The other end of the Wall Street bull

sorry... i ran across this just a short while ago and simply had to share it...



i'm reminded of the story of the guy who was running for san francisco city alderman a number of years ago... he was making a campaign speech and assured the audience that he was the kind of person who never hesitated to "grab the bull by the tail and look facts in the face"... i think that george bush-esque gaffe pretty much ended his campaign right then and there...

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Needed for the banks: transparency, accountability, bankruptcy

a wall street analyst speaks out...

To fix the banking sector, should we rely more on government regulation and oversight or let the market figure it out? Tougher rules or more capitalism? Right now, we have the worst of both worlds. We have a purportedly capitalistic system with a lot of rules that are not strictly enforced, and when things go wrong, the government steps in to protect banks from the market consequences of their own worst decisions. To me, that's not capitalism.

[...]

What we need is a better version of capitalism. That version starts with accounting: Let banks operate with a lot of latitude, but make sure outsiders can see the numbers (the real numbers). It also includes bankruptcy: Let those who stand to gain from the risks they take—lenders, borrowers and bank executives—also remain accountable for mistakes.

lord knows, we can't continue on the way we're going, that's for sure...

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People are outraged at what feels like a rigged game

robert reich...

The disconnect between Washington and the rest of the nation hasn’t been this wide since the late 1960s.

The two worlds are on a collision course: Americans who are losing their jobs or their pay and can’t pay their bills are growing increasingly desperate. Washington insiders, deficit hawks, regressive Republicans, diffident Democrats, well-coiffed lobbyists, and the lobbyists’ wealthy patrons on Wall Street and in corporate suites haven’t a clue or couldn’t care less.

I can’t tell you when the collision will occur but I’d guess 2012.

Look elsewhere around the world and you see a similar collision unfolding. The details differ but the larger forces are similar. You see it in Spain, Greece, and Italy, whose citizens are being squeezed by bankers insisting on austerity. You see it in Chile and Israel, whose young people are in revolt. In the Middle East, whose “Arab spring” is becoming a complex Arab fall and winter. Even in China, whose young and hourly workers are demanding more – and whose surge toward inequality in recent years has been as breathtaking as is its surge toward modern capitalism.

[...]

[In the United States], as elsewhere, people are outraged at what feels like a rigged game – an economy that won’t respond, a democracy that won’t listen, and a financial sector that holds all the cards.

Here, as elsewhere, the people are rising.

with all due respect, mr. reich, it "feels" like a rigged game because is IS a rigged game and, again, with all due respect, you and your former boss, the big dog, helped rig it...

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Move Your Money Day @Occupy Reno

it was 17 degrees when i headed downtown early this morning to join other occupy reno folks... we were assembling in city plaza and preparing to march around downtown, specifically wells fargo and bank of america... there were probably thirty people altogether - old, young, male, female, kids and dogs... we had determined in advance not to put ourselves in any potential legal jeopardy by protesting on bank property with the exception of those of us who had planned to enter one of the banks to close their accounts... we also decided to move from corner to corner of any intersections we were occupying so that we wouldn't be cited for loitering... we chanted, we brandished our signs and we marched...

at least 40 or 50 passing cars gave us honks and waves to which we responded with smiles, waves and occasional whoops of acknowledgement... probably less than half a dozen times, people in passing cars flipped us off... most chose to simply regard us with bemusement... one spandex and helmet-clad bicyclist zoomed by yelling "get jobs you lazy whiners"... (interestingly enough, with a few exceptions, almost everyone in the group is, in fact, employed...) we had fully expected to be shadowed by local police but, amazingly enough, we didn't see a single squad car the entire time... unfortunately, the local news media were nowhere to be seen either...

overall, we spent about 2 1/2 hours and covered maybe two miles up and down the main street of downtown reno... despite the cold and occasional snowflakes, everyone stuck it out...

here's a collage of photos from the morning...


