. The message and situation
is not simple. I admit to at least enjoying the sight of my own
backyard in virtually every western movie made today... and knowing that
some of my friends and colleagues can find work in NM that would
otherwise require them to live in LA.
Arlo -
/Thus Occupy served as a forum, rather than an organisation or
individual or faction or party to be ignored, or cynically
considered. Indeed, I have rarely heard even opponents of the
movement describe it in terms of being untrustworthy - it just does
not apply to this kind of social structure. The criticisms have
concerned whether or not Occupy will fail in it's goal of
popularising social change./
/While it may be just lust for revolution/rebellion, it is not
produced restlessly or without forethought.
/
Exceedingly well said, thank you for this articulation.
Jochen -
What a superbly negative view of the meaning and relevance of life! I
share your opinion of professional sports and am mostly sympathetic
about the highest profile politicians. Unfortunately I cannot go as far
toward Neitzscheistic Nihilism as I hear coursing through your assessment.
I do agree with the relativism of any given bit of politics... that to
you in Germany, Santa Fe's roster of City Councilpersons, or even NM's
Governor is of little concern and I presume interest. I would presume
that the US choice of leadership of the legislative (through majority)
branch and of the executive branch of our government and subsequently
the direction of steerage of this Leviathan we call the US government
and economy *is* a bit more relevant, as is our sometimes interest in
the affairs of Europe, of the former Soviet states, and of China, Korea
and Japan, not to mention, India, Pakistan, the Arab countries and
subsaharan Africa.
All-
What follows (surprise!) is not exactly more *careful* analysis to add
to Eric's and the rest but in that vein, my usual folksy anecdotal
reflections on the topic and questions it raised for me:
I was far from a Young Republican during the era of civil unrest and
reform of the sixties, but more likely a Young Libertarian (dog eared
copy of Atlas shrugged in the pocket of my worn, wide bottomed jeans
held up by my handmade belt and covering my handmade moccasins)... so I
supported the principles of free speech and individualism, but looked
down with disdain on the way a lot of the popular movements of the time
just looked like a big party among middle class youth without anything
better to do. For those who have told their stories of resistance
against the monster that was the Vietnam War, I have my own, too torrid
to tell (even) in this forum. Just ask, I will not be shy.
Age and experience (mostly through the lens of hindsight) have allowed
me to appreciate the effects and motivations of those times (if still
not always the methods or individual actions). This perspective allows
me to look on the current Occupy movements (and the much more engaged
and risky activities across the Arab world this year... <nod to Mohammed
El-Beltagy in Cairo>) with a great deal more generosity and even hope.
My (now 32 yr old) daughter left the MoveOn movement around the 04
election very disenchanted for similar reasons to the ones I quote for
my own jaundiced view of the 60's into the 70's.
When Occupy stood up (or sat down?) I feared it was another
flash-in-the-pan expression of anger/resentment/agitation that would
either flash to petty acts of defiant violence or sputter out after the
first cold night. It's breadth, depth, and refusal to be pinned down
on a specific set of demands has really impressed me (but no, Nick, I
still don't expect to pitch in much more than I have, also being old,
lazy, and claiming ADD whenever asked to focus for more than 12 seconds
on anything less personal than my own navel, a remunerative task at
hand, or a juicy Friam thread to be milked into senselessness).
Occupy almost lost me when they took up the cry of "we are the 99%",
because my cynical-analytical brain immediately asked "99% of whom?" and
by rule of thumb suspected that 99% of those Occupying are actually part
of the 1% when placed against the world population. Fortunately, I
also was feeling expansive and generous and believe that most of the
self-described "99%" out in the streets would acknowledge this fairly
easily and if "we" ever took back more of the control of our economy and
political system, might even remember that they were no longer "us" and
had become "them" (again) to the larger world system... and maybe take
whatever appropriate action the 1% *should*. It is precisely this kind
of humbling that I believe is required for real change to occur.
I also flashed quickly to "why 99% ?" This seemed like a pretty
arbitrary number. Why not 99.9% or 98% or 90% even? Well... of course
it is a nice, round catchy number in our decimal number system, in the
per-cent system even moreso. It also brings attention to the power-law
and self-similar systems and structures many of us here are fond of
studying (considering?). If tomorrow the 99% dug a big hole and buried
the 1% in it (I'm not advocating violence mind you, just offering a
strong image to make a point), would we not truly just have a new 1% and
a new 99% with the same (or similar) inequalities (after distributing
the 1% to the 99% either equally or proportionally). If we changed the
slogan to "we are the 80%" it would lose it's punch but probably not
it's central point. 20% of our population holds an (even more)
inordinate amount of control of assets and political power.
