I Block Occupy Becoming a Marxist/Leninist Movement
I joined the Occupy movement with a dream. Occupy had a chance to change the world and make it better for everyone- unfortunately, this opportunity was lost.
The Occupy movement was labelled as the 99% vs the 1% but this is not entirely true. Now, six months later, it is obvious to me that Occupy was corrupted from the beginning. In reality, it was a battle of the 5% vs the 95%. Let me explain…
95% of the people who joined the Occupy movement were those who genuinely wanted to reset old structures and find new ways. We brought our own ideas on how to change the world and intermingled them with other people’s ideas in hope that we could come up with the ultimate mix. It was our combined enthusiasm and open-mindedness that excited my imagination enough to encourage me to be a part of this movement for so long.
The problem is that 5% of Occupiers came to the movement with a plan, and the backing of established institutions- unions, non-profits & political parties who had been planning for this movement for years. They’ve been working on the same goal for years- to generate enough demoralization, destabilization and crisis that they could get the public to accept their Marxist/Leninist ideology.
Prior to Occupy I had no idea how deeply infested Canada was with people who are working hard to instil this ideology into our country’s psyche. I knew we had a significantly sized ‘lefty’ community, but I had no idea how well organized and deeply entrenched they are in our society. But now, six months later, it is undeniably clear to me.
So, does this mean I will stop writing about issues in the Occupy community? Not a chance! In fact, my writing will be more targeted and focussed on fixing this problem than ever! Only, I won’t be burdened by trying to keep a foothold inside of the movement- I am free!
I still have deep love for the 95% of ‘genuine’ occupiers, and am saddened to make the decision to separate myself from you all. That said, I can no longer tread water while waiting for you all to come to the realization you are being used by the 5%. So, I will wait on the sidelines until you all figure yourselves out and you are ready to ‘fire the liars’. If you decide to invite me back, and apologize for the Ostracism & hate that was targeted towards me I will gladly re-join and work beside you once more.
Until then, my friends, I hope we can find an alternative way to work together towards the change we want to see. Perhaps a new organization or special working groups. Together, united, we’ll never be defeated. But, first, we must defeat those who are working to defeat us…
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Sorry that you had to take a long and very bumpy road just to come to the conclusion many of us had at the very beginning of Occupy. I can only hope that with the scars comes a new found wisdom. Be well.
Author
James,
I’ve known for a while that the movement was infiltrated by this 5%. My mistake was thinking that the 95% would be able to see through this after time. Unfortunately, it appears they haven’t. This really takes a bite into my hope for the future of humanity…
Just be thankful you aren’t in Montreal right now, or this summer.
When I saw the union leader who is supporting using blockers against autistic kids at Occupy that was it for me .I guess my sons rights dont matter but her’s do
Rather big association fallacy you are making there. If you only let us have our time and perhaps that could be a discussion on a deeper level. I would not want “blockers”, and how can people know what Union leaders are supporting if nobody tells us? You could discuss that with us in as much the same way as you would approach anyone else, that is, if we had somewhere public to bridge that sort of dialogue.
Author
I’ll get to the who/when/where/why soon. This letter was only meant to explain my reasoning for stepping down…
Well, I have to ask you: What did you learn? Will you take anything from this experience? Or is that only something you will be able with the fullness of time?
Author
I’ll be writing about this soon. But, as a teaser, the first thing I learned is that the duality of left & right is the world’s greatest challenge…
i am with you Greg. Been waiting and observing… on the sidelines working on gathering enough information to actually show people we are fighting amongst ourselves when the enemy is actually out there slowly stripping us of our most valuable human rights… and those of us who are seeing occupy for what is really is are growing… slowly but surely =) i appreciate all the hard work and sacrifice you had to endure. you can now focus, really focus =)
Greg, I find your views on occupy very compelling. I suspect we are likely at somewhat opposite ends of the political spectrum but I began following occupy when they moved into St. James park simply because of geography (they were essentially occupying my front lawn). Without a doubt, I disagreed with the appropriation of public space for the sole use of one group and admit that I fought hard politically to bring an end to the encampment but that doesn’t mean that that didn’t I support at least some of what occupy purported to stand for. The thing that stood out to me however from the beginning is the co-opting of the movement by the unions and known activist organizations looking to piggyback on occupy to forward their own agenda. I spoke with a number of very articulate folks during the occupation (including yourself) and actually felt badly for them in a sense as I could see that their goodwill had been taken advantage of and that they were sold a bill of goods by this 5%. Occupy does have a purpose in the political landscape and I support your efforts to hold them accountable to what they said they were. I have continued to follow the movement after the encampment was brought to an end and I applaud the stance you are taking and am appaled at how they have turned on you in an effort to keep the spotlight off of what is really going on. I truly hope that you are able to convince those with much purer intentions to bring this movement back to what it could/should be.
Author
First, very funny explanation for your name- I expect it’s no Flook! Lol
And, thanks for your support and recognition I’ve faced some abuse. If you look into the history of unions, what happened to me is their standard modus operandi.
Now that I’m free of the burden of membership in Occupy I’ll have more time and energy to dedicate to saving the remaining good people inside the movement. Perhaps one day we will recover it- that said, equally likely we will develop a new organisation as a vehicle to make the change we want to see.
Regardless, I’ll still be here. And, with any luck, you and my other readers will still be reading!
Cheers,
Greg
http://www.facebook.com/lake.occupy
Very well written, Taylor.
Thanks for your response Gred and my name was no flook :-) Taylor C and I exchanged words on a few occasions as the occupation was coming to an end and I didn’t find her to be as impressive as she thinks she is.
I recall very vividly walking through the park toward the end of the encampment and stopping with my two dogs to talk to you. You were not aggressive in the least (aggression was something I often experienced unfortunately) and in fact, you didn’t even talk about occupy initially but instead, crouched down to pet my dogs and soak up the affection that only our four legged friends are truly freely capable of. I believe that you have a good spirit and I wish you well as you endeavour to make this something more powerful than selling out to the highest bidder.
I actually worked as a CUPE member once for a half dozen years and vividly recall the day that Sid Ryan was on talk radio discussing a potential for the City of Toronto CUPE 79 people to strike and using phrases like “I speak for all of my members” etc.. I called into that radio station and told him in no uncertain terms that I was a member and paid dues because I HAD to but in no way should he presume that that entitles him to “speak for me”. I can speak for myself thanks :-)
I look forward to watching what unfolds and I sincerely hope that those that sold you and presume to speak for you are seen for what they are.
BTW…you need an edit button “Gred” :-)
To Toby its being dealt with at a meeting tonight but using blockers against kids is horrible I know now that everybody has formed off into either left or right and people like my son must have his family and friends advocate for him as he is not trendy
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