This is what democracy looks like

Posted on November 17, 2011 by Dave

This is what Democracy looks like?

Today is a national day of action for the Occupy movement. If you can, you might consider attending a rally or spending some time at your local Occupy.

I am busy and won’t be able to make it to that part of town today. So I am engaging in Democracy the old fashioned way: Writing a letter to my representative in Congress.

I highly recommend everyone do the same.

Historically, flooding Congress with letters has been a significant way to begin initiating change.

Even if you do not know who your representative is (and you should be ashamed if that is the case), it is now easier than ever to look it up and send an email directly through the House of Representatives website: http://www.house.gov/representatives/find/

I have said before and will repeat: Eventually the movement for change in this country has to go beyond the street protests. This is not to put those down: They are important and must continue for the sake of stirring up the energy necessary to move to the next step.

Organized boycotts and new ways of living will have to soon follow. Will we be able to form our own new communities to help each other support small, local businesses, produce local food, and support each other in our needs?

In terms of political change in the Capitol and on Wall Street, we will have to begin letter writing campaigns and petitions. Imagine if your representative started getting 500 letters a week (that is a mere one tenth of one percent of his constituency) demanding he write a bill reforming the student loan racket. Every week he gets letters and phone calls and perhaps demands for a meeting. He would know, come election time, that if he didn’t step up to the plate, he would be in trouble.

In my letter I am going to ask my congressman, Tim Ryan, to take action on campaign finance reform. Out of this issue all others stem: So long as the wealthiest one percent and largest corporations can pay for campaigns in both parties, we the people will always be playing a losing hand in politics. The only way to level the playing field is by getting the money out of politics.

So, by all means continue to Occupy, as I will continue to do so, but also remember the other tools of democracy in front of you: Petitions, community organizing, letters to your representatives, showing up at local council meetings, showing up at candidate forums, and voting. All of these will be important parts of the future of a more just society, which currently the Occupy movement is laying the seeds for.

-Dave Kovacs

Evictions here, evictions there

Posted on November 14, 2011 by Jeff

So we’ve all heard the news: cities throughout the US have evicted the Occupiers from their encampments. In Portland, Mayor Sam Adams told the Occupiers days ahead of time that they had until 12:01 a.m. Sunday 13 November 2011 to leave the site. Amazingly and hopefully, thousands descended on the Occupy Portland site and saved it from being razed Saturday night. After police left the scene early Sunday morning, most people left, including some Occupiers to get some needed sleep. In the interim, police returned and began tearing down structures and team-shoveling tents into trash heaps to be carted away. Most everything remained “peaceful” except for the police beating of a Sing-Language Interpreter.

So the question: does this mean the Occupy Movement is over?

Better: all the news pundits want to know: Have the Occupiers lost?

The answer here is simple in both cases: only if the Occupiers say it is over; only if the Occupiers say they have lost.

I will give credit to Mayor Sam Adams. He declared that the Occupy Movement brought national attention to the way corporations work to corrupt politics and this needed to continue. He, however, said that the Occupy Movement was losing ground when people in the encampments used drugs or when violence occurred. (I wonder, of course, whether those “drug users” and “violent actors” were part of the movement or sent there or just random people.)

He is right: the Occupy Movement should not and cannot give up now. They need to keep the focus on the way corporations have corrupted politics. They can do this through other actions, including more marches and more occupations, and by engaging in politics.

But I have said from the beginning, as well, that the Occupy movement cannot be about changing the way politics are done at the national and international level. This movement has to lead to changes at the level of the local community — we must learn how to protect and sustain these communities from the bureaucrats and the corporations that serve to destroy human freedom, equality, and prevent self-realization.

The Occupy Movement is not over, but it is time to change focus.

