<div>Thanks Vera !</div>
<div> </div>
<div>I've posted the manifesto here: <a href="http://www.peoplesassemblies.org/2011/05/rossio-square-lisbon-popular-assembly-manifesto-may-21st/">http://www.peoplesassemblies.org/2011/05/rossio-square-lisbon-popular-assembly-manifesto-may-21st/</a> <br>
</div>
<div>Hasta La Victoria Siempre</div>
<div> </div>
<div>Mark<br></div>
<div class="gmail_quote">On 22 May 2011 00:18, Vera Polido Baeta <span dir="ltr"><<a href="mailto:vera.polido@brookes.ac.uk">vera.polido@brookes.ac.uk</a>></span> wrote:<br>
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<p style="TEXT-ALIGN: justify; LINE-HEIGHT: 15.6pt; MARGIN-BOTTOM: 0pt; VERTICAL-ALIGN: baseline" class="MsoNormal"><font face="tahoma, sans-serif">Here's the Lisbon Manifesto that came out of the 1st Assembly in Lisbon.</font></p>
<p style="TEXT-ALIGN: justify; LINE-HEIGHT: 15.6pt; MARGIN-BOTTOM: 0pt; VERTICAL-ALIGN: baseline" class="MsoNormal"><span style="FONT-FAMILY: tahoma, sans-serif">Joining you tomorow in Belgravia,</span></p>
<p style="TEXT-ALIGN: justify; LINE-HEIGHT: 15.6pt; MARGIN-BOTTOM: 0pt; VERTICAL-ALIGN: baseline" class="MsoNormal"><font face="tahoma, sans-serif">Vera Polido</font></p>
<p style="TEXT-ALIGN: justify; LINE-HEIGHT: 15.6pt; MARGIN-BOTTOM: 0pt; VERTICAL-ALIGN: baseline" class="MsoNormal"><font size="3" face="Georgia, serif"><b><br></b></font></p></div>
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<p style="TEXT-ALIGN: justify; LINE-HEIGHT: 15.6pt; MARGIN-BOTTOM: 0pt; VERTICAL-ALIGN: baseline" class="MsoNormal"><b><span style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Georgia', 'serif'; COLOR: black; FONT-SIZE: 10pt">Manifesto approved at the Rossio Popular Assembly in Lisbon.</span></b></p>
<p style="TEXT-ALIGN: justify; LINE-HEIGHT: 16.5pt; MARGIN-BOTTOM: 0pt; VERTICAL-ALIGN: baseline" class="MsoNormal"><span style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Georgia', 'serif'; COLOR: black; FONT-SIZE: 10pt">May 21<sup>st</sup>, 2011 </span></p>
<p style="TEXT-ALIGN: justify; LINE-HEIGHT: 16.5pt; MARGIN-BOTTOM: 0pt; VERTICAL-ALIGN: baseline" class="MsoNormal"><b><span style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Georgia', 'serif'; COLOR: #333333; FONT-SIZE: 10pt"> </span></b><b><span style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Georgia', 'serif'; COLOR: #333333; FONT-SIZE: 10pt"> </span></b></p>
<p style="TEXT-ALIGN: justify; LINE-HEIGHT: 16.5pt; MARGIN-BOTTOM: 0pt; VERTICAL-ALIGN: baseline" class="MsoNormal"><span><span style="COLOR: black; FONT-SIZE: 10pt">« </span></span><b><span style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Georgia', 'serif'; COLOR: #333333; FONT-SIZE: 10pt">MANIFESTO PLURAL</span></b><span style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Georgia', 'serif'; COLOR: #333333; FONT-SIZE: 10pt"></span></p>
<p style="TEXT-ALIGN: justify; LINE-HEIGHT: 16.5pt; MARGIN-BOTTOM: 18pt; VERTICAL-ALIGN: baseline" class="MsoNormal"><span style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Georgia', 'serif'; COLOR: #333333; FONT-SIZE: 10pt"> </span></p>
<p style="TEXT-ALIGN: justify; LINE-HEIGHT: 16.5pt; MARGIN-BOTTOM: 18pt; VERTICAL-ALIGN: baseline" class="MsoNormal"><span style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Georgia', 'serif'; COLOR: #333333; FONT-SIZE: 10pt">Those gathered at the heart of Lisbon in the Rossio square, being totally aware of the current action of resistance, have agreed on the following manifesto:</span></p>
<p style="TEXT-ALIGN: justify; LINE-HEIGHT: 16.5pt; MARGIN-BOTTOM: 18pt; VERTICAL-ALIGN: baseline" class="MsoNormal"><span style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Georgia', 'serif'; COLOR: #333333; FONT-SIZE: 10pt"></span><span style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Georgia', 'serif'; COLOR: #333333; FONT-SIZE: 10pt"><span>1.<span style="FONT: 7pt 'Times New Roman'"> </span></span></span><span style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Georgia', 'serif'; COLOR: #333333; FONT-SIZE: 10pt">After many years of apathy, a group of citizens of all ages and social strata (students, teachers, librarians, unemployed, workers...) are in REVOLT against our lack of representation and against all the treasons carried out in the name of a fake democracy. <span> </span>We reunite in Rossio to build up the idea of Real Democracy Now.</span></p>