[cross-posted at Firedoglake]

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Remember, remember, the 5th of November

from anonymous...

If we are selfish today, then our future will be selfish tomorrow. But, if we respect, love and live for one another today, then our futures will do the same. The future will be following in our foot steps, just as we have been and are doing right now. For the last four weeks we have been given the opportunity and the responsibility to change our futures outcome. Second chances are hard to come by, and we can all relate. Let us make our voices heard, our presence not only seen, but felt, and let what we do here shake the world awake. This is our test of our commitment to change.

This is our chance to stand up against big banks and corporations with their Consumerism and Classism that has long divided all of us into groups of race, sex, political parties, have, the have nots and everyone in between. With the help of our own government, big banks and corporations have whipped us into line and divided us to keep the ideas, the power, and the knowledge separated to keep us weak, confused, and dependent on their services.

Corporations and big banks have taken over our government with money that line our representatives’ pockets and have blinded them from seeing us as people but instead a cash crop, as cheap labor, as entertainment, and even as lab rats. WE ARE PEOPLE.

These occupations might be our only stand against the corruption and abuse of power we have been experiencing over our life time. This is our calling. If we stop, if we stand still, then Wall Street, the uprisings in Europe and in the Middle East would have been for nothing. America is at the heart of the worlds corruption, and us being citizen leaders of America. We have the opportunity to bring it down. If we fall here we may never get the chance to get back up.

I am asking you to stand with us the tired, the manipulated, the lost and confused. Stand with neighbors, families, and friends. Stand with the ones who fought, fight, and die for this country and the people who helped build this country.

such an eloquent plea for a return to the principle of the common good...

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Occupy protestors wake up to the fact that the political system doesn't represent them any more

and the truth is that it hasn't represented us for quite some time...

Washington is Wall Street, Wall Street is Washington

Occupy protesters demonstrate resilience to crackdowns and cynicism in the media but it is still unclear what lies ahead for the movement. While camping out and singing songs is one thing, getting the right politicians elected quite another. The movement is unified and people are waking up to the two-party dictatorship, and realizing that the political system does not represent them anymore.

gerald celente on rt...

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Damn it Feels Good to be a Banksta (feat. Herman Cain)

ya know something...? one of the most powerful tools for social expression is humor... we all know that incredibly touchy and complex issues can be capsulized via humor and in these days of intense polarization and skins so thin they can't even be touched, humor can lighten the load without hiding from the issues...

good stuff...

As Occupy Wall Street grows, it's time for the Bankstas to show their pimp-hands. Herman Cain guest stars.

from raw story...

The Cult Comedy Picture Show created this parody music video at New York City’s Zuccotti Park, based on the Geto Boys’ 1992 song “Damn it feels good to be a gangsta.” The music video features a guest appearance by Herman Cain, who tells the “Occupy Wall Street” slackers to stop “cryin cus’ they broke.”

we need a male tina fey to do for herman cain what she did for sarah palin...

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Occupy: Numerous. Really fucking numerous.

from diane gee at firedoglake...

There are many elements of change.

This is a tough one for the Oligarchs. Really. I can’t imagine their contingency plans, and all their think tanks could have come up with this. They expected the riots of 66 and 68, or perhaps they envisioned a charismatic leader who they could discredit. Or assassinate.

Leaderless. Peaceful. Powerful. Old. Young. Right wing. Left wing. Centrists. Black. Latino. White. Asian. Straight. Gay. Military. Anti-war. Blue collar. White collar.

Most of all? Numerous. Really fucking numerous.

And this, my dears, it the tip of the iceberg.

good stuff, diane... thanks...

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The Afghanistan I know

last year, frustrated by the u.s. media's endless, narrow, and extremely one-sided portrayal of afghanistan as 24/7 violence, death and destruction, and always from the perspective of the u.s. military, i put together my own presentation on afghanistan and delivered it at all the branches of the local library district... most were lightly attended except for the one i did for a local education group for seniors that attracted nearly 100 people... virtually everyone who came, however, was surprised and pleased to get a different take on the country, a take that included ordinary people, people just like you and me...

my good friend in kabul sent me this video yesterday... it does in 5 minutes what i spent an hour and a half doing in my presentation...

from the blog post...