I don't think this distribution is accidental and those (Eric?) who
study systems which exhibit power-law distributions by day can probably
explain it pretty easily. Pamela did a good job with her own folksy
"those who have, git". There are reasons that lots of systems
demonstrate preferential attachment and and compound interest. So, my
inner curmudgeon always wants to ask pointed questions like: "What if
power-law distributions are inevitable?" and "What if renormalizing the
results of this have about as much effect as trying to fill in an arroyo
between rainstorms?". Not to suggest too strong of an analogy with
eroding landscapes, but what if the solution to an eroding (eroded?)
financial and political landscape is to carefully study the myriad
everyday things we do that have undermined the complex ecosystem which
formerly maintained a matrix of structure which held the soil in place,
and to remediate those things rather than demand that those who own
bulldozers come to our back yard and fill in the arroyo system growing
there? Or more to the point, for those who live on the delta where the
arroyo enters the river (BTW, I live near such a delta) and own dump
trucks (and own my own antique dump truck) to fill them and bring the
sand and silt back to the ravines forming up-arroyo.
Of course, I'm not sure we've ever had a economic, political (or more to
the point?) social "Savannah" where all were equal and the many
creatures (people of all economic, social, ethnic backgrounds) roamed
peacefully with plenty to eat and little to fear, fat and lazy in the
sun. It seems like a more careful consideration of just what we
propose this "Savannah" might look like in the future (if not in the
literal, real past) would be worthwhile. My inner cynic may be showing
through a little, and I really do want to curb him. While I still
acutely remember the moment that I realized that most if not all
fantastic literature was utopian or dystopian in nature, and then even
more acutely when I realized that utopias are always dressed up
dystopias (and examining cyberpunk, one could easily say dystopias are
dressed down utopias).
I may be wrong in this (yet another) analogy, but I like to think of
Occupy (the larger movement) as being a little like a neighborhood watch
group whose response to rising nighttime street crime is to keep lots of
bright flashlights in their pockets and floodlights on their homes and
respond to sketchy activity simply by shining a bright light on it.
It is a little like focusing on the question rather than the answers.
*somebody* may call 911, or run out with their baseball bat or shotgun
and intervene in the particular activity of the moment, but the simple
shining of a light on a problem is amazingly powerful and facilitates
the latter.
The quote attributed to Nixon (or was it Kissinger?) that "if you don't
have a better solution, to keep your criticism to yourself" is generally
accepted as just plain wrong headed, but Occupy seems to defy it
directly. My own cynical self who generally eschews popular movements
finds this one at least tolerable if not actually palatable unto
nourishing. I may not be able to find a way to participate directly in
"Occupy" but I know I will be sad if they dry up and blow away.
The closest I have to offer is a reaffirmation to "Occupy my own life".
I have only small hopes, but perhaps the millions who have lost their
jobs, or returned from war to none, or remain in school hoping some will
emerge, will find something better to do than sit around and wait for
someone else to solve their problems... that many will find
entrepreneurial activities that are self-generating, that fill small but
viable niches untouched by corporate America (or Europe or
pan-Arabia)... that many will learn to prepare meals from raw
ingredients rather than whine about the cost of McDonalds or of frozen
Microwave meals... that some will plant rooftop or courtyard container
gardens instead of whining about the price of produce or lack of taste
in the perfect hydroponic grown tomatoes at their favorite upscale
grocery... or at least visit the farmers market where their neighbors
are doing the same... or turn down their thermostat 5 degrees and wear
a sweater... or walk and bicycle when they would otherwise have driven...
I say "Occupy our own lives!" which for some means picketing in front of
the Round House or on a street corner perhaps, but for the rest, maybe
it means "pay attention, what you do matters".
- Steve
Disagree about politics vs. psychology, though they are deeply
intertwined.
And Nick, I salute you for your activism. Did NOT know that WalMart
has a different tax rate than local businesses. Them that has gits.
Pamela
On Jan 21, 2012, at 2:35 PM, Jochen Fromm wrote:
Looks like you have lost interest in Psychology? Your book about the
new realists with Eric seems to be published, right? I guess it was
called 'A new look at new realism'. No other book in the pipeline? I
think Psychology is still much more fascinating than Politics.
-J.
Sent from Android
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"The first fall of snow is not only an event, it is a magical event.
You go to bed in one kind of a world and wake up in another quite
different, and if this is not enchantment then where is it to be found?"
J. B. Priestley
============================================================
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
============================================================
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Meets Fridays 9a-11:30 at cafe at St. John's College
lectures, archives, unsubscribe, maps at http://www.friam.org
