I went back to the Sacramento Protests at Cesar Chavez Park in Sacramento to focus on the ways in which many public concerns are being translated into fewer representative concepts and statements.
A couple of the concepts and statements are already beginning to resonate with larger and larger groups of people.
The "One Percent" have taken from the people and have kept it for themselves.
The "One Percent" have become greedy, gross, corrupted and arrogant.
The leftist and the liberal no longer huddles at the center and secretly panders to the right.
The nation's highest court is corrupted and, despite growing public outrage, refuses to be held to a higher ethics standard. The courts now belong to the one percent.
Two worthless wars have used up two generations of soldiers. No nation ever survived by squandering two generations of soldiers in the wrong wars. It is inevitable that such a foolish nation will be taken down by the threats that have been ignored.
The military industrial complex calls the shots. Those who profit from the military industrial complex are part of the one percent.
But the One Percent will not stop. Bizarre constructs like "The corporation as a person" will allow one Percent of the world to take even more for themselves while they return less and less to those who create their wealth.
There is no "Noblesse Oblige" in our topmost class, just as there was none before the French Revolution.
The statement "We are the 99 percent!" is the most powerful statement of this revolution. This definitive statement from the occupation protests reflects the broad and general dysfunction that begins with a corrupted government, extends to corrupted corporations, and ends with the mentally disturbed, opportunistic and charismatic creeps of the world, as with the Tea Party.
The second most powerful statement of this revolution is that there is no leadership. The worst thing that could happen would be for the unions, the Democratic and other parties, or even one charismatic individual to take leadership and start speaking for the masses who group up, speak up and march these days.
Here are the problems with a single representative or spokesperson:
All major and existing national groups would instantly become weak points that would be exploited to divide and conquer The 99 Percent. If the mass comes to one point on a huge pyramid, the one percent can chop of the point, leaving the masses to disperse from a lack of someone to tell them what to do.
All major and existing national groups have hidden and vested interests in the very systems that the 99 Percent are protesting! The Veterans groups, for example, collect hundreds of millions of dollars and take up millions of square feet of space. Yet they do not get veterans their benefits because they have cozy and long term collusions with an entirely broken Veteran's Administration.
Those Union funds have actually gotten fat from those "One Percent" styles of funds collection and management. There is also the problem of unions pricing the American worker out of their own job markets.
The Democratic Party has far too many members who, like the "Blue Dogs", are playing for both sides in the game as Tea Party operatives in the daytime and a drain on party funds and focus in the nighttime.
All of the 99 Percent need to fight together for jobs, medical care, and fair housing. The focus needs to be on shutting down government corruption, ending corporate personhood, ordering the banks to release the stimulus funds, getting the President his money for jobs and infrastructure repair, ending the two wars, and redistributing the looted nation's treasure back to the people.
No single interest group needs to distract the 99 Percent right now.
All selfish interest groups need to remember that the women's suffrage movement put their goals on hold in order to help gain freedom for the slaves, to run the underground railroad, and to fight for right in the Civil War. Then, when it came time for women to get the vote, the suffrage movement reaped massive support in return.
The coalitions know that all ethnic and racial minorities, together, become a majority that must give mutual support for immigration, stopping racism, and getting jobs for those who are rejected from society.
Unions know that they must support the 99 Percent. Veterans know that they must get the 99 Percent to honor Americas contract with its soldiers.
The churches know that their parishioners are the 99 Percent. The Colleges know that they are cranking out vastly more 99 Percenters than they are 1 percenters. The Gay and Lesbian movements need to thank the 99 percent for being the real force behind ending DADT.
What, then, is the focus of the Occupation Protesters? There is no one focus.
What, then is the manifesto of the Occupation Protesters? There is no manifesto.
Who leads the Occupation Protesters? There are no leaders, just guides and facilitators. Those who want to be led by someone can choose to be led.
Those who want to freelance can do that too. I went to the protests and freelanced.
This is the best way. It scares the hell out of opportunists and charismatic creeps who need for people to follow them as they head down their self serving paths toward becoming the one percent of the 99 percent.
Here are some memorable photos.
Some protesters speak for many by expressing general discontent.



Source: Xenonlit

Source: Xenonlit
This is A Lonely Job That Is Best When Boring And Uneventful.

This church ministry delivers food to parks and places within a 40 mile radius of Sacramento. They delivered this food, then packed up to serve at several more locations on their regular route.
Source: Xenonlit
Source: Xenonlit
The main event of the day was a march to the K Street Mall for more protest with more protesters. It was also Second Saturday Art Walk Day, so I bailed out, exhausted and in a bit of obvious pain from overdoing it.
Source: Xenonlit



