Occupy Movement: First Fruit - Paradigm Shift

[Dave Stratman]

Re: Occupy Movement: First Fruit - Paradigm Shift

Well SS I am hand-wringing along with you and a lot of liberal Egyptians as far as I can tell from twitter, but with some qualifications.

The Salifist ~ 20% vote is disheartening to say the least. I am more sanguine about the Muslim Brotherhood. I think there's a freedom of movement implicit in being the eternal opposition. As the constantly-flogged underdog you gain a lot of sympathy over time but it's another thing to run a country and gradually change from the ultimate outsider to the reigning government. The upper hand the Muslim Brotherhood has is their social and community involvement. They were allowed to take on this charitable, social-oriented work under Mubarak - a tactical error, surely - and have made themselves indispensable to a lot of people in a country where the vast majority lived a very, very hard life. (I spent some time in Cairo in my twenties and lived with "middle-class" Egyptian families in what could only be described as tenement conditions. One room, one family of four or five. And right around the corner was the City of the Dead, a slum in a cemetery if you can picture that. I've travelled a fair amount and those families were the most outrageously generous I've ever encountered. And to dispel the stereotypes, all the older girls were gaining college level diplomas. Everyone was just extremely pious, men and women. It was kind of like 18th century America. Religion was simply the wallpaper of their lives.) But I really think that the significance of this is hard to judge. One of the great failings of secular liberalism is that it doesn't really have any central notion of sacrifice as a core belief. I think this is actually kind of a fatal flaw, but in the Egyptian context or even the middle-east in general I think it comes down to this: there is a lot of really compelling need in these communities and the most likely players to respond to these needs are those with a sense of religious obligation of service. My sense is that often the best and the brightest in the youth of these communities are drawn to religious parties and organisations because they see the need and injustice and just want to do something positive with their very constrained lives. In other words, I think there is a tragic mis-judgement of who is a genuine back-to-the-middle-ages radical islamist and who is the the middle-east equivalent of the local rotary-club's "youth of the year."

The middle-east is f'ing confusing.

The Muslim Brotherhood was created with the support of British Intelligence to provide "a vital counterweight to England's chief nemeses: the [Arab] nationalists and the secular left." It was "established with a grant from England's Suez Canal Company, and over the next quarter century British diplomats, the intelligence service MI6, and Cairo's Anglophilic King Farouq would use the Muslim Brotherhood as a cudgel against Egypt's communists and nationalists--and later against President Gamal Abdel Nasser." (Robert Dreyfuss, Devil's Game: How the United States Helped Unleash Islamic Fundamentalism, pp. 47, 48)

The MB continues to be an important means for the U.S. and UK to attempt to control Muslims and deflect them away from democratic movements that would truly challenge Western domination into reactionary religious movements. As was widely reported, Sen. John Kerry, heard of the Senate Foreign relations Committee, met with representatives of the MB on 12/10/11. According to Haaretz (4.06.09), President Obama met privately with members of the Muslim Brotherhood in the U.S. earlier in 2009--that is, long before the Arab Spring.

None of this should come as a surprise. The U.S. has been working hand in glove with political Islam for more than half a century, ever since the U.S. embraced the extreme conservative Salafist rulers of Saudi Arabia. Remember when the CIA was training and arming the mujahadeen in Afghanistan, and Ronald Reagan was praising them as "freedom fighters?" Those were the virtual equivalent of the Muslim Brotherhood, only with guns. Do you recall a CIA asset by the name of Osama bin Laden?

Political Islam is the perfect ally and perfect (feigned) enemy for the U.S. As an enemy, it scares the heck out of Americans and is a satisfying substitute for Communism as an ubiquitous threat. As a (covert) ally, it is the perfect means to insert Western agents and influence into democratic Arab movements. The Muslim Brotherhood represents the best means for the U.S. to continue dominating Egypt, though with a bit of democratic cover, and at the same time undercutting support for the Arab Spring among Americans--as seems to have occurred to some extent on this site. (For more on the alliance of the U.S. and political Islam, see "Inventing the Enemy")

Re: Occupy Movement: First Fruit - Paradigm Shift

Good article. Thanks Thainotes.

I'm generally a pretty laissez-faire kinda guy, but these sorts of observations trouble me: "In 2007, according to the labor economist Sylvia Allegretto, the six Walton family members on the Forbes 400 had a net worth equal to the bottom 30 percent of all Americans. The Waltons are now collectively worth about $93 billion, according to Forbes."

[don]

Re: Occupy Movement: First Fruit - Paradigm Shift

The wealthy, as a rule, can rarely create art, only buy it. Making it 'theirs', as in the case of Rosie the Riveter, is impossible.

[Thailandnotes]

Re: Occupy Movement: First Fruit - Paradigm Shift

Goldberg rips new Wal-Mart museum. A good read.

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2011-1...-goldberg.html

[oddlots]

Re: Occupy Movement: First Fruit - Paradigm Shift

Well SS I am hand-wringing along with you and a lot of liberal Egyptians as far as I can tell from twitter, but with some qualifications.