Why I Occupy

Posted on October 12, 2011 by Jeff

I am on the borderline of a generational gap in Catholicism: Catholics a little older than I am were very influenced by the Second Vatican Council as well as by the social justice movements that sprang out of both the Council and the 1960s in general. Catholics my age and younger tend to have grown up in the aftermath of the collapse of liberation theology, and with the swing of the pendulum tend to have abandoned most of the social justice causes associated with the older generation, with the exception of abortion, which today many Catholics seem to believe is the only truly acceptable social justice issue.
Nevertheless my conversion to Catholicism fifteen years ago was largely inspired by the commitment to abolishing systemic injustices, a commitment that I found in the pages of the Catechism of the Catholic Church, as well as in the writings of Dorothy Day, Thomas Merton, Dan Berrigan, and others.But until now I have been largely isolated in my own activism. Too many Catholics have abandoned this cause, and in the secular world there has been a reluctance, even among self-proclaimed liberals, to talk about the systemic injustices that were the result of the rise of the unprecedented Leviathan corporations and the influence of big business. Instead, the American left spent the better part of two decades ranting about religion, guns, or sexual identity politics, while the monied interests on Wall Street went about their daily business of buying politicians from both parties and turning Washington D.C. against the American people.

But there is something essentially catholic about the Occupy movement. Notice I use a little c. I say it is catholic because in the days and hours I have spent Occupying here in Spokane, the movement has been so ecumenical. For the first time we have been united in our message accusing Wall Street of conspiring with the politicians against the needs of the people. I have been standing side by side with conservatives, liberals, socialists, libertarians, Christians, Protestants, Catholics, Buddhists, atheists, pagans and hundreds of other middle class (and sometimes homeless) Americans.

I remember, some years ago, Ralph Nader mentioning to me that every major religion in the world has warned against giving to much power to the merchant class, especially to the money dealers. He then asked me why it is that religious people have spent so much time bickering over theological disputes and no time uniting against the takeover of the United States by the largest, most powerful corporations. I would like to believe Ralph Nader would be pleased to know that is beginning to change.

When I mention to other Occupiers that the Cathedral, which we can see from our base, is where I attend Mass on Sundays, no one has ever mocked me for being Catholic. Nor have I mocked anyone. When the subject of religion has come up we have always agreed that if we are truly the 99% then we must be united in spite of our religious differences. And we have been surprisingly successful.

Thomas Aquinas pointed out that it is essentially contrary to natural law to make money on money. If he could see the derivatives, mortgage bundling, and Wall Street calculations today, I think he would be horrified. He also stated that excess wealth accumulated by individuals should be considered as money to be given back to those in need.

The Jesuit scholar of natural law Joseph Koterski has said that he believes an Aristotelian account of justice would probably demand progressive taxation.

When you take all these facts into account, I think that it is safe to say that the Occupy movement is bringing to light issues which fall squarely within the Christian tradition.

So why do I occupy? I occupy because for the first time in my life time there is a chance that the people will stand up and say “Enough” to the businesses that have been controlling America.

I occupy because I have been a worker in industry and have seen the factories shut down, the jobs sent overseas.

I occupy because I have friends much smarter than I am who will never go to graduate school, never pursue their own American dream, because they are already buried under hundreds of thousands of dollars in debt.

I occupy because I worked for Bank of America when employees were told that the only purpose of the bank was to put people into as much debt as possible.

I occupy because I’ve seen people suffer in underfunded nursing rooms and hospitals.

I occupy because this isn’t the kind of country I want future generations to live in.

Most of all, I occupy because I was taught to stand up to bullies. The corporations on Wall Street have become bullies. The political pundits who call us names are bullies. The candidates for office who have been ignoring human needs are bullies. The lobbyists who shift the tax burden to the workers are bullies. The war mongers who send our soldiers to die and spend our money on bombs are bullies. The banks that use police force to put people on the streets are bullies.

For every 99 honest, decent Americans there is one powerful bully.

And bullies will always be tough until someone stands up to them.

I occupy to stand up.
By Dave Kovacs

Big Money, Big Deal – what should we make of Soros

Posted on October 11, 2011 by Jeff

The news is out! Occupy Wall Street was a scheme financed by George Soros to bring down American capitalism and make himself more powerful and reward all of his rich friends. It’s an attack on freedom so that government and taxes can get bigger. The 1% is funding the 99% to bring about a new world order beneficial to them and duping the 99% in the process.

Well, first, the 1% have been lying for decades to the 99%. We’ve been sold the trickle down economics line time and time again. But it’s not a simple lie that we are told — it’s part of a bigger view of the world that feeds into the worldview of many Americans — the American dream, the if you work hard you can make it better for yourself, the I go it alone mentality. So if it is a means of duping the 99%, well nothing new.

