Something Occurs
I am fascinated by the fact that the #Occupy movement is tapping into such deep wells that even members of right-wing militias, who consider egalitarian, love and peace, radically inclusive, consensus-driven protesters to be naive and silly, are prepared to get out and act as protection for protesters against the police.
Now, if I was a protester in Phoenix, I would not be happy to see people whose beliefs include the idea that "America is a white, European homeland" carrying guns to protect me.
However, I would be hopeful that we recognised our common ground, and that this might provide an opportunity to engage with them in mutual listening. Coming to complete agreement might never happen, but coming to a mutually respectful point at which we're open to listening and bearing each other's common humanity in mind can really defuse extremism and lead to greater co-operation and inclusivity.
That's not the same as endorsing their current belief system.
I shouldn't feel the need to say that, I suppose, but it is only about 20 years ago that I believed that engaging with an extremist was the same as lending their beliefs legitimacy, because I was brought up on "We don't negotiate with terrorists", and the idea of refusing to give the IRA "the oxygen of publicity" - until it became clear that refusing just made everything worse, and the only way to begin to repair the Northern Irish Troubles was to actually start listening to one another and making concessions to each other.
The whole point of #Occupy, it seems to me, is not to create homogeneous attitudes, but to:
I'm not clear on how well either of them grok #Occupy, or how committed they are to peace and inclusivity. What I do see is the growth of dialogue between very disparate groups as they realise that we're all being played. How that will work out, I don't know.
Something's happening here. What it is ain't exactly clear.
Now, if I was a protester in Phoenix, I would not be happy to see people whose beliefs include the idea that "America is a white, European homeland" carrying guns to protect me.
However, I would be hopeful that we recognised our common ground, and that this might provide an opportunity to engage with them in mutual listening. Coming to complete agreement might never happen, but coming to a mutually respectful point at which we're open to listening and bearing each other's common humanity in mind can really defuse extremism and lead to greater co-operation and inclusivity.
That's not the same as endorsing their current belief system.
I shouldn't feel the need to say that, I suppose, but it is only about 20 years ago that I believed that engaging with an extremist was the same as lending their beliefs legitimacy, because I was brought up on "We don't negotiate with terrorists", and the idea of refusing to give the IRA "the oxygen of publicity" - until it became clear that refusing just made everything worse, and the only way to begin to repair the Northern Irish Troubles was to actually start listening to one another and making concessions to each other.
The whole point of #Occupy, it seems to me, is not to create homogeneous attitudes, but to:
- encourage peaceful discussion and a place where people of very divergent beliefs can meet on common ground to discover their mutual interests
- raise awareness of the artificially produced and maintained divisions that keep the mass of people disempowered and participating in a social system that actively harms them
- formulate creative ways of empowering people (peaceful approaches to conflict have to be creative)
- transform society into a fair and free system which supports human flourishing
Click to viewI'm not clear on how well either of them grok #Occupy, or how committed they are to peace and inclusivity. What I do see is the growth of dialogue between very disparate groups as they realise that we're all being played. How that will work out, I don't know.
Something's happening here. What it is ain't exactly clear.