Tag Archives: activism

The Sheeple Myth

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Here’s what we do:  we blow up the banks

then we tell everyone the government did it,

that it was an inside job, people will believe that.

The revolutionary spirit, when sufficiently disabled

from action, creates an intense field of paranoia

that ultimately devours the Carrier.

Next, the Carrier enters into a revolution against

the very people he claims to be concerned with,

calling them all sheep and telling them any action,

for whatever motive,  they take is just a sign

of what fools they are.  They neglect to notice

that gathering with others of their ilk and pointing

the finger at all who hold different opinions from themselves

and saying “You’re baaaaad” is also sheeplike behavior.

The constantly refer to a Conspiracy so powerful

and omnipresent that we might as well all lie down and die,

but then claim to support activism.

They believe that all vestiges of democracy all illusory

and, in fact, never existed in the first place.

Hell, if I were them, I’d join the Conspiracy as soon

as possible.  Such a hopeless perspective encourages

pot smoking, all of which the actual Ron Paul conspiracy

is well aware of.  That’s why this corporate shill is so shrill

about legalizing marijuana.  So, watch out, the THC Conspiracy

is coming for your pathetic existence Sheep,

hold onto your wool, Bo Peep,

we are stoned and we buy iPads.

 

Awake the State, Hosted by Occupy Fort Myers

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By Carl-John X Veraja

Having survived crackdowns by the police, infighting, and bureaucratic entanglements in the justice system, Occupy Fort Myers showed it was still kicking at the Old Courthouse ( 2120 Main Street 33901) as twilight set in.  It was there to host Awake the State, which is touted as “an organic, grassroots movement of everyday Floridians fighting to reject devastating budget cuts, stop the assault on middle class families, and invest in Floridians again.”  This is the second year for Awake the State, which was formed in reaction to the anti-education governorship of Rick Scott.

Fully casting off its former media-sponsored image of un-showered, park-dwelling malcontents spontaneously voicing grievances, these Occupiers sported clean, white t-shirts (which were also for sale), prepared signs, rested eyes, and shiny, luxurious hair (when possible)–and they meant business.  About 60 attendees watched Matthew McDowell as he introduced several polished, powerful speakers.  It was clear the unions and other progressive forces were part of the well-staged presentation now as a crowd consisting of all age groups looked on.  Included were TALC/SPALC, the Democratic Executive Committee, Charlotte County teachers, Occupy Fort Myers, firefighters, public employees,and some local candidates.

Speakers included Rev. Farnham (of the Unitarian Universalist Church), Neal Bowles, and several educators.

They addressed the need for citizens to participate in the political process by understanding issues, voting, and motivating politicians–or driving them out of office.  Repeatedly mentioned was the personhood of corporations and the evils of Citizens United vs. Federal Election Commission, which opened the doors to the use of unlimited corporate money to influence elections.  Several educators spoke about how the moves to privatize education include attempts to break the will of teachers through grueling assessments, longer hours, more days, and less benefits and pay.  The effects on students was also addressed.  Teachers said that standards have been implemented removing the teaching of the Socratic method from education, and the focus was now on producing obedient subjects.

One speaker, Holley Rauen, addressed the loss of 500 healthcare workers and bragged about her participation in Code Pink.

“I really wanted to support all the other speakers,” said Holley Rauen.  “I also wanted to talk a little bit about healthcare in Lee County because there are so many people that are suffering without the care they need.  We’ve got one of the highest rates of diabetes, of heart disease, of many chronic diseases including early onset alzheimers, and obesity.  And because of the funds that Rick Scott has cut back from the  Department of Health, our health department here can’t meet the needs of the people that need it the most here.”

