I think it is fair to say that most people reading this have a general understanding about the reasons behind the Occupy Wall Street movement uprising. We became familiar with the concept of the 1 percent exploiting and abusing the 99 percent, and that understanding became the rallying cry behind the movement.
We also have a general understanding about some of the major reasons the movement stalled, one of which is the brutal crackdown by the American Police State of Occupy encampments across the country.
And I think we also have an understanding that the conditions that led to the brief uprising have not only remained, but have gotten worse. And that's the reason activist groups around the country are once again organizing and forming coalitions to demand justice; justice when it comes to the right to unionize, to living wages, to the protection of the environment, and to the ongoing pillaging by the Wall Street criminal racketeering cartel. People are also rising in opposition to the surveillance police state, to the gutting of the social safety net, to the betrayal of public sector employees when it comes to their pensions, to the privatization of prisons and schools, and to many other abuses being committed by the sociopathic American ruling elite.
In light of all these issues, I often come across commentary by regular folks, writers, intellectuals, and activists asking one very simple question: Why haven't people taken to the streets?
Those familiar with my writing will know that I have my own theories about the reasons for the eerie passivity of much of the population in the face of the increased level of oppression and rampant corruption by the ruling elite. The way I see it, the first culprit is the mind-numbing (literally) effects of propaganda in the form of the hideous American corporate media conglomerate on the one hand, and the effects of induced economic insecurity (and poverty) on the other.
Nevertheless, I find the question very intriguing and kind of mysterious... Why are we taking this shit lying down? How is it possible for a few thousand members of the ruling elite to control millions and millions of people so completely?
And so I decided to write a book about it, trying to answer those questions. The word "Revolution" will be in the title (which I haven't chosen yet). My goal is to publish it by April 15, 2014, which means I have 131 days to do so.
Now, there is another reason I'm choosing to publicly countdown to the publication day of the book... You see, I'm aware that coalitions of activist groups are forming and that as the corporate state continues its relentless assault on people, the movement is likely to gain steam in the spring.
And so I will use the "countdown" to try to motivate those still hesitant to join the movement.
Now, getting back to the book, I would like it to have a strong collaborative component, which means that I will be reaching out to people asking them to share their insights, their ideas, their concerns, and their hopes when it comes to their understanding about whether there will be a peaceful revolution against the corporate state.
Here's how you can participate (if you like). Visit this link to a web page with the countdown clock. You will also see a button with a link to a form you can use to submit your input. As people submit their input, ideas, suggestions, I will list them in that page... And I will also be adding additional resources. I can also be reached at contact@raypensador.com, if you prefer to send your entry via email.
Finally, hoping to get the conversation going, I'd like to share these two videos which provide some perspective about the current situation we face.
Sockpuppets & Trolls Watch: Their aim is to disrupt, to annoy, to introduce "noise" in order to prevent meaningful discussions of issues. Their tactics include ad hominem attacks where instead of addressing issues, they attack the character of people. They also engage in mockery, and logical fallacies. A good source of information about the tactics used by sockpuppets, trolls and hacks is "The 15 Rules of Web Disruption." Once you familiarize yourself with those tactics, it is pretty easy to spot the potential troll. Once spotted, the best thing is to ignore them.
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