230 years ago less than a hundred miles south east of Ashevile, about one thousand men – “without orders, formal military training, uniforms or provisions, and with no promise of pay”(1) – turned the tide of the American Revolutionary war against the supposedly “superior forces”. These men came from diverse backgrounds and several states and territories and found themselves drawn to the promise of democracy so powerfully that they were willing to kill and die for the right to be called “free men” and Americans.
For myself, a veteran and son of a veteran of Christian Middle Eastern descent, the Occupy Movement seems part of a patriotic history against the forces of tyranny, cronyism, oligarchy, plutocracy and internationalism. When I attended my first general assembly at Pritchart Park Asheville I could not help but feel goosebumps as about 100 Asheville citizens of various races and persuasions gathered to “enact” democracy. Led by a group of young people, they laid out the rules of consensus and facilitated a meeting where everyone’s voice was honored and heard. It was not perfect, but I felt a remarkable affinity connecting what was happening in city squares around the world to our own American Revolution which enshrined the very liberty we all enjoy.
Centuries ago, in the long houses of the Cherokee and Iroquios Conferdacies our hosts actively engaged in the process of direct democracy recognizing the equality and liberty of all. Women’s voices where favored in their political system and it is believed our Native hosts where the real inspiration for our nation’s Republic as it was a living example of democracy. These Native American political processes attempted to provide equity in decision making and enfranchised more than just the strong, rich, or powerful into the process of law making, governance and justice. From Athens, to Florence from to London to Paris, from to Beijing to Johannesburg the struggle for democracy has seen a tremendous amount of bloodshed. The outcome of this violence has a been an intellectual heritage requiring mental and emotional discipline. Believe me, from Roberts Rules of Order to the Procedural Rules of the American Senate and House – its not easy.
The functional process of democracy requires patience, listening skills and a robust ability to tolerate dissent. More importantly it requires participation. What we don’t see reported in media reporting about the global Occupy Movement is that, at least in Asheville – general assemblies of the people are forming a new way.
The People are organizing and asking themselves, what can be done to salvage our nation, economy and culture. While it might be easier to just burn all the “bad guys” out, there is a time where humans must evolve beyond Gog vs.Magog and use the tools our founding fathers gave us – the rule of law – to prosecute the Wall Street-Washington-Internationalist cabal.
One idea is to start people’s tribunals, after all the Occupy Movement is a type of pre-trial process where the grievences of millions of Americans from all walks of life are submitting their evidence. Someone must answer for the deindustrialization of our nation. Someone must answer for the toxification of our soil, air and water. Someone must answer for the deintellecualization of our schools. Someone must answer for the sacking of our treasuries. Someone must answer for the favoritism towards foreign interests against the American family. Someone must answer for a government shaped by the politics of the democratic and republican parties that have denied our own People its own privileges. But how?
The time has come to stop the cycle of violent revolution and to engage the social criminals that occupy positions of power and responsibility without merit in a dialogue on how to handle their treason. We don’t want to repeat the mistakes of history where the underclass use the same brutal methods of the overclass and eventually replace one mob for another. It is certain however, given the crimes of social engineering that has left our country in ruins, that a special legal process must be enacted. We are seeing the beginning of a peaceful revolution where school boards and county boards of supervisors, members of the house and senate, as well as boards of corporate directors will have to face the people and answer for their sacking of our nation. The rules against treason, conspiracy and genocide are part of US Law and can guide us in impanelling grand juries. Thankfully, the work of Senator Proxmire who fought for 20 years to get the laws against genocide on the books will help. It is punishable by life in prison and a million dollar fine. We shall soon see what it means to be an American and how to handle the international socialists wearing suits who have destroyed our native economic and cultural power. This will be our battle of Kings Mountain and yet again – the Tories (Red Coats) will fall.