{"id":5366,"date":"2011-10-05T15:29:27","date_gmt":"2011-10-05T20:29:27","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blog.uvm.edu\/aivakhiv\/?p=5366"},"modified":"2011-10-05T15:29:27","modified_gmt":"2011-10-05T20:29:27","slug":"reforest-wall-street","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blog.uvm.edu\/aivakhiv\/2011\/10\/05\/reforest-wall-street\/","title":{"rendered":"Reforest Wall Street"},"content":{"rendered":"

While I’ve been too busy to follow the Wall Street occupation very closely, let alone participate in any but the most vicarious ways, I’m encouraged by the persistence of its participants. Isn’t it time Americans started saying basta!<\/em> to government of<\/em> the lobbyists, by<\/em> the politicians, and for<\/em> the corporations?<\/p>\n

Here’s a collection of links I’ve found useful:<\/p>\n

The Occupy Wall Street<\/a> blog<\/p>\n

We Are the 99 Percent<\/a><\/p>\n

Nathan Schneider’s FAQ<\/a><\/p>\n

Anarchist anthropologist David Graeber interviewed by the Washington Post’s Ezra Klein<\/a><\/p>\n

Graeber is cited a number of times on Mike Konczal’s (Rortybomb’s) useful discussion of anarchist (non-hierarchical, anti-authoritatian) versus traditional left organizing tactics<\/a><\/p>\n

The Global Revolution livestream<\/a><\/p>\n

Glenn Greenwald’s analysis of the response to the protests<\/a> is worth reading. Addressing some observers’ criticism that the protestors don’t have a clear message, Greenwald writes:<\/p>\n

Some of these critiques are ludicrous. \u00a0Does anyone really not know what the basic message is of this protest: that Wall Street is oozing corruption and criminality and its unrestrained political power \u2014 in the form of crony capitalism and ownership of political institutions \u2014 is destroying financial security for everyone else?<\/p>\n

And then there are the more-or-less sympathetic observers like Nick Kristof<\/a> who, despite the obligatory critiques, manage to come up with a few useful suggestions for concrete demands, e.g., impose a financial transactions (“Tobin”) tax, close the huge corporate tax loopholes, etc.<\/p>\n

(To such suggestions I would add: Unpave Wall Street and reforest it!<\/em> But then I’d be added to those whose loony demands make the movement less credible. Ah well…)<\/p>\n

Peter Catapano, at the Times’ Opinionator, also has a good collection of quotes and comments here<\/a>. Catapano cites Michael Jackman’s argument:<\/p>\n

Might news organizations\u2019 reluctance [to cover the protests] stem from the fact that most of them are owned by the large corporations that are publicly traded on Wall Street? It\u2019s hard to explain otherwise. After all, polls show that many Americans would be interested in the marchers\u2019 arguments. A Pew Research Center poll<\/a> shows that \u201cnearly half of Americans \u2014 47 percent \u2014 say Wall Street hurts the nation\u2019s economy more than it helps.\u201d According to a\u00a0Bloomberg poll<\/a>, a whopping \u201c70 percent of Americans say big bonuses should be banned this year at Wall Street firms that took taxpayer bailouts.\u201d In another poll<\/a> conducted by Lake Research Partners, 77 percent of respondents approved of tougher rules for Wall Street. Seems like viewers and news readers would enjoy having a look at these protests.<\/p>\n

What the movement lacks in comparison to the Tea Party, according to Eric Bohlert<\/a>, is a cable news outlet to promote its agenda. (Where is MSNBC now? And The Current?) But the larger point is that the cable news outlet has to be powerful<\/em> and supported<\/em> by the economic interests and lobbyists who filter and skew what becomes news in this country — but by definition no such outlet could become a mouthpiece for a movement that sought to overturn that very power.<\/p>\n

Democracy Now<\/a> is as close to a network as we get.<\/p>\n

Finally, there is the Declaration of the Occupation of New York City.<\/a> Here’s a piece of it:<\/p>\n

As one people, united, we acknowledge the reality: that the future of the human race requires the cooperation of its members; that our system must protect our rights, and upon corruption of that system, it is up to the individuals to protect their own rights, and those of their neighbors; that a democratic government derives its just power from the people, but corporations do not seek consent to extract wealth from the people and the Earth; and that no true democracy is attainable when the process is determined by economic power. We come to you at a time when corporations, which place profit over people, self-interest over justice, and oppression over equality, run our governments. We have peaceably assembled here, as is our right, to let these facts be known.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

