WEBVTT 00:00:00.003 --> 00:00:25.050 [Musical intro] 00:00:25.061 --> 00:00:36.132 I'm Paul Levinson, and welcome to Light On Light Through, episode 87, Occupy Wall Street Chronicles, Part 1. 00:00:37.027 --> 00:00:44.009 Well, it's Thanksgiving Day in America, that's November 24th 2011. 00:00:44.066 --> 00:00:51.055 And I thought this would be a good time to share with you some of the 15 blog posts 00:00:51.055 --> 00:01:00.089 that I've been writing about Occupy Wall Street since the end of September and up until a few days ago. 00:01:01.031 --> 00:01:07.015 And because I expect Occupy Wall Street in the United States and all over the world to continue, 00:01:07.710 --> 00:01:11.718 that's why I'm calling these chronicles Part One. 00:01:12.103 --> 00:01:20.924 But to give you just a tiny bit of background: it was back in February of this year 2011 that I first made the point 00:01:20.924 --> 00:01:30.293 that the Arab Spring was really a fulfillment of Marshall McLuhan's idea that we are living in a global village. 00:01:30.787 --> 00:01:37.011 McLuhan made that point back in 1962 in the Gutenberg Galaxy, but back then, 00:01:37.011 --> 00:01:45.015 it was more of a prediction, a projection, a metaphor, than a description of an actual reality. 00:01:46.019 --> 00:01:53.069 But it seemed clear to me, in the Arab spring, that the use of mobile phones 00:01:53.069 --> 00:02:00.151 and the various Facebook, Twitter and YouTube connections and apps 00:02:00.966 --> 00:02:07.042 allowed people in Cairo and other places in the Middle East 00:02:07.042 --> 00:02:12.748 to not only help organize their events out in the street, 00:02:12.748 --> 00:02:22.053 but to send videos, YouTube videos of various things that were actually happening at these events,, 00:02:22.053 --> 00:02:29.046 including some of the brutality of the government responses to these gatherings. 00:02:29.846 --> 00:02:35.986 So, with that in mind, I wasn't surprised at all to see the same sort of thing begin 00:02:35.986 --> 00:02:40.044 to happen here in the United States and elsewhere in the world. 00:02:40.044 --> 00:02:48.023 Actualy, I was in Barcelona in May of this year and I saw, out on the Rambla, demonstrators 00:02:48.033 --> 00:02:53.035 - they called themselves then the May 15th movement - and it was interesting to me, 00:02:53.035 --> 00:02:59.744 because Spain is a democracy. Egypt was not, still is not as a matter of fact, 00:03:00.532 --> 00:03:04.075 but it was much the same as the Arab Spring. 00:03:04.075 --> 00:03:12.050 And so, I decided to take a careful look at what was happening in the Occupy Wall Street movements 00:03:12.059 --> 00:03:17.670 here, in the United States, when they began to emerge in September. 00:03:18.022 --> 00:03:22.911 And what I am going to read to you are a series of 15 or so blog posts. 00:03:22.911 --> 00:03:29.028 I'll mention the date that each of the post was first made, and then I'll read the post to you. 00:03:29.683 --> 00:03:39.048 Each post has a headline, and that, I hope, will give you an idea of some of the perspectives 00:03:40.019 --> 00:03:47.056 that apply to Occupy Wall Street, or at least, some of my perspectives. 00:03:48.028 --> 00:03:49.060 So we'll begin. 00:03:49.062 --> 00:03:52.078 Tuesday, September 27, 2011. 00:03:53.006 --> 00:04:00.090 New York City Police disgraced themselves in brutal treatment of Wall Street protesters. 00:04:01.043 --> 00:04:08.030 I've lived in New York City all of my life, and I've never been a big fan of our police. 00:04:08.030 --> 00:04:13.072 As a teenager, I was roughed up by cops in their search for firecrackers. 00:04:13.072 --> 00:04:19.032 I saw them point blank attack protesters in the Vietnam War era. 00:04:19.042 --> 00:04:27.070 I 've heard first hand, from friends I believe, about NYPD double-standard treatment of African-Americans. 00:04:28.019 --> 00:04:35.068 And their shooting to death of Amadou Diallo who was unarmed, and their sodomizing of Abner Louima 00:04:35.068 --> 00:04:39.666 (two separate incidents), were beyond horrendous. 00:04:40.077 --> 00:04:47.064 But the NYPD have reached a new low in mass, continuing violation of human beings and human rights 00:04:47.065 --> 00:04:50.976 in their response to the Occupy Wall Street protesters. 00:04:51.637 --> 00:04:55.676 These are not isolated cases of cops gone crazy. 00:04:56.060 --> 00:05:04.075 The tear-gassing of people behind barricades, the throwing to the ground of protesters who have no weapons and pose no threat, 00:05:04.728 --> 00:05:13.074 is a systematic, widespread attack on human decency, the First Amendment and its guarantee of peaceful assembly, 00:05:13.920 --> 00:05:20.833 as well as on the bodies and spirits of protesters expressing their non-violent opinion. 00:05:21.737 --> 00:05:32.015 Police Commissioner Kelly, in New York City, justifiably takes pride in how well the NYPD have defended New Yorkers from terrorist attacks. 00:05:32.623 --> 00:05:42.074 He should also take pride in, or at very least insist upon, the NYPD defending and protecting the rights of New Yorkers 00:05:42.720 --> 00:05:48.437 and any one who visits our city to express his or her opinion. 00:05:49.434 --> 00:05:56.039 Based on what has happened so far, Police Commissioner Kelly obviously does not. 00:05:56.790 --> 00:06:05.480 Mayor Bloomberg should replace him with someone who can grasp the difference between a criminal and a peaceful protester, 00:06:06.008 --> 00:06:16.032 between throwing a protester violently to the ground versus firmly escorting the protester off any unlawfully occupied premises. 00:06:17.039 --> 00:06:27.054 Social media - or, what I call new new media - are empowering people not only in the Middle East, but all over the world, including here in America. 00:06:28.019 --> 00:06:33.067 We have a right to express our critique of Wall Street and the sad pass in the economy 00:06:33.091 --> 00:06:38.083 - the financial disaster - Wall Street moguls have brought us to. 00:06:39.043 --> 00:06:49.005 Mayors would be wise to respect this and restrain out-of-control police, lest the voters boot them out of office in the next election. 00:06:49.079 --> 00:06:53.073 And the Federal government would be wise to do something constructive, 00:06:53.073 --> 00:07:01.002 and bring any police officer who violates the rights of protesters up on charges. 