I have not participated in a single Occupy event. There is a part of me that is kicking my ass for not doing anything. Somewhere deep in my soul, there is a piece of me that is kicking my own ass because I have agreed and sympathized without even a hint of sacrifice.
Then there is the other part, the part that makes decisions; the part that reminds me of work, band practice, Seahawks football, and all of the other things I've ceded my time to for various reasons. That part understands that choices must be made. That part offers comfort, and a respite from difficult emotions.
Then there is the other part, the part that makes decisions; the part that reminds me of work, band practice, Seahawks football, and all of the other things I've ceded my time to for various reasons. That part understands that choices must be made. That part offers comfort, and a respite from difficult emotions.
The Occupy movement is messy, and it's supposed to be that way. But at some point we have to make sense of this mess, to learn from it and build on it.
The Tea Party had all of this stuff set up already. That's what happens when you apply corporate funding to a grassroots movement. The message was tightly sculpted and refined. There were places to give your money, rallies to show up at, and a good portion of the AM bandwidth pushing the message of the movement to Real America. All we have are a bunch of random citizens, coming together from diverse motivations, and a whole lot of ambivalent observers, alternately praising and trashing the people protesting something we all know is wrong.
This blog is supposed to be a list of things that Lauren and I want for our daily lives. I don't want this to be for nothing. Do what you have to do, but never forget that lack of participation is a form of consent.