As each of us has his own impression of Afghanistan that is predominantly marked with pictures of foreign forces, explosions and terror, we were privileged to have access to capture daily life and portrait some people of Afghanistan.

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Occupy Reno makes the local front page - again

the second time in a week...



from the article in today's reno gazette journal...

On Day 6, the protesters are in transition, moving from figuring out how to sustain themselves to hosting events to discuss the issues. An "open mic" is being planned for about 5 p.m. Saturday so people can speak their mind.

[...]

A large geodesic dome -- from Burning Man -- has been set up near the front of the Moana Pool building. With the dome, at least part of the camp will be visible to passing motorists.

The dome will serve as a media room with computers, Lowell said. Bicycle-powered generators and solar panels are being sought for their energy needs.

With the dome, at least part of the camp will be visible to passing motorists.

i posted yesterday about the how Occupy Reno is cooperating with the city of reno... as a testament to that, the mayor himself stopped by unannounced and the police have been very supportive....

[Occupiers] were impressed Mayor Bob Cashell came by himself to talk with them. [A] high-ranking police official asked to be called if any officers give them any trouble for no reason.

and, in line with the FDL Occupy Supply effort, occupy reno has needs...

About a dozen tents have been set up. Many are on top of pallets so people don't have to sleep on the cold ground. Two RVs on site will be moved along the west edge to serve as a windbreak and will be used as warm-up huts on the coldest nights... .

Firewood and a water buffalo, a water tank on wheels, are their biggest needs. They'd rather not use water in throw-away plastic bottles. Donations have covered the cost of about a dozen portable toilets.

on saturday, occupy reno is sponsoring a "Move Your Money" gathering... people will assemble at 9 a.m. in city plaza and march to both bank of america and wells fargo which, conveniently enough, are right across the street from each other... fliers will be distributed to those outside and, if they are b of a or wells customers, will be invited to move their money to the one locally-owned bank or four locally-owned and operated credit unions... occupy participants will also be moving their accounts...

hopefully, i'll have some photos...

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Occupy Frankfurt

i think it's important to keep in mind that the occupy movement is truly a global phenomenon...

from spiegel...


The "Occupy Frankfurt" protesters have set up camp outside the European Central Bank
in Frankfurt, where dozens of tents have been pitched.

The "Occupy" movement has garnered support from all parts of the world, including Germany, where protestors have set up camp in front of the European Central Bank in Frankfurt. [...]

The "Occupy" movement began in earnest in New York, where a group of activists formed under the name " Occupy Wall Street" in mid-September to protest against the sheer power of the financial markets. Since then it has grown to become a global movement, with tens of thousands of participants gathering each week for protests, including several thousand in Frankfurt, the center of "Occupy Germany" activities. Occupy supporters in the German financial center have taken over a small park located directly in front of the European Central Bank (ECB).

Around 100 tents have been pitched in front of the banking city's glass-and-steel skyscrapers. "You occupy the money, we occupy the world," one protest sign reads. During the daytime, working groups discuss capitalism, education and culture. During the afternoons and evenings, an "Asamblea" takes place, a gathering held in an outdoor public space during which speaking time is granted to anyone who wants it and democratic decision-making is made at the grass-roots level. The movement is organized via Facebook and Twitter, and an Occupy website provides information for its supporters. So far, those supporters have been overwhelmingly male, and female visitors to the protest camps are relatively scarce. But few could complain about a lack of support. The media is reporting on Occupy, politicians including Chancellor Angela Merkel have expressed their sympathies, and new people interested in what is happening drop by the ECB campsite each day, with some simultaneously raising their own tents.

