Tuesday, October 18, 2011

OWS: word choices

I just wanted to throw out there: in this war for words and the future... I think people are getting frustrated because "OWS" is more than one thing. (Well, duh. But wait...)

The Occupation is an experiment in democratic process and listening and sharing and living with the mask off. It is very heartening (if, occasionally, deafening.) Only the people who can fit in the physical space of Liberty-- whether it's all night or just for a meal or a moment-- can experience the whole shebang. The rest of us live vicariously through livestreams and twitters and stories shared. (Note: Other Occupations are included in this part. But not everyone can take the time to sit through a 7 hour General Assembly... and yet that's an integral part of the experience.)

The Movement is the actions that are taken in the Occupation's name, whether that is taking your money out of one of the Big Four Banks, getting arrested, or both all at once. (Two for the price of one! How efficient!) These are actions, these are movements, these are temporary physical extensions of the occupation into previously unoccupied spaces. A nomadic teach-in, if you will, with camera phones rolling.

Both are important, and both feed off of the other. But if you separate the two, some parts of OWS might make more sense.

Cheers,
alia

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