[Occupymendocino] Occupys-Response-to-Disaster-Go-On-The-Offensive

[Richard Karch]

http://readersupportednews.org/off-site-opinion-section/83-83/14856-occupys-response-to-disaster-go-on-the-offensive

Sign at the Church of St. Luke and St. Matthew on Clinton Ave. in Brooklyn (batmanwi.com/Jenna Pope)

The best response to disaster: Go on the offensive
It has been more than a month since Hurricane Sandy. Windows of opportunity that have opened will soon close again, and we need to seize the moment. Compared to just a week or two ago, there are now fewer volunteers, fewer people reading the mass emails from Occupy Sandy, fewer hubs in active service. And just like before, the vultures are still circling, hoping to use this period of crisis to replace flooded bungalows and moldy housing projects with the fancy condos and luxury hotels they’ve always wanted. Just like before, the underlying systems and crises — social, economic, political and environmental — still exist, and are still causing damage much deeper than any hurricane ever could on its own.
by Yotam Marom | December 3, 2012
We’re usually inclined to fight power when it is being carried out, but that’s often too late to stop it. Similarly, we’re inclined to fight powerwhere it is most felt — in our communities, in the poor neighborhoods and communities of color around the city, in the ghettos that separate the many from the few who profit from their exploitation. That, too, is a mistake, because the powerful make decisions far, far away from there.

Yes, the windows are closing, but there’s still a bit of time and a ton of potential to make the shift from relief to resistance. If we want to protect our communities and prepare ourselves for the many battles ahead, we have to go on the offensive. If we want to really have a say, really change the rules of the game, we have to take the fight from where power is felt to the heart of the beast where it originates — from Far Rockaway and Staten Island to Wall Street and City Hall.




Sign at the Church of St. Luke and St. Matthew on Clinton Ave. in Brooklyn (batmanwi.com/Jenna Pope)
 
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