Through my journey as an eclectic spiritualist, I have found that truth sometimes hides in the most obvious of places. I continually look to the world around me to try and see the larger connections. I work hard not to pull things out of context, but sometimes even when you disagree with an over all arguement, the opposing team can make individual truthful statements. I am not looking to promote the ideas of a political party, or typical advocacy group. I am looking to share organic opinions that I have taken the time to reflect upon and form.
As a caveat to those interested. I go the inspiriation for my name from the song "War Child", by the Cranberries, the fact that I feel like we are at a point where if we don't fight some how we will all lose, the seemingly ever growing number of military actions, and the seperation I feel between the people and their government. While my town hasn't been bombed, I still feel that I have been used by the political and economic system in a bad way. Here are the lyrics (not stealing....they are openly available) for those who might find some of the same truth in the lyrics.
"War Child" by The Cranberries
Who will save the war child baby? I spent last winter in New York,
Who controls the key? And came upon a man.
The web we weave is thick and sordid, He was sleeping on the streets and homeless,
Fine by me. He said, "I fought in Vietnam."
At times of war we're all the losers, Beneath his shirt he wore the mark,
There's no victory. He bore the mark with pride.
We shoot to kill and kill your lover, A two inch deep incision carved,
Fine by me. Into his side.
War child, victim of political pride. War child, victime of political pride.
Plant the seed, territorial greed. Plant the seed, territorial greed.
Mind the war child, Mind the war child,
We should mind the war child. We should mind the war child.
Who's the loser now? Who's the loser now?
We're all the losers now. We're all the losers now.
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posted Dec 2, 2011 8:40 PM by sarah steadman
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updated Dec 5, 2011 10:43 AM
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Here is the link to "Common Sense" as written by Thomas Paine. The purpose of sharing this is to start other people forming their own opinions on it's meaning and relevence. 'Forewarned is forarmed' is not just a trite cliché! http://www.constitution.org/tp/comsense.htm
I will post my perspectives and hopefully the full piece tomorrow with access to more than a mobile device. Perspectives will be posted as a seperate post to encourage discussion that wont be confused with theoriginal document.
Copy and paste seems to be beyond the capabilities of my tablet (or perhaps it's user) so please bear with me as I re-type this document. If you point out errors, I will correct them so as to provide the correct form of the document. -Common Sense, by Thomas Paine [1776]
INTRODUCTION TO THE THIRD EDITION
Perhaps the sentiments contained in the following pages, are not YET sufficiently fashionable to procure them general favor; a long habit of not thinking a thing WRONG, gives it a superficial appearance of being RIGHT, and raises at first a formidable outcry in desfense of custom. But tumult soon subsides. Time makes more converts than reason.
As a long and violent abuse of power is generally the Means of calling the right of it in question, (and in Matters too that might never have been thought of, had not the Sufferers been aggravated into the inquiry,) and as the King of England hath undertaken in his OWN RIGHT, to support the Parliament in what he calls THEIRS, and as the good people of this country are grievously oppressed by the combination, they have an undoubted priveledge to inquire into the pretensions of both, and equally to reject the usurpations of either.
In the following sheets, the author hath studiously avoided every thing which is personal among ourselves. Compliments as well as censure to individuals make no part thereof. The wise and the worthy need not the triumph of a pamphlet; and those whose sentiments are injudicious or unfriendly, will cease of themselves, unless too much pains are bestowed upon their conversion.
The cause of America is in a great measure the cause of all mankind. Many circumstances hath, and will arise, which are not local, but universal, and through which the principles of all Lovers of Mankind are affected, -and in the Event that their Affections are interested. The laying a Country desolate with Fire and Sword, declaring War against the natural rights of all Mankind, and extirpating the Defenders thereof from the Face of the Earth, is the Concern of every Man to whom Nature hath given the Power of feeling; of which Class, regardless of Party Censure, is the AUTHOR. |
posted Dec 2, 2011 7:54 PM by sarah steadman
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updated Dec 2, 2011 8:02 PM
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Sometimes it is helpful to remember the foundations of a matter. This is the beginning of a series of reflections on historical documents. For me this serves many purposes. Perhaps the most important of these are recalling the foundations of the country that generations of my family were willing to offer up their lives to defend.
It is not our countries falterings that I am here to bring light to (of which there are many), but the ideals that have made it so great that our model of government has been emulated, that has given people the world over the hope of freedom and liberty, and has brought forth some of the greatest acheivements in social reform that the modern world has seen.
All of these things were made possible through a select group of intelectuals turned activists, enveloped into the history of our country. We have all heard their names, Franklin, Paine, Hamilton, Adams. Many of us can recite portions of the Preamble, The Declaration of Independence, etc. Far more of us have heard of these documents and have been taught that they helped shape our country, but the true understanding often goes little further.
One of the most important tools/weapons we have at our disposal in this day and age is information and our ability to proliferate it. For one of the first times in history we have at our fingert tips not only the wealth of knowledge of those that walked before us, but the ability to share it en masse to a population that is educated and has access to the same information to verify it. Through social media, public access to the web and the information it contains, and a new connectivity being felt through globalized media, we are at an advantage that our forebearers couldn't even begin to imagine.
Let us use this tool to re-remind people of what our government was built on. We don't have to single handedly run a printing press, or hand out leaflets on the corner (which you can still do). But we can spread through blogs, forum posts, facebook status, email, twitter, and all the others that would take days to list. We can redistribute the documents that brought our country together the first time.
I will be posting some of these documents, along with some personal notes and general comments. Help me bring these back into our circles of reference as something more corporeal than vague references and twisted versions of the original. |
posted Nov 21, 2011 9:39 AM by sarah steadman
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updated Nov 25, 2011 8:49 PM
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This particular blog is going to be different from the standard posting article. I am going to use the space and ability to edit, to start listing different ways that I have heard of to support not just OWS, but the underlying reasons they had to go out there in the first place. I will be including websites, anecdotes and other suggestions. Don't be afraid to participate!!
Entry 1: On buying American
Entry 2: The 99% Declaration and Working Group
Entry 3: My use of craigslist http://lansing.craigslist.org/pol/2720726392.html
Entry 4: Signs of the times I don't recall the person who brought the idea forth in the OWS forum. but it was a good one. Hang a sign in your window with a pie chart showing 99%...Add phrasing that you identify with, like "We ARE the 99%O or "Serve the many, NOT the few".
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posted Nov 21, 2011 8:45 AM by sarah steadman
Abraham Lincoln said that divided a house will fall, united it will stand. He was obviously not refferencing our current situation, however the message still applies. Society is supposed to bring people together through their wants, the ideals that they share. Government is naught but a necessary evil. It is put in place to create distinctions, important ones like between murder and manslaughter, assault and attempted rape. Government/organization is a direct by product of any growing society.
That said, you can probably tell the side of the fence I fall on. OWS is the original "society" that has drawn us together through our mutual contempt for the way the government is handling it's business. Their goal is to remain leaderless and keep the message vague so as to give rise to individual participation and interpretation. For this movement, that element is necessary to start unifying the people towards a common goal. OWS is a red flag being thrown on the playing field indicating an unfair play. We need that red flag.
There is this gentle rumble that has it's origins in the OWS movement, without OWS I don't know if this subtle (at first) rumbling would have really been possible. It is echoing the great movements for political and social changes of the past. People are asking for more than what OWS is offering, and some have started to go about making it happen. This is the case with the 99% Declaration and Working Group, a site being fostered in yahoo. They are using the tools that the foundational documents of this country provide us, and constructing a framework for logically calling the government to action and doing a much better job addressing the problems that the common man in America is facing.
Again, here, OWS influence is present and has been an important contribution to the idea that all we have to do is take back the power that the 99% already have. Even though some of the ideas in these proposals (proposals from the Reps and Dems do too) are more extreme than most people agree with, the beauty is that through mutual agreement the majority can steer the course instead of the extremists, all we have to do is use our voice.
I keep seeing an attitude that implys one or the other. I dont think that the two are mutually exclusive. There are those that will continue supporting OWS and the original message, my thanks to them for being mad enough to do something. If they feel that strongly about it all I can do is support their right to their opinion. On the other hand I think that mainstream America needs something a little different. Someone or something they can pin their hopes on. The options provided to us thus far don't make that an easy undergoing. It is no wonder our morale is so low when our congressional approval rating is below 10%. Shoot, BP had a higher approval rating while they were dumping oil into the Gulf.
