dagblog - Comments for "OWS Anoints "Spokes" Persons"

O.K, reach for the iambic

Oxy Mora — Fri, 11 Nov 2011 00:35:07 +0000

O.K, reach for the iambic pentameter

(i must) WOMAN: Order, eh

Elusive Trope — Thu, 10 Nov 2011 18:46:10 +0000

In reply to DENNIS I told you. We live in

(i must)

WOMAN:  Order, eh -- who does he think he is?
  ARTHUR:  I am your king!
  WOMAN:  Well, I didn't vote for you.
  ARTHUR:  You don't vote for kings.
  WOMAN:  Well, 'ow did you become king then?
  ARTHUR:  The Lady of the Lake,
      [angels sing]
      her arm clad in the purest shimmering samite, held aloft Excalibur
      from the bosom of the water signifying by Divine Providence that I,
      Arthur, was to carry Excalibur.
      [singing stops]
      That is why I am your king!
  DENNIS:  Listen -- strange women lying in ponds distributing swords
      is no basis for a system of government.  Supreme executive power
      derives from a mandate from the masses, not from some farcical
      aquatic ceremony.
  ARTHUR:  Be quiet!
  DENNIS:  Well you can't expect to wield supreme executive power
      just 'cause some watery tart threw a sword at you!
  ARTHUR:  Shut up!
  DENNIS:  I mean, if I went around sayin' I was an empereror just
      because some moistened bint had lobbed a scimitar at me they'd
      put me away!
  ARTHUR:  Shut up!  Will you shut up!
  DENNIS:  Ah, now we see the violence inherent in the system.
  ARTHUR:  Shut up!
  DENNIS:  Oh!  Come and see the violence inherent in the system!
      HELP! HELP! I'm being repressed!
  ARTHUR:  Bloody peasant!
  DENNIS:  Oh, what a give away.  Did you here that, did you here that,
      eh?  That's what I'm on about -- did you see him repressing me,
      you saw it didn't you?

DENNIS I told you. We live in

Michael Maiello — Thu, 10 Nov 2011 18:36:00 +0000

In reply to OWS Anoints "Spokes" Persons

DENNIS

I told you. We live in an anarcho-syndicalist commune! We take it in turns to act as a sort of officer for the week...

KING ARTHUR

Yes

DENNIS

...but all the decisions of that officer has to be ratified at the special by-weekly meeting...

KING ARTHUR

Yes, I see.

DENNIS

...by a civil majority in the case of purely internal affairs...

KING ARTHUR

Be quiet!

DENNIS

...but by a two thirds majority in the case of more...

KING ARTHUR

Be quiet! I order you to be quiet!

Maybe I'm naive and the

Oxy Mora — Thu, 10 Nov 2011 18:10:45 +0000

In reply to OWS Anoints "Spokes" Persons

Maybe I'm naive and the eternal optimist but I really like the "looks" of this organization.

The terminology is unique and resonates with the movement.

It is horizontal.

It is participatory.

It is replicable.

It seems well suited to, and in a sense, mimics the new age of social media.

It looks socialistic and should start scaring the pants off the 1%

I think we call such a system

Elusive Trope — Thu, 10 Nov 2011 17:50:28 +0000

In reply to Who gets to decide who is in

I think we call such a system a parliamentary system or representational democracy.

Exactly.

Who gets to decide who is in

Dan Kervick — Thu, 10 Nov 2011 16:55:20 +0000

In reply to OWS Anoints "Spokes" Persons

Who gets to decide who is in any particular "group" or "caucus"? Just the members of that group? The entire group has to apply for membership in the council, as a single unit? I assume that eventually people in the GA will want the right to elect the members of these important groups.

So then you have a general body of all the people, with a special leadership council made up of committees or rotating chairs, members of which are elected by the whole body. I think we call such a system a parliamentary system or representational democracy.

We aren't very big yet here

synchronicity — Thu, 10 Nov 2011 15:58:30 +0000

In reply to OWS Anoints "Spokes" Persons

We aren't very big yet here in Occupy Boulder but we have a 'Unity' Working Group however right now it just requires that someone from every working group attend each meeting and anyone can attend but it is to help with interaction between the groups.

Our most recent struggles have occurred over very passionate and perhaps very idealistic members feeling that if we weren't ready to take action in support of Palestine immediately we were... something... and they should leave the group... ugh....

We carry on...

Just looking at this from a

Elusive Trope — Thu, 10 Nov 2011 14:43:37 +0000

In reply to OWS Anoints "Spokes" Persons

Just looking at this from a distance and through what one may deem an academic organizational development perspective, watching this will be interesting. This portion of the Voice's article caught my eye.

And a big disruption came in the form of Greek artist Georgia Sagri, who led the splinter group that occupied a gallery in SoHo a couple weeks ago. Representing the Direct Democracy working group, Sagri stood and took the mic.

"I think through the spokes council process, working groups become organizations and they become parties," she said. "What's the reason for us to marginalize ourselves?"

The group reacted with general derision, even some jeering; Sagri was breaking process. Activist Ashley Love (who elicited boos at a community board meeting a few weeks ago) yelled "Shame on you all!"

Sagri, who is one of the original people that attended General Assemblies over the summer, told the Voice that the Spokes Council "shows a misunderstanding of what exactly we're doing here."

"Occupy Wall Street is never, and will never be an organization," she said.