<p style="TEXT-ALIGN: justify; LINE-HEIGHT: 16.5pt; MARGIN-BOTTOM: 18pt; VERTICAL-ALIGN: baseline" class="MsoNormal"><span style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Georgia', 'serif'; COLOR: #333333; FONT-SIZE: 10pt"></span><span style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Georgia', 'serif'; COLOR: #333333; FONT-SIZE: 10pt"><span>2.<span style="FONT: 7pt 'Times New Roman'"> </span></span></span><span style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Georgia', 'serif'; COLOR: #333333; FONT-SIZE: 10pt">Real Democracy Now utterly opposes all those discredited institutions which have been misleadingly displayed as the citizen’s representatives, when in fact those institutions </span><span style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Georgia', 'serif'; FONT-SIZE: 10pt">only house managers<span style="COLOR: #333333"> forging the interests of the international financial powers against the people.</span></span></p>
<p style="TEXT-ALIGN: justify; LINE-HEIGHT: 16.5pt; MARGIN-BOTTOM: 18pt; VERTICAL-ALIGN: baseline" class="MsoNormal"><span style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Georgia', 'serif'; FONT-SIZE: 10pt"><span style="COLOR: #333333"></span></span><span style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Georgia', 'serif'; COLOR: #333333; FONT-SIZE: 10pt"><span>3.<span style="FONT: 7pt 'Times New Roman'"> </span></span></span><span style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Georgia', 'serif'; COLOR: #333333; FONT-SIZE: 10pt">The sort of democracy promoted by the bureaucratic</span><span style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Georgia', 'serif'; COLOR: red; FONT-SIZE: 10pt"> </span><span style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Georgia', 'serif'; COLOR: #333333; FONT-SIZE: 10pt">apparatus by use of sheer corruption only offers a redundant slot of electoral practices where citizens find no case for real participation that actually matters.</span></p>
<p style="TEXT-ALIGN: justify; LINE-HEIGHT: 16.5pt; MARGIN-BOTTOM: 18pt; VERTICAL-ALIGN: baseline" class="MsoNormal"><span style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Georgia', 'serif'; COLOR: #333333; FONT-SIZE: 10pt"></span><span style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Georgia', 'serif'; COLOR: #333333; FONT-SIZE: 10pt"><span>4.<span style="FONT: 7pt 'Times New Roman'"> </span></span></span><span style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Georgia', 'serif'; COLOR: #333333; FONT-SIZE: 10pt">The discrediting of politics has also kidnapped the words giving rise to a speech setup for the use of the ones in power. We should aim to rebuild the words and their meaningfulness blocking all forms of language and speech manipulation which only leaves behind a dim and helpless citizenship incapable of any joint action.</span></p>
<p style="TEXT-ALIGN: justify; LINE-HEIGHT: 16.5pt; MARGIN-BOTTOM: 18pt; VERTICAL-ALIGN: baseline" class="MsoNormal"><span style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Georgia', 'serif'; COLOR: #333333; FONT-SIZE: 10pt"></span><span style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Georgia', 'serif'; COLOR: #333333; FONT-SIZE: 10pt"><span>5.<span style="FONT: 7pt 'Times New Roman'"> </span></span></span><span style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Georgia', 'serif'; COLOR: #333333; FONT-SIZE: 10pt">Examples of language manipulation and kidnap abound and are a weapon of control and misinformation.</span></p>
<p style="TEXT-ALIGN: justify; LINE-HEIGHT: 16.5pt; MARGIN-BOTTOM: 18pt; VERTICAL-ALIGN: baseline" class="MsoNormal"><span style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Georgia', 'serif'; COLOR: #333333; FONT-SIZE: 10pt"></span><span style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Georgia', 'serif'; COLOR: #333333; FONT-SIZE: 10pt"><span>6.<span style="FONT: 7pt 'Times New Roman'"> </span></span></span><span style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Georgia', 'serif'; COLOR: #333333; FONT-SIZE: 10pt">True Democracy is to name the infamy we are facing: the International Monetary Fund, the European Central Bank, the NATO, the European Union, the credit rating agencies, Moody’s, Standard and Poor’s and alike, the political parties in Portugal, PS, PSD, CDS; and yet there are plenty more and our duty is to point our fingers at them.</span></p>