I don't profess to have all the answers. I have spent some good honest time thinking about the issues I comment on. I still see a need for tolerance within the movements. Tolerance in accepting new perspectives, new approaches, and eachothers conflicting opinions on topics beyond this movement. The 99% is so vastly diverse, it is a shame that it would seem they are being forced into boxes of someone else' making already. It is ok to be different than the OWSer next to you. You are completely two different people, with two entirely different experiences being brought to the table. We should also keep in mind that it is ok for the OWSer next to you to be different than you are. We have one thing that is uniting us, and if we don't stand together against this top down corruption, our house will indeed fall. |
posted Nov 20, 2011 12:40 PM by sarah steadman
After spending a few days in the forum on the OWS site, reading, commenting, responding, and ever more reading, I think that I have finally figured out what the greatest challenge facing the movement is. Maintaining support amidst recognizing the differences within the 99%, and accepting those we would not normally agree with as fellow supporters for this movement.
Dissidents are continually asking 'who is the 99%?' and stating 'I am one of the 99% and you don't represent me.' The first seems like a very valid question, the latter an outcry of someone who honestly feel that the group is misrepresenting them as much as the government.
The answer to the first question is both profoundly simple and vastly complex at the same time. "We ARE the 99%." Necessarily, this means that it includes everyone below a certain income level. Individuals cannot claim to BE the 99%, nor effectively represent the 99% without consulting them first. Yet many individuals try. That is why one of the main stances of the movement is to remain leaderless.
The response to the latter statement is one of the beautiful things about the beginning of these types of movements. The groups that are forming General Assemblies and making decisions can only represent those that are present. In other words, if you don't feel you as an individual are being represented, you can change it by attending one of the General Assemblies. Your voice carries as much weight as any other one person. That is what our Gov't was supposed to be ran like from the start.
The greatest challenge lies within the bounds of both. Unity. The 99% is made up of countless smaller factions which will have to do what our Government has not done. Find a way to work together towards a common goal. Pro-life and pro-choice, anti-gay marriage and LGBT community, present or former political party members, hippies and blue collar workers, we ALL have to join together against the people that hijacked our economy and government.
For some of the 99% this will be more difficult than others. Some simply won't be able to see past these smaller divisions to the realization that this is as much their movement as it is anyone else'. The point is that no matter how different we all have a stake in this and we should be mindful not to reject others or the movement because it isn't an exact reflection of one's self.
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posted Nov 19, 2011 7:07 AM by sarah steadman
I figured that one of the first things I shoul do is provide a disclaimer. When it comes to tech. I have only putzed about with blogging before. Sites like Newsvine gave me the opportunity to wet my taste for sharing with the world at large, but always gave me the sense that my opinion was getting lost in the noise. For me it left me with a hollow feeling. I had a voice, and a venue, but no audience. Standing on a street corner with a sign only gets attention if there are people going by. Even more so than that, I spent most of the time trying to fit in a box of someone else' design. The very same boxes that I had taken it upon myself to rebel against. I needed the chance to use my words, observations and opinions like ise my camera lense. To look at the obvious from a different perspective. Now, fastforward to present. For weeks I had been hearing about the OWS encampments. My curiosity was beeing stirred after a long bout with apathy and disenchantment. I had given up on the system. Not only was it flawed, but it was/is failing. It no longer represented the Democracy that I had learned about and was passionate about when I was a child and adolescent. I had assumed it was my failing, I was being too idealistic to expect elected officials to repect their office and their constituents. To hold themselves to the promises they made to listen to the People, not just their party leaders and corporate cronies. This movement signaled that it was time to reflect and decide that as one of the 99% it was as much my job as anyone else', to step up and demand the changes needed to keep this country going. There came a moment when the light came on. I visited an occupy site. Not OWS at first , but it was not far behind. As I read through articles and posts I felt a kinship growing between me and the movement. Finally, a cause that had the ability to make me feel like my voice mattered, and the possibility to bring about great social reform on a scale that hasn't been witnessed in a long time. Here is the apology; I am dead set on helping this cause by raising my voice to bring awaeness. However I have limited resources and am both following and posting from my phone. Do to my personal belief that tiny fairies are responsible for my electronics ability to function ( ie. exactly how my phone does what it does is a mystery) Iw am not the most tech savvy prson around. For these two things I apologize. My skills will improve with use, but I am asking in advance a little understanding if there are minor editorial issues (punctuation, spelling) within my posts as my device makes noticing and correcting them difficult. If at any point you feel that my inention or meaning is not clear, please feel to ask me about it. Oh, and thank you for reading! |
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