As in Moldova, Iranian demonstrators experiment with the new technology

What we are seeing in Iran, as in other parts of the world, is the genuine expression of the people for freedom, beyond political paradigms.
Iranians know that Ahmadinagad stands against the USA and Israel, and they agree with this opposition, but they want things to be done differently. They want a better future, better economical conditions, as well as sovereignty as a nation. Considering the state of affairs at the international level, their actions seem somewhat irrational. They know that Iran is the primordial target of the USA and Israel for their plan of reconstruction of the Middle East and yet, at the same time, they go against their government, an outspoken regimes against their "enemies". Are the Iranians ready to give up their sovereignty for better economical conditions? I personally don't think so.

We are witnessing at this moment a rising in consciousness at the global level, the realization that we the people can determine our own future. Moreover, we are starting to understand that governments all over the planet have lost their ability to contain the discontent of their masses, that they, the elite, are incapable to maintain their power because they are trapped into the old paradigm. We are like a wolf opening his eyes and smelling the wind, sensing a bleeding pray nearby. There is some irrationality too. It seems that people move to seize the power, to become self-determined but let the problems from the outside to be dealt with later. Irrationality is not strange in mass movements. It is actually part of the norm.

What will happen to Iran if a weaker president comes to power? In this particular case I would say, nothing much… All major powers are facing the same internal troubles. The awakening is happening everywhere. The American government is most probably not celebrating watching the events in Tehran. They are taking notes on how to deal with this new breed of devastating popular movement. Russia and China are probably wrestling with the same problem.
As long as things don’t get totally out of hand, as long as we contain our destructive military power, all societies have a chance to get on the path towards freedom.

My response to the previous video: Is a division of snippers more effective than a coordinated crowd? Not so sure... Spreading fear by cowardly killing demonstrators from rooftops becomes an ineffective tactic if there really is a will for change. Having participated in a bloody revolution, I experienced first hand the tipping point where death becomes glorifying. I saw bare chested individuals affronting loaded guns. Fear tactics only work in favor of a tyrannical regime up to a certain point, beyond which they exert a negative effect, fueling the anger of the crowd. Forces of order are not prepared yet to fight well organized and coordinated masses, and I don't think that they will ever be able to catch up. Their resources are too limited to contain an informed and well coordinated mass movement, because they were not conceived for this sort of situations. With the help of the new technology the multitude can take a systems approach and coordinate attacks on the weak points of a tyrannical regime, undermining its support structures.

The multitude movement limited by the pace of cultural change and of general understanding of open movements

Since the start of the #occupy movement, whenever I had the chance to engage in a deeper conversation about the movement with active members, with journalists, or simply with people passing by the  #occupy Montreal camp, where I was very active, I tried to put the movement in the broader context of what we call the multitude constructive revolution. To my surprise, almost everyone was clueless and probably saw in me signs of insanity, because I was speaking a language they were not familiar with. Only a very few surprised me, being able to absorb very quickly the information I was trying to convey, agreeing with most of it. Those individuals had one thing in common, they were very close to the software world. They understood the influence of the new technology in shifting the balance of power towards individuals and their communities.      

Rebranding the #occupy movement

What do we hear when we listen to the forgotten U.S. nation-wide End the Fed movement in 2008, which sparked the TeaParty movement, or to the so-called Twitter revolution in 2009 in the Republic of Moldova, or to the 2009-2010 Green Revolution in Iran, or to the Arab Spring, or to the 15-M movement in Spain, and now to Occupy Wall Street and to Occupy Everywhere? We hear a desire for change. Not any change, people want a PROFOUND structural change.

The multitude is now awakened thanks to the new media. We are now conscious of our situation and we are starting to imagine a better world. Moreover, the multitude becomes increasingly aware of the potential of the new democratic digital technology. As we experiment with it in various creative ways we grow confident, we grow empowered, we get this feeling that change IS indeed possible and that WE can make it happen.

Multitude movement and its infrastructure

From the forgotten U.S. nation-wide End the Fed movement in 2008 which sparked the TeaParty movement, to the so-called Twitter revolution in 2009 in the Republic of Moldova, to the 2009-2010 Green Revolution in Iran,  to the Arab Spring, to the 15-M movement in Spain, and now to Occupy Wall Street and Occupy Everywhere, the Multitude has made tremendous progress in realizing the liberating power of the new technology and in putting this technology to good use in its struggle for freedom and self-determination.

As we predicted back in 2008

We are now seeing an important transformation in the way social forces organize and oppose each others. This transformation is gradual, as different social factions realize the potential of new emerging technologies, and experiment with them. Science and technology are blind; they serve better the ones who know how to use them. But knowledge about a new tool or method is not everything, social factions also differ in their disposition to receive and integrate the new technology. Their disposition can be related to a cultural specificity, their organizational structure, their leadership, etc. All this plays a role in how fast a group can actualize a new potential. (...) Activists and organizers of social mass movements are starting to think in a radically different way. Networks is the key concept. We are moving towards a highly decentralized form of social movement organization, a very organic and dynamic structure. Read the Balance of Power. 

The Occupy Everywhere movement is the synthesis of all the other movements before it.

How people are learning to use the new technology to overthrow corrupt governments

Student Protests Are Turning Into A Twitter Revolution In Moldova
(April 7, 2009) by Leena Rao

"Students in Moldova are using Twitter as a tool to mobilize opposition against a communist victory in Moldovian elections. According to reports, close to 10,000 protesters gathered at Moldova’s parliament in Chisinau, Moldova’s capital and were able to eventually break through police lines to storm into the building. From looking at the tweets on the subject, it appears that the demonstration turned into a violent coup attempt."

From All Of Us

Where is the #occupy movement now?

Today I dared to look at Google Trends of the search term "occupy". See bellow what I found. You can do the search yourself here.

In this post The multitude movement limited by the pace of cultural change and of general understanding of open movements I wrote:

I've always seen the #occupy movement as a manifestation of this multitude constructive revolution, which is much broader, touching almost all aspects of our activity. Most of these affected aspects don't have a clear manifestation on the public scene, they are just lurking beneath the surface, unseen by the untrained eye. We've witnessed surface waves in the past, starting with the End the Fed movement in 2008, which sparked the TeaParty movement, to the so-called Twitter revolution in 2009 in the Republic of Moldova, to the 2009-2010 Green Revolution in Iran, to the Arab Spring, and to the 15-M movement in Spain. Is the #occupy everywhere the last wave able to tip the establishment over? I don't think so. But every one of these waves leaves permanent marks, which will affect the next wave, and the way the establishment will react to it. If we are not at the tipping point yet, it doesn't mean that change will not happen. The transformative forces introduced by the new technology are extremely powerful. Change will eventually happen, but when and how?

There is no doubt that the #occupy wave has left a permanent mark on the Multitude. I think we are more aware now of the power that the new technology conveys to us. #occupy is the first global movement coordinated almost in real time through the Internet.

Human rights abuses in the Republic of Moldova

After the popular uprising in the Republic of Moldova on the 7th of April 2009 the government began a campaign of terror and human rights violations. In desperation Dorin Chirtoaca, the General Mayor of the Municipality of Chisinau, published a letter condemning these actions and appealing for help from the International community and the European parliament.

With the letter, the City Hall of Chisinau is also publishing pictures of victimes of acts of violonce and torture. The letter was designed to touch the moral cord and to raise serious legal issues in terms of human rights violations. The strategy is to use the Internet to spread the message as whidelly as possible in order to force western institutions to act.

See the letter from City Hall of Chisinau here.