<p style="TEXT-ALIGN: justify; LINE-HEIGHT: 16.5pt; MARGIN-BOTTOM: 18pt; VERTICAL-ALIGN: baseline" class="MsoNormal"><span style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Georgia', 'serif'; COLOR: #333333; FONT-SIZE: 10pt"></span><span style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Georgia', 'serif'; COLOR: #333333; FONT-SIZE: 10pt"><span>7.<span style="FONT: 7pt 'Times New Roman'"> </span></span></span><span style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Georgia', 'serif'; COLOR: #333333; FONT-SIZE: 10pt">We need to build a political reasoning towards the creation of a new social tissue, the one that has been systematically cut-off its power by years of lies and corruption. We, the citizens, have lost all the respect for majority political parties but this does not mean losing our sense of critical reasoning quite the opposite: we do not fear POLITICS. POLITICS is to rise up and speak. POLITICS is reaching for alternatives in citizen participation.</span></p>
<p style="TEXT-ALIGN: justify; LINE-HEIGHT: 16.5pt; MARGIN-BOTTOM: 18pt; VERTICAL-ALIGN: baseline" class="MsoNormal"><span style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Georgia', 'serif'; COLOR: #333333; FONT-SIZE: 10pt"></span><span style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Georgia', 'serif'; COLOR: #333333; FONT-SIZE: 10pt"><span>8.<span style="FONT: 7pt 'Times New Roman'"> </span></span></span><span style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Georgia', 'serif'; COLOR: #333333; FONT-SIZE: 10pt">One of our key premises is to give Democracy back its true meaning: a government by the citizens. A participatory democracy. <span> </span>Beyond this we demand a strong deontology to be embodied by politicians so they can abide to best practices in their duty.</span></p>
<p style="TEXT-ALIGN: justify; LINE-HEIGHT: 16.5pt; MARGIN-BOTTOM: 18pt; VERTICAL-ALIGN: baseline" class="MsoNormal"><span style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Georgia', 'serif'; COLOR: #333333; FONT-SIZE: 10pt"></span><span style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Georgia', 'serif'; COLOR: #333333; FONT-SIZE: 10pt"><span>9.<span style="FONT: 7pt 'Times New Roman'"> </span></span></span><span style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Georgia', 'serif'; COLOR: #333333; FONT-SIZE: 10pt">We will say it loud and clear: the citizens now gathered are part of A MOVEMENT ACROSS GENERATIONS for we are bound to several generations that have been condemned to an intolerable loss of participation in decision-making and in policies with a toll on our daily lives and futures.</span></p>
<p style="TEXT-ALIGN: justify; LINE-HEIGHT: 16.5pt; MARGIN-BOTTOM: 18pt; VERTICAL-ALIGN: baseline" class="MsoNormal"><span style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Georgia', 'serif'; COLOR: #333333; FONT-SIZE: 10pt"></span><span style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Georgia', 'serif'; COLOR: #333333; FONT-SIZE: 10pt"><span>10.<span style="FONT: 7pt 'Times New Roman'"> </span></span></span><span style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Georgia', 'serif'; COLOR: #333333; FONT-SIZE: 10pt">We do not call for abstentionism. We demand that our vote bears a real impact on our lives.</span></p>
<p style="TEXT-ALIGN: justify; LINE-HEIGHT: 16.5pt; MARGIN-BOTTOM: 18pt; VERTICAL-ALIGN: baseline" class="MsoNormal"><span style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Georgia', 'serif'; COLOR: #333333; FONT-SIZE: 10pt"></span><span style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Georgia', 'serif'; COLOR: #333333; FONT-SIZE: 10pt"><span>11.<span style="FONT: 7pt 'Times New Roman'"> </span></span></span><span style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Georgia', 'serif'; COLOR: #333333; FONT-SIZE: 10pt">If we are here today it is not to claim for grants or an improved job market. THIS IS A HAPPENING MOMENTUM. And such an event is able to fill our actions and speeches with bright new meanings. All this comes from ANGER. But our ANGER rises from imagination, strength and people power.</span><span><span style="COLOR: black; FONT-SIZE: 10pt"> </span></span><span><span style="COLOR: black; FONT-SIZE: 10pt">»</span></span></p>
