Surviving Capitalism (Not) : Showdown at the Occupy Wall Street OK Corral

We’ve lived so long under the spell of hierarchy—from god-kings to feudal lords to party bosses—that only recently have we awakened to see not only that “regular” citizens have the capacity for self-governance, but that without their engagement our huge global crises cannot be addressed. The changes needed for human society simply to survive, let alone thrive, are so profound that the only way we will move toward them is if we ourselves, regular citizens, feel meaningful ownership of solutions through direct engagement. Our problems are too big, interrelated, and pervasive to yield to directives from on high.
—Frances Moore Lappé, excerpt from Time for Progressives to Grow Up

Monday, November 14, 2011

Showdown at the Occupy Wall Street OK Corral

Click here to access article by Robert Oak from The Economic Populist.

This provides very good coverage, including videos, of recent OWS scenes, mostly focusing on Portland, Oregon.

In addition, I highly recommend more detailed coverage of the Portland events in this article by Ben Schreiner from Dissident Voice.

...although ultimately cleared out of their encampments, Occupy Portland demonstrated its continuing relevance as a vibrant and powerful movement. For if nothing else, the battle Saturday night and early Sunday morning confirmed that the movement has strong support within the city and is more than capable of mobilizing sizable masses to stymie police action. Beyond question then, Occupy Portland will continue to be a force in the national Occupy movement.

For more general coverage of OWS events across the US, I suggest you read this piece by David Walsh of the World Socialist Web Site.

City governments and police across the US have stepped up their attacks on Occupy movement encampments. Using a variety of pretexts—ordinances against sleeping in city parks, alleged health and sanitation violations, unrelated crimes, etc.—the authorities are attempting to criminalize the protests.