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Occupy Everywhere (photo: alexhung/flickr)
While most debates about the next steps the Occupy movement should take naturally occur among those already engaged in the movement, one population that needs to be further engaged, if the May 1st national general strike (and other Occupy spring and summer related activities) are to succeed and this movement is to grow, is the population of those who are watching from the sidelines.
In other words, the individual members of the 99% who are potentially sympathetic but as yet unmoved to participate in the movement need another open invitation to the dance.
One such individual watching from the sidelines hit me up on facebook recently asking, essentially, what Occupy stands for.
Questions like this and other versions of the “what are your demands” question can sometimes make one go a little postal. What do we stand for? Really? Are you kidding? However, this recent query was not a joke or a provocation. It came in good faith, unsolicited from one not yet aligned with occupy but seeming at least willing to consider participating in the future. The honest to goodness naiveté embedded in the question is evidence supporting the idea that we have more work to do in providing a more compelling narrative than the dominant corporately controlled media provides.
What does Occupy stand for? One narrative potentially more compelling for new recruits is this: The Occupy movement seeks to be an equalizing force for good in a world dominated by greed. And let’s just get this big elephant out of the way right up front: for some, but not all, that means smashing capitalism.
Smashing capitalism sounds crazy to some, because that makes us sound like a rag tag group of socialists. And socialism, goes the refrain oft repeated in one form or another by a corporate media bent on dredging up a red scare once or twice every century just to keep us in line, is Anti-American.
Without debating the merits of Capitalism versus Socialism, perhaps we can agree that the way capitalism operates right now in our global culture delivers poverty, misery, and is downright homicidal.
The Capitalism as homicidal force claim is one that can be made without hyperbole.
People do in fact die for lack of access to healthcare. Human consumption is, in fact, accelerating the destruction of our planet. People do, in fact, die in wars waged based on lies that profit a precious few. Over 5 million children globally each year do not reach a 5th birthday because they die of starvation. This is not because the system that puts man on the moon or can squeeze an entire library onto a computer chip the size of a thumbnail has failed to find a way to feed these children, rather our system is so competitive that it accepts these deaths as a natural component of a capitalist model that dominates world markets. In short, the system is driven by corporate greed, not human need.
And greed, to take back the popular phrase, is not good. Screw Gordon Gecko.
The film Wall Street, which made the “greed is good” ethos popular was written and directed by good old commie loving Oliver Stone. It was a tragically misunderstood satire. It’s as if angry old white dudes in the 70’s watching Archie Bunker in All in the Family missed that the joke was on them, upped the ante and joined the KKK.
The question some of us within the Occupy movement are trying to solve is this one: what would a world look like that had a culture and an economic system that places human need above corporate greed, and how do we bring that world into being?
Who cares what it is called. Call it Socialism, Real Democracy Now, or Chunky-Monkey-Cherry Garcia. The world needs to change radically, dramatically, and it needs to change fast.
The movement has resisted clearly defined answers to distill a singular message because it believes the following: No single individual among us has all of the answers. Rather, we believe that collectively we can come up with solutions to the problems that face us. Some within the movement are reformists, seeking little more than “getting money out of politics” so that our representative democracy can function without the corrosive influence of big corporate money. Others want to see the system replaced altogether.
All of us refuse to allow big money determine our future.
All of us think that we can, collectively, do better than the politicians that have been bought and paid for by corporations at solving the problems that face us.
Spring is coming, and we need you, the 99% that have been watching from the sidelines, to join us.
All of us need to put May 1st on our calendar. The city you live closest to may not have a 24-hour physical occupation any longer, but the movement continues to meet, to plan, to dream.
Some people work on Occupy full time, others participate when they can where they can.
You will find your place & speak your truth. Join us.
Dennis Trainor, Jr is the host of Acronym TV and his documentary on the Occupy movement will be released on April 30th.
9 Comments
Jerry
Thank you. Could not have put it better.
Oopps sorry- Dennis
and recc’ed
Thank you very much for this article. I enjoyed reading it.
I think one thing that would get people more involved is to find ways for people to identify with the Occupy movement even if they aren’t camping out on the front lines like the bravest protesters.
4-5 months ago, I attended one rally that apparently was comprised mostly of Occupy’s health care working group. During the rally, NYPD started to place barricades all around us, effectively boxing us in. I was scared, because frankly I’m too scared to risk arrest, so I decided to stand some distance away along with another protester who apparently had the same idea as me.
