[Peace-discuss] [OccupyCU] They let us choose between a child-killer and a job-killer

[C. G. Estabrook]

Ya'aqov, you should get your paranoia treated. It's led you to some remarkable misperceptions:

~ [1] no one who understands the notion of the 1% can honestly think me a member of it;

~ [2] I've spent ten years working with AWARE and condemning the capitalist roots of America's Mideast war: how can that be representing "the means of capitalism [you] abhor"? and

~ [3] I may be a coward, but I don't "hide away from the dialogue [you] propagate"! I thought the objection was just the opposite - that I participate too frequently (or perhaps just with the Wrong Views) in the dialogue on your listserv.

AWARE has from its beginning been meant to promote dialogue, in the sense of awareness of the real nature of the war, in opposition to USG propaganda. That's the purpose of our monthly demonstrations, our letter-writing campaigns, etc., and our weekly cable TV show, "AWARE on the Air" (in which local supporters of OWS have been invited to participate from the beginning).

AWARE has had weekly open planning meetings since its founding, but at what I think was the sole meeting you attended, you objected to plans for a demonstration for Bradley Manning - on the grounds that speaking up for Manning could hurt Obama's re-election chances. I'm happy to say that in a choice between the whistleblower and his jailer, AWARE chose Manning. 

AWARE split seven years ago over Obama, when some people could honestly see him as force against the war - mistakenly, in my view. (I wrote about the argument at the time: <http://warisacrime.org/node/3366>.)

Now the objections to my postings to the occupycu listserv seem to arise from support for the Obama administration, which has prolonged and widened the war. Support like that surely contradicts the Occupy Wall Street movement. I admit that Obama made efforts to co-opt OWS as he had co-opted the anti-war movement in 2008, but I thought his betrayal of the anti-war movement had prevented OWS supporters from being similarly misled. Obama's failure to co-opt OWS led the administration to retreat to the brutal suppression of OWS that it apparently co-ordinated across the country. It's quite peculiar for sympathizers with OWS to support the Obama administration now. 

With the election over - when they let us choose between a child-killer and a job-killer (although each candidate would apparently do both) - perhaps the local Occupy movement can discover ways to pursue the original OWS goals. That's a dialogue that both AWARE and I would be happy to participate in. 

Regards, 
Carl

PS - I've apparently been signally unsuccessful in presenting my views on capitalism to readers of this listserv. They are rather traditional anarchist ideas (anarchism was a critique of Marxism-Leninism from the Left), and I've been going on about them on "News from Neptune," a weekly hour of local radio or TV, for more than 20 years. The program is now seen on Urbana Public Television (ch. 6 & 99, and http://urbanapublictelevision.org/livestream) at 7pm on Fridays; it's archived on fb (https://www.facebook.com/pages/News-from-Neptune/92629477988?fref=ts).    
 

On Oct 29, 2012, at 10:00 PM, "ya'aQov" <yaaqovz at gmail.com> wrote:

> Rachel, a man belonging to the 1% abuses our acceptance to share our listserv with him, stands for no strength; nor does he represent the list and its reasons but rather the means of capitalism we abhor; cowardly, he hides away from the dialogue we propagate. I fully support your protest and share Stuart's sadness.
> 
>  
>> I want off of this list. If there is someone else organizing for Occupy, I'd like to be a part of it. But these emails are atrocious and they are the only ones coming from the list these days. I don't think I can justify any longer staying on a list that is dominated by trolling without anyone stepping in or moderating--"the world we want is the world we need." I don't want to be a part of such a dis-organized space and have remained here only because I want news about Occupy, dialogue/imagination, and a way to communicate with others who want to organize against capitalism and f'ed up dynamics of power (racism, sexism, homophobia, classism, ableism, etc.) Unfortunately, at this point, this list doesn't seem like a radical space at all. 
>> 
>>  Can someone remove me?
>>