"Down With That Sort of Thing" - New PW Blog Post on "Occupy" by Kev Bar

[C. Flower]

Part I of a 2 parter on Occupy Dame Street: nice blogpost by Kev - please leave your comments on the blog, or if you prefer, on this thread.

http://itsapoliticalworld.wordpress.com/

[Spectabilis]

Great blog from KevBar. I was particularly taken by his insight into who the real conservatives and radicals are. The first part of the final paragraph is also worthy of repeating:

"What Occupy says Yes to cannot be captured in a youtube clip. Tentatively, the Occupy movement is trying to find a way out of the quagmire and trying to discern a whole new way of playing the whole game. The aim is a popular, collaborative new form of democracy which will be robust enough to resist being hijacked by special interests. And that, to put it mildly, is no small or easy task."

[Griska]

Great blog from KevBar. I was particularly taken by his insight into who the real conservatives and radicals are. The first part of the final paragraph is also worthy of repeating:

"What Occupy says Yes to cannot be captured in a youtube clip. Tentatively, the Occupy movement is trying to find a way out of the quagmire and trying to discern a whole new way of playing the whole game. The aim is a popular, collaborative new form of democracy which will be robust enough to resist being hijacked by special interests. And that, to put it mildly, is no small or easy task."

My concern would be that it will be hijacked by the mainstream and therefore become part of the system it is protesting against.

Very nice piece, Kev.

[Kev Bar]

My concern would be that it will be hijacked by the mainstream and therefore become part of the system it is protesting against.

Very nice piece, Kev.

Thanks.

Some of the more subtle but perhaps uncharted revolutionary forces the movement reflects are discussed in the next piece.


Already there is commentary about the movement being neutralised by being hijacked by the Obama campaign.

But arguably there are bigger forces at play which might neutralise the system as we know it.

But you have to stay tuned for rants on that..


Curiously the piece itself arose from rough notes for a proposal I sent to the Irish Times about 3-4 weeks ago suggesting a feature combining an analytical overview with vignettes from afternoon lectures and late night anarchy down at Dame St.

But not a word of response.

A man would almost adopt "method journalism" and start harbouring theories about the malign "MSM".

[Theresa]

Well done Kev

I'm having a hard time with occupy. I was very supportive at first - this system is soooooo messed up and for all the reasons you've covered and the movement brings up globally.

However, the Dame St group do not seem to be taking the environment seriously. The economy is a subsystem of society which is itself a subsystem of the planet. Trash the planet and the rest is doomed. We are at the doomed stage and all they want to save is the subsystem of the subsystem???? Dame st are not looking at the disease, merely the symptom but the problem I have is that their minds are closed to it - they don't want to know despite the fact that Wall st and many other occupations, include it

[Apjp]

There aren't any newspapers in this country that aren't establishment mouthpieces. Kerrigan, O'Toole and Browne are about the only non establishment journalists capable of free thought, and beholden to the truth and what is right in this world. A great journalist today is a happy well connected little mouthpiece who adheres to universal truths such as 'our sovereignty is gone because the troika said so'. A really great journalist has to be someone who is incapable of falling for the great lie of universal truth, and knows only one truth, that there is no one truth. You always have to question everything when writing is what I find, and Kevin you do that brilliantly in your piece.

[Apjp]

Personally I've always enjoyed his posts anyways. Blog was great.

[Kev Bar]

There aren't any newspapers in this country that aren't establishment mouthpieces. Kerrigan, O'Toole and Browne are about the only non establishment journalists capable of free thought, and beholden to the truth and what is right in this world. A great journalist today is a happy well connected little mouthpiece who adheres to universal truths such as 'our sovereignty is gone because the troika said so'. A really great journalist has to be someone who is incapable of falling for the great lie of universal truth, and knows only one truth, that there is no one truth. You always have to question everything when writing is what I find, and Kevin you do that brilliantly in your piece.

Appreciated.

[Apjp]

Have Occupy any major plans for the new year? The NAMA thing where they hope to occupy empty buildings seems the most likely to succeed from what Ive seen

[antiestablishmentarian]

Very interesing piece and thought provoking. I'm gonna have a think and get back because there's alot I agree with and much that I find controversial, so I'm gonna take a walk and get back to you later.

Edit: it's a pity about the lack of publication, but perhaps you could ask a blog to carry it for you? I know that blogs like the CLR take some opinion pieces from time to time and that blog gets quite a bit of traffic so maybe you could try there or somewhere like it Kev.

[Kev Bar]

Very interesing piece and thought provoking. I'm gonna have a think and get back because there's alot I agree with and much that I find controversial, so I'm gonna take a walk and get back to you later.

Edit: it's a pity about the lack of publication, but perhaps you could ask a blog to carry it for you? I know that blogs like the CLR take some opinion pieces from time to time and that blog gets quite a bit of traffic so maybe you could try there or somewhere like it Kev.

Ta.
Might just do that once Cactus has put up the second part.

[People Korps]

There aren't any newspapers in this country that aren't establishment mouthpieces. Kerrigan, O'Toole and Browne are about the only non establishment journalists capable of free thought, and beholden to the truth and what is right in this world. A great journalist today is a happy well connected little mouthpiece who adheres to universal truths such as 'our sovereignty is gone because the troika said so'. A really great journalist has to be someone who is incapable of falling for the great lie of universal truth, and knows only one truth, that there is no one truth. You always have to question everything when writing is what I find, and Kevin you do that brilliantly in your piece.

Vincent Browne has allowed his TV3 show to be a bastion of the far right under Declan Ganley just a few months ago and encourages Ganley's spawn like McGuirk by giving them airtime ..he also has Ganley's business partner Constantine Gurdiev on at the drop of any hat. For the record Gurdiev is NOT a PROFESSOR at Trinity college nor is he a staffer he is an adjunct lecturer and unless we get his roster we can not know whether that means he teaches 1 or 12 class a year on a particular subject or whatever

.....however the media and his own vibe is that he is somehow coming from TCD when he broadcasts.........Someone should make a complaint to the Provost about his constant use of the of TCD in his credentials and also about his continued adjunct status

And Kev Bar shame on you for not mentioning McGuirks membership of a fourth political party Progressive Democrats from whom he was also expelled leaving Libertas as his last bastion.....
for now

[Kev Bar]

Vincent Browne has allowed his TV3 show to be a bastion of the far right under Declan Ganley just a few months ago and encourages Ganley's spawn like McGuirk by giving them airtime ..he also has Ganley's business partner Constantine Gurdiev on at the drop of any hat. For the record Gurdiev is NOT a PROFESSOR at Trinity college nor is he a staffer he is an adjunct lecturer and unless we get his roster we can not know whether that means he teaches 1 or 12 class a year on a particular subject or whatever

.....however the media and his own vibe is that he is somehow coming from TCD when he broadcasts.........Someone should make a complaint to the Provost about his constant use of the of TCD in his credentials and also about his continued adjunct status

And Kev Bar shame on you for not mentioning McGuirks membership of a fourth political party Progressive Democrats from whom he was also expelled leaving Libertas as his last bastion.....
for now

It is a shameful mistake. And would have made the point so much better.

Might get it added

[fluffybiscuits]

Excellent blog piece Kev and well worth a read. What about submitting it to say Indymedia?

[Kev Bar]

Excellent blog piece Kev and well worth a read. What about submitting it to say Indymedia?

Cheers.
Once the second post goes up, will try and bounce it around.