Each evening, local bakeries deliver leftover rolls and cakes to the camp's mess tent, where warm meals are cooked and served twice each day. The Occupy protesters have made a point of welcoming their neighbors, including homeless people known to drop by. If you're seeking to create a more just society, they argue, you've got to start at home.

i find it extremely encouraging to see this kind of response across the pond...

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Occupy Squads - instant response

from adbusters...

OCCUPY SQUADS

‘Occupy Squads’ are groups of people willing and committed to responding to examples of injustice created by the system, wherever they should arise. If someone is screwed over by a bank, by an employer, by government red tape, they no longer have to face it all alone – now they have a group, a squad, a movement to back them up. 'Occupy Squads' are people on call, ready to respond in the local struggle at the site of injustice, occupying until there is some justice.

Such a move would flip the system on it’s head.

The system wants to keep us separate, to keep us apart because it knows that collective action produces results. So set-up a local occupy squad and put out the word that no boardroom is safe, no corrupt bank deal will go unchecked, and no more will we deal with the attacks alone. We are together now, we have seen each other's faces, we have slept and occupied together, and now we will respond collectively. And we will respond everywhere.

i like it...

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The theft by MF Global was not stealing hundreds of millions form its customers: it has stolen a whopping $1.5 billion

wow...! why isn't this hitting the news hot and hard...?

tyler durden posting at zero hedge...

Even as we hear rumblings that the MF fire is spreading, and the associated auditor of the now infamous former Primary Dealer is about to get in serious hot water, the bankrupt company itself continues to dig itself an ever deeper grave. Because according to a just filed motion by the MF Global liquidating trustee, it seems that the gross criminal activity by the company may have been orders of magnitude bigger than anyone has expected. To wit: "As a result of the apparent segregation violations and the suspension of clearing privileges, more than 150,000 customer accounts essentially were frozen on October 31, 2011, of which more than 50,000 accounts were regulated commodities customer accounts. The CME estimates that MFGI’s current segregated funds requirement is approximately $5.45 billion. Moreover, the total amount of MFGI customer segregated funds on deposit at the CME is approximately $2.5 billion, and the clearing-level segregated collateral is approximately $1.5 billion or approximately 60 percent of the MFGI customer segregated funds on deposit at the CME." Doing some quick inverse addition and we get a (w)hole of $5.45 less $2.5 less $1.5 or $1.45 billion. In other words, the theft by MF Global was not stealing hundreds of millions form its customers: it has stolen a whopping $1.5 billion! For those confused, this is not a rogue loss of $1.5 billion, something which was enough to send UBS' Kweku to prison. This is outright theft resulting from illegally commingled accounts. Our only question is will $1.5 billion in theft be enough for the first real perp walk of an Obama-friendly Wall Street executive?

* drums fingers impatiently on desk *

when is the house of cards FINALLY going to fall...? when is enough enough...?

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Video just out: Chris Hedges and a dozen others arrested at Goldman Sachs

thanks to greg mitchell...

from the people occupy...

Watch live streaming video from thepeopleoccupy at livestream.com

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Disappointing - Greece cancels referendum

so much for democracy...

George Papandreou, Greek prime minister, has scrapped a controversial plan to hold a referendum on the heavily indebted country’s membership of the European Union and eurozone.

no doubt somebody put the metaphorical gun to his head...

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e.e. cummings: There is some shit I will not eat

a perfect quote for the greek situation...

robert kuttner...

Bravo Papandreou!

[...]