Onlookers at Awake the State

Internet for the People

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 (Welcome to the Matrix of Corporate Leeching)
 In most parts of the United States, gigantic corporations are bleeding the people dry by charging exorbitant rates for internet connections.  They are making themselves fabulously wealthy, while providing a service that should be free of charge, because the technology used to create the internet arrived due to public funding i.e. your tax dollars at work.
 ARPANET was the original internet and was created by the Department of Defense.  So, without your tax dollars, there would be no internet.  Also, universities that rely on public funds were involved in its creation, and in the creation of the smarter employees of any corporations that were involved.  Also, every time you drive on a road, you’re basically buying into socialism.  So, if you say you’re against socialism, stop driving, expecting the police to protect you, sending letters, or talking to anyone who went to public schools or has a degree.  Also, don’t use the word “is,” because it’s not copyrighted.
Now that we’ve established you’re a commie heathen, let’s consider making the internet free for everyone, and not just for people who buy overpriced lattes or hyper-processed cheeseburgers.  I mean, what about people who can’t get to those places, have only a desktop, or are children who could use the internet for educational purposes in the poorer neighborhoods?
Censorship considerations aside, being outside the purview of this article, why isn’t there a public internet?  Well, you can go down to the library.  Or you can lug a laptop to several well-known franchises.  But what about free internet in every home?
I spoke to several people involved in these sorts of projects, all of whom wish to remain completely anonymous, as this is what I heard.
In one nameless locale, a group of volunteers devoted time and money into creating an ISP that anyone in the city can use.  They had to purchase the use of phone lines to do so, but they provide dialup and other types of connections.  The key thing is, it relies on volunteers providing the service.  They accept donations, but they are sacrificing to make this a possibility, because they are tired of seeing the corporate internet providers suck up wealth from so many people.
Another idea is Wi-fi.  One source suggested telling people to leave their wi-fi unprotected so that neighbors could jump on.  However, another source warned this could potentially cause trouble if someone accessing your wi-fi were doing something illegal.  Also, wireless network trespassing, where you use another’s wi-fi without permission, is a crime.  An antenna that could pick up wi-fi from 5 miles around was also mentioned to me, but I don’t know the particulars of how that works, and apparently, in New York City, there are 50 or more open wi-fi connections in any given building.
What about right here in Lee County?  Is anyone willing to step up to the plate and provide wi-fi or another service to the poorer households?  Well, I don’t know.  I’m looking into it.  And it seems like the answer is yes, but we need more people.  Hint, hint.
And also, never mind the poorer people, how about everybody?
There are really good reasons for people to have the internet.  Apparently, it promotes democracy, learning, atheism, and trolling. ( Trolling inevitably leads to people with serious social problems being heaped with derision and shamed into non-participation.  Sometimes, they become fearsome monsters and are relegated to dungeons (YouTube channels and such) where other denizens of their ilk gather, and they collectively feast upon cognitive dung.  All of which is a great public service.)  But we shouldn’t be making more powerful corporations, which have become famous in the United States for robbing the public till in various ways (global warming, pollution, bailouts, subsidies, tax cuts, etc), should we?
 We need internet for the people, by the people, but not made of people, that’s just weird.
So, get cracking, activist geeks. Or hacking.  Or coding.  As the case might be…

Here’s to Infinite Speech

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(Danielle Quina, Occupy Fort Myers)
 In downtown Fort Myers, most of Occupy Fort Myers had already left for their new encampment location at the Unitarian Universalist Church on Daniels Road.  Several protestors were still at the Old Federal Courthouse where they’d spent one night after being driven by police from Centennial Park under threat of arrest and the confiscation of their property.  These remaining few were charged with watching over supplies awaiting the return of moving trucks. One man, not necessarily part of OFM, became incredibly agitated, claiming his bag was missing.
“I’m going out of my mind,” he screamed. Police took him aside while several bystanders suggested he needed to be “Baker Acted.”
Danielle Quina, who has been a part of OFM from the beginning, was lying on the ground, feeling unwell, sleep deprived, holding the sign in the photo above. ”I got about 4 hours,” she said. A passerby, who appeared intoxicated, proclaimed she felt that the Occupiers had no gratitude. ”Try living in England, and you’ll see how good you have it,” she spat, marching off indignantly. Several news vans were present, and Quina made small talk with a reporter.One of the policemen came over and made a rare display of police curiosity, though it was tinged with skepticism.

