Posts Tagged ‘Chris Hedges’
321: Power WITH People
KMO welcomes Melanie Gold, educator and activist, to the podcast to discuss Occupy Wall Street as well as a broad range of social justice issues. KMO starts the podcast by explaining why he prefers Riane Eisler’s Dominator/Partnership terminology over talk of “Patriarchy” with it’s accompanying implication that fatherhood is an inherently violent and repressive institution. Melanie relates this idea to her chosen language in her OWS work in which she emphasizes the concept of achieving power WITH people rather than power OVER people. Melanie invokes the concept of restorative justice as a way of looking for and addressing the unmet need that motivated a desperate act rather than seeking retribution against a wrong-doer. KMO voices his frustration with his oldest son’s experience in public school, and Melanie describes why being a teacher bound by a rigid curriculum is to be oppressed. The conversation touches on the Drug War, NYC’s “stop and frisk” policy which targets young black men, and how the experience of being arrested redoubled her conviction to continue protesting. KMO concludes the podcast with clips of Chris Hedges and Webster Tarpley voice Yin and Yang views on the effectiveness of Occupy Wall Street.