Angry crowd gathers at the entrance to a closed bank in Greece.

Not being in Greece, it’s impossible to really have a clear idea of the next step. But here’s what I’m wondering:

If there really is a super-charged atmosphere in Greece, then what would happen if some small group simply forced open the doors of some of the banks? We are reading that every day there are hundreds or maybe thousands of people gathered outside the banks. They must be both scared and angry. If the doors were forced open, would they just go in and refuse to leave? If so, then you have the start of occupation of the banks.

If just a few hundred started occupying a few banks, the word would spread like wildfire. You would need, then, a plan of action to follow up. It seems likely that if this were to happen, there would be a tendency for people in surrounding communities to start bringing food, water, etc. to those inside the banks. Then you have neighborhood support committees starting to form themselves. In addition, if it didn’t happen spontaneously, it probably

wouldn’t take much to get those who are occupying the individual banks to start communicating with each other – first maybe by Twitter and the like and then in person.

But the individual branch banks are just the branches of the central monster. Isn’t the central bank the nerve center? Wouldn’t that be the next logical step – to occupy the central bank?

That’s one lesson from Occupy Oakland. Sometimes talk is cheap and action is what is needed. The anarchists and similar types were ultimately proven wrong in Occupy Oakland. The movement does need a clear program and plan of action. Sometimes, though, in this period it is out of the action itself that such a program can start to develop a mass base.