And the fruit vendor had an overripe peach, which had a fruit fly on it, which became startled, and flapped it's wings.
Emergent, baby... On Sun, Oct 16, 2011 at 5:46 PM, Paul Paryski <[email protected]> wrote: > The Occupy movement is actually about emergence and complexity. The Arab > Spring began with an incident between a woman police officer and a fruit > vendor in Tunis. > > FYI below a bit of what this movement is about > > cheers, Paul > > > -----Original Message----- > From: mile16 <[email protected]> > To: PPARYSKI <[email protected]> > Sent: Sun, Oct 16, 2011 5:03 am > Subject: Fwd: 'We Are the 99 Percent' Creators Revealed > > > > > -----Original Message----- > From: mile16 <[email protected]> > To: kris.moore <[email protected]>; scottmoore44 < > [email protected]>; sasha_moore24 <[email protected]>; > sarimamh <[email protected]>; VOYE123 <[email protected]> > Sent: Sat, Oct 15, 2011 5:03 am > Subject: Fwd: 'We Are the 99 Percent' Creators Revealed > > This is an interview with the creators of the initial blog that started > OccupyWallStreet. > > > -----Original Message----- > From: Portside Moderator <[email protected]> > To: PORTSIDE <[email protected]> > Sent: Fri, Oct 14, 2011 10:40 pm > Subject: 'We Are the 99 Percent' Creators Revealed > > [To see the gallery of '99 percent' photos, go > tohttp://wearethe99percent.tumblr.com/ -- moderator] > > 'We Are the 99 Percent' Creators Revealed > > By Adam Weinstein | > Oct. 7, 2011 3:00 AM > PDThttp://motherjones.com/politics/2011/10/we-are-the-99-percent-creators > > EXCLUSIVE: MoJo interviews the two activists behind Occupy Wall Street's > poignant Tumblr sensation.[1] > > It began as a simple little idea, just another blog > among millions. The Occupy Wall Street protest was > scheduled to begin on September 17, and launching We Are > the 99 Percent [2] on Tumblr seemed like a good way to > promote it. Its creator had no clue that it would go > viral and become a touchstone for a protest movement > soon to spread nationwide. [3] > > This week, Mother Jones tracked down and spoke with the > two activists behind the 99 Percent sensation, whose > identities have remained unknown until now. The blog is > the creation of a tenacious 28-year-old New York > activist named Chris. (He asked that his last name not > be published because he works full time for a small > media outlet.) Chris has also been busy managing > logistics, including food drives, for Occupy Wall Street > in Lower Manhattan-so about two weeks ago, he started > sharing the blog's increasingly demanding curation > duties with a friend in the cause, Brooklyn-based > nonprofit worker and independent media maven Priscilla > Grim. > > On August 23, Chris put the idea in motion: "Get a bunch > of people to submit their pictures with a hand-written > sign explaining how these harsh financial times have > been affecting them, have them identify themselves as > the '99 percent', and then write 'occupywallst.org' at > the end." > > On September 8, the first day he started publishing > submissions, there were five posts. Less than a month > later, the blog was posting nearly 100 pieces a day: > from the 61-year-old [5] who lost her job and moved in > with her kids, to the husband of a college professor [6] > on WIC and Medicaid to support an infant daughter, to > the fiftysomething couple [7] living on tossed-out KFC, > to a bevy of youths pummeled by student debt and too > poor to visit a dentist. > > "I submitted one of the first photos on the site, and I > chose to obscure my face because I did not want to be > recognized," co-editor Grim told MoJo when we caught up > with her and Chris for interviews on Wednesday. "I saw > it as a way to anonymize myself: I am only one of many." > > Many of the submissions posted are poignant and > heartbreaking. They have freaked [8] out [9] some > conservatives, but they have also galvanized [10] > progressives, lit a fire under Occupy Wall Street, and > attracted contributors from many walks of life. And > there is a powerful undercurrent that's anything but > gloom and doom. "Despite the economic hardships many in > the 99 percent are experiencing," Chris says, "it's an > empowering message, letting people know that they are > not alone." > > Mother Jones: What is your background, and your role in > the Occupy movement? > > Chris: I am 28 years old, college educated, full-time > job, part-time freelance job, and I volunteer to feed > the hungry and needy every Sunday. I live in New York > City. I wear a tie to work, unless it's Friday. I am an > anarchist, though my belief is that anarchism