Breakthrough - straight from my journal

It is difficult to sense any "progress" from the outside, of from above, which is how our government and mainstream media work. Someone has to stick their head out to be noticed.  [In Aaron Swartz' case, the DOJ pounded it back into the ground with a sledgehammer weighing $1 million and decades in prison.]
What Occupy has realized is a fundamental flaw in that system. The people at the top stand on top of the rest, profit from their hard work, and abide by an alternate justice system. However, technology has outmoded the hierarchical design that bestows so much power on so few. The design of the Internet, of a network – of the rhizome – gives users the means to share all with all. It no longer makes sense for so few people to control such a disproportionate amount of the country's wealth and political influence.
That is why, in Occupy, there are no leaders. The fact that they have endured for so long as a people's assembly speaks to the efficacy and potential this structure has.

Occupy is trying to prove that they can make the differences they seek at a horizontal pace – everyone in a layer (in Occupy's case, one could call this layer the middle class, or simply the 99%) moves upward and progresses as a team – a rhizome. They will not simply send a captain to do all the hard work and welcome him back to catch everyone else back up. They all must collaborate with ideas, then hold one another accountable to keep up. No matter how slow.

Occupy changes/progress will of course be difficult to measure because it is slowly taking place in individuals. No longer do the 99% need the 1% to decide everything for them. Most people can hep themselves, and that knowledge is being been practiced so far that it has permeated the mindset of Americans.

Paradigm Shift

Paradigm shift: term and concept coined by Thomas Kuhn.


Zeitgeist: the spirit of the age/spirit of the time

"no man can surpass his own time, for the spirit of his time is also his own spirit."

The concept counters the Great Man theory popularized by Thomas Carlyle which sees history as the result of the actions of heroes and geniuses. The Great Man theory fell out of favor after WW2

In Untimely Meditations, Nietzsche writes that: "...the goal of humanity lies in its highest specimens" (cite)

In Fear and Trembling, Kierkegaard writes that: "...to be able to fall down in such a way that the same second it looks as if one were standing and walking, to transform the leap of life into a walk, absolutely to express the sublime and the pedestrian -- that only these knights of faith can do -- this is the one and only prodigy."(cite)

VS: People's history/social history

"The Medium is the Message" from Media and Architecture

"It is this apparently leveling nature of the Internet that has been hyperbolised by some theorists to promote a kind of ‘Cyber-utopianism’ (Evgeny Morozov, 2011) which believes that Internet is an intrinsically liberating tool for the Individual. The logic seems clear. However, it might be the case that with the greater ability to involve ourselves with the Internet, allows for the greater ability of the Internet (and chiefly those who dominate it) to involve itself with us. This topic will be the subject of further posts."

Unchecked sites

Adbusters
Mother Jones site?
National Lawyers Guild
Occupy Boston
Occupied Wall Street Journal

Bill Dobbs, spokesperson?

Tea Party


Change in the system: judge in Chicago ruled the arrests of more than 90 Occupy Chicago protesters last October were unconstitutional, tossed them out. (Posted Sep 27, 2012)

THE ROAD MAP: SIX ISSUES THAT AMERICA NEEDS TO SOLVE
Jan 23, 2013 by Charles Karter, from Occupy.com

1) Campaign Finance, 2) the Revolving Door and 3) the Consolidation of Media 4) Gerrymandering, 5) Election Fraud, and 6) Open Debates.

Précis description

500-1500 words

Introduction

Cites the main text of work being analyzed, similar to a typical essay lead paragraph

Body

Explanation of key ideas, concepts and phrases, demonstrating the implied significance and purpose of the text using direct examples of how the author supports the thesis, often relating or contrasting to the reader's assumptions (this is not a creative interpretation)

Conclusion

Summarizes the main idea and importance of the original author's thesis, and the author's connections to the intended audience

The précis is written from an impartial third-person point of view, although personal analysis of a text can also be considered précis format. The analysis of ideas is usually in chronological order.

"99%" Imbedded in Discourse #AaronSwarts

Aaron's Army

Memorial for Aaron Swartz at the Internet Archive 
January 24, 2013

(link)

"Sequestering knowledge behind pay walls—making scientific journals only available to a few kids fortunate enough to be at fancy universities and charging $20 an article for the remaining 99% of us—was a festering wound. It offended many people."


"When the U.S. Attorney told Aaron he had to plead guilty to 13 felonies for attempting to propagate knowledge before she'd even consider a deal, that was an abuse of power, a misuse of the criminal justice system, a crime against justice.

And that U.S. Attorney does not act alone. She is part of a posse intent on protecting property not people. All over the United States, those without access to means don't have access to justice and face these abuses of power every day."

"It was a crime against learning when a nonprofit corporation like JSTOR, charged with advancing knowledge, turned a download that caused no harm and no damage into a $92 million federal case.

And the JSTOR corporate monopoly on knowledge is not alone. All over the United States, corporations have staked their fences on the fields of education: for-profit colleges that steal from our veterans, nonprofit standards bodies that ration public safety codes while paying million dollar salaries, and multinational conglomerates that measure the worth of scientific papers and legal materials by their gross margins."


"Aaron Swartz was not a criminal, he was a citizen, and he was a brave soldier in a war which continues today, a war in which corrupt and venal profiteers try to steal and hoard and starve our public domain for their own private gain."

Timeline of the Occupation from OccupyTogether.org

OccupyTogether provides a timeline:

December 17, 2010 (Tunisia): Twenty-six-year old produce vendor Mohammed Bouazizi sets himself on fire in response to years of petty police harassment in Sidi Bouzid, Tunisia. His self-immolation sparks a wave of protests against the decades-long autocratic rule of President Zine el-Abidine Ben Ali. After four weeks, Ben Ali is forced to dissolve parliament and flees to Saudi Arabia.

