Chomsky on Occupy

"Noam Chomsky: Occupy" [Paperback]: According to independent publisher Zuccotti Park Press, "In Occupy, Chomsky comments on the cornerstone issues, questions and demands that have been driving ordinary Americans into the streets. How did we get to this point? How have the wealthiest 1% waged class war against everyone else for the past 30 years? How can we get money out of politics? What would a genuinely democratic election look like? How can we redefine basic concepts like ‘growth' to increase equality and quality of life for all?" With this book, you'll also receive a free copy of Tidal magazine, containing the latest in Occupy theory and strategy.

HUNGER GAMES

she tells me she can't go to the movie
with me. she'll have anxiety. she can't
watch children killing children.

i say we've watched children killing
children for years, in vietnam, in iraq,
in afghanistan, in every war, in every
nation. it's no different from the movie.
the rich send the children of the poor
to kill the children of the poor.


rich quatrone 4//25/12

APRIL IS THE FOOLISH MONTH

how do we occupy our hearts
when our hearts are so damaged and hurt

i used to tell students who complained
of broken hearts your heart should be

broken every day by life; it's a broken
life you have to be wary of.

so occupy wall street, main street, fleet street,
drum beat, no heat, no food, no rent.

occupy get bent, he went, you lent and
bucky dent, occupy the present.

how do we occupy a broken heart
when hearts are broken by life itself

how do we occupy washington when
the place we live is bought and sold

how do we occupy the old who have
nothing to lend and see the end?

rich quatrone 4/21

POEM IN THE LAST YEAR OF EARTH

POEM BEFORE THE END OF THE EARTH

dreams
nightmares all the time
28 out of 30 days
scenes from the past
my dead mother calling to me
two nights ago a ghastly figure
in a dust cloud following me down a dark road
i turned and waited for it to arrive
a face, clearly defined, Death itself
before me
my mind, my imagination the earth itself
screaming out
6000 years of failure
25 million years of failure
until now
what are you going to do
occupy wall street?
yes, occupy wall street, that's a good beginning
but we'd better occupy our own hearts
our own moral faculties
our own intellects
we must not burn the books in favor of ipads!
what the hell is that?
occupy your own sweet life, then prepare yourself,
educate yourself, get ready for the battle
for earth and souls
what should we do, one asks
what should the future be?
take to the streets, is my immediate answer
don't be nice about it
you really are dealing with bastards
they don't give a shit about you, the nation, the earth,
nothing at all
they only care about the incessant, compulsive urge that
drives them into oblivion
one long, endless, selfish orgasm
that's what wall street and wall streeters are about
from lower manhattan to nebraska
to spring lake to boca raton to new mexico
in their bedrooms, boardrooms, bathrooms
it's all the same
the urge to act, to move, to do something, to
be busy, with anything, for any reason
never, for a moment, to stop and feel themselves
alive, to suffer the human condition consciously,
nobly, to see, feel, the interconnectedness of all living
things, to care a wit about people in iran, syria, china,
russia, or new jersey
occupy yourself, then, come out strong, fearless,
be a million dr. kings, a million gandhis, a million
robesons, malcolms, a million thurgoods, fierce,
and make yourselves known
but i don't, as i say, see this as a sweet occupation
i don't see it as easy
expect to be jailed
expect to have casualties
expect to be mocked and taunted
but never quit
what does the future hold?
it's all in your hands, you tell me.


rich quatrone 4/18/12

Just read Tom Hayden's article in The Nation, "Participatory Democracy From Port Huron
To Occupy Wall Street, April 16 issue. Worth reading for Occupy Movement. A good history, context, for what's happening and where we come from.

arrival

Finally figured out how to get here.
Will say more soon.
Rich