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<div class="gmail_quote">On 21 May 2011 23:28, Mark Barrett <span dir="ltr"><<a href="mailto:marknbarrett@googlemail.com" target="_blank">marknbarrett@googlemail.com</a>></span> wrote:<br>
<blockquote style="BORDER-LEFT: #ccc 1px solid; MARGIN: 0px 0px 0px 0.8ex; PADDING-LEFT: 1ex" class="gmail_quote">
<p> IT’S NOT JUST INDIGNATION. Inventing new ways of doing politics.<br> <br> <br>It’s true that we’re indignant. But not just that. If it were just indignation that brought us together in the streets and squares of our cities, the movement would have less force. Once the moment of excitement had passed we would have gone home. That is not what is happening. After the demonstrations, groups – some larger, some smaller – have camped in the squares and after being evicted, have returned again and again. This shows a will to be heard which goes far beyond mere indignation, a will which is opening up new means of doing politics on the basis of the idea that “politics” is not only nor principally a profession – the “business” of the so-called political class – but rather that politics is the only way we have to resolve problems collectively. The capture of politics by those professionals who have turned it into their exclusive terrain, reducing it to a matter of representation and exercising it against the interests of a large part of the population, takes out of our hands those tools without which we are doomed to savage competition amongst ourselves, war between the poor.<br>
<br> <br>The increasing intensity of the crisis has made this model of politics blow up. It has shown clearly that the current politicians use the legitimacy which the voting box grants them in order to make citizens ever more impotent against the demands and requirements of a global capitalist class which the politicians either do not know how to or do not want to tame. No one said things were easy. What we are saying is that we need the tools of politics, of a new kind of politics, in order to find solutions to the current situation.<br>
<br> <br>The partial movements that have emerged recently give us hints in this direction. All of them, from platforms like “Victims of Mortgages”, “Real Democracy Now”, “Youth with no Future”, to the offices of social rights, the social centers, and the assemblies of the unemployed as well as many others have shown a tremendous capacity to oppose the measures imposed by the public administration, to construct partial alternatives and to attempt to disrupt the privatization measures and impoverishment which are underway.<br>
<br> <br>So here we have a social Left which does not coincide with the political “Left.” The latter has been absorbed by economic elites to such an extent that it is difficult to distinguish between the recommendations of the big business groups and the decisions of the politicians. The narrow filter of party democracy impedes meaningful participation. This is why it is now time to get our imagination rolling and seek new forms of articulation which reinvent the political community, putting our collective intelligence to the test. The internet networks are at work; they give shape to the new virtual political space. But we need more: popular citizen assemblies, open encounters, public discussions, institutions which supervise and control the political parties… it is our future, this is our moment.<br>
<br> <br>Montserrat Galcerán of the Nomad University<br> <br><a href="http://www.universidadnomada.net/" target="_blank">www.universidadnomada.net</a></p>
<p> </p></blockquote></div><br></div></div></blockquote></div><br><br clear="all"><br>-- <br>Apathy is Dead ! <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/solarider/5254770064/#/photos/solarider/5254770064/lightbox/" target="_blank">http://www.flickr.com/photos/solarider/5254770064/#/photos/solarider/5254770064/lightbox/</a><br>
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