The Occupation Movement

It feels like a lot of stuff is happening in the world right now.

Big important stuff, and it is easy to feel in awe and very small compared to the stuff that is going.

There is a movement brewing.  The OccupyINSERTPLACENAMEHERE movement is gathering momentum.  The american version, that started in New York didn't make sense to me for the first few weeks that it was going on.

Every idea I heard about the movement at the beginning was about different things. First it was about the financial crisis, and than about the environment, and than about politics, or the prison system.  And than suddenly the point of the protest shifted.  All of those ideas became the result of something else.  The financial crisis, the environmental disasters, and the terrible political system in america were all the result of collusion between the biggests corporations in america and the government.  Everybody was noticing different problems, and than suddenly the whole puzzle fit together.  There was probably one big problem that resulted in all sorts of different little problems.

The method of protest spread.  There was a brand.  You can occupy any place.  Every place has problems.  Everywhere you can find a reason to occupy.

America's problem is big and obvious.  And it's problems reach all around the world into every other country near and far.

In Canada, I have trouble feeling the same urge to occupy somewhere.  Especially in my particular life, at this particular moment, I don't feel burdened by the weight of society.  I hear the news, I read the news.  But I don't often see, with my own eyes, the problems that are being discussed.  And I really don't live the problems that other people have.

I walked by the site of the occupation in Montreal, and I didn't feel any real connection to the issues.  I saw one large printed poster, and it seemed like it was a graph of everything about being a human.  There is so much noise right now that I can't pick up a signal that resonates with me.

Maybe in a few weeks some chord will be struck just the right way in Canada that will get me to act differently.