We’ve done the encampment thing before — and it didn’t work.
First, we digress to my most memorable news clip of Occupy 2011. A camera crew were invited into the big tent of the Occupy leaders. They were wrangling with words, trying to put some rules into their movement, like writing a new constitution or manifesto of some kind. This two-minute clip showed the leaders were disagreeing more than agreeing: raised voices, belittling contrary opinions, almost coming to blows. From what I saw in this video, these supposedly united people were at their limits in organizing a tent city: charting a world vision was out of the question.
Occupy 2011 sputtered and died. While its apologists still claim it accomplished awareness of corporate greed, 13 years later corporate greed still seems to be winning.
Oil under Gaza?
Will Lockett wrote a Medium article about a possible reason for the Israeli response. There might be oil under Gaza or offshore Gaza.
My apologies: some links in this article will not work unless you are a Medium member.
I have seen similar articles posted on Mastodon. There is already a working offshore gas field in Israel, so it’s not a big stretch to assume this petroleum basin in the Mediterranean Sea is much bigger than that one gas field.
And it’s not a big stretch to assume Israel would like to be self-sufficient in oil. The oil potential could be a partial reason for Israel’s over-the-top response. Drive the Gazans out, and get the oil.
If there is some truth to this story, then why is it not becoming more well-known? Why is the mainstream media not saying much? Why are the protesters not reinforcing this connection?
Is it a genocide?
We just might be in a state of fait accompli.
The TV clips I see show that very few buildings are left standing in Gaza. Sewer, water, and electricity systems are broken. If the Pro-Palestine protests stop the fighting, it is a Pyrrhic victory. Either the Gazans live in tents for the next decade, enduring a life of physical and mental anguish, or they are dispersed throughout the world. Who can blame them if they leave Gaza? Or maybe geopolitical forces limit their options — and they are forced to stay in tents in Gaza. There is no good outcome here, protests or no protests.
If they stay (or are forced to stay), their options are another Hamas-like rule, another Israeli occupation, or another version of American democracy. Some choice, right?
If the protesters wanted an effective solution for Gaza, that solution should have been started a decade ago.
Two Medium Writers on this Topic
I have formulated my own opinions of Hamas. Basically, the 50,000 Hamas members are more concerned about their political power in their small pond than the well-being of the 2,000,000 people they govern. I have talked about the 2% of the Orwell Ratio before where a small group runs roughshod over the overwhelming majority. Hamas is a 2%.
I could explain my position further, but I will refer to two Medium articles.
A few days after the Hamas attack, Sam Young gave his reasons. Basically, Hamas was losing legitimacy with the Gazans. An internal revolt was brewing. On October 7, Hamas “did something” to take away the possibility of that revolt.
Nadin Brzezinski explains the forces that shape an authoritarian regime like Hamas. If we are of a humanistic nature, we do not want to inflict this kind of regime on anyone.
Look, I get it
I understand that well-meaning people want to do something to change the unfolding drama. Unfortunately, current protests look like the only bandwagon that well-meaning people can jump on.
Medium is full of well-meaning people who like to point to this bad thing or that bad thing and encourage us to protest and vote to change those bad things.
Sorry, I find this approach as so “not-working-any-more.”
I have another mission we could embark on.
Building A New Democracy
I have a much different solution. Let’s go back to the news clip that I mentioned at the start of this article.
The leaders of Occupy 2011 were trying to build a new way. They had the right idea, but they did not have the right tools. Because they could not get along, they understandably quit, leaving the forces they were trying to overthrow still running us today.
I have an alternative democracy. I have provided a toolbox for well-meaning people to employ to build that democracy.
Building this democracy will not be easy. And it will take time to mature: at least 10 years.
I realize that this timeline is too long for most of this article’s readers. They want things fixed now. There’s no sense looking 10 years into the future. And that’s the problem. There is no long-term vision anywhere in the political spectrum. At best, there is mostly wishful thinking and complaining.
But imagine this conversation Occupy 2011 leaders could have had:
Zach: Look, we’ve been working on our constitution for two days. We haven’t agreed to put any words on paper. We are getting angrier and angrier at each other.
Zelda: But this is how constitutions are built. We have to keep going. There are 5000 supporters outside our tent wanting us to succeed.
Zach: A year ago, I stumbled on to a website about building a new democracy. This Dave fellow from Canada has some interesting ideas.
Zelda: We have no time to read that website. We have to keep going.
Zach: If we continue going as we have been, our work will come to nothing.
Zelda: Where’s that website?
If the Occupy 2011 leaders had started building the TDG, the TDG would be built today. The TDG would have been a working model for Gazans to copy for themselves.
Maybe it is time to stop protesting — and start building something that is more likely to work. Those of us living in Western society have the mental and physical and social capacity to build the TDG — and show it to the rest of the world. Instead, we protest a fait accompli. I would not call this “being proactive.”
I have no solution to fix Gaza for today. All I can say is that if we don’t build the TDG, there will be more Gazas 10 years from now.
If the Occupy Movement had put 1% of its energy into the TDG in 2011, the Gazans might have cast Hamas aside — and put in a TDG-like democratic structure.
If the Pro-Palestinian protests direct 1% of their energy to the TDG, the world will be in a much better position 10 years from now than it is today.
But we are choosing the wrong solution — again.
Published on Medium 2024
Book Review: The Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire
Winston Churchill & The Turning Point
