What demands? We don't need no stinkin' demands...

Perhaps the most pervasive criticism of the Occupy Everything Movement is that there is no singular message or demand. This is, of course, complete and utter horse poop. The message is pretty goddamn clear to anyone willing to open their fucking ears - people are sick and fucking tired of the financial elite stealing everything, be it the wealth of nations, the tools of democracy or elections. People are finally giving voice to the frustrations they feel, and stating openly and publicly that the system is broken beyond repair. They are beginning to understand the enforced powerlessness that working within the system creates. And they have a demand - They are demanding redress of their grievances. They are demanding the future promised to them. They are demanding a future for the next generation. They are demanding power, real political power.
Now, the entrenched politicos don't see it that way, of course. They are in an absolute tizzy over the outrageousness of it all. Some of them simply don't get it at all - they are so invested in the system that anything that comes from without is simply indecipherable to them. Some, like ultra-rightist Rep. King of New York do get it, and it scares the shit out of them. He recently said, “It’s really important for us not to give any legitimacy to these people in the streets. I remember what happened in the 1960s when the left-wing took to the streets and somehow the media glorified them and it ended up shaping policy. We can’t allow that to happen.”
One of the best analysis I have read comes from this blog, adriennemareebrown.net, specifically this post :

and in terms of the demands, it seems the central demand is to build and expand a conversation that is long overdue in this country, a conversation which doesn’t have simple cut and dry demands. we are realizing that we must become the systems we need – no government, political party or corporation is going to care for us, so we have to remember how to care for each other.

and that will take time, and commitment, a willingness to step outside of the comfort of the current and lean into the unknown, together. to listen to each other across all real and perceived divides...
the whole thing seems so utterly not produced, not micromanaged, and not acting from a place of crisis which excuses top down elitist decision making processes – not rushing itself...it feels spacious. it feels like something you can do, no matter where you are, by authentically applying yourself to the changes you wish to see.

And that, I think is a brilliant summation of the whole kit-n-kaboodle. The detractors are really crying because we are not doing 'it' the way 'it' has been done before. We are blazing a new path, and leaving the old forces, left and right, behind.
And nobody likes being left behind, so they attack the vanguard. Their mewling, however, is both impotent and immaterial. WE have forged ahead with out them, and that scares the fuck out of them. As well it should.
In Solidarity,
The Match

It's been a long, long time...

I started this blog a while back out of frustration. Frustration with the world, with the political paradigm, with the entrenched left, with my own inaction, with the lack of a cohesive voice that spoke for me. It was, and is, a cry for attention. Not for myself, but for all the like minded, the disaffected, disenfranchised and the dissed. After a bit, I fell off. I never really found the voice I was seeking, and never quite found the focus point that would make it all more than just me howling at the moon.

Then the Occupation started.

So, I'm going to try to get this little project up and running again. The focus will be the occupation movement sweeping the globe. This will be a holding cell for subversive ideas, relevant links, stories and analysis of the struggle now being engaged in the streets of America. I will twitter updates at iamthematch. I hope it is helpful to some.

OCCUPY. RESIST. PRODUCE.

In solidarity,
The Match