Class War Battlefield The Difference between Representatives v.

Leaders Who knew The Revolution would be televised on the internet and ridiculed by the mainstream press. Vphiamer Adis For the better part of two weeks Ive heard the privileged estate known as the press, complain about the lack of a coherent plan from Occupy Wall Street or the sibling demonstrations that have popped up across the nation. For those of us who have followed these gatherings on twitter, facebook or through the increasingly diverse voice of alternative media, a category I now place Keith Olbermann in; we must laugh at the almost snippy, winey, complaining voices of this group of courtiers who had begun busying themselves with the task of preparing the general public for a War with Iran and the circus that is to be the 2012 Elections. So off guard were they at the viral aspect of these Occupy demonstrations that they didnt have enough sense to allow the organizers to speak for themselves; instead they relied on tried and true methods of divide and conquer. They reached deep into their infotainment and marketing bags to create the 53% Counter movement, forgetting of course that many of those supposed 53% were involved in the 99% demonstrating throughout the nation and now the world. Political puppets, so used to having the spin masters swallow, digest and regurgitate their comments into the ears of numb Americans, felt completely lost as they tried to, on the one hand stay true to their corporate masters and on the other hand, not piss off the voters in their districts that were calling for real, radical changes in how the system worked. Supposed Progressives suddenly found themselves on the outside of a grassroots call to action; some remained respectful tweeting solidarity, while others called for evictions and police action. Liberals, already amassed in Washington for an inside the beltway Egyptian style uprising, quickly saw a solidarity gathering occurring within the same city, reject a call by the leaders of that uprising to consolidate the groups a decision that was ultimately reversed. The dynamics of this micro-feud told a broader story that had up till that point been ignored by much of the liberal press; that they were part of the problem. A younger generation did not see them as separate from the chaos caused by the government and their corporate controllers but a useful tool of that system. Conservatives and Corporatists quickly found fault with the gatherings, reverting language coined in the 1960s. Presidential Hopeful Herman Caine even attempted to co-opt the group by asking that their anger be redirected at President Obama, as if he had to ask for that too happen. It is partly because of the dissatisfaction of this younger generation with Barack Obama that this movement has begun. Now, at only 4 weeks old there are at least 1150 occupy solidarity protests throughout the nation. Websites such as Occupywallstreet.com and Occupytogether.com are tracking the movement as it spreads like fever throughout the world. I have been giving some considerable thought to the reasons given for the amassing of this protest movement and the need for a more cohesive message or even a more cohesive plan and while I dont have any suggestion for either of these needs I will like to offer up to the general assemblys gathered in NY City and elsewhere a quick explanation as to why we need a representative world as opposed to the leadership world we have now. The task of a leader is to tell a group of people what to think, how to act and the consequences if they do not follow their rules; while leaders can be consensus builders and could listen and/or encourage those they lead to solve the problems confronting them; too often they dont do that. The reason is pretty straight forward, the more powerless the sheep feel they are, the more they will let the leader rule over their lives. Contrast this with the task of the Representative whose job it is to build consensus. While this person may have a set of views that guides their morality; they must be selfless and empathetic to the needs of those who have elected them to their position. They must be, at all times accountable to the group and must be able to have their position revoked if they oppose the will of the group. Moreover a representative does not hold ultimate power; they may be tasked with implementing or coordinating a plan originally created by the group, thus one of the

greatest tasks a representative can and should undertake is stepping aside to allow collective innovation and execution to flourish. We currently have a system of misplaced leaders masquerading as representatives. Town hall meetings are not constructive means of accountability, to paraphrase Bushs former Press Secretary Dana Pareno, accountability is electoral, it happens only when elections come up. The 99% will have to come to realize that true accountability requires constant vigilantes and participation. Chief Organizer for Occupy Wayne County Vphiamer Adis classwarbattlefield@live.com