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Congressional Watchdog Central

Occupy Congress An online sustainable demonstration and lobbying effort

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Overview

People need more tools than rigged elections to make things right. We are going through another printing press moment while the internet is allowing us to grow up, the establishment is trying desperately to hang on to its power and the narrative. The establishment is able to hang on because people don't have an effective way to stand up to them. Protesting and marching have not been effective in making change because we can't sustain the effort, and that effort can be infiltrated, especially when effective.

What do we do?

We create many small local (congressional district) decentralized communities that can pressure politicians and media without much effort. Understand the concept of Mutual Knowledge Once we have about 100 people in a congressional district, we can start by writing a simple letter with a question like, "Why aren't you supporting Medicare for All?" We include the 100 names and zip codes at the bottom. We are now initiating mutual knowledge and dialogue. The Congressperson knows they got a letter, and the 100 people know they sent a letter. The Congressperson knows that the people know, and people know that the Congressperson knows. The Congressperson cannot maintain the fiction that they are representing the people. When we get a response or don't get one, the group writes another simple letter. This time the tone can be a little more assertive, and hopefully, the second letter will have more names and zip codes. Once a group is established they can negotiate from a position of strength. This dialogue and pressure continue until we get a favorable response or decide to take another form of action.

Now imagine how much power we'll have when we have more organized districts working together.

The initial letter to a representative should be short and simple. It should ask a question to invite dialogue.

An example might be;

Dear Senator Casey,

Why aren't you actively supporting or introducing a bill to provide Medicare for All?

Thank you,

Add 100+ names (maybe just initials) and zip codes

Options

~ The Rep doesn’t respond. We decide how to respond.

~ The Rep responds. We publish the Rep’s response for members to see.

~ We may agree with the rep and craft a nice letter back.

~ We may not agree (probably won't) and offer information to help sway the rep’s decision and we may use a more persuasive (aggressive??)tone. Plus we hope to include more people as the group grows. We could say... oh and by the way we now have 120 people instead of 100.

~ Contact media (mainstream and alternative) / cc the Rep

~ Use blogs like Reddit to promote the idea. 100+ upvotes is a pretty good start.

~ We can boycott media advertisers or financial supporters of the representative.

~Call for a meeting with the Rep where we set the conditions. No writing questions on 3x5 cards to be screened

~ File criminal complaints.

~ Provide cover for politicians etc. who do the right thing.

~ Organize a telephone blitz accompanied by a press release.

~ Spend a day doing community service in the name of that issue

(pics & vids).

It’s important to allow the creativity of the group to play a role. People might have different responsibilities. Some might maintain the correspondence with a US Senator then report their efforts to the group. Others might maintain correspondence with the House Rep., another small group might maintain correspondence with their State Senator and/or State Rep. A small group could handle media, or reach out to other similar groups, a small group could organize clever actions like a videotaped impromptu demonstration that lasts minutes which would be posted online. Other groups may organize civil disobedience actions.

We do what we can to get the results we want, but what we want is to maintain a viable organization of people and we want our efforts to be part of the national /state conversation.

With 100+ people, we start to have leverage and we can let it grow. There may come a point when someone doesn’t agree with an action. Before any action is taken we would ask, maybe twice, if anyone is uncomfortable with this action to let us know and we will remove their name and zip code from that action. This is much easier than asking everyone to get back onto an issue and helps to keep the process moving.

What makes this idea even more powerful is having more groups. With more groups, we start to become more national and of course, we will be taken more seriously. If this idea becomes popular and effective, then many groups will be seen as targets by the powers that be. Having many groups with many people makes it much more difficult for the powerful to control or stop us. If there are two, three or four groups in one media market we can start to attack the media for irresponsible reporting and boycott their advertisers.

What I like about this is;

~ It’s free and sustainable

~ It negotiates from a position of strength. In other words, we are proposing the legislation not asking for it. They are not our parents and we do not assume a role as children.

~ No need to travel or give up an afternoon.

~ No marching in the rain, snow, cold or heat.

~ No need for permits.

~ Demonstrate from the comfort of your own home.

~ We don’t have to worry about being arrested.

~ We don’t have to worry about agent provocateurs.

~ It costs nothing or little to nothing. (possible postage and maybe the cost of a website if you want to upgrade to a paid site.)

~ You can easily organize a march or demonstration from a platform like this.

I’m guessing an organized district might need 5 reliable people to make major decisions initially, but I hope the groups could organize horizontally like Occupy Wall Street did. I like the book, Swarmwise, http://falkvinge.net/2013/02/14/swarmwise-the-tactical-manual-to-changing-the-world-chapter-one/ as a way to organize. Each district works independently. Each district can organize how they wish. Once a group is established more issues can be added including state and local ones. Coordinating efforts on major issues that the public is familiar with or agree with will make this process easier. I don’t see this project as being organized or maintained by one person or a few. I see many people contributing without being overwhelmed.

If you are interested or know of someone interested in organizing within their Congressional district like this, let me know. I can help you set up a free workable website.

This website and this organizing idea are pretty basic. I kept them basic because one, I don't have the expertise to make them much better and two, I wanted people (the group) to come up with ways to make it better. However this turns out, we will eventually need to organize to get our voices heard. This is one way to do it. Once people are involved, there is plenty of opportunities for everything to change or evolve.

Thanks,

Skip Moyer

https://sites.google.com/site/congressionalwatchdogcentral/

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