00:07:01.071 --> 00:07:11.034 And mainstream news media - I'm talking to you, CNN, Fox News, MSNBC, CBS, ABC, NBC 00:07:11.626 --> 00:07:16.071 - what is taking you so long to catch up with the sustained coverage 00:07:16.071 --> 00:07:25.034 Keith Olbermann has been giving this spectacle of police misconduct on his Countdown show on Current TV? 00:07:25.292 --> 00:07:28.485 Thursday, October 6, 2011 00:07:28.623 --> 00:07:33.202 Advice to President Obama: Join Occupy Wall Street 00:07:33.202 --> 00:07:36.485 Some well-meaning advice to President Obama - 00:07:36.562 --> 00:07:41.746 Come down to Wall Street, grab a bull horn, and tell the Occupy Wall Street people 00:07:41.792 --> 00:07:46.140 excersing their democratic rights that you're with them. 00:07:46.248 --> 00:07:50.361 You have much more in common with students, workers, and people concerned about 00:07:50.361 --> 00:07:54.931 the abuses of Wall Street bankers and kindred millionaires 00:07:54.931 --> 00:07:59.331 than you do with that upper one-percent of the nation's earners. 00:07:59.331 --> 00:08:02.300 You've said so yourself already, many times. 00:08:03.038 --> 00:08:10.264 The rich and the Republicans who are their friends - that is friends of the 1% - are not your friends. 00:08:10.264 --> 00:08:12.479 You won't get their votes anyway. 00:08:12.971 --> 00:08:21.679 You won in 2008 because you got a majority of votes of the 99% of Americans who are not fabulously wealthy, 00:08:21.679 --> 00:08:28.244 who do not make it difficult for so many to earn a living or support their families. 00:08:28.244 --> 00:08:32.356 And when you come to New York, bring along a contingent of Secret Service, 00:08:32.356 --> 00:08:39.213 FBI, or whatever it takes to keep New York's out of control police at bay. 00:08:39.782 --> 00:08:46.558 Did you see those white-shirted NYPD commanders clubbing protestors on the news today? 00:08:47.620 --> 00:08:53.218 President Obama, is this the America you want? 00:08:53.818 --> 00:09:00.013 You have a chance now to reclaim the momentum, to go with the tide of the future, not the past. 00:09:00.398 --> 00:09:06.515 Go for it. Go with the tide of direct democracy, not the regressive reins 00:09:06.515 --> 00:09:14.798 which have tied up our government for so long, and are starving our people of their future. 00:09:17.213 --> 00:09:20.144 Sunday, October 16, 2011 00:09:20.652 --> 00:09:24.625 Occupy Wall Street, Direct Democracy, and Social Media: 00:09:24.717 --> 00:09:30.063 A Thumbnail History of Media and Politics Since Ancient Athens 00:09:30.063 --> 00:09:37.963 The role of social media in triggering and facilitating the now world-wide Occupy Wall Street protests 00:09:38.025 --> 00:09:43.155 - the role of Twitter, Facebook, YouTube, Google+, and kindred systems 00:09:43.155 --> 00:09:49.425 in getting word out about Occupations, and documenting them for the world to see and join - 00:09:49.471 --> 00:09:54.740 has been remarked upon so often as to almost seem a cliche. 00:09:55.202 --> 00:10:01.486 But the link between social media and direct democracy is true and profound, 00:10:01.486 --> 00:10:10.202 and is the current culmination of an evolution of media and political expression that began in ancient times. 00:10:10.540 --> 00:10:13.840 Back in the city of Athens, in the time of Pericles, 00:10:13.871 --> 00:10:19.186 direct democracy arose, in part because of the new literacy 00:10:19.186 --> 00:10:26.148 that allowed citizens to be informed of public events and the views and actions of their leaders. 00:10:26.409 --> 00:10:30.063 The words that these people read were handwritten, 00:10:30.063 --> 00:10:34.471 which meant that anyone who wanted to write and be read could do so. 00:10:35.086 --> 00:10:40.232 Writing and publishing were just as about as easy, in other words, as reading. 00:10:41.617 --> 00:10:46.271 All of that changed dramatically with the invention of the printing press, 00:10:46.271 --> 00:10:50.925 which had the wonderful result of spreading the written word to millions, 00:10:50.925 --> 00:10:58.948 but the anti-democratic effect of greatly reducing the ratio of published writers to readers. 00:10:59.009 --> 00:11:05.417 Millions of people became accustomed to reading words written by a handful of others. 00:11:05.417 --> 00:11:11.994 Unsurprisingly, when democracy slowly re-emerged in the Renaissance and the Age of Reason, 00:11:12.009 --> 00:11:16.202 it was not the direct democracy of Ancient Athens. 00:11:16.202 --> 00:11:24.225 It was instead, a representative kind of democracy, in which elected officials made all the decisions, 00:11:24.225 --> 00:11:30.202 and all the people could do was vote the representatives up or down. 00:11:30.217 --> 00:11:36.255 This was almost exactly parallel to the transformation in information production and reception 00:11:36.255 --> 00:11:41.079 brought about by the printing press, in which all the people could do is read 00:11:41.079 --> 00:11:46.025 and agree or disagree with a book or manifesto or pamphlet. 00:11:46.025 --> 00:11:49.125 The people in no way write or produce it, 00:11:49.125 --> 00:11:54.394 unless they were in the less than one-percent of the population 00:11:54.394 --> 00:12:00.494 fortunate to have a monarch's or a printer's (later a publisher's) favor. 00:12:01.217 --> 00:12:07.963 This inequality of producer and consumer – of few producers and legion consumers - 00:12:07.963 --> 00:12:13.709 was not only continued but exacerbated by the advent of broadcast media, 00:12:13.709 --> 00:12:19.840 which reduced the number of producers (it was much harder to get your views on radio and television 00:12:19.855 --> 00:12:24.063 than in newspapers, which at least has letters to the editor) 00:12:24.940 --> 00:12:33.902 and while the number of prducers were being reduced, the number of consumers were being greatly increased, 00:12:33.902 --> 00:12:42.432 because it was far easier to listen to the radio than even go out and buy a newspaper or have one delivered to your door. 00:12:43.909 --> 00:12:47.994 People in representative democracies became better informed, 00:12:47.994 --> 00:12:52.571 but the information was created by fewer and fewer people. 00:12:53.494 --> 00:12:57.179 In some countries, such as the Soviet Union and Nazi Germany, 00:12:57.179 --> 00:13:04.502 this inequality was masterfully mined to do away with democracy altogether. 00:13:05.286 --> 00:13:10.833 The introduction of Facebook, Twitter, and YouTube in the first decade of the 21st century 00:13:10.833 --> 00:13:17.613 has shifted that ratio back to a more even distribution of producer and consumer 00:13:17.613 --> 00:13:26.398 for the first time since the handwritten manuscript held sway so long ago in Ancient Athens. 00:13:27.290 --> 00:13:33.198 These new media live online, but they were unlike other new media like Amazon and iTunes, 00:13:33.198 --> 00:13:41.792 which still run for the most part like traditional publishing media, with few producers and many consumers. 00:13:42.438 --> 00:13:52.331 In contrast, any one can Tweet, post a status on Facebook, upload a video to YouTube - any consumer can become a producer. 00:13:52.331 --> 00:13:59.633 That's why I say these new social media are not just new but "new new media". 