Horizontal With Hope

Happy Birthday Mom!
I have to say that hear, because I have no way to contact her in real life :(

On to the Movement, #OWS, a subject worthy of writing in a blog. As any readers may know, (of which I feel I may be the only one currently reading) I have been following the Occupy Wall Street movement pretty much since its inception. In late September I found and started watching the livestream from Liberty Plaza, NYC, where I became enthralled. Watching the General Assembly (GA) allowed me an understanding that does exhibit democracy at its best among the people participating. It is small scale democracy, though it is powerful as used by the movement. They use a system that is horizontal rather than having traditional leaders. That means that all decisions that effect others and the movement is done through a method of consensus, rather than attempting to manipulate and gain the approval of a leader or having a leader dictate any course of action. This method allows all individuals to have a voice. This is something that is missing in our current (USA) form of government. I could copy correspondence between myself and all of my current federal representatives, demonstrating, a total disconnect. Their responses are generally non-germane to the subjects that I write them about. It is as though, what I write is not even read. It seems like they use computer programs that filter for key words, so they respond to the key words with their party line from that, rather than really even attempting to understand the communication's content. In other words, they don't care. Thus my last response to one U.S. Senator, I had to call him on it, and actually said he is disgraceful. This then is a problem.

I am therefore even more drawn to the Occupy Wall Street movement. My voice is not heard by my representatives, causing me to feel left out. I, as all humans, have an internal need to feel accepted and heard. The need to be heard promotes an understanding of, clear, conscious, communication between individuals as the result of communication. Thus because of these kinds of examples, the people seek out a way to have these needs met causing the movement to grow. As it gains support it is continually morphing into something bigger. I want to say it is getting better, though of this I am yet to be convinced. I hear calls for leaders, from outside sources, yet I agree that leaderless has its own virtue. It is different to do it this way, and as we all should know change is slow. Change is a process. The process has known and coined parts as it develops. I can't seem to bring to mind the three (I think it is three) names. One of them is acceptance. Our society is not yet ready to hear that leaderless is even a viable option. Individuals are always resistant to change because as creatures of habit, our habits become ineffectual. We resist going to the unfamiliar that peals back the habits, the things which we have grown to trust in life. We tend to trust the leaders of our systems, what ever the system is, be it club, political group, tribal community , or family head. Breaking out of that habit is new, hard etc. In the pattern of change, it is and shall be slow. In this time of wanting "instant gratification", I hope those in the movement don't loose their will to keep up the fight. The fight is going to be slow. Democracy is also slow and messy. The old habits of retreat back to everyday life, with the known and dependable have the potential to come back as dominant.

I have hope in this movement, mostly because I lost hope in the old way. The old way is now a non-inclusive system. It leaves the 99% of us citizens feeling used for our money, without fair representation, and living where equality is but a meaningless word, rather than a way of life. We all need hope, just as we have need to feel heard and understood. Thus I intend to continue my participation in this blog, as an exercise of maybe sharing hope and or bringing another person into a better understanding of what the Occupy movement is all about. I will continue watching the livestream also. I watch it with the hope of its morphing into something bigger and better than it now is. I want to see it become a full-time quality vent of expression that supports the movement and its meaning. I want it to catch on to help promote the truth of the movement to, and for the 99%.