Three Goals

Diagnosis, amplification and popularization

Short Version:

Diagnosis: A direct-democratic assembly should be a network of people who can trust each other to provide information about what's wrong

Amplification: A direct-democratic assembly should give instant advice and sustained support to people who can imagine practical courses of action.

Popularization: We are pursuing broad consensus in our society on a few common values

Very Long Version:

1) Diagnosis

The issue that prompted OWS was inequity. We sound like we're all over the map partially because we aren't as organised in expressing consensus as we should be, but primarily because there is no single cause of inequity. Problems with the Bank Act? Student loans? Rent control? X? Y? Z? Yes. Each of those is part of the problem. No one person sees the whole picture, and many of the things that went wrong over the past few decades happened unnoticed. That's true partly because some of the issues are obscure (read the Bank Act lately?) and partly because some people are hit harder than others (esp. various forms of discrimination).

The situation is bad enough that here in Canada it can be attacked from any political perspective. (Outside of Canada your mileage may vary) Conservatives don't like to see radical change in society; they should be wondering why hardworking lower-middle class people aren't becoming upper-middle class as they might have a generation ago. The Progressive Conservatives must still be out there somewhere. Greens should be mad that companies are profiting from dropping externalities on the rest of us. Libertarians should be angry that government policy is distorting the market to the benefit of those with the best lobbyists. NDPstas are watching the labour movement get ground down year after year. I don't know what specifically would bother Liberals and Bloquistes the most, but take your pick! On some issues we might get consensus. On other issues, I think it would be great to see our political parties fighting <i>in good faith</i> over who's got the best solutions. We have enough common values to work together, and we need to get better at listening and working across party lines.

It's time to pull out into the open the ways society is invisibly unfair. What's it like to be a single mother? Are the laws stacked against small business owners? All voices should be heard, especially the voices of people who have been marginalized.

It's also time to hit the books. We need to have small, disciplined groups of people rigorously informing themselves about particular issues -- what the law is and how institutions work. It would be all the better if those groups include certified experts. Economist? Lawyer? Yes please, committee's over there. In my limited experience, general assemblies are good at focusing attention on people who know what they're talking about, and at making sure that people who have questions get answers.

Diagnosis: A direct-democratic assembly should be a network of people who can trust each other to provide information about what's wrong with our society.

2) Amplification

Even if all you know about Occupy is what you've seen on the news, you've probably seen the human mike trick, used where actual microphones have been illegal or inconvenient. If a person can't be heard on the far side of an assembly, the people nearby will repeat her words in a loud voice. Consider it a metaphor.

One person who writes a letter to the editor is a crank. One hundred people who are threatening to drop their subscriptions get taken very seriously. One thousand?

Have you been suffering discrimination? A large, diverse audience wants to listen. Is there more we can do than listen?

Have you carefully researched payday loansharking? Explain the problem as you see it. Suggest a solution. Listen to feedback, get backup, pass the torch if you need to. It may take time to build consensus (complex issues are complex), but there is strength in numbers.

Maybe you shouldn't wait for consensus. Don't use the Occupy name if you don't have consensus support from a general assembly (that’s fraud), but if you’ve made the connections you need, consider going in your own name. However, why not pitch it to all of us – why not have all the support you can get?

Amplification: A direct-democratic assembly should give instant advice and sustained support to people who can imagine practical courses of action.

3) Popularization

We need proclaim our common values. I don’t mean we should advertize the values of those of us currently protesting. Our society has been divided-and-conquered for too long. If we can dig through cultural differences and the us-vs.-them mentality we might find common ground in surprising places. Those folks consuming hard-right news don’t speak our language, but they too have experienced injustice and inequity. They too are part of the 99%. We need to hear their voices. (and, ahem, vice versa)

They’re the hard target. Easier to reach are people who are confused by us or generally apathetic. We need to convince them that we will listen to them and that we are capable of successfully fighting inequity. How do we keep growing? If they won’t come to us, how do we in a spirit of openness go to them?

Popularization: Society-wide consensus on a few common values is almost as impossible as a massive spontaneous wave of peaceful assemblies springing up overnight without central leadership in cities around the world.