Winter Carnival: Better than Pepper Spray

Winter Carnival Proposal 2: Better than Pepper Spray!

This idea was presented to the UK National Occupation Conference General Assembly on 19 November 2011 and was the subject of a break-out discussion that night.  It looks like it will be going forward.  Unlikely allies, revolutionaries and Christians, but look - if we do not make these unlikely alliances, we are doomed. 

Whereas Occupy London has accomplished the beginning of a great moral awakening in Britain;

Whereas the Church of England, the Church Universal, people of many other faiths and people of no faith share the goals of a more moral marketplace and a more moral government put forth by the Occupation;

Whereas a public forum throughout all of England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland, is greatly to be desired by everyone who seeks to understand, decide and support the reforms necessary;

Whereas the spirit of the movement must spread beyond the camps or be in danger of diminishing;

AND FINALLY, whereas this is a land with a rich history of festivals:

THERE IS PROPOSED a Winter Carnival

There is proposed a great Winter Carnival, to roll through all of Britain from Cathedral to Cathedral.  These Cathedrals are our commonwealth and they and the national Church of England should be pressed into service in this time of injustice and moral crisis. 

Winter Carnival could have multiple components.

Candlelight Walk:   A symbolic candelit walk beginning at St. Paul’s could start the Carnival – a victory march that recognizes the triumph of awakening the Occupation has started.  The walk could go through London to St. Albans, Southwark, Westminster and beyond.  In each city, the Occupiers could arrive at the train station and be met by local supporters, local activists, people of faith and people in need.  They could then walk, holding candles, to the Cathedrals.  A spreading of light.

Putney Debates:  As in 1647, the Cathedrals could host debates or town meetings where the governmental and economic reform we seek could be refined, discussed, considered and our different options learned.  Occupy would invite Ken Costa in his position at St. Paul’s Institute to hold public meetings about the need for financial reform.  A constitution could be drafted by a travelling working group.

Occupation Tour:  Instead of camping in one location, the camps could go from town to town, following the Putney Debates and opening the Carnivals in each town.

Open Forums: at the carnival, all interested parties, including people of the churches, synagogues, mosques, the Occupy movements, people from political parties and interest groups and grass roots organizations, would come and talk about how to make change for the better. 

Reclaiming of Government: A walk from the Cathedral to the government buildings – the town halls – where people could hold a General Assembly, airing their grievances in this winter of our discontent.

Heritage:  Open the Cathedrals to the Occupiers and children and have history teachers explain the martyrs, and the historical role of the Church in securing greater liberty for the people.  Let us hear the stories of the martyrs and progress and reform.  Let us remember our own past together.    

Wine, Feasting and Song:  Local amateur bands could play, local suppliers could offer food, mittens and mulled wine and fairy lights, a celebration to raise our spirits and by raising our spirits raising our humanity.

Practical Help:  The touring Occupation could assist at local foodbanks, homeless shelters and elder care centres to bring attention to local cuts issues.

One idea about the Winter being floated in the UK

Winter Carnival

General Proposal

13 November 2011–

Whereas Occupy London has accomplished the beginning of a great moral awakening in our land;

Whereas the Church has declared itself an ally of the people in the people’s quest to make their land more just;

Whereas the people of the camp are weary and need not face the long winter alone;

Whereas this movement is in its tender infancy and may be the work of decades;

Whereas this movement must next be strengthened by all who would lend their strength, whether those people are willing to camp or not;

Whereas the voice of all of the people of Great Britain must be heard in our great moral reform;

Whereas spirits are low and times are hard and the raising of our spirits and of our joy in our families and our relationships is a necessary step on this journey;

Whereas we have much to learn from each other and our history and heritage;

Whereas the people of Great Britain in order to go forward should stand proud in their heritage and their grand history of reformers;

Whereas a public forum throughout all of Great Britain, throughout all of England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland, is greatly to be desired by everyone who seeks to support this change;

AND FINALLY, whereas this is a land with a rich history of festivals:

THERE IS PROPOSED a Winter Carnival

There is proposed a great Winter Carnival, where we recognize the incredible victory of the camp in awakening our very souls and stirring passion and debate.  After a New Year’s Celebration in London to rival all New Year’s, the vision is that some part of  the camps would disperse, retaining a presence in St. Paul’s as they see fit.  But those who would could travel the length and breadth of Great Britain, sleeping in the Cathedrals, meeting with local supporters, marching through the dark streets in candelight, spreading the word, speaking and listening about how the people can work together to bring about a better life for our children.

