Occupy Christchurch: Moving Forward

[An open letter addressed to Occupy Christchurch]

Tena koutou, kia ora koutou, na reira mauri ora tatou katoa.

We’ve been at this for a while now.

I know I haven’t been present very much in the last couple of weeks, but please believe that I am constantly reading, thinking, reading more, feeling things out, reading and thinking again. This movement grips me; I feel like I am a part of it, because I am one of those people who has been waiting, plaintively, for it to happen, for many many years. Now that it is happening, I feel as if I have been preparing for it for my whole life, and I can barely believe that the time has come for us to initiate the change we all know is necessary.

WHERE WE ARE NOW
We began with a Statement of Purpose for Occupy New Zealand. We’ve organised marches, rallies, picnics and free markets.

We’ve spoken to loads of reporters and even the NZ Police. We’ve engaged with countless passers-by on a plethora of issues.

Anyway, yes. We’ve been doing this for almost a month. The media and some members of the public still don’t know what the hell we’re on about, and to an extent, I think it’s not unfair to say that some of us are still a little… uncertain of the details. We all know that the system is broken, because of the blatant fact that there is poverty where there shouldn’t be, and there are rich people hogging all the wealth while these others starve and remain mired in ignorance and poverty.

What I mean is, I don’t think many of us understand the framework of mechanics that has caused this situation to come about. How many of us can sum it up in twenty words or less…?

So, the question begs: What’s next? Are we going to narrow down some discussion topics with which we can engage our community in more well-defined, coherent ways?

SYNTHESIS
Perhaps it’s time to begin better synthesising what we’ve been saying, by identifying and focusing on the main themes of our discussions so far.

Occupy the Discussion

I had a brilliant conversation with a retired entrepreneur named Bill down at the Christchurch Occupation earlier today.

Max Chubaba (an Indian-born Kiwi), Popx (an English-born Kiwi) and Rob joined us in moving to pin down exactly what it is that the Occupy movement is seeking to achieve, in real terms. When I explained that we were already doing it by engaging each other in this very conversation, he continued by challenging the motivations and philosophies that we have; and, in response, he stimulated us to articulate them in lucid and compelling ways.

One of the things I really appreciated about the exchange was that Bill began by questioning us extensively, not by piling in with his own views and opinions. He was genuinely interested in why we were occupying the space and engaging people in discussion.

Ain't no good reason for poverty in this world.

He asked me what were the issues we were rallying against. I opened with child poverty (one in five children in New Zealand lives in relative poverty). As we explored the reasons for poverty, Bill and I had a solid exchange on “Choice” as a concept; that is, why it appears that we, who are ostensibly self-determining and autonomous human beings who make decisions for ourselves, end up poor, or abusive, or stuck in the state beneficiary system, when instead we can ‘choose’ to do better?

His position was that we are all able to raise ourselves out of poverty, if we simply choose to do the work necessary.

My position in response eventually came down to the observation that even if we do have that choice, we may not be aware of it on a conscious level. If we are raised in an environment that makes us feel worthless, or unsupported, or that simply brain-washes us into taking a place within the societal system and not trying any further, then we are severely handicapped, and that choice has little meaning.

Who Is the Occupy Movement?

The occupy movement is a global network of local people.

What we share in common is the realisation that contemporary economics and politics benefit far too few people. They actually allow, continue and proliferate suffering, and we all agree that that is immoral, and unreasonable.

There are global issues, there are regional issues, and there are local issues. It is down to each Occupy movement – each Occupation – to decide what those issues are, and how we shall choose to engage with them.

What that means is that *We Are In Control Of Our Own Destiny*

We hold the responsibility for deciding for ourselves what democracy looks like, for us, in our immediate context.

We decide on what terms we will engage with existing economic and political structures.

http://media.citytv.topscms.com

At the same time, we are a small part of a massive, increasingly intricate, and strengthening global network with a horizontal nature. This is inherently collaborative, and the scope for knowledge and experience sharing is almost unlimited. That’s a lot of solidarity and strength upon which to draw, and it makes us powerful. The very nature of participatory democracy that we have formed over the last few weeks in our own cities and squares throughout the world in our General Assemblies, and our various nascent workgroups, is being reflected in hundreds of other cities, by hundreds of thousands of friends and allies, throughout the entire Occupy Network.
We do, truly, Occupy Together.

