THE OCCUPY MOVEMENT

I suppose I should really put this over on my Bears Noting blog, because this is world news kind of stuff. But because it's personal, I'm putting it here. This is me; I'm talking about what's happening in my life.

Well, not just me. And that's the point. This is about us. All of us together.

For a very long time, I have been committed to building caring community — community where people care about each other, and sometimes for each other (if that's needed). And, of course, you don't have to be blogging for very long before you discover a lot of people need care, because they're hurting. Sometimes you can see the hurt, sometimes you can't. But with any hurt, there's pain. Real human pain. The kind with which I've lived for years, decades.

Anyhow. Building caring community. Community what includes everyone.

In North America, this Occupy movement began about a month ago. In other places, like Egypt, Spain, Tunisia, and Greece it began a lot earlier.

1. It began from a feeling which, which had been caught in a movie, 35 years ago. The movie was Network, in 1976. (I won't ask how many of you, gentle readers, saw it then.)

There was an amazing scene when one of the lead characters, Howard Beale (played by the late Peter Finch), tells people to go and yell out their windows, "I'm as mad as Hell, and I'm not going to take this any more." That came at the end of a long soliloquy. And people start yelling.

A lot of people are "as mad as Hell" today, too! I think the proverbial straw that clinched this was the bailout of big banks in the United States. That combined with lack of funds to help the ordinary people of the country.

2. That's when people got serious about asking why things are so wrong. And they recognized, without putting a title to it, that America was a Fascist nation.

Fascist nation? Fascism? Does that sound extreme? It does to me.

But, as Fascist Italian Benito Mussolini put it,"Fascism should more appropriately be called Corporatism because it is a merger of state and corporate power." If anyone should know, it would be him. He ran a Fascist government in Italy, under various titles, for over 20 years (actually, 31 October 1922 – 25 April 1945).

3. Then people started talking. And gathering. The flashpoint was New York, Wall Street — the heart of the financial district that had been bailed out by the government. Despite very different details in their concerns, there were some common themes.

This is a broad movement with many voices. The main target is the long, slow encroachment on democracy by corporate power. That is the main message: that people want more of a say in determining our future, that we are creating the grassroots democratic structures to discuss and act upon our common issues, and that we will challenge the corporate oligarchy that our political system has become. ~ Occupy Saskatoon

That's the point of the General Assemblies, the key focal element of the Occupy movement. It is people working out their beliefs, values, goals. For a historic comparison, consider The US Declaration of Independence; it took about a month to prepare.

The first concern was to work out, together, exactly what was bothering people who had assembled in New York. Hence, the New York Declaration. (There are longer, updated versions.)

Personally, having been involved in the ethical supervision of animal research, I have a problem with the statement on animal research. But there are lots of things which need further discussion.

Three additional declarations are under discussion, which will likely be released in the upcoming days:
1) A declaration of demands. 
2) Principles of Solidarity 
3) Documentation on how to form your own Direct Democracy Occupation Group.

Here, in River City, we will hold a modest gathering for one day (at least initially one day). That day is this Saturday, October 15th — a day when similar protests are being held around the world. Using my skills from 30 years of journalism, I have helped to shape our communication strategy. A very modest involvement. For a Bear approaching his "best before" date.

I'm not expecting everyone to understand what I'm feeling and thinking; I'm sure there will be people who disagree with my perceptions. That's normal, I think. It takes time for people to understand things.

I'll tell you more after things happen in River City.