Some Thoughts On The Occupy Movement

     I want to make a few comments on the Occupy Movement. I regularly find posts on my Facebook page shared by various friends. In general, I am in favour of the protests. I don't know that I'm in favour enough to join them. In Canada at least, our economy is doing fairly well, all things considered. I am, however, concerned about a democratic system that allows a majority right wing government to exist to with less than half of the popular vote. Stephen Harper's political agenda is so Americanised it is frightening. His big brother style Omnibus Crime Bill is particularly disturbing and decidedly un-Canadian.
                                                                                                                                                                       
     I feel that the timing of the movement is very good and I like that, after a slow start, it is now getting some publicity. I think that it's high time that our political leaders and the fat cats who support them were put on notice. The so called 99% are getting pissed off. The corporate elite of this country and the rest of the industrialized world have been profiting from voter and consumer apathy for far too long. I think that the Occupy Movement may just be the catalyst of something far bigger and more powerful. Our exploitative culture of excessive greed is clearly unsustainable in the face of climate change and the need for a more equitable distribution of wealth and resources.

     The movement has been criticized  for not having a clear enough agenda in its protests. I believe that this is a good thing. If the movement puts the agenda of one of its component groups ahead of the others, the only result will be a great deal of in-fighting. This is exactly what the corporate elite and their political lapdogs want. It is the classic strategy of divide and conquer. Far better to present all grievances as having equal importance and merit and let the 1% sort out which ones they'll respond to first, thus turning the strategy of divide and conquer on to them.

     A great change in economic, industrial and social philosophy is long overdue. Whether this change comes about gradually or cataclysmically is fundamentally up to the political and corporate establishment against whom these protests are levelled. This initial protest may indeed fizzle and fade with the fickle nature of public interest. Even so, the political and corporate elite ignore these protests at their peril for the next round of protests will be that much more powerful and potent. I hope that they sit up and take notice. It is always wise to initiate change before situations reach crisis levels.

                                                             ...more later