While I’ve been too busy to follow the Wall Street occupation very closely, let alone participate in any but the most vicarious ways, I’m encouraged by the persistence of its participants. Isn’t it time Americans started saying basta! to government of the lobbyists, by the politicians, and for the corporations? Here’s a collection of links […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":99,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"advanced_seo_description":"","jetpack_seo_html_title":"","jetpack_seo_noindex":false,"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[691215],"tags":[4468,25070,123663,25069],"class_list":["post-5366","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-politics_postpolitics","tag-anarchism","tag-direct-action","tag-politics","tag-wall-street-occupation"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p4IC4a-1oy","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":5393,"url":"https:\/\/blog.uvm.edu\/aivakhiv\/2011\/10\/19\/the-occupation\/","url_meta":{"origin":5366,"position":0},"title":"The Occupation","author":"Adrian J Ivakhiv","date":"October 19, 2011","format":false,"excerpt":"The metaphor of \"occupation\" strikes me as a provocative one not only for what the activists in Manhattan and elsewhere are doing, but for what they are struggling against. Some, and perhaps many, of these are people without traditional \"occupations,\" so they are occupying themselves by re-occupying the public spaces\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Media ecology"","block_context":{"text":"Media ecology","link":"https:\/\/blog.uvm.edu\/aivakhiv\/category\/media_ecology\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/blog.uvm.edu\/aivakhiv\/files\/2011\/10\/occupy-wall-street-sign-275x206.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":5324,"url":"https:\/\/blog.uvm.edu\/aivakhiv\/2011\/09\/26\/wall-street-occupation\/","url_meta":{"origin":5366,"position":1},"title":"Wall Street occupation","author":"Adrian J Ivakhiv","date":"September 26, 2011","format":false,"excerpt":"Why are the Wall Street protests not getting the media coverage similar events in other countries, or in Tea Party country, get? (Keith Olbermann asks this, below.) \u00a0Discuss. http:\/\/youtu.be\/BSn-IgwQAGY More here and here.","rel":"","context":"In "Media ecology"","block_context":{"text":"Media ecology","link":"https:\/\/blog.uvm.edu\/aivakhiv\/category\/media_ecology\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/img.youtube.com\/vi\/BSn-IgwQAGY\/0.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":8032,"url":"https:\/\/blog.uvm.edu\/aivakhiv\/2015\/02\/16\/the-ecology-of-syriankurdish-freedom\/","url_meta":{"origin":5366,"position":2},"title":"The ecology of Syrian\/Kurdish freedom","author":"Adrian J Ivakhiv","date":"February 16, 2015","format":false,"excerpt":"Eco-theorists may recognize the title of this post as a variation on the title of Murray Bookchin's audacious and\u00a0deeply\u00a0influential (for many, including myself) 1982 book The Ecology of Freedom: The Emergence and Dissolution of Hierarchy (pdf here). What's little known to anyone following recent news about the war in Syria\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Politics"","block_context":{"text":"Politics","link":"https:\/\/blog.uvm.edu\/aivakhiv\/category\/politics_postpolitics\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/img.youtube.com\/vi\/_38eVyMfag0\/0.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":12758,"url":"https:\/\/blog.uvm.edu\/aivakhiv\/2022\/07\/21\/eco-querying-the-dawn-of-everything\/","url_meta":{"origin":5366,"position":3},"title":"Eco-querying The Dawn of Everything","author":"Adrian J Ivakhiv","date":"July 21, 2022","format":false,"excerpt":"The Immanent Frame, the Social Science Research Council's forum on religion, secularism, and the public sphere, is in the midst of publishing a series of responses to David Graeber's and David Wengrow's The Dawn of Everything. My contribution, entitled \"The Dawn of Everything Good?\", appeared last week. The series can\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Eco-theory"","block_context":{"text":"Eco-theory","link":"https:\/\/blog.uvm.edu\/aivakhiv\/category\/ecophilosophy\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/blog.uvm.edu\/aivakhiv\/files\/2022\/07\/28768039722_c4e45284c3_o.jpeg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/blog.uvm.edu\/aivakhiv\/files\/2022\/07\/28768039722_c4e45284c3_o.jpeg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/blog.uvm.edu\/aivakhiv\/files\/2022\/07\/28768039722_c4e45284c3_o.jpeg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/blog.uvm.edu\/aivakhiv\/files\/2022\/07\/28768039722_c4e45284c3_o.jpeg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/blog.uvm.edu\/aivakhiv\/files\/2022\/07\/28768039722_c4e45284c3_o.jpeg?resize=1050%2C600&ssl=1 3x"},"classes":[]},{"id":1013,"url":"https:\/\/blog.uvm.edu\/aivakhiv\/2008\/12\/14\/this-moment\/","url_meta":{"origin":5366,"position":4},"title":"this moment","author":"Adrian J Ivakhiv","date":"December 14, 2008","format":false,"excerpt":"...the moment Wall Street crashed into the woods, its train having pushed as far as it could go off the rails it thought it had built. The photo is from my series of Haida Gwaii nature-culture collaborations, where the detritus of industrial civilization, having reached as far as it could\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Politics"","block_context":{"text":"Politics","link":"https:\/\/blog.uvm.edu\/aivakhiv\/category\/politics_postpolitics\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"QCI%20060.jpg","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/blog.uvm.edu\/aivakhiv\/files\/2008\/12\/QCI-060-thumb.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":9656,"url":"https:\/\/blog.uvm.edu\/aivakhiv\/2018\/05\/23\/whats-the-big-deal-or-whither-universities\/","url_meta":{"origin":5366,"position":5},"title":"What’s the big deal? Or, whither universities…","author":"Adrian J Ivakhiv","date":"May 23, 2018","format":false,"excerpt":"A post-Commencement pep talk for myself (& academic friends who care to listen) It should be pretty obvious by now that predatory, extractive capitalism is not working, and that we need to move swiftly to a regenerative mixed economy grounded in a respect for living systems. The implications of that\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Academe"","block_context":{"text":"Academe","link":"https:\/\/blog.uvm.edu\/aivakhiv\/category\/academe\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/blog.uvm.edu\/aivakhiv\/files\/2018\/05\/andrei-tarkovsky-stalker-19792-275x206.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.uvm.edu\/aivakhiv\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5366","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.uvm.edu\/aivakhiv\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.uvm.edu\/aivakhiv\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.uvm.edu\/aivakhiv\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/99"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.uvm.edu\/aivakhiv\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=5366"}],"version-history":[{"count":10,"href":"https:\/\/blog.uvm.edu\/aivakhiv\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5366\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":5376,"href":"https:\/\/blog.uvm.edu\/aivakhiv\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5366\/revisions\/5376"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.uvm.edu\/aivakhiv\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=5366"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.uvm.edu\/aivakhiv\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=5366"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.uvm.edu\/aivakhiv\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=5366"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}