Hey Judy Rebick & Krystalline Kraus- What’s Going On?

Hi Taylor,

I appreciate the less harsh tone you have taken in this response. Had you approached that way in the first place, it would have been a lot nicer I have to say. I found your rush to make a character judgement on someone you’ve never met quite disturbing. It was unnecessary for you to write to me that way- and, to be honest, rather rude.

It appears you have done some good things in your life, so people seem to have filtered out the issue that you came to me this way. It is curious how a cult of personality can be- but I’m sure that after all of your years of activism you’ve seen this in others…

I’ll not comment on the specifics of what happened at the camp here in Toronto. But, from my experience in Vancouver, and from stories I’ve heard from people at other occupations, I can see what Undercoverkitty is saying. Occupiers tend to be people who came to the movement for love, and this weakness was exploited by many. Often it wasn’t until it was too late that occupations took action.

Like you, I was one of the first people to try and introduce a no drugs & alcohol policy. In my case, it was after our first overdose at Occupy Vancouver. I’m not sure what your experience was like, but I was called divisive for my suggestion…

The next day, when the Fire Chief came and told us to remove to the tarps we had over the tents I told him this could result in a death- but he ignored me. I then told the mayor we were at risk of a death- he didn’t want to get involved either. So I went to the Insite clinic, who after 4 hours of phone calls, agreed to send a nurse for outreach. They came the next morning, dropped-off some supplies, but didn’t do the outreach as they promised to. A few hours later a young girl had died, it was heartbreaking to see that after all the effort I put into it. I wrote about it here:

http://genuinewitty.wordpress.com/2011/11/13/how-the-city-of-vancouver-failed-occupy-vancouver/

I understand the cost of austerity measures, experienced the results first-hand when I lived in Russia during the early-mid 90’s. Shortly after I arrived there I saw the body of a 65 year-old woman on the sidewalk, went to the nearby police stations and dragged them over to her. The cop looked at me and said “Это жизнь!” (That’s life!) and he quickly walked away. The next day, I saw an old woman with a box of black, mouldy, tomatoes at a pedestrian underpass- she sat there for two days trying to sell them with no luck. The desperation from the currency collapse and resulting austerity measures caused a lot of pain there.

I lived in East Europe for over six years, and learned a thing or two about the challenges we may be facing soon. So, I know a thing or two about what to expect. And, to be honest, it disturbs me to hear your using other people’s pain to try and discredit Kitty’s opinion. That was a cheap shot, and you have no right to have done that- regardless of the accuracy of his/her statement. Disappointing…

Equally disappointing is your statement about divisiveness. Somehow, people at many occupations have decided that what is divisive to say about operations inside their camps is more important than behaviours that divide us from the rest of society. You may be surprised to hear this- but, often, when people in the occupy movement have spoken out about what can be improved, we have helped improve our image with the outside world.

People told me I was divisive when I wrote about Occupy Vancouver’s drug problem the day after our first overdose. But,it was exactly because I was so honest that I was able to rally support from members of the media and some influential community members outside of the camp. I was able to get them to make public statements after the death that the issue was “a Vancouver issue, not an Occupy Vancouver issue.”

So, Taylor I must say I’m not impressed with your tactics to take the upper-hand. The way you approached me with loathing and hateful language, and the way you deflected criticism from Kitty by calling him/her divisive, the way you used the pain of others to try and justify yourself- this is far from what I expected when I took comradeship with experienced activists like yourself. It lacks genuineness, respect and compassion that I thought would naturally come with the territory.

That said, you are not the only person to have acted this way- so, I’m guessing it takes a lot out of one’s heart to go down the path of a long-term activist. It seems many people in this community have a lot of pain and damage from this pursuit. Many hearts that have been broken and worn from the long fight. And, a slight bit of arrogance on the side.

Personally, I’m not that bitter yet- probably why I am resorting to using humour over using abusiveness and defensive tactics. But, to use the immortal words of Bill Clinton- I feel your pain. So, apologies for reacting to your initial introduction, and I am removing the ‘pottymouth’ article. Hopefully you can see in your heart that you also should share some apologies for your angry introduction.

I hope, in return, you will do your best to ‘call-off the dogs’ in the attack on me. I entered Occupy Toronto with peace & love in my heart- and never expressed any negativity. Then, for some reason, Dave went off the rails and decided to insist I am expelled without trial, and without understanding the situation. This sort of behaviour is incredibly more divisive than anything I’ve done.

You see, there are a few million people out there like me- newly hatched activists who are so disappointed in the system we once believed in that we decided to jump to the other side. This is the miracle of the Occupy Movement, that it has awakened the souls of the masses. People who never before considered dedicating their lives to making change, but are now committed to making it happen.

Are you willing to do that? I’ll meet you half-way if you will…