I am reminded of a poem by e.e. cummings about a conscientious objector named Olaf, which includes the epic lyric, “There is some shit I will not eat.”This, essentially, is what Prime Minister Papandreou is saying. If you want the Greeks to continue the belt-tightening, you cannot alter the terms of the deal by stealth.By involving his countrymen in the decision, Papandreou turns himself from agent of foreign austerity demands into a leader of the Greek people. The referendum will be sometime this winter, after the true terms of the deal are clear.Polls taken over the weekend show that some 59 percent of Greeks oppose what appear to be the terms of the latest deal, but over 72 percent want Greece to stay in the eurozone.If the International Monetary Fund, European Union, and European Central Bank are as good as their word and hold the bankers to the terms that were negotiated, we can expect Papandreou to urge Greek citizens to ratify the bargain. If, on the other hand, political and financial elites try to wriggle out, then the Greek people can draw their own conclusions—and we will all be in the uncharted waters of a likely default by a eurozone country.In the meantime, Papandreou is showing real leadership. It is about time someone stood up against the banker-led austerity consensus.

regardless of papandreou's past behavior, putting this critical decision in the hands of the greek people is the right thing to do... people in the u.s. certainly never got that opportunity with the bankster bailout in 2008...

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Oakland general strike and prepping for the G20 in Nice

the oakland general strike...

About 1,000 demonstrators blocked the intersection of 12th Street and Broadway late Wednesday morning, as the Occupy Oakland general strike marched in a loop around downtown Oakland following a peaceful rally at Frank Ogawa Plaza during the first of three planned actions to disrupt business.

There was nary a police officer in sight as some in the crowd stood in front of Wells Fargo and Comerica bank branches on the corners -- with a few in the crown occasionally banging on the locked doors.

Several businesses, including the Men's Wearhouse and the Grand Lake Theater closed their doors Wednesday in support of today's planned General Strike as thousands of people are expected to join the Occupy Oakland movement to protest the inequality of wealth and power. The UC office of the President is also closed today over concerns that BART might be shut down at some point and more than 1,000 people who work in the building wouldn't be able to get to or from work.

The city of Oakland is open for business, and contrary to rumors, the Port of Oakland is not shut down, said ILWU spokesman Craig Merrilees. About 40 longshore workers out of about 325 expected on the morning shift didn't show up, however trucks are going through the gates and cranes are moving cargo on and off the ships.

meanwhile, protestors prepare for the g20 gathering in cannes...



The placard above these two children reads, "Not for sale." Protesters in
the French city of Nice came with an array of complaints of the current
global financial system, including what they regard as unfair labor laws
and insufficient taxes on the world's highest earners.


Protesters were out in Nice, France on Tuesday, urging representatives of
leading rich and developing nations to devote fewer efforts to helping major
banks and corporations and more to ensuring a fairer distribution of wealth.

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Eurozone breakup shock larger than Lehman

nouriel roubini...

The Eurozone eventual breakup shock could be larger than the fall of Lehman in 2008

In my view, there's a significant probability, more than 50 per cent, that over the next 12 months there's going to be another recession in most advanced economies," "Whether you call it a double dip recession, a continuation of the first recession or a second recession doesn't matter, it's semantic.

In a situation where it becomes disorderly, with defaults by a number of countries and a resulting exit of a number of states from the eurozone and its eventual break-up, the shock that could occur ... could be as large, if not larger, than the fall of Lehman in 2008.

i've made a habit of listening to roubini...

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Common equity in Bank of America is either worthless or very close to it and now Greece could be the tipping point

from rt...

European leaders reach a deal on the debt but if politicians decide there is no "credit event" and credit default swaps don't get paid -- it could leave large US banks "naked," according to independent analyst Reggie Middleton of Boom Bust blog. It could be a tipping point for Bank of America which he believes is insolvent and seeing pressure from all sides.

yeah, well, eurozone leaders THOUGHT they had reached a deal on greek debt...

reuters...

Greece risks meltdown after bailout vote bombshell

The Greek government faced possible collapse on Tuesday as ruling party lawmakers demanded Prime Minister George Papandreou resign for throwing the nation's euro membership into jeopardy with a shock call for a referendum.

Caught unawares by his high-risk gamble, the leaders of France and Germany summoned Papandreou to crisis talks in Cannes on Wednesday to push for a quick implehttp://www.blogger.com/img/blank.gifmentation of Greece's new bailout deal ahead of a summit of the G20 major world economies.

