11.13.2011

Occupy's Goals-Strategies-Tactics

The emerging cooperation among anti-capitialist movements showed its strenght as thousands of people in Berlin and Frankfurt took to the streets Saturday to protest the global financial crisis. The anger of the Occupy Wall Street and Indignants movements has spread to Germany. A similiar meeting of movements in Athens a few days ago reflect a global resistance movement coming together to face global problems.

The goals of these far flung protestors are identical. Goals are achieved by way of good strategies. Strategies are accomplished by different successful tactics. Here in Canada the occupations, the tent city tactic, are being cleared by local 'authorities' each day. IMO the tent city tactic can only work when they begin to serve the particular needs of their local communities. Occupy Vancouver's daily 'free food for all' run by volunteers and supplied by donations is a great example. So is their focus on homelessness shown by yesterday's march.

Just as each community's needs are different so will the strategies and tactics be different. If a small tent city occupation gets thrown out then, like in Halifax, the moral outrage shown locally can do as much or more to further the process of education central to your strategy. Maybe it is to cold in Regina to live in a tent all winter but Regina has local issues to build around.

The goal is of building the world you want is being grown around the world by people who are learning to organize themselves and resist in the course of providing for one another. Not learning from the successes and failures of the strategies and tactics would be stupid. The Argentines and, to a lesser degree, the Greeks have built grassroots community bases that serve the needs of the people not the elites. Nither had encampments, though the indignants of Spain did, encampments are a tactic to be used, or not, in the service of a strategy designed to accomplish a goal.