Too Little, Too Late?

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.

Rise Above Oppression

"If only the war on poverty was a real war we would actually be spending money on it."

Everyday I wake up and I have to rise above the oppression. Just the day in and day out mechanics of my life are often overwhelming and I have to remind myself that no human should have to live this way.  The 1% and even the top 50% of the 99% don’t live like this.  They can decide to go shopping and buy new clothes or decide not to cook and clean and go out to eat.  They have choices that I haven’t had in years.

Every day I have to remind myself not to be depressed or discouraged.  I have to remind myself that just by the very fact that I haven’t crumbled under the weight of impossible odds and circumstances is nothing short of a miracle and a true testament to the inner strength within me that refuses to be extinguished. 

If I can’t manage it alone now I don’t have to, all I need to do is walk around and talk to just about anybody at the occupation to know that what I experience isn’t some kind of delusion but a cleverly disguised form of societal abuse. 
 

Before this movement truly brought light to the causes of my distress, I blamed myself and looked within to find a way out.  I studied the power of the present moment, the power of your own mind and thoughts,  I sought counseling, took anti-depressants to relieve the pressure, I exercised, fasted, prayed, meditated, read book after book designed to improve your life, I practiced gratitude, you name it, I tried it. 

It doesn’t surprise me now why not one of these methods brought anything but temporary relief.  If anything the best thing I ever did was try to come to terms with the suffering and accept it.  I tried to stop fighting against it because beating your head against a brick wall only hurts your head.  The wall doesn’t even care or know you are there so you only hurt yourself.  Even in as much as I tried to accept  the emptiness of living a life of lack and focusing on the little things that are free in life such as my child’s smile, I could never really do it.  You have to literally kill off a part of yourself to just silently watch the injustice.  You have to become numb and uncaring to no longer question or fight back and that is a lousy way to live.  The only people I know who can live like that are on some kind of drug or drama.

Most people however have actually managed it somehow.  I don’t know why I can’t be among them but I can’t.  My rage at the insanity of it all seems to consume me and stokes a fire that won’t be put out. 

When I was a teenager, my brother attacked me without any provocation on my part.  I was simply using the phone at the wrong time.  When I defended myself against him by throwing my cola in his face, in the living room he had chased me into with the brand new white carpet, my father having only seen my action proceeded to beat me and my brother got off scot free. 

This seems to be the way of the world these days.  I see it so clearly how innocent people are put down through no fault of their own.  Sometimes I just wish I could just take my children and runaway to a new land where everybody was cared for but I don’t know where that would be and I don’t have the money to get there even if I did.

I love this movement and I hope it grows to the critical mass it needs to succeed.  At long last, some of us have got it right.  We can’t just blind ourselves to not only our own suffering but the suffering of others.  We want to make it right.  We want heal the causes.  We want to stop the madness of cutting off a person’s limb and offering a band-aid.

Everyone is talking about life these days, how precious it is and so forth, how we should love each other and make the world a better place.  When I imagine it, I can only let my tears fall as there is no stopping them, I see it finally at the occupation.  It’s only a handful of us compared with the population but it’s there.  We care about the world.  When will you?

Before It's Too Late

If we don't fix the prejudices and inequality that make all the other problems possible is to invite disaster on a scale that you have yet to experience but be warned no matter who you are or where you are in your life it is coming and it's sweeping force will occupy you one way or another.  There are no rich children being beaten with wooden boards.  Why?  

Think about it, when's the last time your voice was heard?  If you are not of the 1% the chances are NEVER!  Please wake up before it's too late!

http://whoarethe99percent.blogspot.com/2011/10/me-and-my-message.html

Exactly, now think about that for a minute, your life is such that you don't have a clue if you will be able to continue to live at your current comfort level, why is that?  Is it not because of corporate and government corruption? And yet you can't be bothered to address it?  

Then They Came for Me (A New Twist)

By Stephen Rohde, a constitutional lawyer and President of the ACLU of Southern California. Adapted from the original by Rev. Martin Niemoller (1937).

First they came for the Muslims, and I didn't speak up because I wasn't a Muslim.

Then they came to detain immigrants indefinitely solely upon the certification of the Attorney General, and I didn't speak up because I wasn't an immigrant.

Then they came to eavesdrop on suspects consulting with their attorneys, and I didn't speak up because I wasn't a suspect.

Then they came to prosecute non-citizens before secret military commissions, and I didn't speak up because I wasn't a non-citizen.

Then they came to enter homes and offices for unannounced "sneak and peek" searches, and I didn't speak up because I had nothing to hide.

Then they came to reinstate Cointelpro and resume the infiltration and surveillance of domestic religious and political groups, and I didn't speak up because I had stopped participating in any groups.

