Sad Clown in an Iron Lung – Creative Commons Courtesy chriscoco
So, a few months ago a few people who were just completely fed up with the state of things decided to devote some energy to demanding that someone, anyone at all, be held accountable for the severe damage done to the global economy in recent years. This isn’t the first occupation movement in NYC. In fact, it’s neither the largest or the longest running. And there are lessons to be learned by looking at the past occupation movements in NYC. And they aren’t lessons that will fill you with hope.
I believe the longest running occupation style protest is still going on today. The people supporting the Free Tibet movement have maintained a constant vigil outside the Chinese embassy for a very long time. While sometimes the presence dwindles down to a handful of people there are times when it soars into the hundreds and thousands of people. The NYPD maintains a semi-permanent presence there, and in fact has honed it’s skill in dealing with protests and protesters that, quite honestly, most people sympathize with.
However, as the years have stretched on for these Tibetan cast aways, things have changed. A new generation of Americanized and Chinese Tibetans are emerging. They don’t identify with the country their parents and grand parents lost. To them it’s just history, like ancient Rome, or that “riot” in Tienanmen square. But while they have rallied, they have fought, and they have gone so far as to light themselves aflame and burn in the streets. The conviction of Tibetan’s seeking their independence from the Chinese government has become a thing of legend in western culture. It is not the living breathing thing that it once was. It’s now more a tale of sorrow and loss than that of fury and hope. There isn’t a person alive here who has not seen the grotesque and powerful images of a monk aflame in an act of ultimate defiance. But today, while the spirit of independence is still alive and well, the hope of that ever becoming a reality is growing dimmer with each passing memory of a time in which Tibet was free.
The largest occupation movement ( by my definition ) in the US to date occurred during the great depression. Striking a definite cord with todays Occupy movement, a large number of people in the US found themselves the inadvertent citizens of Hoovervilles across the United States. As our contemporary economy faltered many Americans again found themselves exiled from the American dream all over again. Some roam as nomads even now across the nation taking whatever job they can find. Others rely on the good will of friends or family. And still others have found that a person without a job has enough free time to generate bureaucracy enough to waylay the inevitable. But, while the 1930′s were far more severe an economic plight for the average American, even today the Occupy movement represents something of a modern day hooverville. I was speaking to a friend the other day, and he had remarked that he may soon face eviction because he has been jobless so long. He’s still taking classes, and rather than live at home with his parents he’s considering storing stuff with them and then living at Occupy Houston and biking to class. This isn’t a form of protest. It’s just a person trying to get by. In fact, many Occupy “protesters” aren’t demonstrating any political fervor. The movement itself bewilders media pundits who struggle to find an angle to attack them on, or promote them as heroes of. But the true strength of Occupy is derived from the very real concrete issues that exist today. There are good, honest, and hard working people who are now homeless through no fault of their own. And, while you, and others like you may have avoided such hardship it doesn’t change reality. You not being homeless is not correlative proof that if they had been as responsible as you others would not be homeless now. That’s pure correlative fallacy. And even if they are responsible for their own plight, they still deserve the chance to better themselves. They are our fellow citizens and we need to make sure that they have what they need to survive, and included in the list of logistical supplies, is hope. Despair can kill.
Hooverville’s were not happy places. Many people died in them, or performing back breaking labor in unsafe working conditions trying to get out of them. Today’s Occupy encampments are by no means hoovervilles. But even with the blighted landscape of a hooverville blanketing the Great Lawn of Central Park, change did not come. There was simply nothing that could be done. When you are poor, you don’t have a voice. You don’t. The proles do not rise up as Orson Wells claimed they would. History tells us that when they do, they are crushed under foot. In this nation that has always been the case. From the days of Nat Turner’s rebellion, to the subjugation of New York City after the draft riots, we have learned, as students of history, that when the downtrodden and sick stand up and try to make a difference they are slaughtered. The grim reality is that, that will always be true.
But, America isn’t the racist economically dependent addict of slavery, or war ( well maybe war ) as it once was. Some people still do care about each other. We still love our country, and we want it to succeed. We want there to be hope for the next generation. We want there to be innovation, and new jobs. We want change, and we have the means to bring that change about. Occupy isn’t the vehicle of change. It’s a cry for help from some of our fellow Americans. And yes, sometimes they are violent. Sometimes the loudest among them are the worst of us all. But they are still our people. Abraham Lincoln once stated that a house divided cannot stand. He then proceeded to slaughter hundreds of thousands. He ordered the Union military to fire on northern citizens in NYC. He had two ships shell the island of Manhattan. And we celebrate the man as a hero. We celebrate him as a hero in spite of all the horrible, and grossly illegal things he did such as suspending Habeus Corpus repeatedly or attempting to arrest the Chief Justice of the supreme court. We celebrate him as a hero in spite of the fact that one of his own citizens shot him in the head, and was by no means alone in his desire to do that. We celebrate him as a hero, because he was right when he said a house divided cannot stand. He saw this country for what it was. We’re not a family, but we do share a bond. High minded notions such as democracy, civic duty, and freedoms are all born of the singular belief that WE are the people of this nation. All of us, united, free, and equal. And everything else is supposed to ensure it stays that way. And most importantly, our universal right to the pursuit of happiness was why we got started on this great democratic experiment in the first place.
Do I think that the Occupy movement will ultimately be a positive thing? I don’t know. I know my friend could use a place to sleep at night near where he takes classes. I know a lot of people need jobs, and they are awfully hard to get right now. And, I know that when people stop hiding their problems and talk about them with their neighbors only then can they help them. Occupy certainly helps on those fronts. And those are its strengths. But, what people at Occupy encampments want, is change. Change that can only come if their fellow countrymen stand by their side. I don’t know that they will, or for that matter that they can with the resources necessary to push through that change. And that concerns me.
The Occupy movement can take one of two paths if change is not an immediate forbearance. They can either choose to be a productive force to further the things they can do, or they can lash out in fury and despair at the things they cannot do. I hope they do not choose the latter path. But history does not lead me to believe they will heed my wishes. And violent provocation of this movement is likely to entrench opinions that already move in that direction. Way to go mayors of major cities. You are antagonizing people with in some cases, nothing to lose. That’s not what we in the tech industry like to call “sane”.
I don’t want the people at Occupy encampments to be hurt. They are our people. They need our help and not our rubber bullets. And I don’t want them to hurt others because they feel they have no options left. But, there is not much I can do. And so I watch the world continue to explode on twitter, or CNN, or on every site I’ve tried for years to use to hide me from the suffering of others in the world. It seems even cat pictures are Occupying caturday these days.
History can teach us so much about Occupy and where it may go, but it can’t tell us the right choices to make. And, it can’t make us choose them either. So here I stand watching a fire burn, and hoping no one I know is hurt by it. And Billy Joel, fuck you man. You did start the fire this time.