Second, so what if Soros funded OWS? Just because he funds it does not mean that he owns what people do with it. He cannot control the hundreds and thousands of people who have gathered in various cities across the country trying to articulate a vision of democracy and live it out.

The Koch brothers, we know, funded the Tea Party in various guises and certainly got their monies worth. But they tapped into a mindset that already bought into their ideas and were easily convinced to provide the very means by which the Koch brothers could make millions. It’s not clear that Soros has done the same thing. He may want bigger government or more taxes on the middle class or some weird thing.

But does he want the kind of democracy we’ve seen on every street in the occupied cities? Does he want belief in equality and a consensus government like what has formed with Occupy Portland? If he does, he could not bring about anything that would benefit Soros or any other rich person. At best, it will make them equals in a more just society. At worst, it will lead to civil war and a totalitarian state. And we know what happens to the forces behind totalitarian states.

Occupying Together in Lexington

Posted on October 7, 2011 by Joan

Here in Lexington, Kentucky, “Occupy Lexington” has now been going strong for eight days. Protestors are continually gathered in front of the Chase Bank on Main Street. They are sometimes chanting, sometimes singing and drumming, sometimes meeting–regularly, twice a day–even sleeping outside to keep the site continually “occupied.” (Of course, this is happening all over the country, but I must say: not bad, for a small city in a red state!)

The Lexington protest has drawn regulars from local left-wing activist circles, but many more new people. The mood has been hopeful, joyful, compassionate.

One young occupier frequently shares her story in speeches to the public. After being forced to drop out of university studies because of acute financial debt, and then suffering seemingly interminable unemployment, she attempted suicide. She was only permitted to spend two days in the local psychiatric hospital—a frequent story in Lexington, as it is nationwide, where funding for mental health services is being drastically cut. Occupy Lexington has revived her spirits. She has found a new, supportive community, and she has discovered that she is a leader. She is simply radiant as she rushes about, helping to organize the occupation.

Next door to the protest, Natasha’s Bistro is run by a wonderful Russian emigrant woman with a dash of charming nostalgia for the East Bloc and an impressive number of contacts in the music and theater scenes. Although she did not organize the protest, she senses that the times are changing, and she has been mothering the protestors with an intense enthusiasm, offering them free food and coffee, stopping by to ask how they are doing, offering to turn up the music from her restaurant when the protest gets dull, and even organizing a performance of Howard Zinn’s play Marx in Soho, set to take place this Saturday at the occupation site. When I stopped by the protest one cold morning, Natasha loaned me her big fluffy shawl. (I think she was feeling sorry for me because she thought I had spent the night there—I hadn’t.)

It hasn’t only been Natasha, either; the occupiers haven’t had to buy their own food yet. There has been a steady stream of donations of food, blankets, and other items from other local businesses and individuals. Once, a car slowed down beside the protest, and a ziploc bag of Tootsie rolls flew out the window, coupled with a note of solidarity and encouragement.

Many of the protestors here say that they’ve made more friends in a short time than they ever thought possible. In fact, I have noticed that those who have been participating in the protest more steadily than I have seem almost like a family. (It’s probably what parishes/congregations ought to be like and usually aren’t.*)

It is hard to say whether the nationwide Occupy movement will build into a revolution, be quickly crushed, or simply be co-opted by the Democratic Party. So much is happening at once, and one is uncertain whether to encourage everyone to slow down and theorize more, or whether to simply yell, “All power to the general assemblies!”

But one thing is certain. With the economic crisis worsening and neither of the two major political parties addressing the crisis adequately, people are learning how to care for one another. Although we may not see the fruits of our struggle for economic justice as soon as we’d like–we’ll be in this for the long haul–we will certainly make some great friends in the process. And in a society of increasing social isolation like ours, building true community is not an apolitical act.

—————-

*My experiences at my parish have been mostly positive. I am just reflecting upon a debate I once had in a theology class. I argued that there is more communion on picket lines than at Mass. The professor was baffled. I still think I’m right, and I hope to post on that topic at some point in the future.

Subversive Thomism

Living Justly and Loving Kindness in a World on the Brink of Collapse

Tag Archives: Occupy Wall Street