00:14:00.387 --> 00:14:05.429 People in the streets, demanding freedom and justice in the Arab Spring, 00:14:05.429 --> 00:14:10.104 and redress of economic grievances in the United States, Europe, and Asia, 00:14:10.104 --> 00:14:19.146 are the healthy and long-overdue political expression of the revolution in social or new new media. 00:14:19.623 --> 00:14:26.659 The Occupy movements are expressing a dissatisfaction with others making decisions for us 00:14:26.659 --> 00:14:33.736 - with our elected representatives doing the bidding of banks rather than the people who elected them. 00:14:35.059 --> 00:14:40.582 With means of expressing one's political views in almost everyone's pockets and hands, 00:14:40.582 --> 00:14:47.510 the age of mass media and representative democracy may well be in irreversible decline, 00:14:47.802 --> 00:14:56.264 replaced by the more equitable system of direct democracy in which the majority not only truly rules, 00:14:56.264 --> 00:15:05.133 but in which everyone's views can get a public hearing, and everyone can vote at any and all times. 00:15:07.079 --> 00:15:10.656 I talked about all of this a bit more and led a discussion 00:15:10.656 --> 00:15:18.946 after the 7 o'clock screening of Tiffany Shlain's new movie Connected, which was at the Angelika Film Center 00:15:18.946 --> 00:15:22.341 in New York City this Wednesday, October 19. 00:15:22.341 --> 00:15:28.471 I also discussed many of these issues on Good Day Street Talk, on Fox New York 5, 00:15:28.518 --> 00:15:36.190 on a panel discussion taped Thursday October 20. It was broadcast the Saturday of that week. 00:15:36.744 --> 00:15:42.133 And on Light On Light Through, I'll have links to these videos. 00:15:48.942 --> 00:15:55.518 That's LIGHTONLIGHTTHROUGHdotCom, lightonlightthrough.com. 00:15:56.587 --> 00:15:59.164 Let's get on to the next post. 00:15:59.887 --> 00:16:03.479 Friday, Oct 21, 2011 00:16:03.941 --> 00:16:12.118 Obama Should Call in National Guard to Restrain the NYPD in Occupy Wall Street 00:16:12.671 --> 00:16:13.618 Consider the following - 00:16:13.618 --> 00:16:19.252 - Professor and author Cornel West was just hauled off in a police paddy wagon 00:16:19.252 --> 00:16:24.337 up in an Occupy Harlem protest in Mew York City. 00:16:24.383 --> 00:16:29.221 - Professor and author Naomi Wolf was led off in hand cuffs earlier this week 00:16:29.252 --> 00:16:36.460 when she was walking on a street deemed off-limits - a public street - by the NYPD 00:16:36.518 --> 00:16:44.925 - and a woman seeking to close her Citibank account as part of the Occupy Wall Street protest was arrested 00:16:45.987 --> 00:16:51.410 President Obama finally announced the end of the US occupation of Iraq today. 00:16:52.195 --> 00:17:00.571 Now he should send some of our National Guard to New York City to restrain our out-of-control NYPD, 00:17:00.587 --> 00:17:09.364 because clearly Mayor Bloomberg and Police Commissioner Kelly either can't or don't want to restrain the NYPD. 00:17:10.241 --> 00:17:18.202 Earlier this week, we also saw the inspiring lecture that former Marine Shamar Thomas delivered to the NYPD 00:17:19.618 --> 00:17:28.302 Quote: "you're supposed to protect us, not attack us," unquote, he said. There are videos of that all over the web. 00:17:29.148 --> 00:17:34.048 (He was not arrested, by the way - Bloomberg still has a clever sense of public relations - 00:17:34.279 --> 00:17:39.395 he doesn't want a video of the NYPD taking into custody a former Marine. 00:17:39.918 --> 00:17:50.664 But professors and authors and other law-abiding citizens - well hey! They and we are apparently fair game to arrest on camera.) 00:17:51.079 --> 00:17:53.164 It is becoming more clear, every day, 00:17:53.271 --> 00:18:00.571 that what we most in New York City need protection from is our own police. 00:18:02.464 --> 00:18:05.556 October 26, 2011 00:18:05.648 --> 00:18:08.382 No Expiration Date on First Amendment 00:18:09.167 --> 00:18:14.959 I'm in Brussels, Belgium, to give a Keynote Address about Marshall McLuhan tomorrow. 00:18:14.959 --> 00:18:18.562 I've been enjoying the conference on the Philosophy of McLuhan, 00:18:18.562 --> 00:18:21.264 as well as this wonderful city. 00:18:21.910 --> 00:18:26.879 But I've been following with grave concern the police aggression 00:18:26.879 --> 00:18:32.545 against Occupy protesters in Oakland, California, and Atlanta, Georgia. 00:18:32.545 --> 00:18:34.260 And I wanted to offer 00:18:34.260 --> 00:18:40.982 - to police everywhere in the United States - the following point, which is: 00:18:40.982 --> 00:18:48.095 There's no limit in the First Amendment on the amount of time people can peaceably assemble 00:18:48.095 --> 00:18:52.162 - no time after which the First Amendment doesn't apply. 00:18:52.162 --> 00:18:56.315 An assemblage can be an hour, a day, a year. 00:18:56.685 --> 00:19:03.177 So when right-wingers tell you, the Occupy protesters have made their point, they should go home, 00:19:03.177 --> 00:19:06.382 and the police should make them do that, by force, 00:19:06.382 --> 00:19:12.229 those right-wingers are only displaying their ignorance of the law. 00:19:12.952 --> 00:19:20.044 And that's ok. People are entitled to be ignorant of the law. But police and law-enforcement are not. 00:19:20.044 --> 00:19:26.454 And when police break the law, or based on ignorance of the law deprive citizens of their rights, 00:19:27.300 --> 00:19:31.051 that is a serious form of crime. 00:19:31.790 --> 00:19:35.848 It's a crime that we the taxpayers are paying for. 00:19:36.464 --> 00:19:44.648 No person with a conservative philosophy, no American, should be OK, let alone happy about that. 00:19:45.541 --> 00:19:53.848 I call upon police everywhere to respect the law. Don't follow an illegal order by your commander. 00:19:53.864 --> 00:19:57.767 You know what the First Amendment says and doesn't say. 00:19:57.767 --> 00:20:05.013 And I again urge Obama to considering calling in the National Guard to protect Americans 00:20:05.013 --> 00:20:14.362 being forcibly deprived of their rights, just as Dwight David Eisenhower did bravely for people in the South 00:20:14.362 --> 00:20:21.190 being deprived of their rights by local authorities in the 1950s. 00:20:22.909 --> 00:20:26.725 Saturday, October 29 2011 00:20:26.725 --> 00:20:29.782 Into the Mind of a Conservative Bully 00:20:30.613 --> 00:20:33.490 Here’s an insight into the mind of a conservative bully 00:20:33.490 --> 00:20:40.900 – or maybe a glimpse of an oft-used game plan favored by unprincipled conservatives in their debates, 00:20:40.900 --> 00:20:45.300 online and otherwise, with the progressives at hand. 00:20:45.900 --> 00:20:56.264 A Facebook quote “friend” unquote – I but that in quotes, because this guy is not really a friend, not even online let alone in person – 00:20:56.956 --> 00:21:02.716 takes issue with one of my many comments decrying the out-of-control police attack 00:21:02.716 --> 00:21:07.613 on peaceful Occupy demonstrators out in Oakland, California. 