“Occupy doesn’t have any focus, it doesn’t have any message”
That has been one of the most common comments that I have heard both within the movement and from the outside media, even the opposition. So I ask you what is the message? Do you know?
I have been observing and participating in the overall movement since inception in New York both physically and virtually via the internet. I have visited several camps, been to many GA’s, went to the Occupy the Midwest gathering. All the time documenting either with a video camera, gathering printed materials, or taking notes and what I have found is that it does have a message.
I started seeing the message appear while copying and pasting chants and comments from various livestreams, I started to see a theme emerge of its own accord. After seeing it emerge I started refining it going through all of my notes, reading articles and posts by others and ended up with the following;
Open Governance Strategy or Framework
We have a dream that is against the wall, to save it for one, we MUST save it for ALL – Solidarity
We have to do this together – in all cities, in all states, in all nations for all people
Hostile corporate takeovers of schools, cities and countries will not be tolerated
These are the weapons
“Education and truth, Transparency and accountability, and a Voice for all people”
By demanding truth in education we learn from history
By demanding transparency and accountability we see true justice
By demanding voice for all, we protect even the smallest minority
By exposing and removing the corporate GREED
We can leverage direct democracy and technology
To rebuild a united free world of equality
As you can see it is a cohesive framework that can be applied to any and all issues that we currently face, the ones we fight day in and day out. If these are applied to each they create a open framework for a true discussion minus the “trash talk”
Education and Truth
The first step of accomplishing any task is the understanding of details, Why does it need to change? What is the end goal? How does it work now? Who should be accountable?
Every objective must be framed with true knowledge and understanding of the issue and the targeted audience. If the audience does not understand the issue or doesn’t even know there is an issue then nothing will change, spinning wheels will be the norm.
Condense the knowledge into factual sound bites of information that speaks to the audience. These will become the talking points or responses in common conversations.
Leverage current technology to allow all people to see / read on all formats mobile, e-readers, or tablets distribute them in open formats that can be used by others. Make sure these are available for anyone with disabilities, text, video, and sound recordings.
In addition make the full text, documentation, data or video recording is available for fact checking, for those so inclined to more in depth study.
Transparency and accountability
Provide the checkpoints needed to see if the objectives are being met. Are we going the right direction?
Trust tasks to be moving in the right direction but verify them by having key data points published publicly. (Budgets posted online, voting records of representatives online, political donations publicly posted, etc.. )
Total transparency in accordance with current tech.. if we can save a document as html or pdf we can post it online with a “up vote / down vote button”
If all data is consumed as a data table or spreadsheet post it online in a searchable format.
If a person with a cellphone can livestream a pizza party then workgroups can stream all meetings and discussions.
Voice for all people
Today’s technology allows anyone to voice their opinions about any subject on any web site, this basic ability must be leveraged by our democratic process.
Be this a question and answer section of a public website, a up/down voting button or a complete open voting system.
Daily we do cash transactions online we can’t we vote or voice our opinions with basic confidence on many day to day issue’s.
The last election cycle was a complete fiasco and must be changed and if we leverage current tech a solution can be found especially if all “electronic voting” options are open source.
Now the question is does it work?
Lets look at the recent Occupy Monsanto actions
Does it provide Education YES there have been many articles, videos, doctor statements etc produced to support the fact that something is wrong.
Is there Transparency NO not by Monsanto, so that in and of itself supports the fact that they have something to hide. This was verified recently due to several leaked documents of test that show exposure of rats produces tumors and some correlation of “leaky bowel syndrome” to GMO foods. Also found out was several people hold positions on both Government oversight commissions and positions in Monsanto which shows at least a conflict of interest
After seeing the above lets use our voice in demonstrations, find or produce interviews, share documentation etc.. such as the May 25th demonstration viewable here: http://youtu.be/Ifa33dLp6OA
Has it had any overall impact? YES things are shifting if you do a search on Google for “Monsanto banned” in the news category you will see as of writing this there are 9,420 news results where countries, states and regions have banned, suspended or thinking about banning the use of GMO seeds
Please feel free to comment and add your voice
Darin Lawson Hosking is a concerned citizen who has been active with Occupy. See Google Plus for more.