The euro and global stocks were pummeled on financial markets after the Greek move threw into question the survival of crucial efforts to contain the euro zone's sovereign debt crisis.

how very interesting - and perhaps even democratic - that papandreou actually thinks the citizens of greece should have a say...

a commentator, writing in spiegel, agrees with papandreou...

Papandreou Is Right to Let the Greeks Decide

It must be said right at the beginning: The Greeks will, for a change, decide for themselves how they and their country will move forward.

They have had no real opportunity to do so for quite some time. For about a year and a half, this once proud country has been under foreign administration; it is de facto no longer a sovereign state. The government's most important task has been dragging the austerity programs and structural reforms though parliament and implementing them. These are dictated by the strict troika of the EU Commission, the European Central Bank (ECB) and the International Monetary Fund. Otherwise there will be no more bailout money, and the country would go bankrupt.

To no longer be the master of their own finances, to be begging for money and ready to do almost anything for it -- this is as humiliating for penniless states as it is for poor people. It injures the soul, stirs up anger and creates desperation. Knowing that the situation is also largely self-inflicted only makes things worse.

That the Greek Premier Georgios Papandreou wants to consult his people on the financial restructuring of the country seems like an act of desperation appropriate to the dramatic principle of 'committing suicide in fear of death.' The voters will decide whether to endorse the decisions made in Brussels or not.

[...]

Until the referendum in Greece, there will be an intense debate about the two alternatives: Brutal rehabilitation within the euro zone or state bankruptcy with a reintroduction of the drachma.

It will demonstrate that it is not about the choice between hell and paradise. Both paths will be difficult and grueling. Each citizen must decide for themselves what they believe to be the better choice. They will consider whether they want to risk their assets with an exit from the common currency -- savings would be worth hardly anything in a return to the drachma.

But at least every Greek gets to decide, and can no longer complain about their government bowing to international demands. And even if the Greeks ultimately say no, and in the worst case scenario the country leaves the euro zone, the consequences seem less dicey than they did a year ago.

let the chips fall where they may... at least the greeks can once again lay claim to being a sovereign state rather than a wholly-owned subsidiary of the global banksters...

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Politics today is little more than money laundering in the trafficking of power and policy

bill moyers, a true national treasure, gives the keynote address at the 40th anniversary gala of public citizen on october 20...



molly ivins was right... bill moyers should have run for president...

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Banks got bailed out, we got sold out - This is what democracy looks like

from rt...



while the crackdown continues...

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We are protesting not only on behalf of the 99% left behind, but on behalf of the 1% as well. We have no enemies.

a message from the heart...

Occupy Wall Street has been criticized for its lack of clear demands, but how do we issue demands, when what we really want is nothing less than the more beautiful world our hearts tell us is possible? No demand is big enough. We could make lists of demands for new public policies: tax the wealthy, raise the minimum wage, protect the environment, end the wars, regulate the banks. While we know these are positive steps, they aren't quite what motivated people to occupy Wall Street. What needs attention is something deeper: the power structures, ideologies, and institutions that prevented these steps from being taken years ago; indeed, that made these steps even necessary. Our leaders are beholden to impersonal forces, such as that of money, that compel them to do what no sane human being would choose. Disconnected from the actual effects of their policies, they live in a world of insincerity and pretense. It is time to bring a countervailing force to bear, and not just a force but a call. Our message is, "Stop pretending. You know what to do. Start doing it." Occupy Wall Street is about exposing the truth. We can trust its power. When a policeman pepper sprays helpless women, we don't beat him up and scare him into not doing it again; we show the world. Much worse than pepper spray is being perpetrated on our planet in service of money. Let us allow nothing happening on earth to be hidden.

[...]