00:21:07.613 --> 00:21:11.638 They got just what they deserved, he says, appropriate for anyone 00:21:11.638 --> 00:21:14.715 who defies the authorities and breaks the law. 00:21:15.762 --> 00:21:23.088 Well, that's interesting, I replied. So how is it that the Mayor of Oakland – Jean Quan – issued this statement 00:21:23.088 --> 00:21:30.198 in the aftermath of the police vicious attack on the Occupy Oakland people: 00:21:30.952 --> 00:21:33.159 And here is Jean Quan's statement: 00:21:33.190 --> 00:21:40.079 "October 27th, 9pm -- I am deeply saddened about the outcome on Tuesday., Quan writes 00:21:40.079 --> 00:21:47.125 It was not what anyone hoped for, ultimately it was my responsibility, and I apologize for what happened. 00:21:47.125 --> 00:21:55.518 Today I, Mayor Quan, visited Scott Olsen [this is the former Marine who bravely served in Iraq, 00:21:55.518 --> 00:22:01.725 shot in the head by the cops with a rubber bullet that landed him in hospital in critical condition] 00:22:02.356 --> 00:22:06.933 But back to Quan's statement: "Today I visited Scott Olsen and his parents 00:22:06.933 --> 00:22:10.059 because I was deeply concerned about his recovery. 00:22:10.059 --> 00:22:13.482 And I hope we will keep them all in our prayers. 00:22:14.113 --> 00:22:20.675 We have started an investigation into the use of force," Quan continues, "including tear gas, on Tuesday. 00:22:20.705 --> 00:22:28.398 I cannot change the past, but I want to work with you to ensure that this remains peaceful moving forward." 00:22:29.459 --> 00:22:32.199 That's the end of Mayor Quan's statement. 00:22:33.199 --> 00:22:46.495 And what was the response of my “friend”, in quotes, quote friend unquote? The response was: nothing. Nada. Zilch. 00:22:46.987 --> 00:22:53.177 After two reminders from me and three days. He’s disappeared from the argument, 00:22:53.177 --> 00:22:56.808 slunk back into the shadows from which he first emerged. 00:22:57.454 --> 00:23:03.398 How many times have you seen this hit-and-run behavior, or been treated to it yourself? 00:23:03.752 --> 00:23:06.736 A conservative makes a point that’s flagrantly wrong; 00:23:06.782 --> 00:23:10.746 someone calls him or her on it, and presents the fact; 00:23:10.746 --> 00:23:14.859 the conservative exits right, with no further word. 00:23:15.382 --> 00:23:21.698 The modus operandi of the conservative bully - I guess there may be some progressive bullies like this too 00:23:21.744 --> 00:23:24.305 but truthfully, I haven't run into them - 00:23:25.059 --> 00:23:29.467 So, as far as I know, this is the modus operandi of the conservative bully: 00:23:30.036 --> 00:23:35.310 puncturing rational dialog, bringing down a discussion, whenever possible. 00:23:35.925 --> 00:23:39.146 It would almost be funny, if it wasn’t so sad. 00:23:39.146 --> 00:23:43.096 And it shows, if ever we needed a reason, 00:23:43.696 --> 00:23:52.062 that comments emanating from these kinds of partisans are probably best ignored. 00:23:53.202 --> 00:23:56.582 Wednesday, November 2, 2011 00:23:56.613 --> 00:23:59.767 Bank of America Bends to Will of the People 00:24:00.213 --> 00:24:03.987 Bank of America yesterday bowed to the will of its customers, 00:24:03.987 --> 00:24:10.715 withdrawing its plan to charge 5 bucks a month for use of its precious debit cards. 00:24:11.285 --> 00:24:17.633 I see this as being just one of many reversals of corporate rapaciousness and insensitivity 00:24:17.633 --> 00:24:20.064 in the new world in which we live. 00:24:20.602 --> 00:24:26.362 This is a world very different from the old one, which is still in the process of ending, 00:24:26.362 --> 00:24:31.629 in which corporations dealt out whatever they pleased to consumers. 00:24:32.413 --> 00:24:36.798 In that old world, now being set back on its hind quarters, 00:24:36.798 --> 00:24:43.182 people mistreated by corporations had no one to complain to other than their families and friends, 00:24:43.890 --> 00:24:50.621 and governments which did little or nothing, and the corporations did far less. 00:24:51.159 --> 00:24:58.531 Now, Twitter, Facebook, and YouTube - social media - allow people to instantly and effectively communicate 00:24:58.531 --> 00:25:04.506 to millions about the bad treatment they are receiving from their banks and corporate monoliths. 00:25:04.891 --> 00:25:12.454 Abused customers no longer have to wait for a mass medium - a TV or newspaper reporter - 00:25:12.454 --> 00:25:15.315 to deign to give their grievance coverage. 00:25:15.746 --> 00:25:23.541 The consumers can get their own coverage via YouTube videos and Tweets that cost nothing to produce 00:25:23.541 --> 00:25:29.946 and can be seen and read everywhere, on any smart phone or old-fashioned laptop. 00:25:30.931 --> 00:25:35.342 Bank of America isn't the first corporation to feel this cleansing power. 00:25:36.403 --> 00:25:42.731 Netflix earlier reversed its new, regressive polices after a torrent online complaints. 00:25:42.731 --> 00:25:49.582 Netflix learned that online media can be used for more than selling movies and TV shows. 00:25:50.152 --> 00:25:54.479 Some big corporations think that by hiring a cool PR firm, 00:25:54.479 --> 00:25:58.731 they can develop an effective presence in the realms of social media. 00:25:59.331 --> 00:26:02.746 But such con jobs can be seen a mile away. 00:26:03.377 --> 00:26:06.469 Other companies have learned that online presence 00:26:06.469 --> 00:26:10.016 must be accompanied by real benefits to the consumer. 00:26:10.016 --> 00:26:15.515 Panera Bread, for example, not only offers free wi-fi in its cafes, 00:26:15.515 --> 00:26:21.182 but gives free refills for coffee and tea, and other perks to its loyal customers. 00:26:21.798 --> 00:26:28.213 Contrast that to Bank of America's attempt to squeeze five more dollars out of its customers. 00:26:28.875 --> 00:26:34.931 The resurgence of direct democracy ongoing in Occupy Wall Street all over the world 00:26:34.931 --> 00:26:39.664 is now beginning to have tangible economic consequences. 00:26:40.187 --> 00:26:48.329 This is very likely just the start of an economic revolution that will go hand-in-hand with the political. 00:26:48.341 --> 00:26:51.433 Thursday, November 10, 2011 00:26:52.033 --> 00:26:55.613 Open Letter to Governor Jerry Brown 00:26:55.721 --> 00:26:57.652 Dear Jerry - 00:26:57.652 --> 00:27:03.464 We met several years ago, when the Department of Communication and Media Studies at Fordham University 00:27:03.464 --> 00:27:05.533 - of which I was then Chair - 00:27:05.533 --> 00:27:10.382 invited you to give one of our annual lectures about Marshall McLuhan. 