Why I Support Occupy Wall Street

In recent weeks, a number of people from divergent backgrounds have asked me why I support the Occupy Wall Street movement.  I've drafted this post to more fully respond to this important question.
Here I replicate the question as it was posed to me by a friend in response to a recent blog post.  Please feel free to add additional comments or questions at the base of this piece - and thank you for reading.

I've been following you, Joe. I am glad to see you so passionate and inspired.

I must admit, however, that I am confused by OWS. What is the goal?

I've tried reading the "official" websites of the movement, but they are riddled with contradictions and the horribly politically inefficient idea of the "people's assembly", which is probably a good reason why the movement is amorphous and cannot seem to make up its mind.

What do you support?

Dear Friend,

Good to hear from you, and thank you for reading my blog.  You bring up important questions and I am glad to offer my opinion on this sometimes confounding movement that is OWS.  My following thoughts have been developed over the last seven weeks of interaction with Occupy. 

As an aside let me say that in my opinion most mainstream media coverage of OWS in general has been misleading at best and actively deceptive at worst.  I often feel that there are parallel narratives being told that are at great odds with one another: one by the likes of NBC, CNN, and major syndicates; the other through social media, YouTube, the blogosphere, and a compendium of largely independent news sites.  This discrepancy has not served the public when it comes to understanding the Occupy movement. 

Frustration with a perceived lack of clear goals, or an apparent inability to “make up its mind”, as you say, have been criticisms levied at Occupy pretty much since the beginning.  These are fair assessments that have given rise to intense debates on the subject, not only in the mainstream press, but within General Assemblies and among activists too.

I won’t pretend to have a definitive answer.  I do, however, have my own thoughts on the topic.  Below I provide links to a range of viewpoints that have impacted my thinking in regards to this question.  Each moves me in a particular way and I recommend following them all if you have the time:

• Charlie Rose interviews Democracy Now’s Amy Goodman and veteran journalist Chris Hedges of Truthdig on October 24 here.  A fantastic interview and well worth the watch to better understand the Occupy Movement as a whole, but you can key up to 11:10 for a discussion regarding the issue of demands.

• Slavoj Zizek weighs in with The Guardian UK here

• Glenn Greenwald discusses co-option of OWS at Salon.  About mid article he gets into demands.

• Underlying issues for young people discussed by Ted Rall

• Charles M. Blow of the NYT   

• Robert Jensen via Al Jazeera on November 9^th

• Finally, an October 10th article by Chris Hedges, less about demands but a great read in understanding the workings of the OWS encampments

Personally, I believe that not reducing the Occupy movement to a list of demands is a great strength, as such specifics would play directly into the waiting clutches of co-option and dis-creditation by mainstream political organizations and the PR machine. 

For all the talk about demands, however, I think the major issues are actually pretty obvious.  As the popular chant goes “Banks got bailed out, we got sold out!” – to the tune of $700 billion, while home foreclosures continue at a rapid pace. There’ve been no trials, no prison sentences, and no accountability for executives or companies who caused the speculative crash in 2008. The super rich pay less in taxes as a percentage of their income than you or I, and the wealthiest 400 Americans control more wealth than the bottom half of the country – over 150 million people.  According to recent figures from the Labor Department and other agencies, there are four unemployed Americans per available job.  Nearly 50 million Americans lack health insurance. Congress’ approval ratings rank at their lowest since measurements began, and constituents are feeling that their elected representatives no longer serve public interests, but rather those of money-laden lobbyists.  There is a growing awareness that since the 1970s the flow of national wealth has systematically increased towards the richest Americans.  And proposed “solutions” to the resulting deficits our nation now face only include tax hikes and austerity measures, as all the while Medicare and Social Security – the last great bastions of the New Deal – are primed for the chopping block.

There’s enough right here to get a lot of people into the streets.  Whatever specific issues bring individuals to demonstrations or General Assembly meetings, I get the sense from my conversations that many people are not interested in piecemeal reform.  I think systemic change is now on the horizon.

A great protest sign I heard about from Seattle read: “We’re not disorganized, America just has too many issues.”

The average Americans may not be able to give an academic-quality report regarding the whats and the whys of their reasoning, but they get the main point, namely: the rich are getting richer and the rest of us are getting screwed. The American Dream is dying, and this country is no longer what it used to be. 

You are right; messages from Occupy might sometimes be contradictory and seem inefficient.  Heck, depending on where you get your news, the whole movement may well look more like a Ringling Brothers circus act than a profound social transformation.  One of my previous blog posts is titled “Don’t judge this book by its cover”, and this is a message I’ve been repeating to many who seek to better understand the Occupy movement.  It’s the form of the movement that matters most, not the appearance.  

However unseemly it may have looked to wary outsiders, the occupy encampment was in fact a powerful new societal model in the making.  Despite all the controversy, both external and internal, the camps provided a great number of services at no cost: food for all, shelter from the elements, a safe(r) place to be, libraries, basic medical clinics, security details, media relation centers, information booths, and a full daily schedule of community events, among other services.  Perhaps the greatest achievement was – and continues to be - the General Assembly, an open and inclusive daily democratic forum that serves as the official decision-making body for respective Occupy groups.  The meetings take a long time, sure, but they are fiercely democratic – and if you have something to say, you’re guaranteed to be heard.  Even our elected legislature can’t promise that much!

