Rad Occupier

Something that is starting to worry me about Occupy Philly (and I imagine this is happening elsewhere as well) and that I think may be something that starts rifts among occupiers and organizers, is that some people seem to think that the occupation is a campaign.

As anyone who has been to a Campaign Strategy 101 workshop knows, generally you start a campaign because you have some goal you want to achieve. You choose a target, some entity with power that can help you achieve your goal. Then you choose strategy and tactics to influence your target. Pretty simple.

Occupy is not a campaign. At least, not yet, and I don’t know if it ever will be, and I don’t care if it ever is. Loosely, I guess “big banks” and to a lesser degree, unaccountable politicians, are targets. But we don’t all agree on what the goal is, or goals are. Like, at all. We know we’re all mad at them because they’ve been screwing us, but we don’t know what we want changed. Do we want them to give the bailout money back? Do we want campaign finance reform? Do we want to burn the banks and dance on the ashes? There are endless answers to what we want, and, honestly, I think a lot of people don’t know what they want. They just know they are mad and they want other people to know they’re mad.

There is no strategy to the Occupy movements. I guess “we’re staying here until the police try to kick us out” is a tactic, but without being part of a larger strategy, it doesn’t mean much.

Some people look at all this and see it as a mess. It is. But the thing is, I don’t think the occupations need to be a campaign for them to be revolutionary, positive events in the larger social justice movements happening around the world.

People are having transformative experiences at the occupations. Just talking to other people and participating in volunteer group work is a big change for people who are used to going home to their empty apartments and watching TV til they go to bed. Really, I have had people tell me this! Not only are they having a social transformation, they are also often talking about POLITICS with other people. Together people are learning about each others experiences, they are moving closer to understanding each others’ beliefs. And if we radicals play it right, we can influence them to create tight analysis of capitalism, neoliberalism, etc. Many people are also experiencing mutual aid for the first time. If they need something, they can probably get it, and they can probably give someone else something they need (not just material things, but skills, emotional support, etc.) They are also learning how to self-manage a miniature society. All of this is SO important!

Like an article I quoted a few days ago said, “Some of the protesters say “direct democracy” is more important than the message. Others go further, saying the process is the movement.” I think this is where it’s at - the process people are going through, both literally the consensus process, and also the things I mentioned above, are what is important about this movement.

I don’t think the occupations are the lead-up to The Rev. I think The Rev is still a long ways off. But before we get there, people need to build analysis, skills and relationships. That is what these occupations are about. Let’s not get caught up in thinking of this as a campaign - when we frame it that way, it feels like something we will either win or lose. There is no way for us to lose this, we have already won so much. Each day that goes by and more people engage, we are winning.