Our Vision: Transforming the System
12/26/11 Draft
Introduction
The initial Adbusters call to occupy Wall Street envisioned the fundamental transformation of our social system. “Instead of being caught helpless by the current power structure,” Adbusters recommended “a shift in revolutionary tactics” that would confront “the American political establishment” and result in “a whole new social dynamic in America” that would lead to a “radical democracy of the future.”
That Adbusters declaration focused on “ending the influence money has over our representatives in Washington” by “cleaning up corruption in Washington,” and declared, “It's time for DEMOCRACY NOT CORPORATOCRACY…. Our government would be forced to choose publicly between the will of the people and the lucre of the corporations.”
Since then, most Occupy actions have echoed this systemic perspective. Awareness of the necessity to deal with “the System” has been widespread.
With this vision statement, we, the Occupy Be the Change Caucus, elaborate on Adbusters’ starting point, describe the sort of systemic transformation we seek, and present a general strategy for moving in that direction. Then, in the next section, “Concrete Steps Forward,” we propose specific changes in public policy.
We invite everyone to help us co-create this vision and strategy by offering your feedback and input.
Like any system, our global social system consists of various inter-dependent elements that work together in a self-perpetuating manner to serve a particular function, or purpose. The key elements of “the System” include:
· our major institutions such as the government, economy, media, and education;
· informal institutions such as the family;
· our culture, and;
· ourselves as individuals.
Our society’s primary purpose is to enable those with wealth and power to increase their wealth and power. More than any other factor, this dynamic explains how our society works.
The top-level administrators of the System carefully screen individuals who are accepted into key administrative positions. The most ambitious, greedy, and power hungry individuals invest the most time and energy into climbing the ladder of success. Consequently, those who rise the highest generally fail to operate in a compassionate manner.
Absent effective countervailing pressure from the general public, wealth and power tend to become increasingly concentrated. As Billie Holiday sang in “God Bless the Child,” “Them that’s got shall get/Them that’s not shall lose…. The strong gets more/While the weak ones fade.” And most individuals pass on their advantages to their children, resulting in a playing field that is far from level.
Ever more the System is global. National economies are interwoven with one another. International cooperation has become essential.
Society becomes top-heavy, unstable, and less democratic. Ordinary people end up without enough purchasing power to sustain economic growth, prompting periodic economic downturns that threaten a catastrophic global collapse. Various “speculative bubbles” add to this instability, as investors get seduced into seeking great, sudden gains, only to eventually see the bubble burst.
On the individual level, we reinforce the System in countless ways. By buying its products and services, paying taxes, voting, seeking promotions, being passive, perpetuating the dominant culture by being arrogant, judgmental, and self-centered, and/or believing that one must either dominate or submit, for example, we buttress the System.
No one element controls the System, which is self-perpetuating. To scapegoat any one element, including disposable top-level administrators, does not make sense. We are all responsible. The problem is the System, not any particular individual or group of individuals.
Ever since the birth of centralized agriculture, wealthy elites have used their advantages to benefit themselves, their friends, and their families. This dynamic has been the driving force in human society. Whether under “capitalism,” “socialism,” “social democracy,” or whatever political-economic system, every society has demonstrated the same tendency to concentrate wealth and power to the detriment of ordinary people.
Some individual elites manifest genuine compassion (and we should encourage more of them to tap their deep feelings of concern for others). And many elites demonstrate “enlightened self-interest” and realize that short-term greed can undermine long-term prospects. Henry Ford, for example, famously said that he wanted to pay his workers enough money so they could buy his cars. Especially after a severe economic downturn, many power elites accept the need to jump-start the economy by redistributing income downward.
And in general elites accept that if some wealth “trickles down,” it will help stabilize the system by gaining the allegiance of the middle class, many of whom expect to become wealthy themselves and believe that the poor always deserve to be poor and the wealthy always earn their wealth.
But the boom-and-bust cycle is unacceptable. We need to do more than expand the middle class. We need to transform our social system fundamentally. The question is how.
Some day the System may cave in completely, resulting in devastation and suffering never before seen in the modern world. We need to be prepared for that possibility. Having model alternative institutions in place could help fill the void in the event of a total collapse.
But we cannot predict the future. The System may continue to muddle through. We need to be prepared for that possibility as well.
Considering the human misery and environmental damage that would result, it would be unethical to want to see the System crumble entirely. Likewise, it would be immoral to provoke chaos hoping that doing so will hasten a complete breakdown.
So, it seems to us, we are required to pursue “evolutionary revolution,” as Gandhi put it. As water turns into steam, a chrysalis becomes a butterfly, or a species evolves into a new species, we might be able to eventually transform our society through a series of reforms that steadily improve living conditions. At the least, we feel compelled to try.
It’s impossible to know in advance what a transformed global society would look like. Collaborative co-creation relying on collective wisdom is unpredictable as ideas build on ideas. All we can do is recommend a framework of values to guide us.
First of all, to grow a new society, we need to establish a new primary purpose for our global community. We propose that as a society we should establish that our primary mission is to serve the common good of all humanity – as well as individual self-interest and the needs of local communities.
This formulation does not imply self-sacrifice. Rather, it affirms that when we take care of ourselves, our families, our organizations, or our nation, we do so in order to better aid the human family. It’s not a matter of either/or, but both/and.
We foster strong communities that nurture personal development, caring relationships, and healthy families. By becoming better human beings, we better serve others.
We believe humanity needs to create and maintain a healthy planet because our complex, fragile ecosystem is endangered by current patterns of consumption and pollution.