Salon.com
Comments
Once social change begins, it cannot be reversed."
I understand your point about no charismatic leader:
if a Dr. King or a Chavez or a
Christ or even a Gandi ,
popped up, he would have to keep a low profile.
"Behold, all things are becom(ing) new"
And I am stealing this: "Behold, all things are becom(ing) new" It should be the third powerful statement.
Coyote: It is great to read your voice and it is great to be back here!
Thanks for the encouragement. I will rest today. G6PD and the damage it does is a real bitch.
Scanner, I had a lovely talk with a very bright young lady who had so many good ideas. It was interesting to find out how many share this same understanding.
But I do give credit to the organizers. They are making sure that there is first aid, coordinating with local officials, and putting things together. They are fantastic.
I hope that more people will stop at their local versions, snap a few pics write some notes, and share!
I am pleased to see we are in total, agreement on this important point. We must resist the well-meaning efforts of politicians and/or other "official spokespersons" to avoid the not-so-well-meaning results.
Good on you for going out there. I'm not sure I can physically manage it anymore, but I couldn't be more there in spirit.
Lezlie
I disagree about not needing a 'leader'
-I can't think of any "revolution" that made "change for the better which
stands the test of time (or at least gets upheld for more than a couple of decades)" that didn't have an actual leader who function as a speaker. And who directly, on behalf of the thousands of voices, delivered/conveyed a clear, concise message on what the people want/need changed and then works out an agreement with the powers that be who can actually enforce the change.
Just from my perspective, the 'real' leaders (who made solid change) have rarely ever been politicians, but they ARE charismatic because that's what most people warm up to and trust. And those 'real' leaders are as passionate about the issues as are the people in the streets fighting for them. The politicians... without them, nothing will go into law.
Without a leader to negotiate with the politicians who will make this protest solidify into a cohesive message, and put forth reasonable solutions that can be made? It's going to be a negotiation, no matter how we slice, but who'll do the negotiating?
Charlie: Thanks for expressing another point of view on the leadership issue. This is something that calls for other points of view, for sure!
Many of us simply have given up on the existing leaders and the traditional system of having a few of the top people speaking for us.
The known leaders have had 11 years of ample access to kings and presidents. They have had ample opportunity to speak to all of the issues, from veterans getting their benefits to the Federal Reserve shenanigans.
Everything is broken, and no one has come up with a compelling set of practical solutions for such a comprehensive breakdown of our society and our economy.
Maybe, if the media would quit allowing the Tea Party to dominate the dialogue and the news cycles, some others could be heard!
The plutocratic powers that be love it when we engage in the petty bickering of identity politics, love it when we are fighting for crumbs for our own group instead of going after THEM.
ALL of our forefathers helped to create all of the wealth of our present society. ALL OF THEM!
All helped by building the society that made it possible for those who became rich to do so. That wealth belongs more to the people of our society than to the kids of the rich.
I have no quarrel with those who EARN great wealth. Let them have it until they die. Then return it to the society it came from by way of an “inheritance” for children born about the same time.
Those kids will surely inherit all the ills left behind by those who came before them, it is only right that they also inherit the wealth created by those who amassed it because of the success of a society we, as our ancestors did, all contribute to, each in our own way.
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Johnny: Just show up and let the really nasty homeless folks show you how to do it. They are being run out of their normal spots! I can't figure out what you do for bathrooms and don't want to know!
Robert: watch for it. That is exactly what they will try to do, but we are over 300 million pissed off people! No one can control this giant country or round up everyone.
Naneh: Thanks for reading! It was all worth it to have people commenting and expressing themselves, especially the brightest brain at OS.
Sky: We are not the UK or some European country that is the size of one of our states. This country will not survive without a strong middle class, and the very wealthy will not survive for long underground.
Chicken Maaan: "We don't need personality cults and militant groups with selfish agendas. " THAT will be one of my next topics to explore: how the interest groups will get involved. There were a couple of special tables, but not a lot of presence. Everyone was just one big group.
Read more: http://www.ottawacitizen.com/business/Occupy+Ottawa+protest+coming/5521865/story.html#ixzz1aKpD0pi1"
Bravo OS writers! Thank you for keeping we ex-pats informed.
Nice post. Please let us know how things are progressing. Here in Miami things are still quiet, but I'm hopeful that will change soon.
I think you're wrong when you say that the movement doesn't want a leader. I think that a leader will help it grow and give it more of a voice and a vote where it counts... the White House and Congress.
The leaders will emerge.
I can't believe how the Republican leaders have jumped to attack the protestors. That will hurt them politically.
I have some Republican friends. Now I can point out that the Republicans do not represent them. The friends are for punishing Wall Street, ending the wars, taxing the wealthy, ending the trade with China. The Republican politicians are against all of those things.
Many of those Republicans will bolt the Party as they see the idiotic positions of the Republicans seeking the Presidency and seats in Congress.
The Protestors on Wall Street have forced the politicians to show their colors and those Republican colors are a shock to the rank and file Republicans.
Rated
Is it not clear that if a “strong middle class” is so good then having everyone be a part of that middle class would be even better?
We have traditionally defined the “middle class” as being between the upper class and the lower class, in wealth and power.
I suggest that it might be time to draw everyone into that “middle class” territory as their starting point in life. Then let those who can, and wish to, accumulate wealth. By having that wealth return to the society from which it came, upon their death, the whole society will benefit from them amassing wealth.
As it stands now, those who hold great fortunes are HARMING the very society that wealth was created by! They might not even wish to do that at all but “the system” is set up so as to have that effect whether it is desired or not.
Great wealth begets greater wealth. That is a fact that we must recognize. It is time for us to turn that fact to our advantage as a society rather than allow it to continue to benefit only “the few” and have a harmful effect on “the many.”
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And wage slavery is a vastly overlooked crime in this country!
I have decided that a journalistic approach will not work. I have also decided that my sociology will not work. I am going in deep with an anthropological approach, next, because nothing like this has ever existed in the entire history of mankind.
People are working this as they work it and no other social science will do.
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I plan to get over there on a normal workday to see how things work when everyone is downtown.
It looks like they might shut down on about the 15th or 17th, according to tonight's news.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6yrT-0Xbrn4