I talked to a very educated man yesterday about the occupation. He was in complete support of what we are doing but made one point to me very clear. He thinks it is too late and he doesn't think there is any hope for this country, at all therefore he doesn't occupy. Unfortunately, I have to admit I sometimes wonder the same thing. I wonder if it is even possible to change the course we are on.
That doesn't mean I'm not willing to try, indeed even if it can't be done, there has to be something better to strive for even if this country is under water and sinking faster than anyone can imagine. I talked to another man in another country, he is a renowned economist, he too supports the movement but doesn't see any real change happening fast enough. He predicts the financial collaspe of the U.S. will happen in 3 years. I also see that time frame as right on.
So what do we do? Many people just want to keep the status quo and enjoy what they can while they can. I can't blame them if living for the moment has any virtue after all this moment is all you will ever have. It is always now. Many more people however are just blind to the fact that their way of life is in real jepardy. They will watch the news and instead of being forwarned of the upcoming disaster they will watch another election and believe the lies that the people in power have it all under control never realizing that they are being duped. Well, you can lead a horse to water but you can't make it drink. I for one won't feel sorry for anyone who doesn't get the message. If you live in a vacuum, you can't be surprised when you have to eat dust.
One of the most important aspects of this movement is that people are coming together in solidarity and together we brainstorm to create the sustainability of the movement. This in itself is a skill that has long since been lost to our ever greedy, egotistical society where every man is out for only himself or his own. So in that respect, when the U.S. falls completely if it must, none of us will be standing around wasting time and asking "What happened?" but instead be asking "What now?" and getting on with it. Notwithstanding, we won't have to fend for ourselves but together we will fend for each other and the two are quite different experiences as no one is an island to himself.
It's disturbing to me, however, how selfishness has become such a national attitude but not surprising. It's easy to see how the qualities and values of a government will trickle down into the minds it is governing. It's no secret that people will model the behavior that they see most often in the "mainstream" and what is considered "normal" but there is nothing "normal" about the way our government manipulates, uses, and controls it's subjects. If anything the U.S. is by every definition a sociopath, a predator, and a psychopath.
So the one thing the Occupation is doing is sustaining itself without any help from the government and it's screwed up monetary system. People here are coming together for their common good and they will continue to do so when the country falls apart. There are no lonely people at the occupation as even emotional needs are fulfilled when compassion, equality, and inclusiveness prevail. Relationship to others, to our planet, and to ourselves is a force unto itself as nothing divides and destroys faster than the lack of it. Without it, people fall into despair and depression, they take up bad habits that offer an artificial source for it as even a fake sense of it is better than living without it. My sense is that people will naturally lose these habits as their needs are met here among us.
As for me, I visit almost everyday with the children. It's now too cold for children to be sleeping outside but if we had the down winter sleeping bags and equipment we might brave it on some nights but we don't. So for now we are staying with a friend we made there who has opened his home to us. He doesn't have much, just a basement apartment and is on unemployment after being laid off from his job but he's a nice guy and we feel safe there. After the winter, we plan on returning full-time. I should start my job next week which will make things easier for us once I receive that first pay check but I'm getting ahead of myself as nothing is more uncertain than the future and one never knows what twists and turns it will take. So we are just taking it a moment at a time.
