My Rx for Occupy Vancouver success
By Harvey Oberfeld
I hope the REAL Occupy Vancouver movement does not fade away. For MOST of our sakes, it MUST not.
Their message–that the rich must STOP getting richer at the expense of the rest of us–must not die, or be forgotten, or cease to be advocated. promoted and brought to success in our society.
Readers of this blog will know how I condemned what I saw as the illegitimate seizure of the Occupy site by anarchists, homeless activists and partiers, who ruined the original message and destroyed much of the public support for the movement.
That was unfortunate, but now that the tenters have been moved away, that does not mean the original objectives should be forgotten or abandoned.
The Occupy Vancouver movement and protests and demands for fairness and better sharing of the wealth in our society should be continued. But while keeping it real at the same time.The rich have been getting richer for some time…MANY studies have proved that … but big business, corporate lobbyists, their conglomerate-based media mouthpieces and the governments they have financed will only deal the issue when events force them to do so.
The worst thing that can happen to the struggle for fairness and justice is for the real Occupy movement to just go away.
So here’s my prescription how they could succeed:
Revive the protest outside the Vancouver Art Gallery, which IS front and center in the city, where the action will draw the most attention. But do it only one day a week, say every Friday. That’s every Friday, all year round, with featured speakers at noon, keeping up the message. Every Friday, every week.
The single Day of Action will allow thousands of people–underpaid workers, unemployed workers, involuntary part-time workers, struggling single or coupled parents, union supporters, seniors, overpaying renters, aspiring homeowners, and thousands of others who understand and support the true objectives–to show up for an hour or two or for the day and take part, without giving up their entire lives and bedding down in the bushes.
Community leaders, union leaders, even on-side politicians, writers, actors and who knows, even bloggers, could take part in that kind of sustained protest and express their support for the movement.
A sustained, orderly protest, every week, cannot fail to be noticed. And I submit that it will grow until it’s message cannot be ignored.
And by packing up and leaving at the end of the day the protests will not be corrupted by the tenters, druggies, anarchists who would want to divert the message and the attention back to themselves.
That’s my Rx: take it weekly until justice is achieved and you’ll no doubt start feeling …and living …better.
Harv Oberfeld is a blogger and retired journalist. This column originally appeared on his blog, Keeping It Real.
