Last Saturday began “Occupy Ottawa”, a movement modelled on the Occupy Wall Street demonstrations in New York. Lots of people showed up at Confederation Park despite the cold and the rain and it was very interesting to watch. I stayed there most of the afternoon for the General Assembly during which were voted the basics of the movement (where, why, how etc.).
So who was there? Mostly students and twenty-and-thirty-something, a few Unions (PSAC, CUPW) and lots of media very eager to see the birth of Occupy Ottawa. In a word, the usual “revolutionary” crowd and those watching them. Been there, done that.
I’m turning cynical.
While I support the movement, I admit I don’t see a huge future for it in Ottawa. First of all, on the practical side, it’s getting pretty cold to camp outside and I doubt law enforcement will let people on-site for days. Second, the banking system in Canada is quite different from the U.S, and so is the political situation. The movement can be modelled on Occupy Wall Street but it still have to speak to Canada. Finally, I hate to be a killjoy but we, people living in “the north” are the 1% while “the south” (Africa, Latin America, most of SE Asia) is the 99%. It doesn’t mean we shouldn’t try to work on social disparities within the north but I don’t want to forget the big picture.
Is another world possible?
I hope so. Like a lot of people, my brain can’t even compute the salary of some CEOs and politicians. Seeing all these men clad in expensive suits meeting around the planet to “fix the economy” is making me sick—they were the ones wrecking it in the first place. What right do they have to lay people off and cut budgets after cashing in their obscene bonuses?
Okay, maybe I’m still my old left-wing self.
Still being your old left-wing self is just fine – and looking at the big picture is an excellent way to view this (fascinating) Occupy movement.
It is an interesting grassroots movement and it’s even more interesting to see how it will turn out. But I don’t have much hope for Occupy Ottawa…
Guess what Zhu….Occupy Raffles Place only saw a handful of curious onlookers with the press making up the majority….so it was a non-occupy wall street here in Spore.
I’m not too surprised… aren’t gathering frown upon anyway?
I love the Occupy/Occupons sign … yay for bilinguism 🙂
Unfortunately, the French version of their website made my eyes bleed 🙁
Zhu,
Like I asked you on Twitter: what was the purpose of this movement? I read their Page and seriously: it was disappointing.
Like you so well said, the situation in Canada is nothing like the American one and plus, there are more urgent things to address (I like the way you mentioned the 99% of the south: good point).
Plus, these Occupy X Movements’ motto “put people before profits and communities before corporations” is a fallacy, because these movements do not put people and communities first. If they did, they’d volunteer; they’d work for the community, showing us thus they really put people first.
They claim to be against banks and profits but they still have money in banks and use their debit/credit cards (I bet, during the Occupy event many used their cards to buy some eats). They are against corporations but they feed them. Their priorities are all wrong. They should prove they are all about the people, period.
Blaming politicians is easy. We are all responsible for the ruin of the world economy: mortgages, leases, leasings, loans, easy credit, credit cards, cheaper products (at the expense of the exploitation of women and children), cheaper food (even if starves people in other places of the world), subsidies to the right and left…you name it. We are all responsible, so blaming politicians doesn’t cut it; let’s start by acknowledging our accountability in the middle of all this. Let’s be sick about ourselves and our need to live beyond our means first and then hold politicians accountable for wanting to respond to our personal greed.
Cheers
Sorry for not replying on Twitter, your message must have slip through.
I disagree with you though, I don’t think their priorities are wrong. The banking system in the U.S is really screwed up and it’s hard not to be angry when CEO get insane bonuses for essentially bankrupting their businesses. I don’t think we can judge the people joining the movement either, lots of them do volunteer and they are volunteering their time do bring issues into the spotlight anyway.
I doubt the movement will eventually succeed but I think it has every reason to exist.
I like seeing people getting together and fighting for a cause they believe in. Hopefully it won’t all be for not- and in a perfect world, everyone would budge some to help all.
I like that do and I must say I was surprised because North Americans typically don’t protest as much (or as loud) as Europeans. It’s good to see people care.
Hope they to achieve what they want. @0@
I wish but I don’t hope much 🙁
Malaysia’s own Occupy Merdaka Square movement fizzled out. We just had a huge rally in July, so I think people had demo fatigue…
I can understand that. Besides, each country has its own issues… not all of them can fit in the Occupy movement.