It is important to realize that the catch-all term “Occupy” is in fact more of an umbrella description referring to a series of diverse and often distinct groups.  For example, while educated and dedicated activists may have initiated the occupied encampments, these spaces quickly became a haven for society’s neediest: the homeless and the mentally ill.  A lot of people were turned off by the sight of camps built of tarps, tents, cardboard, sharpie markers, duct tape, straw bales and wooden pallets.  Instances of drug use, overdose, petty theft and crime – all social problems that plague the most vulnerable among us – grabbed the lion’s share of attention from mainstream media.

But consider a few additional facts rarely given airtime:  At its height, Occupy Portland’s encampment held 300-400 people.  The majority of inhabitants were chronically homeless.  The camp kitchen served over 1600 individuals per meal, and by some estimates was feeding over half of Portland’s homeless population at any given time.  Local psychiatric hospitals were using the space as a drop point for discharged patients with nowhere else to go.  This means that prior to violent eviction by police, the Occupy movement was providing basic services not only for its politically-minded members and guests, but for the city’s neediest citizens as well – services that city, state, and federal governments have quite apparently failed to provide on an effective scale. 

All this afforded solely with donations and volunteer labor. 

The really amazing fact is that despite the overwhelming burdens placed on the physical camps, Occupy activists continued to create a revolutionary, people-powered grassroots social movement basically from scratch.  Major actions, demonstrations, and events have been planned and executed effectively since day one, with this same scenario played out in multiple major cities simultaneously – all without any central ruling authority.  Difficulties and communication hiccups have been an integral part of the process, and a great many lessons are being learned every day.  But considering both the massive scale and short time frame of the movement thus far, it seems quite remarkable that so much has been accomplished to this point.

Consider the substantial successes realized since Zucotti Park was first occupied just ten weeks ago:

The national discourse now includes issues of wealth inequality and the falling standards of living in the United States.  Bank of America and other major national banks backed off on their $5 per month debit account fees.  Over a million people have switched their financial accounts to credit unions in the last month, moving $4.5 billion in assets.  Oakland shut down the 5^th largest port in the US as part of the country’s first general strike since 1946.  A White House decision expected to approve the Keystone XL pipeline in December has been delayed until after the 2012 elections.  All major Occupy encampments have been systematically and violently removed in a coordinated series of raids involving Homeland Security and the FBI - a testament, I think, to the fact that Occupy is hitting a nerve with some very important people.  Rather than engage the roots of chronic social maladies, governments across the country have chosen, in effect, to “shoot the messenger” and shove the problems back under the rug (or, more accurately, back under the bridges).  And now there are dozens of viral YouTube videos of riot police pepper spraying peaceful demonstrators.

This movement continues to unfold.  History is being written everyday.  I think there is a natural human response in times of unrest to want to know what’s going to happen, to be sure of outcomes.  At this point, however, no one knows for sure where this will take us.  Anyone who claims as much would be a liar.  The unknown is unsettling, for sure.  But the same forces that unseat old systems make possible the creation of new ones – and such prospects can be exciting and inspiring indeed!  In many ways, where this movement goes is up to us.  We have an opportunity – and a responsibility - to determine the direction of our collective future.  The outcomes are by no means guaranteed.  But Occupy has created a vast new space to begin conversations about real and lasting change.

It is my opinion that Occupy as a movement is only just getting started.  We are in a phase of collectively raising our awareness of the workings of a System – political, social, economic - that does not serve the vast majority of citizens.  Many people are realizing that they are not alone, and waking up to the fact that when we stand up together, we can make big things happen.  Occupy is helping to define the elements of society that require change.

The truly exciting part will come, I think, as the movement congeals, connects, and begins to actively consider alternative solutions.  We have already seen what the State has to offer us: tear gas, riot police, and mass arrests.  There aren’t any real solutions on the table.  The current system works just fine for the power elite.

Personally, I’m looking forward to the coming conversations about new ways of organizing our money systems.  I want to talk about sustainable alternatives to a fossil-fuel based economy that is destroying our natural environment.  I’m interested in a movement to amend the Constitution to guarantee our basic rights to education, employment, health care, housing, food, and political representation.  I’d like to see changes in the electoral process, an end to corporate personhood, and a complete rethink of campaign financing.  We need major adjustments to the tax code that will redistribute the wealth we all help create.  I want an end to America’s wars… both overt and covert. 

Many of these dialogs are already taking place, and have been in the works long before OWS came along.  Occupy has simply added new momentum.

Where these conversations go now is up to us.

It’s a good start.  But we have a long road ahead, and I think right now is a time to reflect, organize, educate, reach out to form new bonds and associations, and begin to collectively decide where to go next.  This is the work happening now.

To answer the question, “What do you support?”

I support the foundational messages of Occupy.   

If there is hope for our future, our children’s future, and our planet’s future, it lies in Us – reconciling our differences, joining together, and thinking big in order to change unhealthy social, political, and economic systems while moving forward as one.  I’m going to do everything I can to make this dream a reality. 

"You never change things by fighting the existing reality. To change something, build a new model that makes the existing model obsolete."

-          R. Buckminster Fuller