Occupy Fort Myers Carries Out March

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(Drew Scott Gearing up the Crowd)

 

In a show of solidarity with the worldwide Occupy movement, hundreds showed up today at Centennial Park to march to various financial and government sites in downtown Fort Myers.
Before the march I spoke to a marcher who preferred anonymity.
“The top 1 percent have no problems being heard in Washington but, other people, their opinion doesn’t seem to matter.  People don’t have enough money, who can’t afford to buy a congressman can’t make their needs known.  There’s thing we can do to improve the economy and create jobs but they’re not willing to do it because they want to score points.”
It was splendid Florida weather as organizer Drew Scott informed the gathered, diverse crowd that Governor Rick Scott claimed to not understand why these protests were happening.
The crowd booed and one bystander said, “He knows exactly why we’re doing this.”
The marchers headed out of the park, proceeding toward the Bank of America.  The line of marchers soon revealed itself to be over 6 blocks long and chanted: “Hey hey, ho ho, corporate greed has got to go.”
The crowd settled briefly before the Bank of America.  Among them was Joann Finney.
“The main thing is to end the corruption,” she said, “so, we’re pretty sick of the corruption.”

(Priscilla Nolan)

I spoke to Bill Davis next, a senior gentleman with a wide sign with several points on it.
“Citzens United drives me crazy, is grossly unfair,” said Bill Davis, “quite possibly illegal.  The Supreme Court should be overturned by constitutional amendment on that issue.”
Was President Obama being responsive to this movement?
“I’m convinced he is,” said Davis.  “He has got to walk such a fine line.  He has to be very conscious of not seeming to tilt too far to the left.  These parades remind me of when I was a college student when we were protesting the Vietnam War.  It’s a really touchy issue.  Obama’s got to be very worried about his base and his chances of being re-elected.  What would happen if he didn’t get elected?  What if Romney or, worse yet, Bachmann or Perry?  That’s completely insane.”

Police made an appearance.
Many young people were also at the protest.
“I need a job and no one’s hiring,” said Priscilla Nolan (above), “the economy is sh*t.  I think this will make a difference.  I think we can get their attention.”
The chant changed to: “This is what democracy looks like.”
They did not linger for long at the Bank of America and the next stop was to be the Wells Fargo.  The marchers snaked down First Street.
The chant became: “They got bailed out, we got sold out.”
“Basically, larceny committed on a grand scale with the complicity of the government,” said another anonymous marcher.  “Where public funds became corporate funds and the corporations continued to act as if they had no accountability or responsibility whatsoever to the American people and in fact proceeded to hasten the rate of foreclosures across the nation.”
As they approached Wells Fargo the chant became: “It’s not about money it’s about change.”

Thelma Smith, 53, had responsibility in mind.
“I wanted to be here to encourage my children to be active in politics,” said Smith, “to realize votes count and that when you’re united in a cause you can make a difference here in America.”


The marchers came up Main Street.
As we turned the corner, Bill Davis was resting on a bench.
“I’ve got two bad knees and a bad heart,” he said.
As we turned a corner, there was the sound of sirens and someone said, “If they want to arrest us they’ll need a very large paddy wagon.”

The noise seemed to be coming from a bullhorn as there was another gathering at City Hall.


Christy Jones, 24, had multiple concerns.
“I’m coming out here because we are part of the 99 percent,” said Jones, “and I need healthcare and I’ve got a lot of problems of my own and I’ve been turned down by many doctors because I don’t have healthcare.  I’m here for everyone else out here without jobs, without homes.  We give all our money to these corporations and we’re left without nothing.  We want to show them that we’re fed up and we want something done.”
What would she like to see happen with healthcare?
“Anything.  I’m not saying I want free health care for all,” said Jones, “but I definitely want something done to where if I have a preexisting condition it doesn’t matter.  That I can buy healthcare if I want to.  I’m not asking for something for free I’m asking for something I can purchase at a reasonable price.”
Single payer healthcare was taken off the table early on in negotiations that lead to the Health Care and Education Reconciliation Act of 2010.