should be > more about building things up than tearing things down. > I am a dedicated pacifist. I drink too much coffee. My > favorite band is Sleater Kinney, and I think their best > album is Dig Me Out, followed closely by One Beat. I've > read Infinite Jest twice, and I'm fully aware of how > pretentious that makes me sound, and I'm really, really > sorry. > > Priscilla Grim: I worked for nonprofits for 10 years, > have studied online media in school, and I am currently > in grad school studying information science. I helped to > organize online actions pre-MoveOn. I love serving > people and improving the world, firstly for my kid and > secondly for the rest of us. I worked in a lot of > different realms [11] and know how to build > organizations and make them sustainable, if I am working > with like-minded, determined individuals. > > MJ: What is the origin of the 99 Percent idea, and how > did you decide to present it on the Tumblr blog, using > submissions? > > C: Well, from doing a little bit of research onoccupywallst.org [12], the > earliest mention I can find > of "99 percent" is this flyer [13], which was made to > inform people of the second General Assembly, which > functioned as, essentially, our planning meetings during > the buildup to all of this. As for the blog, I really > wish I had a cool story to tell, maybe something > involving ninjas and running down a tunnel with a > fireball chasing after me, but the truth is that it was > just one of those random thoughts you get throughout > your day that make you go, "Huh, I should write this > down," before going on with whatever it is you're doing. > Except in this case I actually wrote it down. It didn't > require a lot of tweaking since the idea itself is quite > simple: Get a bunch of people to submit their pictures > with a hand-written sign explaining how these harsh > financial times have been affecting them, have them > identify themselves as the 99 percent, and then write > "occupywallst.org" at the end. It was something simple > that most anyone with a computer could do, so that even > if they couldn't make it to the occupation, they could > at least help build its narrative. > > MJ: What was your motivation for the presentation, the > idea of people posing with their stories, and with most > obscuring their faces? > > C: My original intention was to have a very uniform > format: > > One-sentence statement I am the 99 Percent > OccupyWallSt.org > > And the person's face would have been fully revealed. > > However, as it's progressed, I've seen stories that > can't be told in just a sentence. It also occurred to me > that people may not be comfortable showing their full > faces. So, we've come to be a lot more flexible when it > comes to things like that. And, in all honesty, I think > the blog has benefited. With hindsight, it occurs to me > that demanding conformity with this strict uniform > format would have made all the stories start to sound > the same, smoothing out the diversity and making it much > more bland. So, thank goodness for rule-breaking! > > Right now, we only ask that you do your best to keep it > concise, that the sign be hand-written, and that some > part of your face be visible, though we'd still prefer > whole faces. Also, we delete entries that are too > blurry, have text that isn't legible, or are upside down > or backwards. (People, remember that if you take a > picture in a mirror, your text will be reversed!) > > MJ: How does the Tumblr work, practically speaking? > There seems to be a narrative rhythm to it. > > "I have read many long letters about the hard choices > that people have to face every day." PG: We post almost > all of the submissions. It's really hard because so many > of our fellow citizens have such remarkable stories, and > they write more of a letter than a simple fact. For many > of these entries it feels like this is the first time > anyone has asked them to articulate exactly what about > the system in which they live is not working. > > C: We try to post as many as we can, but when the inbox > fills up literally while you are working through it, and > you're only doing this during the little free time you > have, this can be quite difficult. I think I cleared the > inbox once during the entire time I've been doing this, > and then the next morning there were tons more. > > There's not much to curating it. I go through and read > the submissions that, from the outset, look ideal: > simple format, full face, hand-written. After that, I > comb through the ones that may not entirely fit the > format (the really long