It tends to be about the interaction of people
or things coming together in a novel (and in a sense a more complex), yet more
simply elegant, way. And probably the best example of it that most of us can
relate to is a word that shares the same root, "emergency." So, we often see
this happen. If there's some kind of emergency--think about some of the horrific
storms we've been dealing with lately. And when that happen,s some people start
organizing getting food, some tend to the injured, some put up a website so you
can find your loved one. People, in a sense, self-organize to get stuff done,
and out of the disorder of an emergency, a new order--a comprehensive order,
arises. And of course I think we're seeing that going on with the Occupy
Movement in a big way as well.
Rob: Say some more about that.
Peggy: So, one of the patterns that you
can rely on when emergence (which is natural phenomenon) takes place, is that
in a sense it's how change takes place, and all change begins with some kind of
disruption. And if you stop and think about it, it makes sense, because if
there were no disruption, there'd be no need for change. And what does that
disruption do? It means that the assumptions about business as usual, how
things work--our assumptions about how things work, no longer serve. And so
things break apart and we move into this experimental stage, and ultimately,
for something to emerge, something new rises arises, comes back together in a comprehensible
form.
And so if you look at what Occupy has done,
it was clearly a major disruption to ways we think about protest, and in
bringing visibility to the issues of economic justice, in a sense, that have
been growing not just in this country, but around the world. And as I've been
watching (frankly mostly from the sidelines, I've just put a bit of a toe in
the water around the Occupy Movement), as we see the movement itself being
pushed out of being on the streets, in a sense the disruption itself is being
disrupted, and in the process it's letting a thousand blossoms bloom as people
are saying, "What's next? What does Occupy 2.0 looks like?" And it doesn't
necessarily book like people on the streets, although that maybe part of it.
I think we're beginning to see a number of
different experiments, whether it's people occupying ports, or houses, or some
of the online kinds of gatherings like Occupy Caf????, where people are beginning
to think about "where from here?" So,
we're in that stage of lots of experimentation, and I think as people start
listening for, "What are the differences that make a difference?"-- we'll begin
to see some kind of coherent forms arise--none of which are predictable ahead of
time.
Rob: So you say you just put your toe in the water?
Peggy: Yeah, I got an invitation,oh, I'd
say about a month ago from one of the organizers of this occupycafe.org,
which has seen itself as a place for conversations that begin to shift the
conversation from "what we don't want" to "what do we want", and in the
process, creating spaces for people who are looking for a way to get involved
but aren't necessarily interested in camping on the streets; to find a place to
see how they might step in and get involved in some way. And one aspect of that
is really beginning to think about, "So what is this movement about, in terms
of what do we want to create more of?"
Rob: That's been interesting, because in the beginning,
the first couple of months, I think it was a very conscious decision not to
make clear statements about demands or goals. That the Movement was just
forming, and there were no specific leaders, and what has come out of it, I
think Horizontal Democracy that uses the General Assembly to get Democratic
consensus, or if there is any. And
that's a really different thing, that I think particularly old people over 30
are having a very hard time with this idea that the movement can evolve in a
general sense, perhaps, of what is wanted, without specific defined goals or
demands, and without any particular readers. How does that match with your
model?
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