My time at Occupy Oakland
Since last week my wife and I went to Occupy Oakland three times. Each time she went as a photojournalist and I went out of my own interest. During a small part of our Saturday afternoon there we ended up talking with two “revolutionaries”. It felt like I was debating with FOX news, they continually ignored facts and their view of what was happening around them was based on conjecture.
They both were ignorant of their rights given to them by our constitution. Interesting because one wasn’t even an American, he is a German citizen, though he still gets these rights. And both have taken what the Occupy movement was started over, the uncontrolled greed in Wall Street and unbalanced treatment by the government between the general population and big business, and have co-opt it to meet their view of an “occupational” revolution.
Because you see the plaza is an “Occupied Zone” where the laws of our country do not apply, except of course when the police come back and they claim their First Amendment rights have been violated. This was the view that they were trying to explain to us. And this and the others there with different agendas if left unchallenged is what could take the spotlight away from the message of the Occupy Wall Street movement.
My only personal experience with Occupy Wall Street is from my time in Oakland. I’ve not been to Occupy San Francisco or Zuccotti Park. And to many others Oakland became one of their views into the movement due to the actions taken by the Oakland Police Department last week.
The people there with different agendas like those we met risk diluting the message that many are enduring hardships to spread. There needs to be people within the movement to step up to provide leadership roles, to become examples to the character of the movement and to represent themselves in society by participating in both our political and financial systems. Otherwise people who may not truly represent those ideals are becoming the face of the movement.
During the time talking with these two young adults and listening to the others speaking around the plaza we were told many times do not take my picture, or that we’re racists, the media lies, that we’re part of the system that is taking their freedoms away. But each of those people while telling us to ignore them I feel all want our attention. They want the attention that their actions bring while they at the same time they say go away or you don’t understand. These actions can push others away from the Occupy movement by having these groups represent Occupy or at the least be the first impression for someone arriving at the plaza.
The idea that the system is the problem or that we can break it and create a new one is wrong. It isn’t their system, it is our system and as a country we have ignored that fact allowing others to come in and buy it. Our lack of participation in it has created the vacuum that put into place the very things that today we have issues with. We are responsible for the situation the country is in just as much as anyone from Wall Street or government. We have been the silent observer not challenging those who have taken advantage of our silence.
After the Deepwater Horizon accident information was posted online showing the different business that BP owns and operates and asked that you consider to stop doing business with them. After a few years our memory has softened a bit and most people would not think twice about spending their money at BP.
We have to continue to exercise our rights and participate in our democracy. That includes voting, both at the ballot box and at the cash register. Just as there are consequences on how you as an individual vote in elections there are as to how you spend your money. Greed alone is not enough for the 1% to amass a large fortune; we actively give it to them and allow policies to continue to assist them in doing so.
To be clear the issues brought up by the Occupy Wall Street movement line up with my political views, but I hope that leaders in that community appear or I fear it will be lost in the background of the different messages being presented.
Michael Biven
