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| Waging Peace Strategies: Framing a Movement by Paul K. Chappell November 22, 2011 |
What does the Occupy Movement stand for? If we do not clearly articulate what we stand for, those who oppose our cause will do it for us – and in a way that is advantageous to them. We must not give them this advantage, but how can we frame a movement in a way that reaches beyond the choir and persuades those who do not agree with us?
One strategy I propose is framing the Occupy Movement's message around ideals. Some people in the Occupy Movement are framing the movement as a fight against corporations and the rich, but a more effective strategy would be to simplify the message by framing the movement around ideals such as fairness, justice, and democracy. For example, I think corporations should be allowed to make iPhones and other useful products, but I don't think they should be allowed to buy politicians. I don't think they should have more rights than human beings. And the problem isn't that corporations are allowed to make a profit, but that they are focused on maximizing profit with no regard for the public good and health of our planet. Democracy is supposed to be a system where one person equals one vote, not one dollar equals one vote.
Opponents of the Occupy Movement often say, "Those protestors are hypocrites, because they want to destroy corporations, yet they use iPhones, Google, and Facebook." But by framing the Occupy Movement around ideals such as fairness, justice, and democracy, we can say, “This is not about corporations making things. It's about fairness, justice, and democracy. It's about getting money out of politics, because the influence of money in our political system damages fairness, justice, and democracy." Perhaps "Fairness, Justice, Democracy" could be an Occupy Movement slogan, rather than commonly used slogans such as "Eat the rich."
The gap between rich and poor along with the corporate welfare state are actually symptoms of deeper problems, which stem from our distorted value system (where profit is more important than people) and the unfair influence that money has in our political system. Ultimately, if we get money out of politics and create a value system where the dignity of life is more important than profit, a lot of the symptoms we are witnessing today will be addressed. Certainly, there are people in the Occupy Movement today who are framing the movement around ideals (just as Martin Luther King Jr. said that it's not about black versus white, it's about fairness and justice), but there has not yet been a strategic consensus that ensures we are doing our best to resonate with the American public. The people who are drawn to the Occupy Movement thus far are mostly the people who already agree with it, but a movement's success is actually determined by its ability to reach beyond the choir and persuade those who do not agree with it.
To read a more in-depth article about the power of waging peace and the Occupy movement, click here.
Paul K. Chappell graduated from West Point in 2002. He served in the army for seven years, was deployed to Baghdad in 2006, and left active duty in November 2009 as a Captain. He is the author of Will War Ever End?: A Soldier’s Vision of Peace for the 21st Century, The End of War: How Waging Peace Can Save Humanity, Our Planet, and Our Future, and Peaceful Revolution: How We Can Create the Future Needed for Humanity’s Survival (publication date: March 2012). He lives in Santa Barbara, California, where he is serving as the Peace Leadership Director for the Nuclear Age Peace Foundation. He is working on his fourth book, The Art of Waging Peace: A Strategic Approach to Improving Our Lives and the World, and he speaks throughout the country to colleges, high schools, veterans groups, churches, and activist organizations. His website is www.willwareverend.com.
Comments
The King Center will be doing non-violence trainings with Occupy Atlanta, according to Dr Bernard LaFayette.
So far, I think that the Occupy movement has done very well with their message, one of which is that
the rule of law is now a radical idea. Justice, equality, fairness are all good principles which our society no
longer practices.
Occupy also needs to realize that they are part of a global movement against corporate globalization and for
person-to-person globalization. Occupy could shake up a lot of people by demonstrating in support of the
people in Tahrir Square. It would close the circle and make the global nature of the movement apparent.
Spain's indignados are also worth not only supporting but also learning from. The 15-M movement moved
into electoral politics recently with an online voter education program that may have shifted the voting last
weekend, even though the more conservative party won.
We should be aware of the anti-violence campaigns in Brazil and Macedonia against police violence and in Mexico against drug gang violence too. For far too long, the USA has been insular. This is a global movement
and Occupy is important but somewhat late to the party.
I am so happy to have met Paul and heard him speak at Peace Conference 2011 in Berkley.
Having lived for many, many years in traditional communities I've learned so much about how ordinary humans can live showing respect to one another day after day after day after day. They 'work toward' and do not 'fight against' ... even when there are huge challenges.
Please join us at http://www.facebook.com/TheGreatRenewal and post positive actions. The more we build the positive and parallel systems then we are less likely to de-volve into chaos, violence and faced with a Great Destruction.
Occupy movements can create 'positive' actions that actually help their communities rather then just 'protest'.
BTW ... here's a list of jobs we can create right now
1) Build millions of miles of bike and horse paths
2) Replant diversified forests, grasslands and hedgerows
3) Tear down derelict buildings and parking lots and plant urban farms
4) Retrofit all buildings
5) Build light rail and trollies
6) Clean up every creek, stream, river, lake, beach
7) Put solar hot water and micro wind on all buildings
8) Develop clean energy
9) Put water catchment on all buildings
10) Modernize water, sewage systems
11) Put all power lines under ground
Pass these ideas along.
Hi, Paul.
Great reading your words about the Occupy Movement. I am working in the anti-fracking movement in Ohio. In our movement, we often say that it isn't so much that we have a fracking problem. It's that we have a DEMOCRACY problem, pointing to just what you said. Corporations have too much political influence, and politics are now based primarily on money.
Another way of looking at the occupy Movement is that it has brought people together who represent a number of different casues. But at root, what they, and we, all want and need most is REAL DEMOCRACY. In other words, we need a society that is really run BY and FOR the people -- average hard-working people that make up the 99%.
Primarily, we now have a society that is run by and for the corporations. Much of our history has been hidden from us as are the levers of power. We have been dazzled by pseudo patriotism and a distorted version of individualism. We have too often accepted as indisputable truth the so-called wisdom of the "invisible hand" of capitalism. But now it is af if the curtain has been pulled back and we see "that man behind the curtain."
Knowledge is power. We are living now in a time when the people can come together and demand and create a fairer and more just society that meets everyone's needs.
Best regards & PEACE,
-Ron Prosek
© Nuclear Age Peace Foundation
Very good Paul. The "Occupy" movement NEEDS veterans' input in order to evolve into whatever its next crucial stage is to be. We vets (especially us in Veterans For Peace, etc.), have an edge in experience, discipline, structure, and focussed organizational skills that is vital. Hope they'll listen.