00:27:11.198 --> 00:27:19.782 You and I had the opportunity to have an excellent, wide-ranging talk about media and society, prior to your lecture. 00:27:20.429 --> 00:27:26.387 I was already an admirer of your perceptive vision and understanding of our society. 00:27:26.741 --> 00:27:32.169 I consider our conversation one of the best I've had with anyone. 00:27:32.169 --> 00:27:36.248 I was, therefore, delighted with your re-entry into politics, 00:27:36.248 --> 00:27:40.331 and cheered when you were again elected Governor of California, 00:27:40.331 --> 00:27:44.398 even though I'm a New Yorker, through and through. 00:27:45.382 --> 00:27:51.352 But with this in mind, I've been stunned to see what your police have doing in your state. 00:27:51.382 --> 00:27:57.680 And I find your lack of public response incomprehensible. 00:27:58.080 --> 00:28:03.213 What on Earth is going on with you and the state of California? 00:28:03.213 --> 00:28:10.095 A former Marine - an Iraq War veteran - was shot point blank in the head by a rubber bullet, 00:28:10.095 --> 00:28:13.121 landing him in the hospital in critical condition. 00:28:13.598 --> 00:28:18.137 A person who dared to point a video camera at police in another protest 00:28:18.137 --> 00:28:22.045 was shot at point blank range in the body with a rubber bullet. 00:28:22.045 --> 00:28:28.018 Just last night, I saw a video on YouTube of your police beating students 00:28:28.018 --> 00:28:32.782 who dared to stand up for their First Amendment rights at Berkeley. 00:28:33.675 --> 00:28:40.528 What on Earth is going on in California, and why are you doing nothing about it? 00:28:40.528 --> 00:28:47.110 As you must know, none of the Occupy protesters in these incidents were the least bit violent. 00:28:47.110 --> 00:28:50.381 In some cases, a few raised their voices a little. 00:28:50.381 --> 00:28:56.382 All of this is their right under the First Amendment, to "peaceably assemble". 00:28:57.044 --> 00:29:03.393 I am surprised and deeply disturbed and saddened that you seem unwilling or unable 00:29:03.393 --> 00:29:07.546 to use the power of your office to curb your police. 00:29:08.162 --> 00:29:13.725 Do you think rubber bullets which send citizens to the hospital in critical condition 00:29:13.725 --> 00:29:18.777 are a proper response to people who are assembling and raising their voices 00:29:18.777 --> 00:29:23.598 in protest of the economic and other inequalities in this country? 00:29:24.275 --> 00:29:29.915 Whether the police are local, or even security forces at a private institution, 00:29:29.946 --> 00:29:38.823 this brutality is happening in your state, and, as Governor, it is your responsibility to stop that. 00:29:39.654 --> 00:29:44.115 I know you were once in a seminary, and thought of joining the priesthood. 00:29:44.592 --> 00:29:47.613 I was always glad that you brought that sensitivity, 00:29:47.613 --> 00:29:52.564 that awareness of the human condition, to your important work in government. 00:29:53.118 --> 00:29:57.413 Our nation, your state, stand at a crossroads now. 00:29:57.890 --> 00:30:00.985 You can make s decisive difference in the outcome, 00:30:00.985 --> 00:30:05.669 and help our nation continue on its path to a better democracy. 00:30:06.285 --> 00:30:13.582 You can become a national leader on the side of the angels and the Constitution in this. 00:30:14.398 --> 00:30:22.582 Please stop your out of control police, before lives are lost, and you miss your chance. 00:30:23.213 --> 00:30:35.073 And I aigned this: -Paul Levinson, PhD Professor of Communication and Media Studies [Chair of Department, 2002-2008] Fordham University. 00:30:37.146 --> 00:30:40.402 Sunday, November 13, 2011 00:30:40.402 --> 00:30:46.133 Lame CBS Broadcasts Only First Hour of Republican Foreign Policy Debate 00:30:47.141 --> 00:30:52.712 So if you were watching the Republican Presidential debate on foreign policy on CBS last night, 00:30:52.712 --> 00:30:55.606 you were treated to its ending after the first hour, 00:30:55.606 --> 00:31:00.700 with an announcement that the remaining half hour would be available online. 00:31:01.500 --> 00:31:06.403 Now, I'm all in favor of television being available online, but - 00:31:06.834 --> 00:31:10.148 What about viewers who may not have been near their computers, 00:31:10.148 --> 00:31:15.753 or would rather watch the debate on a screen a little larger than their smartphones? 00:31:16.446 --> 00:31:22.023 I'm not a Republican, and I enjoy the jokes about Republicans not having a foreign policy 00:31:22.023 --> 00:31:24.077 as much as any non-Republican, 00:31:24.523 --> 00:31:29.632 but CBS's decision not to broadcast the entire 90-minute debate 00:31:29.647 --> 00:31:35.142 strikes me as a profound disservice to our electoral process. 00:31:35.142 --> 00:31:43.213 The truth is, Democrats, Independents, not only Republicans, were disadvantaged by CBS's decision. 00:31:43.782 --> 00:31:48.131 It's good for anyone or any political persuasion to see what the person 00:31:48.162 --> 00:31:57.331 who will likely face Barack Obama in the 2012 election thinks about major foreign policy issues. 00:31:57.715 --> 00:32:06.664 As Walter Lippmann pointed out way back in the 1920s, democracy is a sham when voters are uninformed. 00:32:07.464 --> 00:32:16.198 That's certainly not what William Paley thought when he took command of the fledgeling CBS radio network in the 1920s. 00:32:16.198 --> 00:32:21.731 Coverage of all aspects of elections remained first and foremost in his network 00:32:21.731 --> 00:32:25.464 when it added television to its roster in the 1940s. 00:32:26.187 --> 00:32:30.631 I guess it's not surprising that CBS shows so little understanding 00:32:30.631 --> 00:32:33.746 of current elections and what they require. 00:32:34.269 --> 00:32:39.977 Like all the mass media, CBS has shown little understanding of Occupy Wall Street, 00:32:39.977 --> 00:32:44.275 and the resurgence of direct democracy that it embodies. 00:32:44.967 --> 00:32:52.679 CBS is an equal opportunity abuser of representative as well as direct democracy. 00:32:53.418 --> 00:32:58.469 And what was so important that CBS had to cut short its debate coverage? 00:32:59.038 --> 00:33:03.613 It was a rerun of NCIS - one of my favorite shows on television 00:33:03.613 --> 00:33:13.355 - but I bet Gibbs, even Gibbs, would have given the president of CBS a head-slap on Saturday night if he could. 00:33:15.011 --> 00:33:18.382 Tuesday, November 15, 2011 00:33:18.398 --> 00:33:22.883 Mayor Bloomberg's Poor Understanding of the First Amendment 00:33:23.514 --> 00:33:28.598 This is from Mayor Michael Bloomberg's statement about his clearing of Zuccotti Park 00:33:28.598 --> 00:33:31.528 under cover of darkness early this morning - 00:33:32.251 --> 00:33:37.868 Quote "No right is absolute and with every right comes responsibilities. 