Since my time at Occupy Philly, I have heard a few ridiculous things. The idea that we are all unemployed is laughable, that we are all college students is ignorant, and that we are all running amok with no understanding of the real world is supremely naive. We are not all socialists. We have a good mix of libertarians, anarchists, progressives, and other way-lefters. And we run the socio-economic gamut. At Occupy Philly, we have an Interfaith Group comprised of many different faiths. It is true that we have our issues; who doesn’t when they converge on the same platform from divergent paths? It is clear the process of direct democracy is messy, and that we bring our baggage to this platform. Listening has not been easy for some to do, even when the best intentions are at play. White privilege is but one example.
Even with these issues, we have still managed to stay together and plan various actions that would benefit and empower a broader base of society than the existing economic and political structure. The cost of this shindig to the City of Philadelphia has at times been estimated at $120,000 per day. What is not included in that estimate are the community-building projects coming from Occupy Philly. Homeless Outreach alone has provided many of Center City’s homeless with shelter and food. The mainstream media, of course, has better things to cover. They are busy trying to figure out why we are here, or trying to determine how we might “move.”
In my estimation, we have three jewels of Occupy Philly: direct action, direct democracy, and community building. Alone, they do not amount to much. My experience is that direct action is the only aspect that is covered simply because it often results in arrests. Occasionally the media might wander through in an attempt to fully grasp this movement. But unless these three jewels are accounted for, you will only cobble together an understanding through disparate, ephemeral slogans and disassociated bits of information from those who have not fully grasped the movement.
Direct Action
A direct action lies outside of the norm for political action; people take direct action when normal channels have failed. Our direct actions have taken different forms. They have included marches, walkouts, teach-ins, and nonviolent theater. Bank Transfer Day and the march to Eric Cantor were great examples of direct actions that made an impact. During Bank Transfer Day, thousands of people across the country either tried or were successful in pulling their money from large banks. Did it have an impact? Given the propensity for truth telling by large corporations, I’m not sure we’ll ever know the full impact of that action. But the resistance that consumers have encountered trying to remove their money illustrates the action scared these companies. And Eric Cantor. It’s hard not to call the march to UPENN a success, especially since Cantor cancelled so abruptly. Each day, at most of the Occupy sites, these types of actions occur. They have led to arrests in many cities, but they also have raised the consciousness of countless people globally who desire change and do not know how to seek it.
These actions have an impact for several reasons. They are disruptive. In the least, our marches pose an inconvenience for drivers who have to wait for us to march by. At most, they are jarring to people who have no idea what is happening. These actions disallow business as usual, which is one of many issues we face with our economic and political system. People are confronted with their own apathy or helplessness to change the system. Additionally, these actions are educational. While confusion has followed this movement since it began, more and more people have become much more aware as a result of it. Teach-ins, seminars, and workshops are among many offerings daily at Occupy. The site also has a library, which has grown by leaps and bounds. These actions are often acts of civil disobedience. The occupation began before we had the permit in hand. Some of our marches have ended with sit-ins that led to arrests. Even now, we are discussing resistance or expansion; both are ultimately a form of disobedience. Finally, our movement is peaceful. Our direct actions have tried to adhere to a code of conduct to do no harm. Thus far at Occupy Philly, I believe our attempt at peaceful direct actions have been successful. These actions are powerful tools by themselves. Coupled with the other two, we believe we can change the world.
Direct Democracy
Several different models of democratic governance exist; the model in the United States is NOT the only one. But our system of governance in the United States cannot rightly be called a democracy. You can call it a democratic representative republic. We do not directly participate in our governance. We hire people to govern for us. Although we refer to these men and women as leaders, they are in fact civil servants. The closest thing that we have in this country to direct democracy is at the local level. But even then, we still choose others to make decisions for us. When we consider the dearth of viable information in the mainstream media about politics, we have neither access to our representatives nor an ability to really choose in an informed way.
