[Originally posted at Corrente] My friend and compatriot, Samsarah Morgan has been the target of threats because of her involvement with editing a book, A People’s History of Occupy Oakland. Samsarah, along with Shake Anderson, Cami Graves, Zappa Montag and myself, put together the book as a selection of articles about Occupy Oakland. Some of the articles were old, and some were new pieces. After the book went live on Amazon, [...]
The Occupy Oakland Media Collective today announces that it embraces a community focused strategy that aims to bring mass participation back to Occupy Oakland. It was mass participation that shut down the Port on 2 November. And it is mass participation that has been lacking at Occupy Oakland since a clique of so-called radicals seized control of the movement. We resoundingly reject their goals, strategy and tactics. They have twisted [...]
When we left off last time, Sun Yat-sen had just accepted military aid from the Soviet Union to form the Whampoa Military Academy, which had students not only from the Nationalist Party but also from the Communists. The military academy had a goal, of creating a cohesive officer corps to lead the Republic of China armed forces. The then-existing officer corps was composed of men from a variety of [...]
Last week I discussed the meaning of the term comrade, and this week’s blog post was supposed to be, and is, about the limits to power. When I was writing the outline for the post, I realized that the only way to talk about limits to power was to use a case study, since talking about these things in the abstract is not as meaningful as pointing to real life [...]
We’re Not Comrades Last week, I wrote about the tension between personal and institutional loyalty. This week’s blogpost will discuss the term comrade, and why I think it’s outgrown its usefulness. I’ve heard people at OO throw the term comrade around often, and it’s always made me uncomfortable. There are three reasons for this. One is personal; to me it always sounds forced. Another reason is that the use of [...]
Last week I wrote about the importance of seizing the American identity. This week, I want to talk about the necessary tension between personal loyalty and institutional loyalty in oppositional politics. Throughout left wing politics, it’s common to hear people call for solidarity. But what does solidarity really mean? Does it mean falling in line with the loudest voices in the room, who declare their actions must be supported by [...]
Last week I wrote about the continued relevance of the nation state. This week’s piece is on seizing the American identity. As leftists, we should seize the American identity from the moribund hands of dying bigots and refashion it into something that centers on economic well being for the majority of Americans. Ultimately a nation state depends on its citizens embracing a common orientation, or a common identity if you [...]
First in a series on building a new consensus. The nation-state still matters. Although I have met and talked with many people in OO who believe that the nation-state is obsolete, evil and must be abolished, I do not agree. There are quite a few things that the nation-state does that I have not seen as possible otherwise. Among other things, this includes the maintenance of the physical infrastructure of [...]
Unlike a certain fictional character, I have no problems saying why I resigned. Below please find an edited version of my resignation, with some information removed for privacy: Dear Finance Committee, I resign, effective immediately. Yesterday’s Anti-Repression Committee-sponsored purge of the media committee was the last straw for me. I can no longer accept the legitimacy of the Occupy Oakland General Assembly. I am disgusted that there is a complete [...]
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