ones, for example) but still > look okay, and publish them. After that, I delete any > that are illegible or too blurry to read. > > MJ: Have submissions been steady? Did you notice a real > turning point in volume? > > C: We get more than 100 a day. I just logged on now to > check, and I have 106 new messages. And it's only 9:49 > a.m. > > PG: It did start as a handful.suffice to say that I have > read many long letters about medical and student debt, > abusive families inside which people are trapped, and > the hard choices that people have to face every day, > choices that I am sure they thought they were the only > ones making-until this Tumblr. > > MJ: Why do you think it is connecting so strongly? > > PG: Because we all have a story, and the conversation > about social safety nets has been lessened to that of > accounting and not of the day-to-day realities. It is > one thing for me to tell people that I have not been to > a dentist in five years; it is another to confess that I > deal with frequent wisdom tooth pain with ill-gotten > muscle relaxers and ice pops, and this has been my > reality for at least two years. > > C: I think they want to let others know that they're out > there, that they exist, that their problems exist. That > they're not just some statistic compiled in a > spreadsheet, that they're real human beings with real > human challenges. That they won't be an abstraction, a > walking political cartoon for people to argue and debate > over while nothing gets done in the end. They're not > just "indebted students," "the uninsured," "the > foreclosed." They're THIS indebted student, they're THIS > uninsured person, they're THIS person whose home was > foreclosed. Specificity has great power. > > On the reader side, I think people look for connection, > some escape from solipsism, to know that they're not the > only ones scared for the future, that they're not the > only ones who do everything they're supposed to do and > still fall down, that they're not the only ones who are > starting to wonder whether their individual suffering is > indicative of a much deeper, much more fundamental > sickness in our society. Struggling with money, you > focus so much on your own survival that you can feel > very isolated and alone. Knowing others have the same > struggle, and that they too are scared, can do much to > ameliorate this isolation. > > Though, this is all speculation. For all I know, there's > a lot more hand-written sign fetishists out there than I > thought. > > MJ: Priscilla, do you have a link to your own 99 Percent > submission? > > PG: I do, but this is not about me.this is about the 99 > percent. > > MJ: Have you gotten many inquiries about the Tumblr, or > any interesting messages of support or criticism? > > PG: The Huffington Post has dedicated serious resources > to the blog, calling it a populist call to action, which > is pretty amazing. I am amazed that the response has > been so overwhelmingly positive. Seriously, out of all > of the contact that we have gotten with the press and > citizens I have received two negative comments. Try to > find that reality anywhere on the internets. Finally, we > have all found something that we agree on. > > MJ: How important, in your mind, has social media been > to getting Occupy Wall Street to where it is? There's > probably gonna be a lot of hype, in hindsight, about the > role of social media. > > PG: I don't think this could have been possible without > social media to link people to real information on > wealth inequality [14], and to possible solutions that > are on the table to help balance the power structure. > Every time we go on the web, it is to learn something. > Right now Occupy Wall Street is part of an essential > education and conversation on wealth inequality so that > people can bring their own demands and solutions to the > table. It is an education that we all should have and a > conversation that is vital to the future of this > country. > > MJ: What are you currently doing beyond the Tumblr? Are > you on the ramparts? > > PG: My neighbors rounded up a carload of supplies for > the campers which I have brought. I have been sleeping > in the park on and off, much to the amazement of my > friends and family. I am on the edge of 40 and such > behavior is seen as a little extreme, but we are > fighting an extreme system, and if sleeping in a park > will bring attention to it, then put down some cardboard > and I will bring my sleeping bag. Other than that I am > around, doing what I can, lending professional consult > when asked. > > This is an