What we need to realise, on a deep and personal level, is that we are on to something new and important, here.

I want you to consider this for a moment. I want you to realise this fact—the fact that What You Are Doing Is Important.

Occupy Life

What is the Occupy Movement? What do they want?

Lots of people don’t get it. That’s understandable, because it’s decentralised and there is no identifiable and charismatic figurehead articulating the movement’s demands. And, really, that’s because it’s democratic: “of the people.” And the simple fact that there is no central figure to take down, as was the case with Julian Assange and WikiLeaks, means that it’s much more difficult for opposing interests to attack the movement.

The movement is based on principles of participation and self-expression. That’s why we see so many varied flavours of protest: corruption; human rights; poverty; education; healthcare, and so on. And that means that there is room for many thousands of people to get involved, in their own ways. It’s one of the reasons that the movement has become so big.

How do we synthesise all of that? Is it an anti-capitalist, quasi-communist movement?

No.

Capitalism is fine, as an idea.
Communism is fine, as an idea.

In practice, what scrambles it all up, and what this movement rallies against, is egoistic, greedy self-interest—the manipulation of political and economic systems, be they capitalist, communist, or whatever, and the ancillary structures that are meant to support them.

It is the immoral, unsympathetic self-interested attitude, so overtly expressed by intrusive and growth-driven corporate entities and weak governments, that ruins it for everyone.

In a word: “Corruption.” What is it that is corrupted? The system that pretends to offer growth, wealth and prosperity for us.

We have enough to feed, house and employ everyone in the world, right now.

That means that what is happening is THEFT.

Auckland, NZ

We are not against capitalism, and we are not in favour of communism. We are against greed, and selfishness, and corruption. We are in favour of justice, fairness and positive evolution.

You want to know what we want? You want to know what our demands are?

We demand nothing less than A BETTER WORLD, where EVERYONE is fed, housed and fairly employed, and a contributing member of a just and equal society.

We demand our right to such a world… because it ALREADY EXISTS. There is abundance everywhere… and it is being hoarded and squandered by a greedy minority of government-sanctioned thieves.

We make this demand peacefully. We shall not fight you with guns, nor swords, nor fists.

We shall fight you with words, and ideas, and reason. Our weapons are our Hearts; our Minds are our shields, and we shall wield them with mighty compassion and unwavering confidence.

We are Soldiers of Justice, and we shall march, and march, and march–not until we win, but until you finally see these truths, and you join us.

Join us.

occupychristchurch.org
occupynz.org
occupywallstreet.org
occupytogether.org

Word.

How Does It Feel To Burn?

I’m full. Overfull, in fact… I feel as if I contain every emotion that it’s possible to feel, all at the same time. I’ve spent a lot of the last day or so in a free hotel room, writing and journaling and moving with some concentration to make some kind of relative sense out of everything that’s happening, has happened, and is about to happen.

It’s Been a While

Sorry.

Here’s what’s up:

I’m without a job right now, and I’m just about to head down Commercial Drive to canvass the local cafés for work. I only need two or three days a week to cover everything, and really that’s all I need and want, so hopefully it won’t be too difficult. I’ve also signed-up at an office temping agency, so hopefully that will yield a few days work.

Without boring you with too much detail, things in Vancouver (as far as the basics like accommodation and employment go) have not been very successful, ever since I arrived in September last year. It feels like I’m constantly trying to dig sideways and clear a path up to solid ground, and every few feet I get shoved deeper into this hole. In sum, it seems like Vancouver and I are just not resonating very well with each other, at this point in time. I am, simply, not feeling settled at all.

It’s not all bullshit, though—not by any stretch. I have made some amazing friends, plus I’ve been spending quite a lot of high-quality time with an intelligent, gorgeous and delightful woman, who, brilliantly, is named Randi. And, this continuous ‘digging’ has also led me into yet another re-evaluation of where I’m going and what I’m doing with my Life; basically, after feeling kind of stagnant for the last few months, I am once again feeling re-invigorated. Again, without boring you with the introspective details of how I got here, let me break it down for you…

[Cue thoughtful background string music, with montage of biological cellular growth and division]