What happens after the World Economic Collapse in 2008?

You probably missed news of evidence of massive bank fraud if you only follow the mainstream media.  We will never understand what happened when the world's economy almost tanked in 2008 and ruined so many lives unless we turn to other sources. 

Banks have paid huge fines to stay out of court and stop the rest of us finding out about their actions. 

A Canadian woman, Alayne Fleischmann, gave an exclusive interview on DemocracyNow.com.  She is the whistleblower who helped the Justice Department of the US make JPMorgan Chase pay one of the largest fines in U.S. history for its role in the world economic financial crisis.

http://www.democracynow.org/2015/1/1/matt_taibbi_and_the_9_billion

The Rolling Stone article they refer to is at:

http://www.rollingstone.com/politics/news/the-9-billion-witness-20141106

No-one at any of the banks has been prosecuted.  We could conclude that the Department of Justice never really went after the people who practically wrecked the world economy.

Eric Holder, as head of the US Justice Department, justified his forgiving attitude towards banks when testifying before the Senate Judiciary Committee in 2013, by suggesting some banks are "too big to jail." 

The bank that Alayne Fleischmann worked for seems unchanged.  The board of JPMorgan Chase gave their CEO a 75% salary increase after the collapse.


After so many people lost their homes, powerful people in government felt the need to help banks keep news and evidence of vast banking fraud away from the public. In the DemocracyNow,com interview we hear that Eric Holder used to work for a legal firm which had JPMorgan Chase as a client.  He worked his way up from being a corporate lawyer defending companies like JPMorgan Chase before becoming head of the Justice Department.

We now know that the main message Occupy Wall Street had to offer us, about the way the world is run, has proven correct. In the DemocracyNow,com interview we hear that a Wall Street CEO can phone the head of the Justice Department and ask for favours, like not prosecuting, and negotiating getting help with hushing things up if there were massive fraud.

Should we be thankful that the government did not aggravate a bad situation?  In the DemocracyNow.com interview, reporter Matt Taibbi goes through reasonable courses of action the Justice Department could have taken but decided not to.

Eric Holder was severely criticized for his statement on "too big" to even prosecute let alone jail. 

He resigned from the US Justice Department in September 2014.  Obama said that Holder served the people well.

So how do we begin to live with this news?  Do we resolve this within ourselves by looking for whose naughty and whose nice?

Mainstream media work are a big part of this story.  In a big media company we work together at a similar steady and reliable pace as the rest of business and governance as we have known it.  A lot of emphasis is put on 'naughty and nice'. 

Naughty is coming to mean the same thing as 'disruptive'.  Some of us operate at a pace that the rest of us find disruptive.  Yet the future of our economies has depended on disrupting what went before.

So naughty has become an issue of pace of operation.  In some parts of society pace of operation or functioning is called 'frequency'.

Creation exists as a long series of stages within a larger evolutionary progression.  Specific people and animals are representative of each stage.   

Collectively the entire range of stages has introduced and extended higher functioning into the material dimension including worldly events. 

Each stage works, much like an electrical transformer, to reduce the frequency of vibrations.  The frequency at which each creature functions and operates is either suited to that creature or the creature cannot be sustained within the larger being we call Life.  

A person will get ill and die relatively early if they operate at a frequency that disagrees with them.   

No-one can make a person that is able to thrive wrong.  We learn to live with what others do without denying the reality of the situation.

People used to learn to live by imposing fear and intimidation on one another.   As a way of daily functioning this caveman or clan-like mentality is very low on the scale.  

The vast majority of us are happy to live beyond that level of functioning.  It is a familiar reaction to rationalize wanting to lash out at others in the face of overwhelming emotions.  Today we recognize this is only a defense mechanism that buffers the immediate shock.

Then there is the stage of negotiating when the reality and the pain that goes with it re-emerge.  We use some form of logic to justify what we do.  The intense emotion is deflected from our vulnerable core.  We redirect or 'project' the emotion of anger on to others even complete strangers when we have no idea what motivates their actions.

Many in the Occupy movement were concerned citizens.  They wanted us all to stop for a while and learn a more functional way of living with one another. 

I like to discuss higher levels of functioning on another website:  betaDigest.wordpress.com.

Newly Elected Premier of Ontario

This past week Kathleen Wynne was voted the first woman, and openly gay leader of the fair province of Ontario.

