Occupy’s Asshole Problem: Flashbacks from An Old Hippie

[formercia]

http://radioornot.com/site/?p=5181

By Sara Robinson

November 4, 2011

I wish I could say that the problems that the Occupy movement is having with infiltrators and agitators are new. But they’re not. In fact, they’re problems that the Old Hippies who survived the 60s and 70s remember acutely, and with considerable pain.

As a veteran of those days — with the scars to prove it — watching the OWS organizers struggle with drummers, druggies, sexual harassers, racists, and anarchists brings me back to a few lessons we had to learn the hard way back in the day, always after putting up with way too much over-the-top behavior from people we didn’t think we were allowed to say “no” to. It’s heartening to watch the Occupiers begin to work out solutions to what I can only indelicately call “the asshole problem.” In the hope of speeding that learning process along, here are a few glimmers from my own personal flashbacks — things that it’s high time somebody said right out loud.

1. Let’s be clear: It is absolutely OK to insist on behavior norms. #Occupy may be a DIY movement — but it also stands for very specific ideas and principles. Central among these is: We are here to reassert the common good. And we have a LOT of work to do. Being open and accepting does not mean that we’re obligated to accept behavior that damages our ability to achieve our goals. It also means that we have a perfect right to insist that people sharing our spaces either act in ways that further those goals, or go somewhere else until they’re able to meet that standard.

2. It is OK to draw boundaries between those who are clearly working toward our goals, and those who are clearly not. Or, as an earlier generation of change agents put it: “You’re either on the bus, or off the bus.” Are you here to change the way this country operates, and willing to sacrifice some of your almighty personal freedom to do that? Great. You’re with us, and you’re welcome here. Are you here on your own trip and expecting the rest of us to put up with you? In that case, you are emphatically NOT on our side, and you are not welcome in our space.

--Snip--

Great Article. More at the link.

[abelenkpe]

1. K&R please read nt

[movonne]

2. very good idea...it should be posted all around the park...

[RufusTFirefly]

3. Sigh. Anarchists are once again stereotyped

Although the article is reasonably good, she can't resist using the term "anarchist" as shorthand for the dudes who are breaking windows.

Ironic, because a lot of OWS's most admirable features -- the General Assembly, horizontalism, looking out for the common good, etc -- are long-time anarchistic aspirations. Furthermore, although thanks to a handful of thugs and the corporate media megaphone, most of us associate anarchism with breaking windows, well-known anarchists include Noam Chomsky, Daniel Berrigan, and Germaine Greer.

[deadinsider]

9. Very good

I find that people often talk about stuff without looking into it. This type of communication is really just a controlled argument: it employs someone else's frames and narratives about the subject you're talking about.

Look into Bakunin, Kropotkin, etc.

Anarchy is not about a violent, chaotic system. Generically, it is the political philosophy that centralized government is undesirable and unnecessary. Power is localized, not centralized.

Granted I'm still learning about it, but I was very surprised at what I found. Anarchy is greatly extrapolated and distilled by some excellent thinkers albeit often ignored or slandered by the those in power who control the means of communication and education. Elites depend on a centralized form of government, therefore anarchy, like communism, must be distorted as oppressive systems. Interestingly, what the elites say of alternative systems is often just projection of capitalism's true nature upon anything else out there that would replace it.

These black-masked rabble rousers are not anarchists. They are provocateurs.

Edit: crappy semantics.

[Ruby the Liberal]

10. But isn't that the very point she is making?

Act like an asshole and you aren't welcome?

[Cassandra]

4. Sara Robinson is always worth reading!

[frazzled]

5. My husband was just complaining about the drummers last night

It's driving him crazy, because they're near his (academic) office in Chicago and it has interrupted several committee meetings he's held there. We all laughed, but it isn't really a laughing matter, because it will eventually turn people away from the movement.

Over the last week or two I've seen Facebook postings from several of my twenty-something "friends" (yes, the kids of my friends and the friends of my kids sometimes have friended me on FB) complaining about behavior of some OWS factions in Seattle and Oakland, respectively, where they live. These are very liberal young people, and politically active. It was interesting to see the responses these posts got. I'd say OWS had better heed your advice and make the rules for the "bus" before the movement itself loses support from the very people who were initially cheering it on.

[Bluenorthwest]

6. People who judge a movement or other group by the actions of

individuals are not liberals, sorry about that. That is the opposite of liberal. Do they also subject other groups to such standards?

[frazzled]

7. You must not remember the civil rights movement

The reason Martin Luther King succeeded (where others did not) was because he exerted a huge amount of leadership in exacting a particular kind of behavior from his adherents. The strict code of non-violence he insisted on from his followers was a huge factor in gaining wide public support. I remember, as a pre-teen and teen, how much this impacted my parents' view of the movement.

It was not easy for him, either. There was a time he came to Chicago in 1966 for a march to protest housing discrimination. Rocks, bottles, and firecrackers were hurled at the marchers, and Dr. King was hit and fell to the ground. He spoke about how some wanted to retaliate for this kind violence, and it was a constant struggle to keep his marchers within the peaceful mode. Had he allowed one of his marchers to return that stone-throw, all would have been lost.

OWS, as the author suggests, cannot merely place the blame on disruptors or outsiders, and they can't tolerate any and everything. They have a decision to be made about how the movement will most effectively meet its objectives. That, my dear friend, means making decisions. Those of us who participated in the many protests of the 1960s against the war in Vietnam and for social justice had to come to certain decisions: did we support the methods of, say, Weather Underground, even if their "ideals" were the same? If you can't handle that kind of organizing for justice, you're in the wrong game.

[ancianita]

8. Cleaning Up Internally Is Addressed Well, External Group Relationships Are Not

I was in the South during the years of civil right demonstrations, and would remind people here of the fear felt by ruling elites toward the defensive leaders at that time.

MLK was negotiated with because of the existence of Malcolm X and the Black Panthers. The civil rights movement wasn't planned that way, but it worked out that way. The nonviolent can be served well by their defenders, if they and others can get past feeling morally superior and coexist with each other's strengths. Think on why we thank our vets for their service -- it's certainly not because we feel morally superior.

When the Occupation Movement learns how to work with the Black Bloc to achieve its ends, it will reach the moment when it can say to the 1%'s governing henchmen: "You have a choice -- either negotiate with the Black Bloc or negotiate with us." The Occupation will then get credit for 'peaceful' change, just as Gandhi's and MLK's movements did.

[Danse]

11. Ho-hum

Another nitwit who hasn't bothered to look up the term "Anarchist" in the dictionary. The OWS movement was founded by anarchists and embraces anarchist principles of direct democracy and non-violence.

Please, people, do your homework before spouting off.