Because life is mysterious, wonderful, and awe-inspiring, we cherish beauty, spread joy, and love others as we love ourselves.
We do what we can to prevent suffering and accept our responsibility to help shape our nation’s public policies.
We come together freely, support each other’s empowerment, and resolve conflicts nonviolently. We use force only as a last resort to protect life or prevent physical injury.
We respect others as equals and criticize individuals for specific actions without condemning them, for all of us are imperfect.
We listen carefully and appreciate what is true about all points of view, without demanding complete agreement. Sharing facts, feelings, and opinions enables us to better understand reality.
We experiment in order to discover what works best.
We support businesses that serve the public interest, empower workers, and care for the environment.
We believe all people are entitled to a voice in matters that affect them.
We hold the federal government responsible for wisely managing the economy, sustaining the environment, protecting national security, safeguarding human rights, and guaranteeing all our people the means to live decently.
We believe mutual respect and cooperation are required to build a loving, global society based on democratic local communities.
When we have achieved these goals, humanity will have fundamentally transformed our global social system.
To move toward comprehensive social transformation, the Occupy Be the Change Cause has adopted the following mission statement:
Our primary mission is to help transform ourselves and our society into truly nonviolent and compassionate individuals within a community dedicated to the common good of all humanity. We actively support and participate in the Occupy Movement.Our members have also signed the following Pledge, which is rooted in deep nonviolence:
As a participant in the Occupy movement, I hereby commit my whole self to nonviolence. Therefore to the best of my ability:
I am firmly committed to nonviolence as a way of life, not merely as a tactic.
I meet violence with compassion for others and myself.
I walk, talk and act in love and nonviolence.
I refrain from verbal and physical violence.
I do not accept “a diversity of tactics” when those tactics are violent or damage property.
I am open, respectful, and kind with everyone I encounter.
I invite the 1% to join us and will not insult them.
I seek justice and reconciliation so that we are all winners.
I avoid both selfishness and power trips.
I strive to be in good spiritual and bodily health as we work to build a just and democratic society.
This pledge was prompted by many statements about the need to “be the change” expressed at Occupy San Francisco General Assemblies during the Fall of 2011 and was inspired by Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.’s 1963 nonviolence pledge. Dr. King in turn was profoundly influenced by the work of the great theologian, Howard Thurman, who led the first group of African-Americans to meet with Mahatma Gandhi.
In his book, Jesus and the Disinherited, Thurman wrote, “The religion of Jesus says to the disinherited: ‘Love your enemy…. It may be hazardous, but you must do it.'”
He declared that both privileged and underprivileged persons must liberate themselves from their assigned role in society, because “love is possible only between two freed spirits.” They must undo their conditioning, remove barriers, and create “real, natural, free” social situations that enable them to be “status free” and experience their common humanity.
Thurman said, “Take the initiative in seeking ways by which you can have the experience of a common sharing of mutual worth and value…. We are here dealing with a discipline, a method, …an over-all technique.” He called for those in need to cry out, “The [human being] in me appeals to the [human being] in you.”
Whenever a need is “laid bare,” Thurman wrote, “those who stand in the presence of it can be confronted with the experience of universality that makes all class and race distinctions [irrelevant].” He insisted that this “personality confirmation” is essential for “lasting health” in a democracy.
With this approach, King and Thurman were truly radical because they wanted us to transform the roots of violence and oppression that are within each of us. This commitment is reflected in our Pledge.
We aim toward transformation throughout society. The central ingredient in all of these efforts is to foster compassion, personal development, supportive communities, creativity, joy, mutual respect, and harmony with Nature.
Self-empowerment is not incompatible with real community. With a proper balance, strong individuals help grow strong communities, and strong communities help grow strong individuals.
We reject the notion that domination and submission are essential. Rather, we affirm the power of teamwork, co-creation, peer support, partnership, participatory democracy, and collective wisdom.
In short, we want greater democracy throughout society.
In terms of political action, during the early civil rights movement, King and his companions would first present a proposed step toward justice to the powers-that-be, sincerely try to reach an agreement with them concerning that proposal, and resort to public demonstrations only when those efforts failed.
And when they did resort to “tactical nonviolence” in order to mobilize coercive political power, they still did so with a profound commitment to “philosophical nonviolence,” which includes the pursuit of reconciliation and a willingness to negotiate. We favor this approach.
We also want to ground ourselves in deep, clear agreement about our long-term goals. With a commitment to evolutionary revolution, we will be less likely to be satisfied with any one reform. Rather, we’ll be keenly aware that revolution is a never-ending process.
Toward that end, we seek to define winnable short-term goals that appeal to both those who already seek systemic change and the majority of the American people who will likely support fundamental transformation if that long-term goal is articulated concretely, rather than with empty ideological rhetoric.
This approach differs from efforts that aim to educate the public merely by disrupting business as usual without seeking negotiated agreements. Such efforts set an angry, blind tone that can foster escalation.
Unfocused anger is understandable. The revolt against injustice is initially motivated by a desire for justice. But if we allow ourselves to get caught up in the anger of our rebellion, we can soon reproduce injustice with means that are inconsistent with our original ends, while justifying the inconsistency with claims that it is necessary. When we do so, we alienate large sectors of the general public, whose active participation is essential.
But if we stay grounded in love, are clear about our values, assure that our means are consistent with our ends, and constantly work on our own personal development (with mutual support), we can move toward fundamental, comprehensive social transformation and create a greatly improved world that is qualitatively new.
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