January 25, 2011 (Egypt and the Arab Spring): Using door-to-door canvassing and social networking, the people of Cairo organize a mass protest on Police Day demanding an end to harassment, repression and torture. What follows is an 18-day uprising against President Hosni Mubarak's dictatorship. Hundreds of thousands of Egyptians stream into Tahrir Square after the regime blocks internet traffic and send thugs to attack protesters, swinging world opinion against Mubarak. On February 11, the regime falls, inspiring an Arab Spring of pro-democracy activism from Yemen to Bahrain to Syria.

February 17, 2011 (Ohio and Wisconsin): More than 20,000 Wisconsinites protest Gov. Scott Walker's austerity budget and his attack on collective bargaining Carrying signs and Egyptian flags, protests draw a parallel between their struggles. In the weeks long rebellion, hundreds of thousands occupy the state capitol in Madison; hundreds of students are arrested. In Columbus, Ohio, nearly 4,000 protest against similar attacks on the public sector and workers' rights.

May 15, 2011 (Spain): Protests against austerity and unemployment erupt in 58 Spanish cities, beginning the 15-M Movement. More than 1,000 indignados, occupy the central square, Puerta del Sol; in the weeks that follow, hundreds of thousands gather in public spaces, holding mass assemblies and peaceful sit-ins to demand greater say in the political process. Embracing participatory democracy, they reject traditional parties and the rule of finance that imploded the country's economy.

May 25, 2011 (Greece): Tens of thousands gather in Athens after plans are announced to dramatically cut public spending and raise taxes in exchange for a €110 billion bailout. Sustained Strike and demonstrations many of them organized on Facebook, rage across the country. The aganaktismenoi, or indignants, are met with tear gas and police violence.

July 13, 2011: The #occupy movement, originally initiated by a call from Adbusters to "Occupy Wall Street," was inspired by several international protests, most notably, the Arab Spring protests. Thousands answered the call and arrived in Zuccotti Park, at the heart of New York City's financial district, to protest the damaging influence of corporations on politics as well as social and economic inequality. Hundreds stayed every night for two months and created an encampment in the park, a model that was adopted by people all over the country as the movement spread to well over 500 cities.

September 17, 2011: Occupy Wall Street begins as 2,000 people respond to the Canadian magazine Adbusters' call for an end to corporate influence in the political process. After police block them from Wall Street, then One Chase Manhattan Plaza, a few dozen occupiers regroup at Zuccotti Park several blocks north of the New York Stock Exchange. They rename it Liberty Square as an homage to the Egyptian uprising that began in Tahrir Square in January.

September 29, 2011: Declaration. Through a consensus-based process, the New York General Assembly approves the Declaration of the Occupation, a founding document that speaks to the "feeling of mass injustice" that brought people together. Calling out illegal foreclosures, exorbitant student debt and the outsourcing of labor, the document of grievances is delivered "at a time when corporations, which place profit over people, self-interest over justice, and oppression over equality, run our governments." In San Francisco, protesters attempt to occupy Citibank, Chase and Charles Schwab; the Transport Workers Union urges members to join the movement.

October 14-15, 2011: The Sweep. Following Mayor Bloomberg's announcement that the NYPD would enforce a "cleaning" of Liberty Square starting at 7 a.m., occupiers rally by the thousands in the dawn hours to protect the park. At 6:15, Bloomberg backs down. Occupiers celebrate with a rousing victory lap through the financial District. The next day millions rally in an international day of solidarity in more than 900 cities, including Hong Kong, Athens, Rome, Nairobi, and Johannesburg. In the U.S., Occupy Wall Street spreads from coast to coast.

October 25, 2011: Police Violence. Police raid Occupy Atlanta and arrest 53. In Oakland, police fire tear gas, rubber bullets, and flash bang grenades at peaceful occupiers, fracturing the skull of a two-tour Iraq War veteran. Thousands rally at the renamed Oscar Grant Plaza to protest police brutality, and retake their encampment. Occupations in Denver, Los Angeles, Atlanta and San Francisco all successfully resist eviction by local police.

November 2, 2011: General Strike. Building for a general strike, Oakland occupiers call to "Liberate Oakland, Shut Down the 1%." Teachers and students strike. With a bike bloc trailblazing the way, thousand march to the nation's fifth largest port, climbing on signs and big rigs. The Port of Oakland issues a statement calling the port "effectively shut down." Thousands march in solidarity across the country.

November 5th, 2011: #occupy held its first National Bank Transfer Day, encouraging individuals to transfer money from their accounts with major corporate banks to local credit unions. The event was a success as over $50 million dollars were withdrawn and accounts were closed with big banks. On an even larger scale, Occupy Buffalo pressured the City of Buffalo to withdraw $45 million dollars from JP Morgan Chase and start a new account with a smaller regional bank.

November 15, 2011: The 1% Attacks. Hours after the Portland and Oakland encampments are again raided, NYPD, including officers from the Counter-Terrorism Bureau, stage a federally coordinated raid on Liberty Square at 1 a.m. Sporting riot gear and brandishing pepper spray and a 'sound cannon' about 1,000 cops descend on the park and toss books, laptops and tents into dumpsters, forcibly clearing the encampment. Bridges and subways are shut down as lower Manhattan is deemed a "frozen zone." More than 200 arrested. Oakland Mayor Jean Quan admits later that day that she was on a conference call strategizing with mayors of 18 cities, while and official from the Department of Justice indicated that each action was coordinated with help from the DHS and the FBI along with other federal agencies.