The Salifist ~ 20% vote is disheartening to say the least. I am more sanguine about the Muslim Brotherhood. I think there's a freedom of movement implicit in being the eternal opposition. As the constantly-flogged underdog you gain a lot of sympathy over time but it's another thing to run a country and gradually change from the ultimate outsider to the reigning government. The upper hand the Muslim Brotherhood has is their social and community involvement. They were allowed to take on this charitable, social-oriented work under Mubarak - a tactical error, surely - and have made themselves indispensable to a lot of people in a country where the vast majority lived a very, very hard life. (I spent some time in Cairo in my twenties and lived with "middle-class" Egyptian families in what could only be described as tenement conditions. One room, one family of four or five. And right around the corner was the City of the Dead, a slum in a cemetery if you can picture that. I've travelled a fair amount and those families were the most outrageously generous I've ever encountered. And to dispel the stereotypes, all the older girls were gaining college level diplomas. Everyone was just extremely pious, men and women. It was kind of like 18th century America. Religion was simply the wallpaper of their lives.) But I really think that the significance of this is hard to judge. One of the great failings of secular liberalism is that it doesn't really have any central notion of sacrifice as a core belief. I think this is actually kind of a fatal flaw, but in the Egyptian context or even the middle-east in general I think it comes down to this: there is a lot of really compelling need in these communities and the most likely players to respond to these needs are those with a sense of religious obligation of service. My sense is that often the best and the brightest in the youth of these communities are drawn to religious parties and organisations because they see the need and injustice and just want to do something positive with their very constrained lives. In other words, I think there is a tragic mis-judgement of who is a genuine back-to-the-middle-ages radical islamist and who is the the middle-east equivalent of the local rotary-club's "youth of the year."

The middle-east is f'ing confusing.

[metalman]

Re: Occupy Movement: First Fruit - Paradigm Shift

+1

Not the same ... but I'll lend you this one ...

[ATTACH]4175[/ATTACH]

man... that guy has nine pair of balls. inspiration...

google images... site:itulip.com clapping

[Fiat Currency]

Re: Occupy Movement: First Fruit - Paradigm Shift

LETS HEAR IT FOR A REAL AMERICAN HERO!

(can never find metalmans video of the guy clappin when eye want it...)

+1

Not the same ... but I'll lend you this one ...

Clapping Hands 95x95.gif

[Thailandnotes]

Re: Occupy Movement: First Fruit - Paradigm Shift

I'm not sure it is going into hibernation. Greg Mitchell's OWS blog over at The Nation is worth an occasional visit. Today...Ry Cooder.

http://www.thenation.com/blog/165076...equent-updates

[don]

Re: Occupy Movement: First Fruit - Paradigm Shift

LETS HEAR IT FOR A REAL AMERICAN HERO!

(can never find metalmans video of the guy clappin when eye want it...)

and NO i'm not being facetious, he deserves recognition from the rest of the cops for standing up to be counted as one of The Rest of US in response to unnecessarily heavy-handed tactics to shutdown what will surely be seen as a tipping-point moment in the battle to come... even if it goes into hibernation for the winter, they wont be able to shut us all down come next spring - and its going to be a VERY interesting election year - we shall see who the real representatives of The People are, by their response and comments on these events (and so far, they havent had much to say, cept for the current occupant - the challengers seem to be waiting on the focus group discussion feedback)

+1

[lektrode]

Re: Occupy Movement: First Fruit - Paradigm Shift

Solidarity with the Occupy Movements around the world, including the Arab Spring?

I noticed to-day, Dec 3rd, that the Arab Spring has brought about the apparent election of Islamists in Egypt. In other words, the liberal, Mubarek, is going to be replaced with Islamists in Egypt, including many from the Moslem Brotherhood. The clock is going to be set back to the 7th Century: Women are going to be in burkas and kept hidden in the backgound, whilst all men will be on their knees praying all day. No-one will be asking any questions nor dissenting in Egypt ever again.

This is what happens when there are Occupy Movements in the world, but without specific and manifest objectives: There will be those in the background who would steer the vague mass-discontent (of the 99%) to their own secret and tyrannical agenda.

methinks you right again, mr steve....
but the younger, web-enabled ones might just surprise us... that is if they arent shouted down, beat down by the fundamentalists, who seem intent on maintaining the 7th century status quo
since we see same sort of thing already happening over here, just a diff agenda...

[lektrode]

Re: Occupy Movement: First Fruit - Paradigm Shift

...

His name is Ray Lewis, and, after retiring as a captain in 2004 after 24 years of service, he became active in the world of social justice.



Lewis outside Zuccotti Park, Nov. 15.

LETS HEAR IT FOR A REAL AMERICAN HERO!

