There has been a great deal of talk in the Occupy movement around the fear of co-optation. The latest round of debate has been around the 99% Spring movement. Adbusters has sounded the alarm with the cry “#DefendOccupy.” The basic premise of the current debate is whether MoveOn.org is a bogeyman that is stealing the ideas of Occupy for its own ends, which some claim are as a “front group” for the democratic party. In reality, the 99% Spring movement is a coalition of 60 different grass roots groups, one of which was Move On, none...
read moreby Charles Eisenstein The Occupy Movement has been characterized by, and criticized for, its lack of focused objectives. Originally gathering around issues of economic inequality and debt, it soon ballooned to include every progressive issue under the sun, and then some. Yet amid the cacophony of proposals and messages, we could always detect a hint of a unifying theme. We sensed that all of these issues are somehow connected; we sensed that we were protesting something. What was that thing? What is it now? What is it about current actions to,...
read moreA review of Sacred Economics Author Charles Eisenstein with Integral New York In deeply contemplating the ever increasing, ever more complicated and intertwining crises facing the world today, one can find a common thread: the financial system and the human species’ relationship to money. No matter what the problem, if one looks deeply to the root cause, it’s nearly always money. “What does a money system look like that no longer destroys, but instead heals nature, culture, and the human spirit?” asks Charles Eisenstein, author of...
read moreIn March of 2012 the planet lost a precious beating heart – beloved Hawaiian elder Kumu Raylene Ha’alelea Kawaiaea. Nova Ami and I were honoured to spend time with her, and interview her for Occupy Love. We will always be grateful for the wisdom and love she shared with us. Thank you Joel Levey and Michelle Levey for bringing her into our lives. In this video Kumu sings a chant of appreciation for life.
read moreToday I’m excited to release “Sacred Economics” a short film dedicated entirely to the work of Charles Eisenstein and his book of the same name. After watching the film, head immediately over to listen to a livestream Q&A with myself and Charles. About the film: Sacred Economics traces the history of money from ancient gift economies to modern capitalism, revealing how the money system has contributed to alienation, competition, and scarcity, destroyed community, and necessitated endless growth. Today, these trends...
read moreBy Rebecca Solnit When you fall in love, it’s all about what you have in common, and you can hardly imagine that there are differences, let alone that you will quarrel over them, or weep about them, or be torn apart by them — or if all goes well, struggle, learn, and bond more strongly because of, rather than despite, them. The Occupy movement had its glorious honeymoon when old and young, liberal and radical, comfortable and desperate, homeless and tenured all found that what they had in common was so compelling the differences...
read moreTHE MISTAKE WE MAKE is thinking the corporations are separate from us. The mistake we make is thinking that corruption is only a political issue. The mistake we make is thinking that by eliminating the system we eliminate the problem. It’s true we live in a world dominated and exploited by the few, and it’s true that the systems we live by no longer support us; but it’s also true that there is a deeper cause at play… The very consciousness which objectifies life as a means to an end – as an exploitable commodity – is...
read moreLove is something we do. It’s active, it’s action, it’s process, not product. Don’t wait around for love! Be love, do love, fiercely. Love is not fuzzy, it’s not packaged, it’s not pink, it’s as red as blood, it’s life itself, and it’s not for sale. Occupy Love! It’s that time of year again ~ love is in the air. Or at least in the shop windows. A day to celebrate love is certainly a great idea. Too often love is neglected, forgotten, or misunderstood. As with everything...
read moreThe following resolution was passed by the General Assembly of Occupy Oakland, creating an official Occupy Oakland action on Tuesday, Feburary 14th, Valentine’s Day. In the interest of diversity of tactics, and the spirit of love that we feel for our community, we propose a direct action to take place on February 14th.We encourage our fellow Oakland residents to join with us to express our love for each other, and our beautiful city, on a march through the downtown Oakland area. Participants should wear red and/or pink in...
read moreOccupy V-Day wants you to challenge corporate conceptions of romance. BY SADY DOYLE Occupy V-Day encourages the public to use Valentine’s Day to challenge our cultural (and pop-cultural) conceptions of love and romance and to provide their own definitions. Love–according to one line of thinking, anyway–is our first and most important education in social justice. To love someone, religions and therapists and poets and various sitcom episodes tell us, is to care about their well-being as profoundly, and as constantly, as you care...
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