We had some quick announcements on the two very successful meetings from the night before. Both Nancy's meeting on income inequality and the collective meeting on corporate personhood were well attended and very successful. The agenda for the night was approved, and without further delay...
Corporate Personhood Continued
Jed finished his presentation on the history of corporate personhood from the 14th amendment to today. An in depth summary will be posted as soon as a webspace more suitable is created (I am sending a request to the tech group now). In short, with the blessing of rights equal to that of a person -- defended by dubious assertions of the intentions of the 14th amendment -- corporations were free to receive further rights granted under the 5th, 4th, and 2nd amendments. Some of these rights were granted in spite of state opposition and state laws, because the supreme court determined those laws denied corporations their constitutional rights as "people". Several examples of further applications and attempted applications were given to wrap up a very informative presentation. Again, resources and presentation materials will be available soon.
OWS Declaration Discussion
We continued the discussion on the NYC General Assembly's Declaration, specifically how we understood its intentions and implications for Occupy Nevada County. We broke the larger group into three smaller discussion groups, and after 25mins of discussion, rejoined the larger group to share our findings.
Group 1 moved directly into issues that needed to be addressed, such as grand ideas like stopping the perpetuation of war, and smaller goals like occupying minds. They also saw the need to add to the list of the grievances; for the general declaration they saw the need to give nature protective rights, and end militarism in the name of oil. Locally they wanted to focus efforts on preventing the return of mining, prevent homelessness, occupy Bridgeport Park, stop foreclosures, and establish a public works program in the Tahoe National Forrest.
Group 2 dove deep into the intentions of the OWS Declaration. Noting first that its sole focus is the necessary response of the people to the influence of corporations. Emphasizing cooperation and peace, their intention was for us to setup a framework for self-governance from within our own communities, and return power to the people through seeking consent. The list of grievances added a somewhat conflicting aspect: the need to establish what we stand for. There is a careful balance to be found between establishing goals, so that we may accomplish something as a group, and setting aside particular agendas in the interest of broadening appeal and maximizing participation from the community. This was a heated debate that continued in the large group discussion.
Group 3 also picked up on the risk of alienation, and suggested the greater Occupy movement may be consciously dragging its feet with this purpose in mind. To be all inclusive, the NYC GA was very careful in its wording to only be against corporate power and support democracy; we should be careful to do the same. They also came to the conclusion that our actions should start with local social and political issues, but not lose sight of the larger movement.
Rejoining the larger group, we dove deeper into how to get the entire 99% on board with the movement. There were so many inspirational small town things we can do: Show our presence by standing up for each other, stop unfair foreclosures, buy locally, start support groups for the unemployed, come up with a list of skills and services that we are happy to provide, have public events where anyone in need can feel welcome. Victims of social or economic injustices may have no one to turn to, and may feel rejected for not making it in the "American dream". We want to embrace them, and tell them it's not a shame to not be financially "successful". The sense of kindness, initiative, and inspiration gave me the feeling that we may be creating a league of small town superheroes, not stopping supervillains (yet) or explosions, but standing for humanity and community in whatever way we can. Inspiring others through good deeds in the community is a powerful way to encourage others to join our cause.
Goals
The declaration discussion seamlessly morphed into a discussion on specific goals and objectives. One suggestion was a potluck that would be both a social event and an outreach to those in need. Occupying houses that are being foreclosed on (preferably before they are foreclosed on for legal and practical reasons) was another possibility that got much attention. Compiling the list of services we can provide seems a simple task that could be done immediately. This may lead to some other working groups like a hospitality WG or a counseling WG. Our GA has agreed to support local businesses, and some have noticed an increase in business, but we think it would be good to explicitly say when we are buying local on behalf of Occupy NC. A consensus was reached to suggest at the next GA that we sign merchant receipts with "Occupy" or even recommend writing "Occupy" on the money itself, of course with the warning that, while never enforced, writing on money is illegal.
A couple of other more general questions came up as well. First, why aren't we occupying in tents in parks? There were several answers to that question: we're staying visible in other ways; occupying isn't about tents, it's about democracy; it's super cold; but most importantly, it's just not where we are as Occupy NC, and not where we've decided to spend our effort. However, if there is interest in starting an occupation, anyone may propose it at the GA and is free to start an occupation.
Second, we discussed the email from Michael Rogers regarding the potential for discrimination and the squelching out of minority dissent. His main concern was with the power a facilitator has, and the potential for misuse, particularly when using the progressive stack method (a method used to call on speakers where people who have not spoken much get a higher priority than those who have already spoken a lot). This was more a warning than a response to any particular incident, and though the progressive stack method found much support in our group, we did have a heartfelt talk about the importance of impartiality and proper training of facilitators.
Agenda
Two hours came and went in a flash, and the proposed agenda for next week was hammered out as follows: Intro (20mins), discuss goals starting from tonight's list and the previous brainstorming session from two weeks previous (40mins), stretch (5mins), small group discussion on economic perspectives (20mins), large group discussion on economics (20mins), form the next agenda (15mins). The econ emails are already flowing, so looking forward to a most lively discussion next Thursday at 6:30pm @ the Peace Center, Nevada City.
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