(can never find metalmans video of the guy clappin when eye want it...)

and NO i'm not being facetious, he deserves recognition from the rest of the cops for standing up to be counted as one of The Rest of US in response to unnecessarily heavy-handed tactics to shutdown what will surely be seen as a tipping-point moment in the battle to come... even if it goes into hibernation for the winter, they wont be able to shut us all down come next spring - and its going to be a VERY interesting election year - we shall see who the real representatives of The People are, by their response and comments on these events (and so far, they havent had much to say, cept for the current occupant - the challengers seem to be waiting on the focus group discussion feedback)

[don]

Re: Occupy Movement: First Fruit - Paradigm Shift

In Uniform at Protests, and in Trouble as a Result

By AL BAKER

Among the more colorful protesters to emerge from Occupy Wall Street was a uniformed former police commander from the Philadelphia police. His name is Ray Lewis, and, after retiring as a captain in 2004 after 24 years of service, he became active in the world of social justice.

To New York City officers, his uniform was curious. It seemingly made him one of them, though his actions caused him to be arrested on Nov. 17, the movement’s “day of action,” in an episode captured in widely viewed videos.

Mr. Lewis is facing charges in New York, but his actions also have him in trouble with law enforcement officers in Philadelphia: the police commissioner there and Mr. Lewis’s police union have taken issue with his actions.

The commissioner, Charles H. Ramsey, told Mr. Lewis in a letter dated Nov. 23 “to immediately cease and desist wearing, using or otherwise displaying any official Philadelphia Police Department uniform, badges or facsimiles thereof or any official departmental insignia.”


Lewis outside Zuccotti Park, Nov. 15.

Mr. Ramsey continued, “Be advised that I am prepared to take any and all necessary actions to protect the honor and integrity of the Philadelphia Police Department.”
The letter from the Fraternal Order of Police informed “Brother Lewis” that the organization had received a grievance against him.

The motion, the letter said, was based on Mr. Lewis’s “comments and actions on or about Nov. 15-17, 2011, while dressed in a Philadelphia police captain’s uniform at the New York City Occupy Wall Street protest, which also resulted in his arrest.” It was signed by the organization’s recording secretary, Robert B. Ballentine.

Neither letter outlined any plan of action against Mr. Lewis, and it was unclear what action could be taken. A call to the union seeking further information was not immediately returned.

For his part, Mr. Lewis, who turned 60 the day of his arrest, said he found the correspondences to be “threatening.” He said he wrote back to both letters with a simple message: “You’re not going to bully me.”

Mr. Lewis, who lives upstate, a few hours northwest of Zuccotti Park, said he joined the Occupy movement “because I have a strong conviction that this country is being destroyed by corporate America.”

“Corporate America is just raping the people and the land of this country,” he said, “and when I saw the people at Zuccotti Park they inspired me to come down and join them. Their convictions were so strong, and they lined up perfectly with what I believed for years.”

In New York City, Mr. Lewis was charged with one violation of local law and two counts of disorderly conduct, including disrupting traffic and refusing to move on, The New York Observer reported. He has a Jan. 25 court date.

“It was an act of civil disobedience,” Mr. Lewis said. “It was a perfectly exemplary arrest.”

Mr. Lewis said the New York City police officers were respectful and treated him well. One officer even gave him an extra box of corn flakes and an extra orange.

“That was his way of showing that he felt for me,” he said. “He connected a little bit with me. He empathized with me. I would have thought some officers might have asked: `What is this about? What are you doing?’ But not a word.”

Coming up through the ranks in Philadelphia, Mr. Lewis said, he employed community policing “as much as the department would allow.”

“But more than that,” he added, “I expressed my strong desire to have every officer seriously address the concerns of the residents in my districts. It is showing respect for people. I feel every human being should be treated with respect.

“The biggest thing you can have as an ally in the Police Department is not weapons, but the support of a community. And you don’t get that by lip service. Officers have to respond professionally to people’s concerns.”

http://cityroom.blogs.nytimes.com/20...iticism&st=cse

[don]

Re: Occupy Movement: First Fruit - Paradigm Shift

My granddaughter's response to the My Occupy LA Arrest piece by Patrick Meighan:

this almost made me cry.

i am lucky enough to say none of my friends have gotten arrested (knock on wood) to date for their times with the occupy movement, however, many were witness to the atrocities that took place in oakland, while another saw the hardship first hand on a quick excursion to NY to volunteer.

99%!

first I heard she knew of the OWS & the 99% . . .

Re: Occupy Movement: First Fruit - Paradigm Shift

i had a similar reaction when i heard secty of state hilary clinton lecturing some nation about free and fair elections. "free"? it's about $1billion a pop these days. and "fair" at those prices?

Yes, not to mention the unintended ironies the past few years in the U.S. State Dept's Country Reports on Human Rights. It would all be funny if it weren't so sad.

[jk]

Re: Occupy Movement: First Fruit - Paradigm Shift

It looks uncomfortably like the way Russia is dealing with their latest protesters. I don't see how the U.S. can say a word about what's happening in Moscow right now without being a complete hypocrite -- although that won't stop any politician or diplomat worth their salt.

i had a similar reaction when i heard secty of state hilary clinton lecturing some nation about free and fair elections. "free"? it's about $1billion a pop these days. and "fair" at those prices?