Taking from Occupy messages she said she is committed to creating an Ontario that works for everyone.  We probably haven't had that spirit here since the European settlers arrived.

When Occupy started there was talk of 'the 99%'.  This message was something the media could get their teeth into.  The message successfully changed the worldwide conversation on mainstream media and strongly influenced the agenda at the annual Davos Summit.  All with very little budget.  That was impressive.

Then Occupiers talked about 'a society that worked for everyone - 100%'.

Interestingly it was about that time that national leaders called the various Occupy groups terrorist organizations.

Now we have seen an acceptance speech where a major politician adopts the same, later, more refined message. It is an approach towards working smarter.  It has a stabilizing influence on society.  It is an enlightened approach that encourages greater participation in the social sphere.

We can recall how things progressed over the last forty years.  Conscientious citizens became known as engaged citizens that in turn became known as peaceful activists, only to be more recently branded as threats to security.  People who want to build a world that works for everyone were and probably never will be a threat.  Now again it is something to celebrate and be open about.

We must cherish her commitment.  It shows true leadership when we need it. 

Hello, Occupy! What you doin'?

To better understand how the Occupy Movement is so different, here is an email a devout Christian land developer friend of mine sent.  It's about a seminar that was being offered to North Americans about opportunities to legally evade paying national taxes by using tax havens in the Caribbean.  


My friend wrote:

These tax schemes are only one way that the 1% have legal ways to get further ahead of the rest of us. This is an actual example. If you were an accountant, you would know lots of other examples. The point is that the high net worth of the 1% does not come from just being industrious. If they paid their fair share of taxes, this would be a start in moving all of us towards equity.

This was great fuel for the Occupy conversation that the mainstream media has now engaged the broader population in.  


In response to my friend's request to pass forward something ‘that might be of interest to Occupy’ I sent the following email: 

Thanks for pointing out a real way in which the 1% gets ahead of the 99% with little effort.  This is a great idea that could turn into an action that Occupy takes, or at least enter the general discussion within the movement.  However, I've since discovered that there are no means for me to forward this suggestion on your behalf to, say the Action Committee for consideration.  


You are part of Occupy.  Sorry to have to say this... it’s either of interest to the individual or not.  It can't be 'of interest to Occupy'. 

Expressive movements fly in the face of everything we're taught about organizing.  They start with trust.  Trust is earned through experiences of working together.  'Organizing ourselves' as a corporation doesn't give us options, like choosing to only work with, or under people we trust.  Instead we pay ourselves to show up, and when we show up, we work.  That's part of what's usually called the 'command and control' model.


However an expressive movement bases collaboration on trust, sharing, caring, kindness, respect... and even more advanced values.  Together we become an embodiment of ideals, and compassion.  Delegation is out the window, and it’s more about freedom or expression, not imposing our individual ideas or ideology on someone else, or suggesting our ideas are things that others could be attending to.  It's about freeing ourselves from chains of command.  

The combination of community, creativity, and compassion results in something that no--one can command and control.  All this is relatively new and something I am still struggling to get my head around.  So far, I know this way of doing things is life affirming.  Both life and light are allowed in.  It's an enlightened development that goes beyond 'organizing ourselves' as a corporation.  Perhaps we're allowing God to step into the middle.  

An 'expressive movement' is special and very different from a single-issue movement or a corporation. The culture in Occupy is that something happens when someone decides to move it forward and it gains wider support.  Otherwise it languishes by the wayside.

To move forward with this valuable idea of doing something about tax haven seminars, you'd either take it as a proposal to a General Assembly, or, more effectively, join the Action Committee by signing on to their Googlegroup.  The info is given under the 'Committees' tab on  the main OccupyTO.org web site.

All the best to you, and heaven help us all.

Understanding How Occupy Works

To even better understand how the Occupy Movement is organized, here is an email another friend sent me.  He is retired from the US army and is quite philosophical.  He attached a link to an article from a magazine and said, “Please pass this along to the organizer of Occupy Toronto.”

I replied, “As you know, there are no Occupy organizers.  Whoever shows up can voice their opinion.” 

He replied:  'As to no "organizers," someone or a few must hold the centre and focus.  Therefore the concept of "No Organizers" is flawed logic'.

Wow.  For the logical part of the brain, all this seems flawed.   But I suggest that, for people who think cosmo-logically, or in terms of the wholeness of a system, this idea of ‘no organizers’ is not flawed at all. 

A cosmos is a whole system.  It is naturally occurring and therefore self-organizing.  The basic challenge that society faces is that we are moving from looking for logical solutions to becoming cosmo-logical adaptations.  And I like the idea that we need to 'become the change we are looking for'.  

My friend liked my email response so I want to share it with you.

At Occupy I believe we are talking about self-directed action in an expressive movement, rather than managed action in a one issue movement.  

That requires self-organization, and coordination of emergent solutions that arise from the grassroots and gradually catch on.  

True, not everyone is sufficiently self-aware all of the time, to know what we want to express or do next.  So at times we may decide to follow someone else's lead rather than taking initiative, being enthused, following ideas and impulses that derive from our own centre.  (En = inside, centre.  Theo = god.  These are the roots of 'enthused').

Nature is all about self-organization.  Unless we think that only fairies and devas make flowers and pumpkins grow we have to open up to the idea that everything that surrounds us that is not hand made or technological has self-organized.  

If you wanna peek at who or what's organizing Nature or the Occupy movement I believe that to some degree it’s the Self, an archetypal pattern that the psychologist, Carl Jung writes about.  Some call it the Great Spirit, the Shakina or the feminine aspect of God.  Or it could be the goddesses Shakti, or Quan Yin.  These may be very real individuals or merely terms that were intuitively arrived at to account for the fluidity and beauty that happening all around us as a result of self-organization.

The Self is the pattern about which things organize. You self-organized in your mother's womb for sure.  You didn't come from on high by Federal Express.

As a chemist I've studied those simplest of self-organizing systems called atoms for years.  Each atom has a centre (nucleus) that arises naturally.  Social movements are similar, just way more complex.  

What makes human life weird is that when we choose to collaborate we soon begin to 'organize ourselves' rather than self-organize.  Organizations are not really organized at all.  They are orderly structures that we build from the top, down.  We impose order from the top, down.  This orderly approach defies life.  

When we get busy and 'organize ourselves' we instill our ideas and values on the outcomes which is terribly limiting.  Whatever regime we choose contains tyranny and oppression within the structure.  This limited approach is how we've managed to produce so much misery and tedium.  Darkness and distrust are dispelled from how we collaborate because fluidity and beauty come included with self-organization.

At Occupy we are not in corporate America or in the army.  In fact we're not trying to be life destroying and self-oppressive at all.  Delegation is 'out' and values-based action is definitely on the increase.  Think 'creative, responsive and lively'.

It’s a funny way to run a universe, I know.  But I actually prefer to align with life and the self-organizing principles that run the show. The pattern we call the 'self' is what's at centre.  

Hoping this makes the idea of "No organizers" clearer and easier to live with.

Andrew.

Report from Occupy Movement in Toronto

Friday, October 21, 2011

The creature recently conceived by Adbusters in Vancouver, Occupy Wall Street, has spread to over 1,000 cities internationally. It is now called Occupy Together.

I'm actually in St James Park at King and Church at the Occupy Toronto site.

On October 15, the park next to the cathedral thronged with a huge crowd. It is hard to think of it as a protest movement, or a transformative movement like Healthcare Reform in the US. Thankfully there is no shared message that would create people who were 'for' or 'against'. It is an expressive movement where each person reaches deep inside to give their authentic contribution to the discussions and collaborations from moment to moment.

I went on my first Occupy march this evening - through Dundas Square. We saw a live newsfeed of the march (I’d be happier with ‘parade’) playing on the CITY TV billboard while we walked through the square.  Dancing at the Yonge-Dundas intersection, holding up traffic while singing "This is what democracy looks like" was both fun and informative.

Our police escorts seemed happy that they got to ride their bikes for a while after standing around all day.

Meeting lots and lots of truly amazing younger collaborators is delightful. They are consciously holding a very peaceful, non-judgmental vibe. Pacifists, anarchists, Buddhists, vegetarians, union folk, webmasters, etc. have all gathered. First we are learning to talk and be with one another without mutual oppression. Mutual oppression is what we are choosing to move beyond.

An Occu-Pie moment:
A woman from CITY TV asks the folk at the food tent where all this hot stuff comes from. A man with a ladle says, People show up with pots of homemade soup and goodies, put them on the table. Then we serve it. She asks, "You mean... ordinary people?" He says, "Yes." I felt like saying, "No. Very kind people who support this movement and contribute in their own way." I didn't say anything, not wanting to disrupt the vibe.

occupytoronto.org