I was just talking about how much they learned from the resistance to the Vietnam War, what they needed to do better to control us, the subsequent meddling in Berkeley and the UC system as a whole is a huge part of that.

[deleted]

Yes, and that wasn't incidental. Far better to program a portion of your population to volunteer, even better if they're close to economically obligated, than to risk pissing off the vocal upper middle classes. Let's give them movies, sports, news, immediate debt leading to 60 hour work weeks, maybe throw in some intermittent victories on social issues and whatever else we can without actually changing course and they should be nice and placated.

This technique may aid you in achieving direct action:

/r/ecursiveRevolt

that's a clever sub name - beginning with the /r/

I admire (some 'thing' I rarely experience) your dedication displayed by your occupation of the economics hall. Though, as you can see from occupy protests, and most sit-ins throughout our history, this isn't the way to go about achieving your directive. It takes a large collective that understands what is happening, which is not likely (at all) that you can convince the consumers of your school to let go of their "purposeful ignorance." One way to start is to NOT go to the school, but I'm sure you're convinced that you NEED a diploma from a college in order to be "successful" and viewed as "educated," based on you not enjoying their policies but still forking over money that go towards the IDF.

Now that I have theorized that you dont care enough about stopping allocations of funds to the IDF, because you continually give them the money they ask for (and do so for recognition that you paid a lot of money for no real-world experience, just papers, being talked at by someone who feels a sense of superiority and basic internships), I can move to what you need to improve on, if you want any effect at all.

I understand that you want a long, informative flier. I promise you that no one will read it if its as long as your example, its not attractive to need to "read" a lot to understand the basic points of the hand-out. Since the emergence of the Internet attention spans, and the will / ability to completely read and retain information longer than 130 characters, have GREATLY diminished. So unless its cut-and-dry, direct to the point (your information sheet), you might as well hold a POGS tournament in the campus sewage system, because no one will care. You also need to think about what other people care about, and I will be the first to admit I don't know what programs are "featured, dominant and prevailing" at your pay-per-validation (validation meaning that you paid someone to give you "information," that you [as they will tell you, though not true in the slightest] can find free elsewhere, and subscribe to the social normalities of the biased adjective of being "educated" by means of curved grades and an "established institution" that after completion inserts a self-righteous, but ego-tistical, attitude on half-inspired humans that just want to not worry about their debts and start planning on retirement.) but you need to incorporate what people actually give a shit about. Is there anything "wrong," or something that could be "improved" that is used by everyone on campus. Something needing an upgrade, more money for sports teams, better nutritional foods, a better "on-campus store," better printers at the library, more computers on campus or improvement of school-sanctioned transportation for nights when drinking and driving coincide with students free nights? It isn't about what you want at this point in your rally for a voice, its about explaining how the lives and "education" [that they pay 10,000 a year for indebted for x amount of years] could improve vastly with the money that is sent to Israel.

The oppression of Palestine is well-known and documented. But, as I've noticed, no one actually gives a fuck. You need to think of yourself as a salesman (as much as you may hate that label) of your "organization" and/or "cause" --- the basic rules of face-to-face sales : no one wants to feel that they're being spoken down to, or chastised. People don't buy (buy into) things based on what it will cost them momentarily, but how it will make their lives and investments better and worthwhile and that they'll come out on top, versus spending time on a cause that doesn't necessarily say outright "hey, this money could be used to fix those potholes around campus, or putting more lights on campus for those who walk around at night" but says "they're wasting money on things we shouldn't be supporting, specifically the apartheid in Palestine/Israel," the former will bring you more people. Why? Because no one gives a shit about the conflict in that region, not that I agree with their thoughts on the matter, but it's the honest truth.

Trust me, be honest and have a goal in mind. People don't care about what YOU want, they care about WHAT THEY GET OUT OF SPENDING THEIR TIME AND ENERGY and whether it will be worth time spent on something else, or not. I repeat, don't talk about persecution and apartheid, people don't like hearing depressing shit. Voice reasoning to keep the money at the school. You know, that place where all your theoretical protestors pay 10,000+ a year to receive a (generally, aside from few) paper of recognition and below standard education. Hope this helps.

[deleted]

Yeah, assumptions were based on your context clues in OP.

I'm sure when you talk about apartheid with most people they don't really want to talk about. I'm positive you've noticed, as have I. Why is this? Because people have enough problems, and speaking about people in another part of the world being displaced is generally the opposite of what people are talking about. You can do as you please, but I'm 100% sure that while you explain the benefits of keeping the money at the school people will agree and join in, throw in apartheid and persecution and you've got political/religious discussions that will start. Basically fracturing the groups thought process, because everyone has a different opinion. I highly recommend keeping it in the realm of "guys, we can use this money more than anyone else, to make our lives better, because its our money that we paid." Have direct effect against the stoppage of funds to the IDF by indirectly approaching the goal by the means of personal/material gratification. Everyone loves new, better shit they can use, to generalize this statement is 99% true universally. Bring in politics and persecution and you'll separate more than you'll bring together.

And I'm out.

