The Mock-uppation Movement

                You’re standing in line for a coffee. The guy at the front of the line is told that one cup will run $8.

                “What?” he says. “Why so much?”

                The clerk just shrugs and smiles a little.

                “What about people who can’t afford $8. They just can’t have any?”

                The clerk just shrugs again.

                “Is there a reason you’re charging so much?”

                The clerk indicates the long line behind the man.

                The complainant turns and looks at the people behind him. “Don’t you all feel this is a little much? $8 for a coffee.”

                Another person further down the line starts yelling and shaking his fist. He agrees with the man at the front. He knocks over a magazine stand and utters a few profanities.

                Most of the rest of those in line roll their eyes, study their shoes, mutter something about “whackos and whiners.” A few insist on getting the line moving because they can afford an $8 coffee, and to hell with anyone who can’t—that’s their problem.

                The guy at the front tries to talk to some of the others, to tell them they should be asking why it’s so much, to refuse to buy it until prices lower, but mostly, they shift past him, pay the full price, and take pride in the fact that they’re on their way to work and not wasting time complaining.

                “There was this nutcase at the cafe,” one says to his coworkers in the cubicle jungle. He means the guy who knocked over the magazine stand, not the guy who was at the front of the line.

               

                I’ve been very glad to see how much press the Occupy Movement has received, because at least it’s getting out there. Sure, it took mainstream media a long time to get on board, and the vast amount of what reporting I have heard has not been able to hide its bias—or outright criticism—but at least the critical thinker can make a decision on the messages he or she hears.

                Sadly, I’ve seen far too many people treating the Movement with apathy or open hostility. I’ve found it that much more frustrating because many of those criticising it claim to support many of its messages. Obviously the Movement has come to be about the individuals in it rather than the group intent—too bad.

                Everyone has a right to free speech, which is okay when you’re spouting your opinions about hockey teams or sexy superstars on online media, but not if it’s addressing an issue that might make you squirm when you think about how you live your life. Good messages make us uncomfortable, but the immature person avoids the message and focuses on the little criticism he has for the behaviour of a select few. Concentrating all of his focus on this, he can say things like, “I get what they’re trying to say, but this one guy downtown was [insert criticism of distracting behaviour here] so I’ve found a reason to say the whole Movement is flawed.”

                The Right (especially its media) gets openly hostile, calling the protesters lazy, spoiled Arts students who just don’t have the gumption to get a real job and make real money. These people are the most forgivable, really, because they live in that sad, sad existence I’ve spoken of before where the pursuit of money for its own sake is considered a reasonable existence. Pity them. Their minds aren’t going to be changed.

                The 1% is of course muddying the issue by focusing on “demands.”

                “What do you people want? What is the result of this you’d like to see?” The 1%, used to dealing with labour unions, want to know what cheque they can write to end this little dilemma, or what single idea they can ridicule. They don’t get that the Occupiers are seeking to educate, to gather the strength of the remaining voices that want to be heard and make one last push against greed.

                The remaining media always view protests that don’t involve striking workers as quaint. “Oh look, they’re singing.” There’s always some panel that discusses the matter and at some point, someone asks why they’re protesting if things are good.

                Things are not good, and they’re at risk of getting very, very bad. These folks are attempting to highlight that which you are trying to ignore: we can’t go on like this, politically, economically, ecologically. You need to stop trusting the people who are getting rich off of your failure to care.

                Those who mock the protesters—or who find the little examples they can criticize so they needn’t listen to the overall messages—are doing so to deal with their 9-5 “go to work, buy stuff, go home, watch stuff” lifestyle. By criticizing those who care—the people, not the message—they can justify not caring. Fighting for the need to remain lazy and uncaring is starting to make you look like sheep.

                 I like hockey—I don’t write it off altogether because I think Don Cherry should be taken off the air. I like movies—I don’t write off Hollywood because they make sequels to bad flicks. I like coffee—I don’t write off the drink just because I don’t like Starbucks’ business model. We can choose what aspects of the message apply to us. I have friends in the camps and friends in the towers and I can see things I disagree with in both. I have chosen what I want to think based on what I’ve heard. I have not decided the whole group—either group—is a wash because of one representative.  

                It appears that those who claim to care are so very desperate to find a way to hate the Movement, you’ve got to question if they DO care. Basing your whole understanding of a movement on the actions of one person is like judging the whole of literature by Danielle Steele.

                Capitalism is and always has been a faulty system. The desperation of those in the 1% to get us to keep buying and to keep ignoring the facts and to keep thinking we haven’t got any sort of power to threaten their spot at the top of the pyramid is sad. You do not have to take part, you do not have to care. But you sure as hell should think for a second about the greater objectives at hand when you don’t like the look of the kid who got in the way of your latte purchase.