By Wode
When asked to participate or even attend another ‘Occupy’ meeting, I am all but reluctant in refusing. The nature of this gathering—like so much of typical activism and the self-serving charity work it purports—if not the dreary discussions that come from the unmediated differentials of experience, are entirely tiresome to me.
Certainly this sort of thing is a learning process, as there is no set path to achieving social change, and I myself am learning more all the time. Still, in my years involved in this sort of work, I’ve found that few things seem as effective as just creating, yourself, that which you want to see happen.
You may realize I am proposing direct action. By direct action, I of course do not mean a committee within ‘Occupy’ that organizes submissive marches asking those profiting from the destruction of anything we may hold dear to change (no offense toward such committees doing what they can within Occupy, but therein lays the rub), but I do mean acting on what you purport to believe. We all know politicians are liars and bureaucrats who muddle even the simplest of improvements, so why trust them? We all know captains of industry only think in terms of money, so why believe that they’d accept anything that would limit their income (unless of course it improves their sales outlook, but I’m not looking to buy in).
Neither am I asking for some busted ‘Robin Hood’ tax. I’m about taking away their means of operation and giving them nothing in return. I’m not looking to compromise with government in order to maintain it, either—I seek the absolution of any hierarchy that requires I submit to them. And just as importantly, I’m not trying to manipulate these proceedings in order to gain wealth or power (political or otherwise), because that would be perpetuating these same oppressions that I am seeking to destroy.
So how do we proceed? To be honest (and effective for that matter), I’m not going to claim to have the answers nor be unwilling to adapt—however, I do have some suggestions.
The autonomous neighbourhoods of Greece seem to be a worthwhile standard to work toward, as a medium-term goal. Essentially, that is creating whole neighbourhoods that refuse to allow police or other authority figures into them. Whether they are squatted, purchased as land trusts, or some combination of these strategies (which could include reclaimed/occupied foreclosures and squats purchased from the city for a symbolic dollar), they are homes that shelter people. And how do we ensure the growth of the neighborhood in a beneficial direction? Certainly we have to talk to our neighbors, but the only way we can ensure commitment is to ensure we provide for people’s basic needs—because unless we’re doing that it’s nothing but talk.
If we can empower each other to take on feeding, clothing, housing, and defending ourselves, there is a greatly reduced desire to turn to the system for anything. And by doing this within the city, we are still accessible to nearby neighbors who everyday gaze beyond the skyline in search of another way. Remember how serious of a threat Nixon considered something as simple as the Black Panther’s free breakfast program.
As such, it’s still about so much more than providing an alternative, because even if we’re being effective the powerful dutifully realize that we must be quashed in order to maintain the status quo. Rationally then, it is equally about building the alternative as much as it is about destroying the old system, because it is a threat to us.
With that in mind, we must be thoughtful in how we go about achieving these goals.
One of the helpful ideas I’ve gathered over the years is to try and collaborate with those you know and trust. That’s fairly self-explanatory, I think. Another, maybe less obvious concept, though, is to utilize those same kinds of channels that you know and trust. For example, we are all aware that corporate media is likely to represent it’s own interests before our own, so it makes sense to employ independent media (if anything at all), unless we have the upper hand. This gives rise to my next point—think and act tactically. For instance, it would be inept to draw attention (media, or otherwise) to an effective action without being ready to fend off would-be-detractors. Furthermore, it’s ineffective to pursue support for a cause amongst folks unaffected by it without empowering those who are affected to liberate or defend themselves. Which brings me to my final point: openly celebrate only when you’re prepared to fully defend that which you’ve accomplished. After all, drawing attention to that which you’ve done without the ability or desire to fight off the authorities is just inviting them to thwart you. Ultimately, if you are effective in creating alternatives to the powerful system’s methods of operating they will come after you, or it will cost them.