As they walked up Second Street toward the county jail, a blunt Ro Boggs was eager to speak.
“I’m kinda sick and tired of getting screwed over in this country,” said Boggs.  ”We have a great country of people.  We have sucky people that are leading this place and robbing everybody blind.  We’re gonna end up like Cuba pretty soon if we don’t watch what we’re doing.  I’m passionate about this.  I’m also an employee of the Lee County school system.  I’m a union vice president.  I want to make changes or you and me and my children and my grand kids are gonna be screwed and that’s it.”
The tough times seem to be bringing families closer.
“You see I have 3 sons,” said Boggs. “33 to 22 years old.  They are making barely enough money to survive.  They will never own a home.  The banks got bailed out, gave all this money to free it up and my kids still can’t have a house.  If it wasn’t for my job a lot of them would not eat sometimes.  They cut all kinds of benefits for them.”
The chant became: “The people united can never be divided.”
At the jail the crowd remained in high spirits and police presence was limited.  The marchers continued to be courteous, avoiding blocking traffic.
At this point, the march went onto Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd and then turned back toward Centennial Park.
On Main Street, I created a bit of chaos when I jay walked and a large segment of marchers followed me.
There were no acts of vandalism or threatening behavior that I witnessed.
As the crowd came back into Centennial Park they were greeted by a drumming circle.

A 22 year old artist, Daniel Quina, saw hope.
“There’s so much propaganda,” said Quina.  “So many lies.  Our generation uses the internet and we know how to find and spread information.  Our generation is bigger than the baby boomer generation and we have that power to change things.”
Some tents were set up on the grounds and several people were ready to camp out and test the limits of their rights.

One of them was Jeremy Walker, 36.
“I think that the main theme that I seem to recognize throughout the movement that I affiliate with,” said Walker, “is the growing inequality of wealth between the top 1% and the rest of us…I think it’s a very difficult thing to ask of our leaders to kind of bite the hand that feeds them and cut off their own gravy train.”
He believed election reform was also a common theme among movement members.
“All agree there needs to be a systemic overhaul of the system that’s in place,” Walker said.



Another attendee, Ernie Colby, repeated several themes, like a need to stop corruption and election reform which would include public funding of campaigns.
“The Supreme Court is saying that money is speech now,” said Colby.  “It’s preposterous.  It’s just worse and worse and I just hope this is something that catches on in many cities.  There’s been many of fine song written about power to the people if it finally happens I’d like to see that.  It’s going to take voter registration because that’s the only thing these people understand.”
The one political candidate he was aware of making a showing was Jim Roach.
“The thing that’s killing us right now is debt,” said Colby.  “Especially government debt and that’s causing a lot of stagnation.  But you’ll notice if you look at the curve of our debt it’s rising exponentially and whether or not there’s a Republican or a Democratic administration makes no difference the debt is growing the same.”
A circle formed and the bullhorn was given to anyone who wanted to share their point of view.  One speaker made an interesting reference to Aesop’s fable of The Goose That Laid the Golden Eggs.  It is the story of greed so untamed that the goose’s owner was not happy with just the eggs that were laid but cuts the goose open to get to the eggs inside.
“We are that goose,” said the speaker.

Pre-Occupation Fort Myers Meeting Calls for Further Action

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With Drew Scott, 38, as an organizer, a crowd of over 100 American citizens gathered for strength under the pavilion in Centennial Park while a twilit storm doused the city. They were of all ages, colors and had been made aware of this event via Facebook, Youtube and the media.
When 7 PM arrived, Scott took the center and announced himself with the help of some collaborators who applauded to gain everyone’s attention.
“I guess one of the things that’s on a lot of people’s minds is what subjects do we discuss over the course of time,” Scott said.
Indeed, this local movement, which arose as part of a nationwide response to Occupy Wall Street, has a lot of ground to cover if the Declaration by the Occupation of New York is any indication. So, the meeting set out with the objectives of having people speak their minds, find common ground and set a date for further action.
Passion and some controversy was on display.
One of the first issues that arose was a possible conflict with Zombiecon, an event expected to possibly attract 10,000 visitors. Various speakers made the points that it may or may not be wise to compete with or piggyback on Zombiecon. Eventually, it was decided to have the next action, a march, on the same day, October 15, but earlier, at noon.
Volunteers were culled to meet any legal hurdles such as permits.  Other speakers in the crowd made suggestions such as the need to remain peaceful, to educate yourself and to be careful about the content of signs.