Occupy Wall Street should not be content with half-measures, even as it encourages and applauds the tiny hundredth-measures that might come first. It should not let such concessions sap the strength of the movement or seduce it into neglecting to foster its organizational network. Occupy Wall Street is the first manifestation in a long time of "people power" in America. For too long, democracy has, for most people, meant meaningless choices in a box. The Wall Street occupation is stepping out of the box.

again, a beautiful message from the heart...

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The U.S. global military empire just keeps on a' truckin'

the u.s. is going to try to maintain its position as universal lord and master no matter how flimsy the house of cards, how empty the coffers, how hypocritical the posturing, or how bankrupt the system...

today's nyt...

The Obama administration plans to bolster the American military presence in the Persian Gulf after it withdraws the remaining troops from Iraq this year, according to officials and diplomats. That repositioning could include new combat forces in Kuwait able to respond to a collapse of security in Iraq or a military confrontation with Iran.

[...]

In addition to negotiations over maintaining a ground combat presence in Kuwait, the United States is considering sending more naval warships through international waters in the region.

With an eye on the threat of a belligerent Iran, the administration is also seeking to expand military ties with the six nations in the Gulf Cooperation Council — Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Bahrain, Qatar, the United Arab Emirates and Oman. While the United States has close bilateral military relationships with each, the administration and the military are trying to foster a new “security architecture” for the Persian Gulf that would integrate air and naval patrols and missile defense.

when i look at what's going on in this world and then read shit like this, it feels like i'm reading something from the historical archives... i can't wait until it really IS in the historical archives...

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To Occupy or not to Occupy

bmaz, posting at marcy's emptywheel blog, is having an understandable epiphany after digesting the terms of the latest foreclosure fraud settlement trial balloon...

[I]t is hard for many in the comfortably ensconced traditional middle class to see just how heinous the situation is, and how necessary the “Occupy” movement may really be.

Trust me. I know, I am one of the uncomfortable. My natural predilections are within the system and rules. That, however, is no longer perhaps enough.

[...]

When the politicians and corporate masters no longer are willing to play by the rules, how much longer can the “99%” afford to honor them? When the so called leaders will not abide by the norms and constricts of law, why should the average man still be held to the same?

Again, I fully admit just how much I struggle with saying the above. I really do; it is uncomfortable and discomfiting. I could go on, but my own thoughts pale in comparison with those similarly situated who have experienced first hand what the import and truth of the Occupy movement is.

he goes on to cite a post written by a woman in oakland who had been struggling with the same hesitancy...

lili loofbourow...

I'm a moderate: small, fearful, skeptical, selfish, with privilege aplenty. I have health care through the university, where I'm both a student and a teacher. I'm half-Hispanic, but I scan as white. I'm a not atypical Bay Area type: liberal, taxpaying, cautious, law-abiding (maybe to a fault), trying to hang onto the things I have. I have an iPhone, for heaven's sake.

I am, moreover, a liberal with a lifelong habit of opting out of the political conversation—and out of most kinds of activism—because I find its language dishonest, combative and unjust. I understand perfectly that our politics proceed according to a kind of barter system where each side continually overstates its convictions. I understand that the nation is a behemoth, and that to shift it, however minimally, requires the kind of herculean effort that very few people can muster.

[...]

Don't do anything wrong and the police won't bother you. Vote and you'll be represented. Do your job and you'll be able to live in relative comfort. And if you want to change things, go through the proper channels. Start a petition! Write to your representative! If something really important happens, the news will surely cover it.

lili went on to describe her own epiphany as she realized that mere moments before oakland police began using tear gas on the protestors was the precise moment when both abc and cbs television live streams went dead...

To sum up: the only two mainstream media live-feeds switched off at precisely the same instant—the minute before fifteen police departments working together engulfed a peaceful group of protesters in tear gas.

[...]