00:33:37.868 --> 00:33:42.062 The First Amendment gives every New Yorker the right to speak out 00:33:42.062 --> 00:33:49.495 – but it does not give anyone the right to sleep in a park or otherwise take it over to the exclusion of others 00:33:49.510 --> 00:33:58.079 – nor does it permit anyone in our society to live outside the law. There is no ambiguity in the law here 00:33:58.079 --> 00:34:01.575 – the First Amendment protects speech 00:34:01.575 --> 00:34:09.802 – it does not protect the use of tents and sleeping bags to take over a public space." Unquote. 00:34:10.756 --> 00:34:14.613 Well, here is where and why that is wrong - 00:34:14.613 --> 00:34:18.048 1. The First Amendment reads, in full, 00:34:18.048 --> 00:34:23.392 Quote:"Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, 00:34:23.392 --> 00:34:26.448 or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; 00:34:26.448 --> 00:34:29.495 or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; 00:34:29.495 --> 00:34:32.829 or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, 00:34:32.829 --> 00:34:39.915 and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances." End quote - conclusion of the First Amendment. 00:34:40.500 --> 00:34:47.582 Now, clearly, the right to, quote, "peaceaby to assemble," unquote, a right which is distinct from free speech, 00:34:47.582 --> 00:34:54.632 is listed in the First Amendment as a separate right, co-equal with speech and press. 00:34:55.417 --> 00:34:59.618 Bloomberg's statement unsurprisingly misses that. 00:35:00.110 --> 00:35:05.081 2. The rights in the First Amendment are indeed absolute 00:35:05.081 --> 00:35:12.300 - "no law" - that's a quote from the First Amendment - "no law" means just that, "no law". 00:35:12.346 --> 00:35:15.933 A law about tents not allowed in parks would be precisely 00:35:15.933 --> 00:35:23.182 the kind of law not allowed by the First Amendment, if it gets in the way of people peaceably assembling. 00:35:23.782 --> 00:35:27.198 3. Although Bloomberg doesn't address this, 00:35:27.198 --> 00:35:33.264 the 14th Amendment to our Constitution extends the restriction on Congress in the 1st Amendment 00:35:33.264 --> 00:35:37.331 to all forms of local government in the United States. 00:35:37.931 --> 00:35:46.829 New York City, Oakland, California, Portland, Oregon, all the cities which have been Occupied are no exception. 00:35:46.829 --> 00:35:51.576 4. Bloomberg's contempt for the First Amendment is also obvious 00:35:51.576 --> 00:35:55.422 in the way the clearing of Zuccotti Park was conducted - 00:35:55.422 --> 00:36:00.617 with media deliberately prevented from covering that news. 00:36:01.094 --> 00:36:06.493 In that very action, Bloomberg is also flagrantly violating the First Amendment, 00:36:06.493 --> 00:36:11.577 in this case, the freedom of press provision of the First Amendment. 00:36:12.192 --> 00:36:17.848 In sum, Mayor Bloomberg's expressed comprehension of the First Amendment is less 00:36:17.848 --> 00:36:24.829 than I would expect from an introductory class of students at Fordham University where I teach. 00:36:24.829 --> 00:36:32.998 I look forward to the courts setting this misguided and dangerous billionaire Mayor straight. 00:36:32.998 --> 00:36:41.121 For Bloomberg's complete statement, see AlterNet.org, which is a very good site. 00:36:41.121 --> 00:36:49.608 And I add this note on Nov 15, 2011: The first Judge to hear case just sided with Bloomberg, 00:36:49.608 --> 00:36:53.813 ruling protesters have a right to speech but not to assemble in tents. 00:36:54.521 --> 00:36:59.062 I expect this ruling to be overturned by higher courts. 00:37:00.341 --> 00:37:03.075 Wednesday, November 16, 2011 00:37:03.075 --> 00:37:07.648 Violation of First Amendment to Cover Up Violation of First Amendment 00:37:08.233 --> 00:37:11.582 More on what happened yesterday at Zuccotti Park - 00:37:11.582 --> 00:37:19.248 The muzzling of media coverage, which we now know, went as far as arresting and literally pushing around reporters, 00:37:19.248 --> 00:37:23.362 amounts to a violation of the First Amendment (freedom of press) 00:37:23.362 --> 00:37:28.571 to cover up a violation of the First Amendment (the right to peaceably assemble). 00:37:29.079 --> 00:37:35.168 It's not surprising that Bloomberg missed this, as he appallingly indicated in his public statement 00:37:35.168 --> 00:37:39.285 that he thinks for First Amendment protects only freedom of speech. 00:37:39.285 --> 00:37:45.996 But, as I pointed out in my last blog post, the First Amendment also quite obviously protects 00:37:45.996 --> 00:37:49.115 freedoms of press and peaceable assemblage 00:37:49.115 --> 00:37:56.414 (for which, by the way, no expiration date or limitation of duration of assembly is given). 00:37:56.767 --> 00:38:02.879 Further, since Oakland Mayor Quan admitted that the clearings of Occupy sites across the country 00:38:02.879 --> 00:38:07.095 were coordinated in a conference call with 18 mayors, 00:38:07.710 --> 00:38:12.079 there may be good evidence of a conspiracy, here in the United States, 00:38:12.079 --> 00:38:17.157 among mayors and government officials, to violate the First Amendment. 00:38:18.249 --> 00:38:22.587 I once again call upon the Federal government to finally do something 00:38:22.587 --> 00:38:26.998 to stop this coordinated attack on American democracy. 00:38:27.629 --> 00:38:32.654 How about the US Attorney General investigating what those mayors did? 00:38:32.654 --> 00:38:38.064 How about charging them with conspiracy to undermine our Constitution? 00:38:38.925 --> 00:38:41.213 Do we live in a nation of laws, 00:38:41.213 --> 00:38:48.115 or a nation in which government officials and police can do whatever they choose? 00:38:48.629 --> 00:38:51.690 Sunday, November 20, 2011 00:38:52.198 --> 00:38:58.885 What OWS Has Shown Us about Bloomberg, Jerry Brown and Obama 00:38:59.515 --> 00:39:03.479 About Mayor Michael Bloomberg of New York City: 00:39:03.479 --> 00:39:07.705 Trampled on the First Amendment freedom of peaceable assembly rights 00:39:07.705 --> 00:39:11.644 of Occupy Wall Street protesters in Zuccotti Park; 00:39:12.429 --> 00:39:16.982 trampled on First Amendment freedom of press rights of all New Yorkers and Americans 00:39:16.982 --> 00:39:22.613 by banning media from his forced eviction of Zuccotti Park protesters; 00:39:22.613 --> 00:39:30.146 has supported police beating of protesters, roughing up of journalists, arrest of protesters and journalists; 00:39:30.146 --> 00:39:39.798 conspired with 17 other mayors to launch nation-wide clearing of Occupy Wall Street sites in cities across America. 