[Peace-discuss] Fwd: Naomi Klein: Occupy Wall St.- most important thing in world now

[C. G. Estabrook]

> Published on The Nation (http://www.thenation.com)
> Occupy Wall Street: The Most Important Thing in the World Now
> Naomi Klein | October 6, 2011
>
> I was honored to be invited to speak at Occupy Wall Street on  
> Thursday night. Since amplification is (disgracefully) banned, and  
> everything I say will have to be repeated by hundreds of people so  
> others can hear (a  k a “the human microphone”), what I  
> actually say at Liberty Plaza will have to be very short. With that  
> in mind, here is the longer, uncut version of the speech.
>
> I love you.
>
> And I didn’t just say that so that hundreds of you would shout “I  
> love you” back, though that is obviously a bonus feature of the  
> human microphone. Say unto others what you would have them say unto  
> you, only way louder.
>
> Yesterday, one of the speakers at the labor rally said: “We found  
> each other.” That sentiment captures the beauty of what is being  
> created here. A wide-open space (as well as an idea so big it can’t  
> be contained by any space) for all the people who want a better  
> world to find each other. We are so grateful.
>
> If there is one thing I know, it is that the 1 percent loves a  
> crisis. When people are panicked and desperate and no one seems to  
> know what to do, that is the ideal time to push through their wish  
> list of pro-corporate policies: privatizing education and social  
> security, slashing public services, getting rid of the last  
> constraints on corporate power. Amidst the economic crisis, this is  
> happening the world over.
>
> And there is only one thing that can block this tactic, and  
> fortunately, it’s a very big thing: the 99 percent. And that 99  
> percent is taking to the streets from Madison to Madrid to say “No.  
> We will not pay for your crisis.”
>
> That slogan began in Italy in 2008. It ricocheted to Greece and  
> France and Ireland and finally it has made its way to the square  
> mile where the crisis began.
>
> “Why are they protesting?” ask the baffled pundits on TV.  
> Meanwhile, the rest of the world asks: “What took you so long?”  
> “We’ve been wondering when you were going to show up.” And most  
> of all: “Welcome.”
>
> Many people have drawn parallels between Occupy Wall Street and the  
> so-called anti-globalization protests that came to world attention  
> in Seattle in 1999. That was the last time a global, youth-led,  
> decentralized movement took direct aim at corporate power. And I am  
> proud to have been part of what we called “the movement of  
> movements.”
>
> But there are important differences too. For instance, we chose  
> summits as our targets: the World Trade Organization, the  
> International Monetary Fund, the G8. Summits are transient by their  
> nature, they only last a week. That made us transient too. We’d  
> appear, grab world headlines, then disappear. And in the frenzy of  
> hyper patriotism and militarism that followed the 9/11 attacks, it  
> was easy to sweep us away completely, at least in North America.
>
> Occupy Wall Street, on the other hand, has chosen a fixed target.  
> And you have put no end date on your presence here. This is wise.  
> Only when you stay put can you grow roots. This is crucial. It is a  
> fact of the information age that too many movements spring up like  
> beautiful flowers but quickly die off. It’s because they don’t  
> have roots. And they don’t have long term plans for how they are  
> going to sustain themselves. So when storms come, they get washed  
> away.
>
> Being horizontal and deeply democratic is wonderful. But these  
> principles are compatible with the hard work of building structures  
> and institutions that are sturdy enough to weather the storms ahead.  
> I have great faith that this will happen.
>
> Something else this movement is doing right: You have committed  
> yourselves to non-violence. You have refused to give the media the  
> images of broken windows and street fights it craves so desperately.  
> And that tremendous discipline has meant that, again and again, the  
> story has been the disgraceful and unprovoked police brutality.  
> Which we saw more of just last night. Meanwhile, support for this  
> movement grows and grows. More wisdom.
>
> But the biggest difference a decade makes is that in 1999, we were  
> taking on capitalism at the peak of a frenzied economic boom.  