Issues that were discussed included the need to stimulate small businesses in the area and diversify the economy, that the movement should remain inclusive and not be geared toward electing politicians.
However, Jim Roach, who is running for congress, interjected he was running as “part of the 99 %” and won some applause.
One speaker bemoaned that America was simply not the land of opportunity it had once been and that his grandparents told him it used to be “easy to make money in America.”  One attendee said he had been a part of the Tea Party and was forcibly removed from a Tea Party event when he said he supported a government health program.
When one attendee bemoaned the comparisons made to hippies by the right wing media another said he approved of the comparison and that “our weapon should be love and love conquers hate.”  It was said we should have the audacity of those who put flowers in guns during the 60′s protests.
Online progressive marketing maven, Dez Futurez, promoted his Occupation t-shirts.
Some tension arose when a supporter of Ron Paul called for a lessening of regulation. This was met with several other speakers claiming more regulation was needed. Another speaker declared that we could not let issues divide us.
Scott called a close to the proceedings and conducted interviews with the media present.
The storm continued.

Occupy Fort Myers  Rally:  October 15, 2011 starting at noon  at Centennial Park

Occupy Fort Myers Meeting Planned

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Inspired by the Occupy Wall Street movement centered at Zuccotti Park in downtown Manhattan, Occupy Fort Myers has garnered momentum and support via social networking sites and is now preparing a pre-occupy meeting.
It is now set for Saturday, October 8, 7-10 PM at Centennial Park in downtown Fort Myers.
As of this writer’s last check, the Facebook page for Occupy Fort Myers had over 560 likes.  Information on the rights of protesters, updates on the progress of other protests and discussion about the aims and objectives of the movement are also posted.
A member of the local movement, Mary Luz, said she was prompted to participate by her nephew Mark Luz of New Hampshire.  What were his reasons?
In a written statement, he responded: “Major resistance from the Corporate entities that don’t want change. They own everything, the media, the police etc… In NH, for example, they are already trying to cause divide by setting their own political agendas, instead of focusing on the few issues we can all agree on. Which is corporate money ruling the people, because they have money and influence to buy off politicians and make the laws for themselves, yet hurt the people in the process. The people’s voice is no longer heard in Washington, unless you have the money to back it up.”
“The only tactic that is being used is to peacefully demonstrate,” Luz continued, “When the police start using force, stay peaceful. They are trying to get the movement to turn violent so they have an excuse to break things up using force.”
The various Occupy movements have been springing up all over the United States.  The police response to the peaceful protests appears to many to be excessive and hundreds of protesters have already been arrested.
The movement has provoked a variety of responses from politicians.

From Chairman of the Federal Reserve, Ben Bernanke, speaking in front of the Joint Economic Committee, we have: “People are quite unhappy with the state of the economy and what’s happening.  They blame with some justification the problems in the financial sector for getting us into this mess.  And they’re dissatisfied with policy response here in Washington and on some level I can’t blame them.”
President Obama has acknowledged the movement while also defending the need for a strong financial sector and Senator Bernie Sanders has said it’s time for some solutions.  He suggested breaking up some of the financial institutions that he said currently control wealth equivalent to 60% of the GDP.
Mitt Romney, in the meanwhile, called the movement dangerous.
Interestingly, class struggle goes both ways.  The need for the middle class to engage in peaceful class struggle is due to the fact that the monied elite have been engaging in class warfare all along.
Here is some info on preparing for police action…