In ancient times in Russia, the veche (вече) was conducted twice a year, at the spring and autumn equinox, or when there was urgent business to address. The elders (старейшины) from each village gathered together along with their helpers, not more than about five people from each village. There was no chief at this kind of meeting. At the veche, there is one main theme to be addressed.
In ancient times, people remembered the knowledge of our primary sources and the pristine beginnings of our existence. With great skill, they found joy in this wise information, and lived by its principles.
The veche begins in the morning of the appointed day. Everyone already knows the reasons for the gathering, and the elders start by making their remarks and suggestions about the matter, in accordance with our ancestral knowledge.
The wisdom and knowledge of our ancestors and descendants is the root and foundation on which the veche rests. It is what joins us all together, in equilibrium with ourselves and the environment. Life and customs are handed down from generation to generation, and the world knows peace and abundance.
There are no savage disputes at the veche. By the third day, a single decision is always reached. This occurs even when the matter at hand is an unexpected or unusual problem.
People make quick decisions thanks to their understanding of the devices of the Earth, our souls, and the energy of creation. The people know where truth and falsehood lies. With keen minds and quick thoughts, they easily trace any situation from beginning to end, highlight the problem, and make clear how to resolve it correctly.
The decision of the veche is always the most correct. This fact is derived from each person's connection and understanding of the ancestral wisdom. Everyone is equal. There is no centre of power. There are no disputes, debates or votes.
The people are in charge, and together we possess the truth. Living with the energy of love, and striving for the truth, people will always make the correct decision.
Friends, strive to know the truth! Love sincerely the nature surrounding you, knowing that without it, you would simply die. A single person contains only half of this truth. Between two, the energy of love reveals the most amazing things.
It helps to have a personal love for nature and all the energy that is in you. Take a deep breath. With this breath you will see and begin to understand with complete awareness what is happening around you.
Strive for the knowledge of our primary origins and the pristine source of the beginning of life. With this knowledge, correct movement may now occur.
Кон - The truth, created from the beginning. A censored ancient word.
Жить по кону - Living by the truth, having the means to possess true knowledge, to be in charge.
Жить по канонам - Living by our canon, having the means to act correctly in this or that situation.
Испокон веков - Since the dawn of time immemorial.
The modern word for "law" is закон. With the additional knowledge of our ancient vocabulary, we see that it means 'away from the truth' (за коном). Those who live according to modern laws live in the dark, they do not know what they do. This is what happens in the technocratic world. People live by laws which are actually away from the truth and our ancestral knowledge.
Source: Ilya Panin for the Call of the Eternal Family (Зов Рода)
Translated and adapted from Russian by Kemble Dawson Walker
vk.com/public.phpatb?w=wall-37077608_35427
On August 2, 2011 at the very first meeting of what was to become Occupy Wall Street, about a dozen people sat in a circle in Bowling Green, in downtown Manhattan, New York. The self-appointed “process committee” for a social movement we hoped would someday exist contemplated a momentous decision. Our dream was to create a New York General Assembly: the model for public assemblies that would spring up across America.
But how would those assemblies actually operate? The anarchists made what seemed an insanely ambitious proposal. Let them operate exactly like this committee - by consensus.
As far as any of us knew, no one had ever done this before. The process of consensus had been used successfully in small groups, but never in mass assemblies like the one anticipated in New York City. Even the recent General Assemblies in Greece and Spain had not attempted it.
Yet consensus matched our principles, so we went with it.
After three months, hundreds of assemblies, big and small, were operating by consensus across America. In these assemblies, decisions are made by general assent without voting. People indicate their approval or disapproval as speakers present ideas. The discussion progresses and a sense of collective preference emerges among the group.
The decision is articulated and improved. It carries through into action only when every person agrees. Any person with the courage can “block” a decision. This is a significant move - a powerful intervention that declares a violation of fundamental principles about people, nature, creation, the Earth and our ancestors.
Every person knows that they can stop a deliberation completely if necessary according to this principle. The trust associated with this power means that it is rarely done. Trusting each other and opening ourselves to communication also makes it easier to compromise on minor points. This is how we achieve a creative synthesis.
Most important is that everyone can play a part in shaping and reshaping the decision. Unlike the fetish of democracy, it doesn't greatly matter how people indicate their agreement. Whether by calling for "blocks", or asking for a show of hands, the important thing is that everyone is equally able to have their voice heard.
We may never be able to prove, through theory and hypotheticals, that consensus, freedom, and a society based on principles of human solidarity are possible. We can only demonstrate this through action.
In parks and squares across the world, people have begun to witness it as they start to participate. The model of Occupy Wall Street has spread far beyond the borders of the United States. Occupy chapters appeared in hundreds of cities around the world. It provided inspiration for new movements in Hong Kong and now in Paris (Nuit Débout).
It catalysed the presidential campaign of Bernie Sanders, who now runs with the key Occupy notion of 99% and 1% - considering together how to equalise the wealth inequality in our global economy.
In America, we grow up being taught that freedom is our ultimate value, and that our love of freedom is what defines us as a people. In a subtle yet constant way, we’re taught that genuine freedom can never truly exist.
So the moment we realise the fallacy of this teaching, we begin to ask: how many other “impossible” things might we pull off?
And then, my friends, we began to do what they told us was impossible.
Source: David Graeber for the Occupied Wall Street Journal
Adapted by Kemble Dawson Walker
occupywallst.org/article/enacting-the-impossible