How the Occupy Movement gains consensus through stack, twinkle and block

Have you watched any of the videos showing how peacefully the people in the Occupy Movement communicate with one another? If you haven't, prepare to be awed, inspired, and delighted. In the video "What are consensus, stack, twinkle, and block?" we see how effectively hundreds, even thousands of people can communicate with one another without so much as a megaphone.

We see, too, how the occupiers create instant classrooms, teaching one another; how they make decisions through consensus; how they assure that every voice is heard; and how one dissenting voice, when it matters enough, can block a decision and call for more discussion.




I am fortunate to have experienced the gentle power of the People's Microphone personally at an OccupySF meditation. (See Good News Friday: Ultimate transformers Sit4Change.) At that event, unlike the speakers and amplifiers in this video, no one shouted. Still, we in the back heard perfectly, better, in fact than we might have with shouting.

What do you think of this innovative amplification tool, and of the methods the audience employs to respond to speakers? How might you and I use similar communication tools in our everyday lives, and what would be their ramifications?

For me this as an important step forward, perhaps a quantum shift, in building a world more like The Village of Ordinary. May we all continue to speak--and to listen.

My thanks to MoveOn.org for bringing this video to my attention.

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We make peace in a million small ways every day.

All text and images, unless otherwise noted, copyright L. Kathryn Grace. All rights reserved.