Occupy Wall Street.
So, originally I didn't pay much attention to Occupy Wall Street. I don't watch a lot of news (not that it's been really paid much attention by the news, and not that they've really done a good job of representing the real heart of the movement) and I thought it was simply a protest against the actions of American banks in recent years - making it a totally legit protest for America, as far as I can tell; but not really as applicable in, say, Canada, where there is much better regulation of such things.
When I heard that there was a protest in Toronto, I thought, "Why? This is an American problem which really doesn't affect us directly". I mean, protest if you like, but what are you really asking for?
Then two nights ago I went to a play... the play is called "Hardsell", by and featuring Rick Miller, playing at Factory Theatre (I recommend it) - it was a very interesting multimedia play, comparing advertising to cancer cells, part reasonable lecture/information session and part fantastical circus-ride, satirically embracing omnipresent advertising as a welcome distraction. It was an exploration of how to deal with the ever-present and significant, calculatedly mind-altering force of advertising.
In any case: a main character at one point comments that "Occupy Wall Street" was criticized for not having a concise, clear purpose; then points out that we're conditioned by advertising to always expect a clear, focused outcome, and what they're doing is just expressing rage and unhappiness at a whole pile of things that have somehow gone wrong, and that doesn't HAVE a simple, concise message like "buy Coke" - it's really the opposite of that, it's rebelling against that single-minded you-have-no-options just-do-what-we-say mindset that is the goal of advertising - and that that was actually a good thing.
So that got me thinking - actually, the play in general got me thinking about how I can really start to make a difference, instead of just throwing my hands up, saying "this whole thing is fucked and there's nothing I can do about it, and not even any good way to get away from it" and feeling like my opinions and actions don't really matter. But it specifically got me wondering a little more about Occupy Wall Street.
Anyways, then last night I ran into an old friend online, who - as it turns out - had traveled halfway across America 2 weeks ago in order to be a part of the protest in NYC. So, I decided to give a closer look at the movement, and looked it up online.
Wikipedia has a decent overview, but I read the OWS site first, and I think it gives a better flavour for what's going on. And I have to say that the message - much broader than I originally imagined - resonates with me on a number of levels. The core of it is this - 1% of people have most of the money; and those people use that money/power to get what they want, at the expense of the 99% who continue to have less and less money - and less and less power. All the people occupying not just Wall Street, but financial districts and other locations throughout the world where financial and political policy-setting power is held, are sending a message that it's time for a little equality. It's time that the government served the 99% and not the 1%. Forget separation of church and state; we want separation of money and state (these days that is not necessarily a totally different demand).
Well... fuck, yes! So I think I am going to try and make it down to Occupy Toronto because I have been feeling more and more, over the course of years, that this world is fucked; that the people in charge have all the money and all the power, they don't need or care about Joe Schmoe, or in fact anyone but themselves; they have charted a collision course with disaster, and they're going to take the rest of us with them, like it or not.
And for several years now I've been talking about and planning towards moving away from Toronto, to a farm where I generate my own power, have my own water treatment, raise my own vegetables, hunt or raise my own meat, preserve and store it all the get me through the winters, sell some produce to buy the few things I can't make myself, and (I leave this part out most of the time because, as much as I think it's a real possibility, it's doomsday crazy-talk) get ready for the eventual collapse of cities, including Toronto... and maybe society as we know it.
The "Occupy" movement has made me feel less crazy about thinking that... it also is a chance to try to disarm the bomb, re-chart the collision course, and maybe make a difference for everyone, instead of just running away and bracing for the worst, and figuring out how to protect myself while telling everyone else to fuck off.
So yeah... something to think about.
B.
When I heard that there was a protest in Toronto, I thought, "Why? This is an American problem which really doesn't affect us directly". I mean, protest if you like, but what are you really asking for?
Then two nights ago I went to a play... the play is called "Hardsell", by and featuring Rick Miller, playing at Factory Theatre (I recommend it) - it was a very interesting multimedia play, comparing advertising to cancer cells, part reasonable lecture/information session and part fantastical circus-ride, satirically embracing omnipresent advertising as a welcome distraction. It was an exploration of how to deal with the ever-present and significant, calculatedly mind-altering force of advertising.
In any case: a main character at one point comments that "Occupy Wall Street" was criticized for not having a concise, clear purpose; then points out that we're conditioned by advertising to always expect a clear, focused outcome, and what they're doing is just expressing rage and unhappiness at a whole pile of things that have somehow gone wrong, and that doesn't HAVE a simple, concise message like "buy Coke" - it's really the opposite of that, it's rebelling against that single-minded you-have-no-options just-do-what-we-say mindset that is the goal of advertising - and that that was actually a good thing.
So that got me thinking - actually, the play in general got me thinking about how I can really start to make a difference, instead of just throwing my hands up, saying "this whole thing is fucked and there's nothing I can do about it, and not even any good way to get away from it" and feeling like my opinions and actions don't really matter. But it specifically got me wondering a little more about Occupy Wall Street.
Anyways, then last night I ran into an old friend online, who - as it turns out - had traveled halfway across America 2 weeks ago in order to be a part of the protest in NYC. So, I decided to give a closer look at the movement, and looked it up online.
Wikipedia has a decent overview, but I read the OWS site first, and I think it gives a better flavour for what's going on. And I have to say that the message - much broader than I originally imagined - resonates with me on a number of levels. The core of it is this - 1% of people have most of the money; and those people use that money/power to get what they want, at the expense of the 99% who continue to have less and less money - and less and less power. All the people occupying not just Wall Street, but financial districts and other locations throughout the world where financial and political policy-setting power is held, are sending a message that it's time for a little equality. It's time that the government served the 99% and not the 1%. Forget separation of church and state; we want separation of money and state (these days that is not necessarily a totally different demand).
Well... fuck, yes! So I think I am going to try and make it down to Occupy Toronto because I have been feeling more and more, over the course of years, that this world is fucked; that the people in charge have all the money and all the power, they don't need or care about Joe Schmoe, or in fact anyone but themselves; they have charted a collision course with disaster, and they're going to take the rest of us with them, like it or not.
And for several years now I've been talking about and planning towards moving away from Toronto, to a farm where I generate my own power, have my own water treatment, raise my own vegetables, hunt or raise my own meat, preserve and store it all the get me through the winters, sell some produce to buy the few things I can't make myself, and (I leave this part out most of the time because, as much as I think it's a real possibility, it's doomsday crazy-talk) get ready for the eventual collapse of cities, including Toronto... and maybe society as we know it.
The "Occupy" movement has made me feel less crazy about thinking that... it also is a chance to try to disarm the bomb, re-chart the collision course, and maybe make a difference for everyone, instead of just running away and bracing for the worst, and figuring out how to protect myself while telling everyone else to fuck off.
So yeah... something to think about.
B.