Then they came for anyone who objected to government policy because it aided the terrorists and gave ammunition to America's enemies, and I didn't speak up because...... I didn't speak up.

Then they came for me....... and by that time no one was left to speak up.

"First They Came for the Jews"
By Pastor Niemoller

 
First they came for the Jews and I did not speak out because I was not a Jew.

Then they came for the Communists and I did not speak out because I was not a Communist.

Then they came for the trade unionists and I did not speak out because I was not a trade unionist.

Then they came for me and there was no one left to speak out for me.

Do you really think they won't come for you?

Corporations donate billions of dollars every year to protect and promote their interests.  Don't you wish you had the same option?  Now you do, so support us.

Sounds of Freedom

I'm no longer astounded when I feel and receive compassion from those whose life is even harder than mine is.  Those who support the Occupy Movement are the true hero's in this completely hypocritical land of ours.  It's truly amazing how such a diverse group of people can come together and give of themselves unconditionally while those whose freedom we fight for remain indifferent, cold and criticizing from the comfort of their warm beds.  So many people are so wrapped up only in themselves, that still you can walk around all day finding people who have never even heard about the Occupy Wall Street movement.  I might blame it on the media for their lack of coverage but there has been enough coverage for every person in this country to have at least "heard" of the movement so I can only assume that these people are just so self-centered as not to give a damn about anybody else.

I've said it before and I'll say it again that "those who have the least will always give the most."  In as much as indoctrination and brainwashing is a powerful tool used against the people, pain and suffering is a powerful awakener.   When I asked for donations yesterday, I didn't expect any help but I was wrong.  I immediately received one donation.  I don't know the person who sent it, but if you are reading this please except my thanks and gratitude.  You have restored my faith that there is at least one person who hears my voice and doesn't turn away in contempt.

We have much to do and it is extremely hard to organize or mobilize facing as many obstacles as we do.  Can we do it?  I don't have the answer, sometimes I don't even know if I can make it through another day or even hour with my own personal challenges and I would challenge any of the 1% to live a day in my shoes or even 10 minutes to raise their awareness.

I did not go to college nor did I ever receive any formal or even informal education.  My words come only from my experience of the world as I know it.  Please acknowledge them by taking a moment or two to comment on this blog.  We must all come together against the forces that would divide us and it is only with heart and courage that we will move beyond all the prejudices and lies that still divide us.

Through this movement, I have met and befriended the most unlikely people and what is apparent is that those who have suffered the most are the ones who will help you in your moment of need so now is the time to make the most of yourself.  Take your heartaches and follow them backward to their true source and you will find that whatever has oppressed you the most was not your own lack of willpower or fortitude.  Each day I have to forgive myself for not seeing the picture before it crumbled because the soul of a person is like that when they have been lied to day in and day out since they were born.

One step forward, two steps back, it doesn't seem that you can get anywhere like that but it forgets that momentum is often erratic and there are moments to be had that transcend the laws that govern us.  So step forward and make your voices heard for here within Occupy is a place for everyone.

You do not have to be alone anymore to wonder what went wrong.  You don't have to wonder why you are so tired, why you need to see a doctor, why your children are out of control, why it's never enough, why things don't turn out any where near the way you planned, why anything is the way it is.

The only answer is this.  You are the 99%!

Can anyone donate?

Sorry I really hate to ask for donations, the truth is I don't even believe that anyone really cares enough to part with their hard earned money anymore anyway so I don't really blame you if you can't or won't give a few bucks.  So I'm probably just wasting my time with this request but we are now homeless and there are three children involved and I need money for gas.  The truth is I broke down and got a job, even though, I do believe we should all shove it, until that time comes I have to survive and if I can ease the suffering of my children in any way I will. 

The job won't start for a few days, just waiting for HR to phone my friends phone to tell me when to make it to the orientation.  After that I have to go through an extensive background check for my gaming lisence and a drug test.  I'm not worried about any of that, contrary to popular belief, being homeless doesn't mean you are a drug addict or mentally deficient, or wanted by the man.  It is however time consuming and we need to survive until then.  Once I start work there is the waiting for the actual paycheck as well.  I will be making $5 an hour, plus tips.  I hear tips average 10 to 12 bucks and hour and I've been hired part-time at 32 hours a week.  Well, I have to do what I have to do.  Children need a home and I have car insurance to pay. 

I am not applying for any government food stamps or anything like that because that doesn't help.  What we need in this country is sustainable living wages, affordable nurturing childcare options, and community because it really does take a village.  Well, we are at the community center for a few hours so the kids can play basketball and use a computer.  

I would appreciate any help if it really is out there.

Annigirl -  Occupier

Me and My Message

99% Chandelier

Look, Mom, it's a chandelier!

Lantern hanging from top of tent by the bottom of my daughter's fake silk pajama pants.  OccupyKC