Nancy Cronk: The Occupy Movement: Who We Are and What We Want: "The beautiful thing about Occupy Wall Street, and all of the other Occupy Together groups around the globe, is that it is an organic, grassroots, bottom-up, not top-down, movement. The people who organized that sit-in, and the sit-ins in every major city, did not do it for their own fame, or recognition, or personal platform. They did it as an expression of the highest form of patriotism, and a deep, abiding love for their country."
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Hi,
ReplyDeleteI am Nancy Cronk, the author of this piece. I no longer associate with Occupy. I believe in the goal of sending a message to Congress that Americans are angry about corporatism, but I do not sympathize with the more radical activists and anarchist that have emerged as leaders in some areas. I am a peaceful person. I believe now, as I always have, that only peaceful protest and mindful legal action bring about lasting social change. Violence or intimidation, which a very tiny percentage of Occupy members believe is okay, is NEVER okay with me.
Nancy; you can certainly associate with anyone (or group) you wish but I would like to address a misconception you seem to be laboring under. That is the idea that Anarchists believe in violence and intimidation. For one, the political theory of Anarchism by it's very nature shuns all forms of intimidation. Secondly, most of the great Anarchist political theorists are opposed to violence. Don't believe me? Read some of Peter Kropotkin's works on Anarchy (Kropotkin is, in my and most everyone else's opinion, the greatest Anarchist writer of all time), as well as Emma Goldman and Alexander Berkman (who did try to assassinate James Frick during the Homestead Mine Strike and went to jail for it but, writing from jail, he came to believe violence was not the answer and urged others to avoid it). Maybe the "anarchists' you speak of are not in fact actual Anarchists and do not even understand the meaning of the word. The next time you encounter someone who says "I'm an Anarchist" ask them to name just one Anarchist political theorist. If they answer with any of the above, they know where of they speak. If they come up with someone like 'Sid Vicious', ignore them.
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