occupation, and we are not leaving until > there is systemic change. We have no choice, it is time > to shift power away from the corporations and into the > hands of the people whom they should be serving. > > C: I helped spearhead the food committee during the > planning stages, which involved fundraising and securing > material donations to get the initial supply of food, > and helped get the main food station going when the > occupation formally began. I say "I helped" instead of > "I did" because none of what we have could be possible > without the assistance of many dedicated and passionate > people who also realized that the boring stuff is going > to have to be taken care of if we expect this thing to > have any legs. For the first few days, I was at the food > station pretty much all day, every day, even sleeping > beside it when I was camping out in the park, and got > people to help me mostly on an ad hoc basis. Now I go to > the camp right after work, changing in the bathroom, to > find five or six experienced people already at the > station and keeping things under control. At this point, > I mainly play a support role, helping prep food, going > on supply runs, organizing food donations, and keeping > people informed of what the food station needs. > > Incidentally, the way the food station has evolved is > pretty much nothing like how I initially imagined it > would be. This is a good thing: It means that it can, > theoretically, go on without me. We want to avoid > concentrations of power as much as we can. If the entire > thing collapses if one person happens to leave, we know > we've failed. As it is right now, amazing things are > happening there, and it's all because of the ideas of > people who've volunteered their time and efforts to > making sure everyone is fed. > > MJ: Where do things go from here? > > C: Truthfully, I don't know. I don't think anyone really > knows. What I'd like to see is something that gets > people to question some of the fundamental assumptions > that they make about the way the economic system works, > and to take action when those assumptions no longer > satisfy. Whether this takes the form of global non- > violent revolution, or just something that gets people > to challenge their worldview, the important thing is to > go as far as we can for as long as we can, and to try as > hard as we can. Because that means the next time someone > else is going to try harder. And then, someone else will > try harder than that. Until, eventually, we win. > > All photos courtesy of We Are the 99 Percent [2]. > > Links: > [1] http://motherjones.com/authors/adam-weinstein > [2] http://wearethe99percent.tumblr.com/ > [3] http://motherjones.com/politics/2011/10/occupy-wall-street-protest-map > [4] http://motherjones.com/category/secondary-tags/ows > [5] > http://wearethe99percent.tumblr.com/post/10799407101/i-am-61-lost-my-job-my-place-to-live-over-a-year > [6] http://wearethe99percent.tumblr.com/post/10848155412 > [7] http://wearethe99percent.tumblr.com/post/10831308379 > [8] > http://www.nationalreview.com/agenda/279319/we-are-99-percent-even-rich-people-josh-barro > [9] > http://www.theatlantic.com/business/archive/2011/10/most-americans-arent-occupy-wall-streets-99-percent/246196/ > [10] > http://www.good.is/post/we-are-the-99-percent-is-the-best-populist-message-we-ve-had-in-years/ > [11] > http://gothamist.com/2004/08/23/priscilla_grim_membership_advocacy_director_aivf.php > [12] http://occupywallst.org/ > [13] http://2439-occupywallst-com.voxcdn.com/media/img/aug9_flyer.png > [14] > http://motherjones.com/politics/2011/02/income-inequality-in-america-chart-graph > > ___________________________________________ > > Portside aims to provide material of interest to people > on the left that will help them to interpret the world > and to change it. > > Submit via email: [email protected] > > Submit via the Web: http://portside.org/submittous3 > > Frequently asked questions: http://portside.org/faq > > Sub/Unsub: http://portside.org/subscribe-and-unsubscribe > > Search Portside archives: http://portside.org/archive > > Contribute to Portside: https://portside.org/donate > > > ============================================================ > FRIAM Applied Complexity Group listserv > Meets Fridays 9a-11:30 at cafe at St. John's College > lectures, archives, unsubscribe, maps at http://www.friam.org > -- Doug Roberts [email protected] [email protected] http://parrot-farm.net/Second-Cousins <http://parrot-farm.net/Second-Cousins> 505-455-7333 - Office 505-670-8195 - Cell
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