Exit Occupy, Enter Organize?*

[hedgehog]

Many who support OWS have wanted to keep politicians away from the movement. The problem is, if we don't use our existing political structure to bring about reform, we start down the path of revolution, and revolutions rarely end up where they were intended to go .

Many of us here on DU have defended Obama for years pointing out that he has to work with a COngress dominated by Republicans and DINOs. The numerical majorities didn't matter when a minority could block legislation buy gaming the rules and the right wing of the party watered down the legislation before it ever hit the floor.

So now my question is this: if you want politics to change, what are you willing to do to change it? We've seen the example of Wisconsin and Ohio. What would it take for us to put real Democrats into office in our towns, our cities, state houses and Congress? The name of this web site is Democratic Underground, not "All politicians and all political parties are corrupt and evil and politics is a dead end when it comes to progress" Underground. The 1% may have the money, but the 99% has the votes. We just need to get our voters to the polls and ensure their votes get counted.









*http://ncronline.org/blogs/distinctly-catholic/exit-occupy-enter-organize

[bread_and_roses]

1. oh, come on -

"we" have been doing all that - all these calls - work from the ground up! How old are some of you making these calls, as if thousands of us had not been doing just that in the trenches for years and years and years? Notice it not working?

Same old same old. I doubt "Occupy" is going to buy it.

[HereSince1628]

2. I disagree on only one, important, point...

You wrote: "We just need to get our voters to the polls and ensure their votes get counted."

And I don't agree with that. Just showing up is doing GOTV for the status quo. The status quo must change.

The model presented by Wisconsin was millions of people being offended by ham-handed republicans pushing ALEC boiler-plate legislation.
The model presented by Wisconsin was hundreds of thousands getting off their couches and protesting in the street.
The model presented by Wisconsin was hundreds of people taking on leadership roles and advocating for change.

The model to change things in the Democratic Party ISN'T going to be getting out and voting for candidates promoted by the same wrong-facing local and state nominating committees. It's going to require lots of people who will walk out of the bleachers and onto the playing field.
If there is going to be a change it's going to start by putting the party leadership of precincts and wards into the hands of people dedicated to progress.

[PETRUS]

3. A couple of thoughts.

First the criticism: The author of this piece does not seem to understand how protests operating outside of the political system work. (And they do work.) A quick review of history should remedy that. The essay states: "Instead of camping out in a park, better to get washed up and go to your local congressman’s next town hall meeting. Time to write letters to the editor at your local newspaper. Time to speak with your friends and family over the holidays and insist on talking about politics at the dinner table. Time to make sure everyone you know is registered to vote. Time to speak to your pastor and ask why he is not addressing the issue of poverty from the pulpit..." That is what people had been doing, and to no effect. Taking to the streets is more powerful and more visible and harder to ignore than a letter or a visit to a town meeting.

That said, there is no reason why activists should not have a multi-pronged strategy. A professor (whose explanation of power in the US is really good, by the way) suggests forming "clubs" and taking over the Democratic party (and displacing the money-dominated candidate selection process that exists today in both major parties). Here is a link to his writing on the subject:

http://sociology.ucsc.edu/whorulesamerica/change/science_egalitarians.html

[hedgehog]

4. Sounds good to me!