00:39:40.244 --> 00:39:45.798 I would not vote for Michael Bloomberg if I lived in New York City (where I work); 00:39:45.798 --> 00:39:49.648 I will never vote for him for any other offices; 00:39:49.648 --> 00:39:56.936 I would like to see a Federal investigation into his Occupy Wall Street conduct. 00:39:56.936 --> 00:40:00.598 About Governor Jerry Brown of California: 00:40:00.613 --> 00:40:07.213 Has remained silent as police in cities and campuses in California have shot rubber bullets at protesters 00:40:07.213 --> 00:40:13.915 (one point blank at the head on an Iraq War veteran that put him in the hospital in critical condition) 00:40:13.915 --> 00:40:23.346 and also at people with camera phones, and who used pepper spray, wantonly, with no provocation, at UC-Davis, 00:40:23.762 --> 00:40:28.833 and has remained silent as police beat students at Berkeley. 00:40:30.187 --> 00:40:37.187 I once admired Jerry Brown's vision and had an impressive, hour-long conversation with him at Fordham University 00:40:37.187 --> 00:40:42.522 when I was Chair of the Department of Communication and Media Studies several years ago. 00:40:43.337 --> 00:40:49.900 I no longer admire him, to say the least, and unless he moves very quickly now 00:40:49.900 --> 00:40:54.146 to protect the people in his state from police brutality 00:40:54.146 --> 00:40:59.998 I will speak out against him if he runs for any office again. 00:41:01.413 --> 00:41:05.715 About President Barack Obama of the United States: 00:41:05.715 --> 00:41:09.479 He has also been silent about all of the above. 00:41:09.479 --> 00:41:15.248 I voted for him in 2008, and I wrote and spoke out in his favor many times. 00:41:15.679 --> 00:41:19.085 Just search for Paul Levinson and Barack Obama on Google, 00:41:19.085 --> 00:41:22.248 and you'll see the dozens and dozens of blog posts. 00:41:23.110 --> 00:41:29.248 President Obama's silence about the above attacks on Americans exercising their First Amendment rights 00:41:30.110 --> 00:41:39.077 is making me begin to wonder if I will ever be able to vote for him again. 00:41:40.613 --> 00:41:43.546 Sunday, November 20, 2011 00:41:43.546 --> 00:41:50.527 Jay Carney (and Obama) Have It All Wrong about Police and Occupy Wall Street 00:41:50.527 --> 00:41:56.611 Did you catch this statement the other day from White House Press Secretary Jay Carney? 00:41:58.303 --> 00:42:02.973 And this is a quote from an online source: 00:42:03.603 --> 00:42:09.598 Speaking November 15 aboard Air Force One, White House Press Secretary Jay Carney said: 00:42:09.598 --> 00:42:14.596 quote: “The president’s position is that obviously every municipality 00:42:14.596 --> 00:42:20.281 has to make its own decisions about how to handle these issues.” Unquote - 00:42:20.296 --> 00:42:22.504 "these issues" being Occupy Wall Street" 00:42:23.166 --> 00:42:27.115 Carney was seeking, in that statement, to debunk questions about 00:42:27.115 --> 00:42:31.076 whether the Federal government is in some way coordinating 00:42:31.076 --> 00:42:37.917 the police crackdowns on Occupy Wall Street protests across the country this past week. 00:42:37.933 --> 00:42:43.319 (We already know that the Mayors of New York, Oakland, and 16 other American cities 00:42:43.319 --> 00:42:48.479 coordinated their unconstitutional attacks on the protesters.) 00:42:49.187 --> 00:42:56.685 But Carney's statement also says something quite important - crucial - that he likely did not intend to say. 00:42:56.685 --> 00:43:03.648 And that is: allowing municipalities to make their own decisions regarding the protesters 00:43:03.648 --> 00:43:10.762 is not an expression of innocence, but an admission of guilt, when what the cities are doing 00:43:10.762 --> 00:43:16.671 is pepper-spraying the protesters, arresting and beating protesters as well as reporters, 00:43:16.671 --> 00:43:24.485 and (in the case of New York City) deliberately shutting off the eviction of Zuccotti Park from press coverage. 00:43:25.069 --> 00:43:30.084 The First Amendment guarantees citizens the right to peaceably assemble. 00:43:30.084 --> 00:43:31.969 The First Amendment says: 00:43:31.969 --> 00:43:37.152 quote: "Congress shall make no law ... abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; 00:43:37.152 --> 00:43:41.008 or the right of the people peaceably to assemble," Unquote. 00:43:41.008 --> 00:43:49.479 and the Fourteenth Amendment extends that restriction to all levels of government, including municipalities. 00:43:49.895 --> 00:43:57.664 So in leaving decisions about how to respond to Occupy Wall Street protests to municipalities, 00:43:57.664 --> 00:44:04.864 the Obama administration is plainly shirking its responsibility to make sure 00:44:04.864 --> 00:44:10.648 no local government violates the First Amendment rights of citizens - 00:44:11.371 --> 00:44:16.754 by allowing them to be viciously attacked by police, pepper-sprayed 00:44:16.754 --> 00:44:22.531 and by preventing the media from fully reporting these violations to the people. 00:44:22.531 --> 00:44:28.662 Thank goodness that someone was there with a video app on a cellphone 00:44:28.662 --> 00:44:37.347 and was able to show the world what those criminal police out at the UC-Davis were doing to the protesters. 00:44:39.285 --> 00:44:49.862 The Obama's administration and its inability or not wanting to do anything about this is shameful 00:44:50.462 --> 00:44:56.121 And Jay Carney's statement is not only shameful, 00:44:56.121 --> 00:45:04.199 but an admission of an inability to govern by the Obama administration. 00:45:04.860 --> 00:45:14.277 I hope President Obama and his advisers wake up to this disgrace and outrage before he's voted out of office. 00:45:15.612 --> 00:45:18.464 Sunday, November 20, 2011 00:45:18.464 --> 00:45:25.736 Failure of Budget Super-Committee Shows Further Decay of Representative Democracy 00:45:27.090 --> 00:45:30.362 The bipartisan bozos in Washington 00:45:30.362 --> 00:45:34.000 - the super-committee tasked this summer with working out a new budget 00:45:34.046 --> 00:45:38.587 by the day before Thanksgiving (that was yesterday - 00:45:38.587 --> 00:45:43.810 I'm now saying, as I'm recording this podcast, but I wrote this blog on the 20th). 00:45:43.810 --> 00:45:51.095 So, back on the 20th, just a few days to go, the bi-partisan bozos in Washington are reported 00:45:51.095 --> 00:45:56.710 to be on the verge of announcing failure to reach agreement on a new budget. 00:45:56.710 --> 00:46:02.531 This is after Congress and the President failed to reach agreement on a new budget this summer, 00:46:02.531 --> 00:46:07.447 and instead created the super-committee to come up with a budget, 00:46:07.447 --> 00:46:12.423 with a back-up of draconian cuts to major arteries of government, 00:46:12.423 --> 00:46:15.429 ranging from the military to human services, 00:46:16.029 --> 00:46:20.233 if a new budget was not agreed upon and approved by Congress. 