Comments on: GA Minutes – Friday 13th January 2012 http://occupylondon.org.uk/archives/3142 Sat, 18 May 2013 17:07:58 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.5.1 By: rbreyer http://occupylondon.org.uk/archives/3142#comment-5912 rbreyer Tue, 17 Jan 2012 21:41:10 +0000 http://occupyLSX.org/?p=3142#comment-5912 Regarding the
Outreach and DA comment:
The community affected by Brookfield Asset Management which plans to log the pristine island of Cortes in Canada, one of our last remaining virgin forests (10 bn company who also own Zucotti Park) are petitioning for forest to be handed to them. Action today should have been better supported. Likewise Congolese protest outside embassy was attended by 3 occupy members. We should be supporting more campaigns outside of Occupy.

I live on Cortes Island In Canada
There is NO VIRGIN forest here but there is sustainable forest industry that a few wealthy people are trying to shut down.
The creators of the petition live in Seatle USA with their wall street investors.
http://www.whitepages.com/name/Barry-J-Saxifrage/Seattle-WA/2iy91m1

Its sad i have to read about people in london trying to shut down jobs in my tiny Community On Cortes Island….

]]> By: jess http://occupylondon.org.uk/archives/3142#comment-5911 jess Mon, 16 Jan 2012 17:41:19 +0000 http://occupyLSX.org/?p=3142#comment-5911 The use of the HUMAN MIKE has played a big role in creating ‘vibrant and participatory democracy’. I sometimes feel it is under-used at lsx, and over-reliance on mics influences the tone, substance, and democracy of G.A.s. The obvious disadvantage of human mike is that it appears to slow things down and may have seemed inconvenient early on. When I have visited camps it seems to be used mainly for making short announcements. However, practicing it and putting it to use in more contexts could help Occupy to grow. Its advantages are huge. Here are some I can think of:
1. It keeps people to their point, (which can speed things up and prevent individuals monopolizing time).
2. It’s vibrancy and unfamiliarity draws curiosity from people who might otherwise be put off by traditional megaphone/mic style politics. Although human mike is probably a very ancient method used for public speaking (i.e.what would Jesus have done?!), in the modern context, it is new and refreshing, and has become the signature of what many see as a new kind of democracy.
2. It is spontaneous and versatile, more immune from censorship/confiscation of equipment (you can’t evict an idea… safety in numbers).
3. Practicing and familiarizing more people with the method encourages the formation of GAs in neighborhoods etc.etc. With more people opting-in to this way of communicating it may also promote the use of a consensus process.
4. It creates an inclusive feel to meetings; good listening, and the ability for some to speak from the floor rather than stand at the front with a mic. It gives everyone a stronger sense that they have been ‘heard’. For some people this may be a life-changing experience! Also, people feeling heard saves time, with fewer angry interruptions and repetition to labor a point).
5. It engenders unity, a sense of people speaking with one voice, and so it is both powerful and empowering.

Could the process/democracy groups work on ideas for using it more in GAs, speeches, shout outs, etc? (weekend events when more visitors ?).

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