"We are the 99%." Powerful assumptions in this statement. The first assumption is that there is a "We". The second assumption is that this "We" includes 99% of humanity.
12-2p PDT | 3-5p EDT | 7-9p GMT
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Just for now, let's set aside considerations of whether we ought to characterize ourselves as anything less than 100%. After all, the true power of the 99% narrative lies in what it evokes in our imagination—an inexorable sense of "We"—the hope, the vision and the challenge of organizing ourselves into a unified and coherent movement for change that will actually work for all.
Let's get metaphysical for a moment and start with the foundation of our self, an undifferentiated field of awareness that has no focalized "I"—a pure awareness of being without identity. You're born and immediately take on the considerable task of understanding who you are in your body. If you're blessed, you're fed and nurtured. It's all about you, baby. We transition to adolescence, hormones surge and you double up on your identity project. Not only do you have you to worry about, there is a whole world of "others" to navigate. We fall into the deep end of the pool to figure out out how to live and work with others in a way that doesn't revolve completely around yourself. At some point, you may "fall in love" with someone you feel is worthy of the next level—We.
Most of us appreciate the challenge, not to mention the confusion, of sorting oneself as an individual, navigating as an individual with another person of relatively different needs and, of course, navigating as a unit. Now multiply that challenge by as many people as you care to imagine and we're ready for the party of our lives. Or simply picture yourself in a diverse general assembly in downtown San Francisco or New York City or Chicago in the midst of this grand experiment. Who might "We" be?
This call is dedicated exploring the fundamentals and the mystery of "We".