The process of direct democracy has been a great process in which to participate. I know dealing with the barrage of information during election time is difficult; it makes forming an educated opinion near impossible. Participating in the General Assembly (GA) is different from this experience. As Colleen has pointed out in her post about direct democracy, ideas are vetted before we vote. We have a system that enables working groups to submit proposals through the Coordinating Committee; once the proposal reaches the GA, we have a process for working through clarifications, misunderstandings, and misgivings about the proposal. A proposal must have a two-thirds majority to pass. The process requires consensus building and active participation; it provides for the inclusion of different perspectives; and every participant is on equal footing. It ultimately requires collaboration and cooperation to reach decisions. At Occupy Philly, we are also examining other ways to structure the decision making process, to build greater consensus. These ideas include modeling our process after Occupy Wall Street as well as enabling online voting for those who cannot get to City Hall to participate. Finally, it illustrates the reality of democracy – it’s messy, complicated, and takes time, as we continue to see about our decision to resist eviction or expand to another site. Democracy, political participation, and what is required of citizens is not neatly packaged, are not written in slick advertising slogans, and do not come with instructions. Cooperation and collaboration naturally lends itself to community building.
Community Building
I think the focus on money is often practical, but at what cost? Most communities have expressed fear over the cost of allowing occupations to occur. We are engaging in direct actions and direct democracy, itself a direct action, in order to build a better community. We have seen the influence of money on our political system; inevitably this influence has denigrated our communities. When you drive through parts of Philadelphia, you see abandoned buildings, properties in disrepair, closed schools, and streets that could swallow a Toyota Echo. Funding for public programs has been scaled back. Inner cities suffer from food scarcity because corner food marts are more accessible than grocery stores or fresh food markets. Without economic development in the poorest neighborhoods, people have difficulty finding work or searching for work where they can get it. Many of Philadelphia’s school children find themselves undereducated, which makes finding employment more difficult. I interviewed for a job with one Philadelphia nonprofit, and the director of one of the programs said he wouldn’t take kids from the Philadelphia school district. He only chose children from charter schools. Pointing to family values as a cornerstone of society makes sense, yet community is comprised of much more.
Many participating in Occupy Philly desire to create sustainable community projects that will live beyond this movement; this sentiment includes this journalism cooperative. This movement is not just about addressing the egregious behavior of both our politicians and our corporations. It is also about creating change. In order to change a system, you have to address its problems openly and honestly. Philadelphia has people who are homeless; many suffer from drug or alcohol abuse, mental illness, or found it impossible to prevent the slide into their present positions. I have met others who are not suffering from substance abuse or mental illness, yet they were sucked into the current economic crisis and had no power to affect change in their lives. Compassion is a large part of our movement. You cannot risk arrest, devote hours to collaborating in working groups, or volunteer unless you have compassion for the rest of humanity. Also, we are not compassionate if we fail to provide individuals with the tools to cope and move out of their situations. Empowerment is essential to change the social, economic, and political system.
Concluding Remarks
I have found through my experience at Occupy Philly that these three components support the change most people would like to see globally. Each of these components alone have failed to produce an effect great enough to rouse people from their sleep, let our politicians know we are serious, and dial down corporate power. Direct action, direct democracy, and community building are integral parts of the occupation that work symbiotically to create this effect. However, most Americans typically see footage of a march or of the arrests. The rest gets lost in the shuffle.
A sure sign that we have seeped into the mainstream is the media’s focus on approval ratings. When many indicate that the mainstream media have taken notice of the Movement, I must remind people that the coverage is either lacking or completely off base. Yes, it’s great that we garner media attention to raise consciousness. However, the quality of the coverage fails to capture the spirit of what is happening. It is for this reason that I feel so moved emotionally when I see university students with locked arms, getting beaten by police. Through the mainstream media lens, the police are simply trying to maintain order to protect society. Through the Occupation lens, you see unarmed students trying to build a better community at the university to which they belong, and receiving corporal punishment for attempting to do so. Somewhere in the multiple lenses through which we can view this movement lies the truth, a truth that we can no longer ignore nor can we decently capture with language. But I think a snippet of Paul Laurence Dunbar’s poem Sympathy provides a starting point for such an endeavor:
I know why the caged bird sings, ah me, When his wing is bruised and his bosom sore,– When he beats his bars and he would be free; It is not a carol of joy or glee, But a prayer that he sends from his heart’s deep core, But a plea, that upward to Heaven he flings– I know why the caged bird sings!
Occupy Philly Journalism Cooperative 
Posted on November 13, 2011 by dsvarner
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