Why I Will Not Be Occupying Vancouver

source: www.treehugger.com

I get it, okay.  I get it.  People are mad about the current economic situation.  The poverty gap is growing, the state deficit is high.  The country is in debt, the people are in debt, foreclosures, not having enough money to write a cheque... I get it.  Being poor sucks, end of story.  Capitalism is a corrupt system, end corporate dominance, etc. etc.  Yay Marx, class struggle, and all that jazz.  I get it.  And to some extent, I support the sentiments.  But, on Saturday at 10am, I will not be Occupying Vancouver.

And here's why




Firstly, you're occupying occupied land.  Jus' sayin'.  For more about the Indigenous relations with the Occupy Wall Street (OWS) phenomenon, check out this piece here.  Essentially, some Indigenous activists are saying they are not apart of the 99%.  It seems counter-intuitive.  You're occupying Wall Street, even though it is already occupied land.  Wanting to take down the capitalist structure means more than just protesting it.  With colonization, capitalism rode on it's shirt tail.  The premises of private property and a hierarchical workers system jumped off the boat with the small pox.  So before we occupy something, why don't we start decolonizing North America?

Secondly, I don't understand the demands.  You're mad, you're in debt, you're broke, you're mad, you have signs, you have fake Native drum circles, you have sleeping bags, you have megaphones, but what is it you want and how are you going to achieve it?  Don't get me wrong, I am all for a little civil disobedience now and then... but with a hard purpose in mind.  I can go yell that I want change, but who is going to listen to me if I don't say how I want it to happen?  It's like baking a cake with no ingredients.  Banks are greedy, men in suits are corporate drones, yadda, yadda, yadda.  They have families they feed too, guys.  Not every man or woman on Wall Street is an enemy.  Not every bank worker wants to steal your money.  Not every corporate person is soulless.  Lets look at working within the system to change the system.

Lets face it, you can yell all you want, you can sleep in a park all you want... but nothing is going to change.  We live in a system where all that matters is how much power you have.  And power isn't built around occupying a park and holding cardboard signs.  Let them know you're angry, but this is bordering on fruitless.  Like I said before, work with the system to change the system.  No one is going to take seriously unwashed college kids, banging on a drum.  Not to mention, at Wall Street it is costing 1.9 million dollars to pay the police overtime.

 Now, lets flash to Vancouver.  In light of the Stanley Cup riots, the city gets a little weary when large groups of people start to congregate.  The police have already said they are preparing for a substantial gathering and are building a rather large force to deal with it all.  I cannot fathom how much money that is going to cost.  Stores are putting in extra security, because they are worried about violence.  This is coming out of their pockets, some of them small business owners, some of the same people occupy protesters are claiming to represent.

Now, lets face it Canada.  I'm talking to you directly.  We like to point fingers at the USA, saying "hey, it's they're problem!  Look at how well we dealt with the financial crisis, look at their crazy politicians, etc. etc." Now, we are going to rally for a cause we at first said didn't matter to us?  I thought here in Maple Syrup Land everything was peachy?  If we wanted to tax corporations and skrew the man, then why'd we vote in a Conservative government?  And if we are SO concerned with the way people are living, why aren't we protesting the living conditions on reserves?  why aren't we protesting the treatment of women? why aren't we protesting the conditions of the Downtown Eastside Vancouver?  Why are we jumping on the wagon of a protest that jumped the wagon of the "Arab Spring?"

If you want change, vote.  If you want change, get involved with Parliament, get involved with the government.  Do you think I am getting a law degree because I want to be a lawyer?  No.  I am getting a law degree so I can start working with a system I dislike, to help change it to something better.  If you want change, play the game and come out a winner.  If you so badly want change, THEN DO SOMETHING.  Sitting in a park with police presences watching your every move, yelling out anything but a solution isn't doing anything.  If you want change, you have to do it yourself, you have to work for it.  The change you want isn't going to be handed to you because you occupied the art gallery.  If you're so ready to fight for change, then why don't you start actually fighting for it?

I am not one of the 99%.