[deleted]

I agree with the last sentence, my only argument to have with an israel supporter would boil down to "why fund another country that doesn't reciprocate completely in your absolute investment towards the school, your education and your debt. You can support the state of israel, but we have to first support ourselves and improve the quality of our facilities and overall well-being of the student body."

The bold sentence is the most crucial to include, divulge anywhere else except that main premise. Remember you're selling your idea of keeping money at the school to make it better, not defunding the apartheid state of Israel. That's too much politics. You want to be in the business of accepting to further your cause, not the business of pissing potential supporters off through the argument of "right and wrong" political actions and possibly religious opinions based on a "god given" state. Keep apartheid in your back pocket. You don't need your pride in opinion until you've completed what you've set out to do. Once you generate your goal and can say "mission accomplished" then you can join with friends and celebrate with happiness and laughter through your indirectly direct defunding of a state that is committing crimes against humanity.

Tl;dr - don't be proud, and boastful, of your opinion when you need all the support you can generate to complete your task. I know it's hard to keep your mouth shut, but do not bring politics or crimes against humanity into your recruitment. Accept people's opinions, tell them you respect their opinions while also bringing everything back around to how they will have a better experience directly through your initiative. It also helps to ask what they would improve on campus before bringing up your cause, so they have their ending product in mind before they have to do anything towards the cause at all. Be delicate, be accepting and swallow your pride. There's a lot of dicks in the world, but you can't focus on their opinion when you need an entire campus to join with you. (Don't be one of the dicks).

I was wondering if you could give a couple of examples of "effective" sit-ins/occupations?

I am honestly curious because I am not aware of any of these actions having positive long-term effects. If you could provide a couple examples I could look into more in-depth on my own, it would be much appreciated.

I personally (and this is just my opinion) have never seen any long term positive outcome from the type of actions you suggest. Granted I was born in 1980 and therefor did not see the activism before that time, but it could be argued that the work of the union, social, and political activists of the early and mid 20th century has been largely un-done or ignored. So I wonder; why continue with tactics that can be so easily ignored/changed/co-opted?

I think we (as a world society) are quickly reaching a point where we must burn the old world (literally and metaphorically) in order to ensure we leave something truly better behind for future generations.

But that is only my opinion.

[deleted]

Thank you for posting those, it was informative. I must point out that while the Civil Rights sit-ins saw some immediate action taken to address the issue, one could argue that the long-term affects were negligible since one need only look at how minorities are treated now (as an African American one can expect to be arrested at least once by the age of 23, etc.) to see that the Civil Rights movement was only slightly effective.

That occupation you referred to didn't get any of the students (the ones kicked out initially) back into school nor did it result in an overall policy change by the administration.

As far as the non-violent tactics go, I have a quote for you: "It is better to be violent if we have violence in our hearts than to put on the cloak of non-violence to cover impotence." Gandhi

[deleted]

The internet is neither reliable nor infallible, so pointing to it as a factor of success is foolish and short sighted. Many revelations as to the Internets vulnerabilities out right now, so please don't put too much faith in it. ;-)

Good quote (who said it btw?), emancipation is rarely a peaceful act and this quote isn't supporting non-violent nor violent solutions. And success and failure can be assessed by simply looking at the results. To me (and I admit I could be wrong in this) this quote is attempting to illustrate a difference between intention and action. How do you interpret it?

[deleted]

I agree that the Internet is a tool we must be careful in utilizing. It is becoming apparent that governments know this and are trying to monopolize it. For obvious reasons.

As much as I would like to see non-violent reform, I just don't see it as a viable option given the establishments' current SOP for responding to such a movement. And said SOP eventually forces oppressed individuals to a place where they are left with no other option but violence. This is one of the more confusing aspects to TPTB; ruling through fear is never as effective as leading with love. It seems a lesson that people in power have to repeat regularly, to the detriment of the rest of us.

And I would like to thank you for engaging in civil discourse with me, it is very appreciated!

The oppression of Palestine is well-known and documented. But, as I've noticed, no one actually gives a fuck.

i have to disagree, the bds movement is taken very seriously by your opponents, disregard the slur and push on. it gets to the core of their silly beliefs.

[deleted]

that's a well-balanced article, thank you.

will you be spreading your message out to the other schools in the UC system? I'd love to see you get more support on this by students statewide

Hell yes! I'm proud to see someone giving enough of a shit to actually make a stand and organize. Please don't be discouraged by anyone saying it is useless or pointless to stage a sit-in or protest. take this as far as you can.

Have you been to /r/graphic_design? You may have better luck there in procuring a benefactor for your flier.

The internet is neither reliable nor infallible, so pointing to it as a factor of success is foolish and short sighted. Many revelations as to the Internets vulnerabilities out right now, so please don't put too much faith in it. ;-)

Good quote (who said it btw?), emancipation is rarely a peaceful act and this quote isn't supporting non-violent nor violent solutions. And success and failure can be assessed by simply looking at the results. To me (and I admit I could be wrong in this) this quote is attempting to illustrate a difference between intention and action. How do you interpret it?