00:46:21.664 --> 00:46:28.801 Here is the upshot: at a time when our and the world's economy are in serious crisis 00:46:28.801 --> 00:46:32.864 - at a time, in other words, in which government is more needed than ever - 00:46:32.864 --> 00:46:38.813 our representative government in the United States is incapable of performing. 00:46:39.521 --> 00:46:41.915 Part of it is their own fault. 00:46:41.915 --> 00:46:48.848 The Senate is tied up because it has imposed upon itself a de facto requirement of 60 votes 00:46:48.848 --> 00:46:51.905 to pass controversial legislation. 00:46:52.551 --> 00:47:00.731 Constitutional scholar Lyle Denniston quotes Senator Jeff Merkley (Democrat from Oregon, not on the super-committee) 00:47:00.731 --> 00:47:10.613 as noting that the Constitution, quote: "only specifies a, quote, 'supermajority', unquote, for a limited list of Senate actions. 00:47:10.613 --> 00:47:17.228 Some of them are: ratification of treaties, conviction of a President in an impeachment trial, 00:47:17.228 --> 00:47:22.251 overriding presidential vetoes, approving constitutional amendments ..." 00:47:22.774 --> 00:47:25.536 End of Lyle Denniston's quote. 00:47:26.074 --> 00:47:33.182 Nowhere does the Constitution say that 60 votes are required for difficult or controversial legislation 00:47:33.829 --> 00:47:38.910 - indeed, I would argue that, the more pressing the need for some kind of legislation, 00:47:38.910 --> 00:47:44.582 the more illogical and counterproductive it is to require 60 votes. 00:47:45.305 --> 00:47:50.105 That's in addition to that requirement being extra-Constitutional. 00:47:51.182 --> 00:47:53.870 But there is a deeper factor at work here, 00:47:53.870 --> 00:47:59.513 one that goes beyond our elected representatives shooting themselves in their own feet. 00:47:59.513 --> 00:48:07.695 Representative democracy may well be floundering because we finally have the means, in our digital age, 00:48:07.695 --> 00:48:14.121 to govern ourselves, to discuss and vote upon pressing issues, directly. 00:48:14.983 --> 00:48:20.582 If budgets were put to a direct majority up-or-down vote of the American people, 00:48:20.629 --> 00:48:26.214 surely one would soon get 50% of the vote plus one. 00:48:26.214 --> 00:48:30.162 Surely, in other words, a new budget would soon be adopted. 00:48:31.192 --> 00:48:36.382 The digital revolution - social media, or what I call "new new media" - 00:48:36.398 --> 00:48:38.829 have given us the means to do this. 00:48:39.521 --> 00:48:45.213 Occupy Wall Street and the the Arab Spring are the leading expression of this. 00:48:45.213 --> 00:48:48.895 Unsurprisingly, representative governments and dictatorships 00:48:48.895 --> 00:48:52.982 are alike in opposing these developments. 00:48:53.567 --> 00:48:57.029 But the tide of history is turning. 00:48:57.029 --> 00:49:03.633 The representative governments and the dictatorships will both continue to decay, 00:49:03.648 --> 00:49:06.921 and the people will emerge triumphant, 00:49:06.921 --> 00:49:14.992 one hopes will less bloodshed overseas and less brutality in the United States, 00:49:14.992 --> 00:49:17.631 than we've seen so far. 00:49:18.662 --> 00:49:24.946 And that blog post from November 20th is the last one that I will present to you here 00:49:24.946 --> 00:49:29.000 in Part 1 of the Occupy Wall Street Chronicles. 00:49:29.877 --> 00:49:37.397 Obviously. events are still going on. I think we are in the most significant revolution in many ways 00:49:38.074 --> 00:49:41.867 since in the United States, the American Revolution itself, 00:49:41.952 --> 00:49:46.252 certainly since the protest against the Vietnam War in the 1960's. 00:49:46.252 --> 00:49:52.029 And when you add into this the new media that I've been talking about, 00:49:52.044 --> 00:49:57.775 media which the protesters can hold up in the face of police brutality, 00:49:57.775 --> 00:50:07.752 and maybe not stop that brutality at that instant, because a cell phone can be beaten down by a club. 00:50:07.752 --> 00:50:13.513 But if that cell phone can convey to the rest of the world what's going on, 00:50:13.513 --> 00:50:21.121 for the first time in history, police can't get away with their brutal response to protesters. 00:50:22.044 --> 00:50:28.759 This actually began with the beating of Rodney King, really the first time in our recent history, 00:50:28.759 --> 00:50:36.275 that a police beating was seen by more people than those that happened to be there as it was happening. 00:50:37.029 --> 00:50:41.882 So I'm optimistic indeed that the tide of history is beginning to turn. 00:50:42.467 --> 00:50:46.213 In the meantime, those of you in America, I hope you enjoy your Thanksgiving 00:50:46.213 --> 00:50:50.129 and those around the world, I hope you enjoy your Thursday. 00:50:50.129 --> 00:50:57.275 And I'll be back here soon with additional thoughts on Occupy Wall Street. 00:50:57.275 --> 00:50:58.882 Thanks for listening. 00:50:58.944 --> 00:51:04.044 Hey, I'm back with you. I just came across this after I recorded the podcast. 00:51:04.044 --> 00:51:16.021 It seems that on Wednesday, November 23, the NYPD has been ordered to let the press do its job. 00:51:16.021 --> 00:51:22.967 And this obviously pertains directly to the NYPD - New York City cops - 00:51:23.013 --> 00:51:30.636 not letting the media cover the story of the evacuation of Zuccotti Park. 00:51:30.636 --> 00:51:32.875 This was reported in the New York Times. 00:51:32.875 --> 00:51:35.144 So that's progress, that's good news. 00:51:35.975 --> 00:51:43.613 As far as Mayor Bloomberg is concerned, however - he apparently ordered this change in police policy - 00:51:44.321 --> 00:51:46.867 I still think he should be impeached. 00:51:47.452 --> 00:51:52.767 We need a Mayor who gets the First Amendment right the first time. 00:51:53.377 --> 00:51:59.375 A lot of damage was done when the police arrested and roughed up reporters. 00:52:00.275 --> 00:52:05.564 But I'll have more to say about this and ongoing developments in Occupy Wall Street, 00:52:05.564 --> 00:52:12.449 and how all this relates to Facebook, Twitter, and the resurgence of the direct democracy, 00:52:13.203 --> 00:52:20.295 in my next podcast, in which I'll continue the Occupy Wall Street Chronicles. 00:52:20.895 --> 00:52:28.621 I'm Paul Levinson. You can listen to this and any other episode on Light On Light Through anytime. 00:52:29.098 --> 00:52:38.734 at LIGHTONLIGHTTHROUGHdotCom. 00:52:39.781 --> 00:52:41.892 [woman] The Light On Light Through podcast. 00:52:41.946 --> 00:53:08.526 [music]