Occupy on the mind

Rosa Parks acted with defiance, Ghandi was vigilantly self-disciplined, and Martin Luther King began his revolution by sharing his dream – all these great movements began by getting people to discuss ideas and the Occupy Movement is no different. When we start to think about the possibilities, it inspires us to take action.

One of the reasons I identify with the Occupy Wall Street Movement is that it begs us to examine the framework within which we live. It brazenly questions the systems that have been put in place to govern our every interaction – legal, political, economic and more and more often, social.

Some people are initially troubled by the conversation. After openly participating in their peaceful demonstration and speaking to friends about the work of the movement, it’s time for me to dedicate a post to their work, particularly because the deputy mayor of Toronto, Doug Ford, says that “something must be done” to rid St. James Park of Occupy Toronto. What bothers me is the reluctance to accept civic engagement – once people start asking questions, too many questions, too many difficult questions it’s a problem that we have to do “something” about. We’ve seen this happen at the G-20/G-8 summits that were held in Toronto and the result was a riotous, chaotic, police state in our downtown core.

In democracies, people should be asking hard questions about how finances are managed, the kind of society we want, if we are caring for the most vulnerable populations in our communities. Not asking these questions undermines our democracy and undercuts our rights and freedoms.We need to ask these questions and start a dialogue to allow ourselves the opportunity to “dream” of the society we want.

The Occupy Movement has given me a chance to think about what living in this world means to me – and how I want to live in it with others. Recently, I came across this speech given by Charlie Chaplin from the film, the Dictator, and it sums up my feelings on some of the current systemic issues that keep us from realizing a world where we are compassionate towards others:

What Doug Ford doesn’t realize is you don’t have to camp out at St. James Park to be a part of this movement. There are millions of ways to be an everyday activist an affect change. Feed a hungry homeless person. Treat the elderly with respect. Open your home to an animal in need. Honour a veteran. And most importantly, think deeply about whether this society is the one you want; if it isn’t, act with defiance and vigilance until you realize that dream.

Since the media is doing an absolutely terrible job reporting on the Occupy Movement, I thought I’d share this video on the message of the movement: