OCCUPY

Oct 7, 2011

OCCUPY

This post has not been approved by Media Co-op editors!

Marx once said that capitalism is its own grave digger.Inherent in the capitalist system is an oppression and exploitation we are all aware of that denies the spontaneous combustion:  the spontaneous combustion of the powder keg which is our ability and desire to be free to create our own realities.

 

I have spent  more than a year living in a fog of confusion that was not me. As much as I hated the fog,I needed it. While living in Halifax between 2004 and 2010, my attempt to express who I was, was overshadowed by a false representation of who I was that I felt I needed to live up to.A puritanical, superhero caricature of me,whether intentional or unintentional, was created by friends while at the same time my enemies were creating a monster caricature of me. I got lost in a tug of war between two opposing forces who were intent on defining who I was. The desire of wanting to act in a way that expressed my own reality was stolen by those who had become observers of my actions rather then people taking action with me. my perceived situation where my actions lead to others not taking action with me, led me to feel oppressed by the inaction of my comrades which caused me to resist the preserved oppression of my comrades by taking more actions.

My intentions have always been to try to inspire and encourage people to take action for themselves and with their community to try and create more beauty and love, however I realize now that it is more important to encourage people to remove themselves from their place of fear before they can act. My inability to see this in the past helped to create the situation where some comrades began  critiqueing  me,rather then creating with me. Critiques of me, whether good or bad, soon became anecdotal and based on hearsay. not only was I put in a situation where I could no longer be me but I was in a place where people did not know who I was and some people would rather listen to hearsay then talk to me. I became aware of how the police used this situation to try to paralyse my political activity I also found out that the police(HRP) actually initiated hearsay and false information being spread about me. I realized that their may have been some elements within the subcultural anarchist community that helped the cops by taking their initial hearsay that they spread about me and using that to further paralyse my political activity and slander me.To me, it appeared that the cops and certain elements within subcultural anarchism were collaborating together to deny me my ability to express who I truly am.

I am sure that when I become more political again, the state may try using some of the same tactics they used in the past to bring me to a place of political inaction. The difference this time around is I am more aware and my friends and comrades are more aware of the tactics the police have used to try to stop me from being politically active.

I left Lake Louise Wednessday morning, on my way to the Edmonton Anarchist Book fair. I got dropped off in Calgary on center street and made my way downtown to find a coffee shop with wi-fi so I could spend some time catching up on email and other stuff. My intention was to stay the night somewhere down town and to hike up to Edmonton Thursday morning. Little did I know that a serendipitous happening would lead me to where I ended up.

The old y is a quaint little building on 12 ave sw that is home to a cornucopia of community oriented organizations whose work greatly benefit some of the oppressed and exploited of Calgary .Thanks to a friend I found out there was an occupy Calgary meeting happening at the old y. There in the basement, I found a large group of activists who were intent on occupying Calgary!!!

The type of meeting that I experienced was the type that I am used to ,one with a facilitator(in this case 2)  agenda and consensus decision making process. The one thing I was not use to and have not experiences in a long time was the positivity, the energy and excitement. This is not just Happening in Calgary. Occupy Calgary is part of a larger occupy movement that stretches across Canada the U.S and the world. like any movement, progressive movement ebb and flow and I believe that this moment for Canada represents our entry into the flow of a worldwide movement against the tyranny, fascism, austerity measures and economic and social chaos brought about by world governments. This is not just a moment against the greedy governments and profit driven corporation, it is also a movement for a more equitable world where oppression and exploitation are driven to the brink of extinction and where equality of opportunity and some semblance of equality of outcome are a real possibility. This is a movement capable of giving birth to a new world where market forces do not dictate how we humans interact with one another.

So who do we give thanks to for the start of this movement ? Some may Say Egypt an Tahrir Square, others may say Tunisians while others may say the Zapatistas or Seattle or even Quebec City. The truth is these examples are all manifestations of the desire for people to be free that have been so prevalent through out the course of human history.The truth is, Regardless of the examples of the past or what the future may hold,the fact is we are here now and if this movement is to achieve any level of success we need to be present in the moment and realize that this is our time to gather together and be part of a global conversation on what we want our future to be. The ruling class of the world have started a conversation, behind closed door, about how the will get elements of their class out of the mire they all created while leaving the vast majority of us in that very same mire

It is time that all peoples unite and breakdown the doors of exclusion put up by the ruling class:it is time that we say that we will not except their exclusionary thinking. It is time we say we will not except their boarders and nations. It is time that we say that we will not accept their racism, sexism and their homophobia. It is time to say that we will free ourselves from the class war that they have thrown us into. It is time for us to say,"we will occupy"!!!!!!