I propose that such a Winter Carnival can be created by each Cathedral or place as they see fit.  I propose that it be financed by the Church.   I propose that at the carnival, all interested parties, including people of the churches and the Occupy movements, people from political parties and interest groups and grass roots organizations, would come and talk about how to make change for the better the first priority of everyone in Great Britain.  

Winter Carnival could have multiple components.

Let’s start with something very fun and uplifting.  Let’s open the Cathedrals to the camp and children and have history teachers explain the martyrs, and the historical role of the Church in securing greater liberty for the people.  Let us hear the stories of the wars.  Let us remember our own past together.     

Let the Occupation march with the Church and all who would from the Cathedrals to the buildings of the government, and stand together in support of each other in our mutual quest to reform a government out of control.  Let us march by candlelight to our public buildings and reclaim them as our own.  

Let’s have a carnival of ideas and public forums. Let us meet and inspire each other. And gently and with great love the Occupation can survive the winter.  Even the bankers need to learn they have nothing to fear from us. 

Winter Carnival Component Ideas

1. Some proportion of the camp tour the UK, going Cathedral to Cathedral, starting in the New Year being part of local Winter Carnivals, creating a touring Occupation where they could stay in each Cathedral and meet with people of the churches and local people.  I see this as marching forth after a great initial victory.  We must be mindful of how we unfold, and I think it would be useful to stand back and ponder these things in our hearts and with our neighbours.  This serves the need I see for the UK Occupation to have the time and space and rest to take the next step.  This also would serve the need of strengthening support for the Occupation through people of faith – essentially relying on the Church for financial support for the tour. (It would make sense for Ken Costa and St. Paul’s Institute to join this tour, at least for selected dates, for town hall meetings about Costa’s mandate)

2. Winter Carnival itself would take shape as an organically local event, organized by whomever stepped forward to do so, but hosted by the Church.  It could be a conference, a festival, or a party. It could be all three.  Some places may have many Christians.  Some places may have many activists.  Some places like Cambridge have think tanks and societies and groups.  Local political parties would be welcome.  There could be music and food and debate and lectures.

3. Debate:  I do not think that it needs to be debated that our government is dysfunctional or our economic policies immoral.  I think a useful debate to have at everyone’s Winter Carnival is what the moral principles of a just government and economic system should be.  Let the church and the Occupation support each other thinking about that this winter.  

4. This is a victory celebration, a party thrown by our allies, a beginning of a true grass roots building of a transformation of our society.  This is a chance to reclaim back our own lives and our own land and to give ourselves the voice we should have in our government that seems to have been taken away.  

5. Although this proposal makes use of the Church as an ally, it is not meant in any way to contradict Point Two of the initial statement: “We are of all ethnicities, backgrounds, genders, generations, sexualities dis/abilities and faiths.”  This is not about making people Christian or not Christian, this is about atheists and theists both working together here on earth to curb a government filled with injustice.

  

6. This proposal does assume that in order to fulfill Point 7 of the Initial Statement (“We want structural change towards authentic global equality.”), we must first take the logs out of our own eyes before we take the speck out of our neighbour’s.  We must make structural changes toward authentic equality here in our own land first before the change can be global. 

Occupy is not a protest, more a murmuration

As long as we are a protest, we are defined by what we protest against.  We need not limit our imagination and boundaries in that way.  We need not let our anger sap our energy and cloud our judgment.  The General Assembly has agreed we are a movement, not a protest.  Yes, of course, anger at injustice brought us to the camp.  Watching the livestream of the students and the intimidation by the police, believe me, I felt it too.  But rage is not enough.  Rage cannot sustain us.  Rage might be in the DNA of this movement, but it is just that, DNA, the motivating blueprint, but not the plan.  The embodiment, the literal making a body from this DNA requires love and patience, love and patience to the person sitting next to you, to your co-worker, to your mailman, to yourself.

We are more like a murmuration of starlings, sweeping through the sky in arcs of unimaginable beauty, not planned by any one person, but acting and reacting not to any leader or any direction, but simply flying with the starlings around us. 


 http://vimeo.com/31158841



Starlings move based on what the starling next to them is doing, and humans do the same thing. We must be moved by one another for something good to happen.  We cannot keep doing what we have always been doing and expect these other people at the camp to fix things.  We must be moved. 

We are not anticapitalist, we are pro justice.  We are pro earth.  We are pro human.  We are asking questions and looking for answers.  We know where we see injustice and we know where we see suffering, but we do not know everything.  Nor need we know everything to stand up for goodness. We do not have to understand derivative transactions to count ourselves in the Occupation.   We are transparent, accountable and democratic and we believe the system we have is broken.  How on earth could anyone disagree with that?  The majority of criticism I read in the press simply ignores these fundamental tenets and instead chooses ad hominem attacks really so infantile that they do not merit a response. 

How I see it, no one is in or out of the Occupy movement because they buy a latte from Starbucks, or because they have a job, or because they don't have a job.  They are not in or out because they sleep in a tent in London, or they don't sleep in a tent.    We are radically inclusive.  I am sitting downstairs in my pyjamas while my two kids sleep in their rooms.  Yes, middle class.  And in Cambridge.  Smug central!  Yet I am in. 

And all are welcome, all people.  No institution is trustworthy, no way of thinking is sacrosanct, no person should be excluded  We want everyone - landowners, conservatives, stakeholders in the financial system, shareholders, directors.  At least, I want everyone and I think we should want everyone.   We want ideas and we don't really care where they come from.  An idea, as Anonymous shows us, should be judged on its merit, not on the speaker. 

We need everyone because we need all ideas.  We don't know exactly what this is yet and what it is becoming and what will happen next.  People ask me every day how it is going and I have to say that this is not a product launch.  It is not a jury trial.  It is not a movie premiere or an IPO.  It is not something that has happened before, there is not really a metric for phenomenal social change in the technology age. So I don't know how it's going.  We probably won't have a clear answer on that for twenty years.   Yes, the women of Greenham common, the indignatos, the anti-nuke protesters, these are in our DNA too, but make no mistake,  they don't have all the answers either, and they/we don't have a plan.  I am not saying that these people are not brave and heroic.  I am saying that this is bigger than Greenham common.  It's bigger than Windscale.  It's bigger than Selma, already, and we have just begun.  It is history being made. 

And you are my nearby starlings.

Vinay Gupta - the wisest man you've never met

Of interest for the fundaments of this blog is everything that this guys says.  Remember that from a global perspective, if you make more than $34,000 - YOU are in the 1%.  A fascinating worldview very foreign to what I am used to but deeply worth considering if the global elements of the Occupation interest you. http://vinay.howtolivewiki.com/blog/about

Everybody Knows - Occupy Wall Street

A great video from my friend Jeff Campagna

Wherever you are, please support the Occupations' right to protest

http://www.coalitionofresistance.org.uk/2011/10/occupy-solidarity/

Please consider signing this online petition in support of the Occupiers' right to protest.  Even if anti-capitalism bums you out, if the State - any state - America or the UK or Australia - can shut down a non violent protest, then things become considerably more frightening for the rest of us.  That is some police state stuff, and then we get into some real problems.  My brother started this blog with me to emphasize two things about the Occupations:  they are (1) nonviolent and they are (2) global.  Let's keep them that way, and whether or not you want to camp, at least put your name down to let them continue to fight for a better world. 

A Message to the City of London and all the Humans in the World

 Please consider reading this.  It is relevant to you only if you are human and seek justice on this earth.  Justice is an idea we have all forgotten, an idea that we are too cynical to believe will ever be a word applicable to any reality we encounter.  And yet.  And yet it is this cry that comes from all of our hearts, it is the highest and best truth in action that makes humanity wonderful.  It is something we have forsaken.  We have forsaken justice for money, we humans, and it is the oldest story in the book but here we are once again.   I ask all of you:  what does justice mean to you?  Where is it?  Do you see it in the government?  Do you find it in your church?  Do you see it in the marketplace?  Does the ordering of the powers of the earth sit well with your soul?  Or are things dark and in fact immoral?  They are dark and immoral for me.