> Unemployment was low, stock portfolios were bulging. The media was  
> drunk on easy money. Back then it was all about start-ups, not  
> shutdowns.
>
> We pointed out that the deregulation behind the frenzy came at a  
> price. It was damaging to labor standards. It was damaging to  
> environmental standards. Corporations were becoming more powerful  
> than governments and that was damaging to our democracies. But to be  
> honest with you, while the good times rolled, taking on an economic  
> system based on greed was a tough sell, at least in rich countries.
>
> Ten years later, it seems as if there aren’t any more rich  
> countries. Just a whole lot of rich people. People who got rich  
> looting the public wealth and exhausting natural resources around  
> the world.
>
> The point is, today everyone can see that the system is deeply  
> unjust and careening out of control. Unfettered greed has trashed  
> the global economy. And it is trashing the natural world as well. We  
> are overfishing our oceans, polluting our water with fracking and  
> deepwater drilling, turning to the dirtiest forms of energy on the  
> planet, like the Alberta tar sands. And the atmosphere cannot absorb  
> the amount of carbon we are putting into it, creating dangerous  
> warming. The new normal is serial disasters: economic and ecological.
>
> These are the facts on the ground. They are so blatant, so obvious,  
> that it is a lot easier to connect with the public than it was in  
> 1999, and to build the movement quickly.
>
> We all know, or at least sense, that the world is upside down: we  
> act as if there is no end to what is actually finite—fossil fuels  
> and the atmospheric space to absorb their emissions. And we act as  
> if there are strict and immovable limits to what is actually  
> bountiful—the financial resources to build the kind of society we  
> need.
>
> The task of our time is to turn this around: to challenge this false  
> scarcity. To insist that we can afford to build a decent, inclusive  
> society—while at the same time, respect the real limits to what the  
> earth can take.
>
> What climate change means is that we have to do this on a deadline.  
> This time our movement cannot get distracted, divided, burned out or  
> swept away by events. This time we have to succeed. And I’m not  
> talking about regulating the banks and increasing taxes on the rich,  
> though that’s important.
>
> I am talking about changing the underlying values that govern our  
> society. That is hard to fit into a single media-friendly demand,  
> and it’s also hard to figure out how to do it. But it is no less  
> urgent for being difficult.
>
> That is what I see happening in this square. In the way you are  
> feeding each other, keeping each other warm, sharing information  
> freely and proving health care, meditation classes and empowerment  
> training. My favorite sign here says, “I care about you.” In a  
> culture that trains people to avoid each other’s gaze, to say,  
> “Let them die,” that is a deeply radical statement.
>
> A few final thoughts. In this great struggle, here are some things  
> that don’t matter.
>
> § What we wear.
>
> § Whether we shake our fists or make peace signs.
>
> § Whether we can fit our dreams for a better world into a media  
> soundbite.
>
> And here are a few things that do matter.
>
> § Our courage.
>
> § Our moral compass.
>
> § How we treat each other.
>
> We have picked a fight with the most powerful economic and political  
> forces on the planet. That’s frightening. And as this movement  
> grows from strength to strength, it will get more frightening.  
> Always be aware that there will be a temptation to shift to smaller  
> targets—like, say, the person sitting next to you at this meeting.  
> After all, that is a battle that’s easier to win.
>
> Don’t give in to the temptation. I’m not saying don’t call each  
> other on shit. But this time, let’s treat each other as if we plan  
> to work side by side in struggle for many, many years to come.  
> Because the task before will demand nothing less.
>
> Let’s treat this beautiful movement as if it is most important  
> thing in the world. Because it is. It really is.
>
> Editor’s Note: Naomi’s speech also appeared in Saturday’s  
> edition of the Occupied Wall Street Journal.
>
> Source URL: http://www.thenation.com/article/163844/occupy-wall-street-most-important-thing-world-now