Given our image-saturated society, it's hard to explain how the absence of an image can be more dramatic, a bigger scandal, than the hundreds of disturbing videos of citizens being attacked by police. We're used to thinking of surveillance as the enemy. Big Brother abides, and I can testify that there's something undeniably eerie about the news helicopters hovering over my neighborhood. But for those helicopters hanging in our sky for hours and hours, waiting for a story, to disappear precisely when the story breaks—that's a different kind of sinister, a different kind of wrong.

[...]

Here's the thing: technology tilts the political machine so that only that which is public matters. Letters, phone calls, once the instruments of an engaged citizenry, used to function as public documents. That's not true anymore; the letter is quiet, nostalgic, quaint, difficult to reproduce or witness. Phone calls are unrecorded. A letter or phone call from a voter is like the tree falling in the forest: the question of whether or not it makes a sound is purely academic.

In fact, a letter or phone call to my representative is exactly the opposite of the chalk shadows on the sidewalk: it's an original that never even had a shadow, let alone an aftermath, or an effect.

But surely, the moderate within me insists, that same technology can save us. Email! Online petitions! The trouble is, the skeptic counters, that emails are incredibly easy to fake, and online petitions are ignored because they're so easy to generate and so difficult to verify. The electronic age has not helped voters. The ordinary channels are sort of like local channels on TV: they're still around, but nobody's really watching.

Except for those of us who are watching, and then the ABC live-feed goes dead.

At the moment when I understood that the police were pulling on their gas masks and I couldn't see what was happening, I got what was already obvious to so many: if I wanted to see the reality of Occupy Oakland, teargas, flash bangs and all, I couldn't rely on the ordinary channels. They weren't working. They'd run out of gas. I needed to go to Occupy Oakland. With all my reservations, resistance, reluctance, and inertia.

So I went.

[...]

The best answer I can muster for the question of what an engaged citizen tired of being a spectator can do is this: try the ordinary channels and try being one of the 99%. It is not perfect. Nothing is. But there is room for more than your vote or your money: there is room for you, your body and your brain. It offers something our political system (increasingly peopled as it is by disembodied, bodiless, shadowless “corporate” persons) doesn't. It's this: talk into the human microphone, and your voice doesn't disappear. It's amplified. Talk, and you stand a chance of leaving, not a mark—nothing quite so permanent—but a chalk outline of a shadow that shows that you, too, were once here.

reading both bmaz and lili, i identify all too closely with their thoughts and feelings... i'm engaged in the same struggle...

here's the response i put up to bmaz' post...

i have just finished reading your post as well as the one from the thoughtful woman in oakland... i have to say i relate all too well to the sentiments expressed... i am a spectator myself, albeit a very well-informed and perceptive one, who now finds himself at a turning point...

ever since watching the al jazeera live stream from cairo earlier this year (from kosovo, of all places), i have thrilled to see a resurgence of populist spirit across the globe... when the occupy movement started and took hold here in the u.s., my first thoughts were that i had been waiting the better part of my 64 years to see this kind of energy blossom...

for over 35 years, i have taught a deep respect for ordinary people and the common good and attempted to demonstrate those principles in my own life... over the past 10 years, i have been working for development projects that bring me into close contact with the ordinary people in places like kosovo, macedonia, jordan and afghanistan, people who only want what we all want - the ability to feed and clothe their families and to live their daily lives with some sense of safety and security...

returning to the u.s. after long periods outside the country has always been particularly difficult... being slapped in the face with such political and ideological hypocrisy, such mindless consumption, such over-the-top self-indulgence and such vehement denial of reality, has always left me struggling with a sense of deep despair over my country's future... the occupy movement is the first time i've allowed myself to feel any tingle of hope since the entire notion of hope was burned out of my neurons after being left at the altar by my two-timing fiance, barack obama...

now, like lili in oakland and like you, bmaz, as i find myself back in the u.s. for what appears to be an extended period of time, i must decide if i want to continue to plant my aging ass in front of my laptop or do i want to dust myself off and get busy working for the future of my country and my countrymen...

stay tuned...

p.s. i plan to attend the occupy reno general assembly this afternoon...

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