I have a lot of respect for the protesters who put their freedoms on the line to secure a better future for the 99%. I wish I could do more for the movement even though I am not as courageous as them, and haven’t yet been in a position to donate money since the movement became visible (times have been extremely tough for me).
God bless the Occupy Movement.
all i would add to this — “Without debating the merits of Capitalism versus Socialism, perhaps we can agree that the way capitalism operates right now in our global culture delivers poverty, misery, and is downright homicidal.” — is the fully nihilistic element prevalent to said culture.
otherwise, well done.
I have many thoughts on this issue but let me just state that as someone who has participated in the movement from the beginning, I see Occupy’s greatest strength, its leaderlessness, as its greatest weakness as well.
Many people I know who were early supporters have left in frustration after witnessing the general assembly model in action. Many early supporters have left because they felt the movement was about our lack of political choice–the Dems and Repubs are now in agreement–and were hoping to see the movement do something about that by encouraging alternatives to Obama and the Republicans through a third party political push. The overt hostility by the Occupy movement to becoming politically active has been its downfall and the reason people don’t want to risk arrest.
Why should I risk arrest if Occupy isn’t offering any alternatives to the status quo? The message has been sent. We don’t need any more chants about the 99%. Everybody gets that point now. We need chants about doing something to change the dynamic.
What solutions is Occupy offering other than endless protests against big corporations? That may lessen the damage but it doesn’t address the underlying problems. That may make people feel like they are contributing to something positive but it doesn’t address the underlying problems. All that energy devoted to anti-corporate protest, if funneled into political activism, could create real change so I argue that Occupy is actually taking the wind out of other groups trying to challenge the political establishment at the voting booth. Occupy is hurting the progressive movement by not supporting progressive politics.
The focus for Occupy has become maintaining the occupation and not what the occupation stands for … at least to many people I talk to who used to be active in the movement. Taking a stand to prevent a homeowner from being evicted is noble and worthwhile but it does nothing to solve the larger issue of a corporate owned government. If we want to change the government we must elect leaders willing to challenge the establishment and we can’t nurture and support those leaders if Occupy is not willing to engage in politics.
I sympathize with your message and I hope you can find a way to reinvigorate the movement but I won’t be participating any longer until I see that Occupy is ready to challenge the establishment politically. And your friend’s question about what does Occupy stand for is a valid one. I have the same question and no, I’m not an idiot who has not been paying attention.
I would love to see Occupy put together three presidential debates this year. The first two debates would be between all the third party candidates only. The last debate would be between the third party candidates and the Dem and Repub.
The beauty of this plan is that Occupy would not have to support any individual candidate. They would only have to support increased competition to the Dem and Repub agenda.
If Occupy would do this they would see their membership explode and find all sorts of support from main stream Americans. If Occupy doesn’t do this sort of thing, they will be relegated to hippies in tents who are just angry and venting.
I don’t have much faith that this would fly with Occupy because there are just too many Obama apologists in the movement preventing any real change from happening.
In our occupy here in Homer AK. We started by standing and railing against the injustice of the PTB. But when we got down to talking it became clear that we needed a backup to the whole system. We started talking about barter and swapping food for service and we knew we needed a better structure where we live, that all could fall back on.
Our state constitution is a very go place to start. We are lucky we have such a great constitution. We are working with and getting good understanding from our state reps about corporate money in state matters. Our capacity for local farms is growing fast and we hope in a few years we could be self sufficient. Fish and meat right now is not a problem. But as we get these things worked out the pressure of new influx becomes a burden. Though we may not focus on the national issues they are still in our hearts and our sights.
I’m not involved in in the Occupy whatever it is, because I see it as a partisan controlled movement, which has, like the Tea Party, swept up many naive people. But whether or not that view is correct, you have some nerve labeling those not involved with Occupy as ‘on the sidelines’. YOU DO NOT DEFINE THE FIELD OF POLITICAL STRUGGLE. You don’t define who is in the game, and who is not, so to speak. It may be that you are the ones who are in fact on the sidelines, who may be uninvolved in the real struggle, whatever and wherever that is.
See, just cause someone comes marching down the street with a sign saying “I represent you” doesn’t say to me that that person actually does represent me, you know?
Good post. Thank you, Dennis.
We’ll be out there on May 1st.