This will probably offend. Maybe that's what it's intended to do. Or maybe I'm voicing things here, that if said at Zuccotti Park, will get me boo'ed and thrown out. Here goes. Last night as I stared into my bright laptop screen at 3 in the morning, I thought I was confused on what to write about the things I saw in the Zuccotti Park premises. After spending Saturday with the protestors and checking on them Monday, the third day of their demonstration, I can confidently say that the anti-corporation folks occupying (with consent) the corporate-owned Zuccotti Park are nowhere near achieving the Tahrir that ousted a dictator, which apparently was their aim. And instead of supporting this movement as I would have loved to, I honestly think it's a matter of days until it all disintegrates and the hippies go home. Either it will be done non-violently, or it will veer into a riot. All began a while back when Adbusters, a Vancouver-based magazine incited the #OccupyWallStreet movement, calling on Americans to occupy Wall Street and city squares all across the United States. After the NYPD cordoned off the epicenter of American finance, protesters amounting to around 1,000 gathered at Bowling Green, ready to march down to Zuccotti Park while chanting their demands loud into the streets of Lower Manhattan. The youth, mostly middle class white kids, “overeducated and underemployed”, who are striving for an “American Tahrir Square” have no set of unified demands, though all agree on the change they want to see. End the budget cuts at home, begin the budget cuts on the wars abroad. Bring home the troops, end the American occupations of Iraq, Afghanistan, Libya; let our tax dollars benefit us by means of employment, housing, education, rather than spending them on death and destruction. Down with the racist death penalty which will execute Troy Davis this week by lethal injection. Freedom for Bradley Manning. In theory, this all sounds great. Any idealist who cares about humanity would share these wishes. But there isn't much being done about them by the protestors. I vowed to myself that I would observe, not participate in #OccupyWallStreet, until I identified something I can support. Sadly, I never did. The approximate headcount at Bowling Green on Saturday was exciting, had the crowd feeling optimistic. The solidarity we were receiving from all around the States and from overseas, countries like Spain, Greece, Egypt, and others undergoing reform pushed the protestors on. But on to what? With Anonymous masks, bandanas and diverse sense of fashion that is New York City, they were ready to… Make their voices heard? That was the first step, and they did. The march to Zuccotti Park, streets away from Bowling Green, was followed by general assemblies that discussed plans of taking back Wall Street (which was the primary plan). The police stood by with their lined up vans and paddy wagons, the nearby Egyptian-run food carts profited from the unusual volume of people, and passersby were amused on this September weekend. I was not, and neither were many of the people I spoke to. General assemblies dragged on with little to no clear understanding of a set agenda or plan for what was next. As the wind got cooler and night fell, what may have been motivational during the day became a tree hugging lovefest by sundown. Part of the general assembly was to turn to your neighbor and hug them. And then hug the other one. And then clap. Redundant were the instructions to remain peaceful and preparations announced in case the police attacked. When the return to Wall St was spoken of, those giving speeches kept stressing how important it was for them to stick together to avoid arrest. There was such a focus on what to do in case of police force but there were hardly any addresses made as to the actions the demonstrators would take to bring down the corporations they were so passionately opposed to. This might seem unfair of me to write, Rome wasn't built in a day. The January 25th revolution did not happen in a week. I am fully aware of this, but when the demands of a group are so vague and unattainable, and until now there are no concrete demands that can seriously be addressed, I think it is completely fair to ask what it is exactly that they're fighting for? Corporate corruption is undeniable, the protestors' stance is that these large companies employ politicians for us that people believe they democratically elect. Fine. But how are a few hundred kids, marching around a park with signs and props, playing guitar and eating peanut butter sandwiches going to change a system that affects much of the world? What I personally found wrong with #OccupyWallStreet, which later turned into #TakeWallStreet, #OurWallStreet and God knows what else, was the lack of organization and lack of straightforwardness that was crucial to such a movement, especially with the global audience watching to see if America was ripe for a Tahrir moment. It was far from it. In my opinion, it is not acceptable to compare the injustice Americans face to the dictatorial oppression that resulted in the Arab revolutions. And it is not acceptable for a bunch of young anarchist hippies to call this Zucotti sleepover, reminiscent of '69 Woodstock scenes, the “spark of a revolution”. It's insulting. And it's disrespectful to the thousands who were brutally murdered and tortured and raped all across the Middle East and North Africa in their actual fights for freedom from their chains. It was curious that this leaderless-organized event had no socialist organizations supporting it. While my friends and I had our doubts on the first day, our hesitance wavered, desperately looking for positives we could believe in. A topless woman with “Free Bradley Manning” written on her chest. The smell of different kinds of smoke filled the air. Drum circles and guitar players. People face painting. While I have no problem with any of this, I do have a problem with exploiting what was meant to be a serious cause and turning it into an adult slumber party. I fail to see how the actions of the Zuccotti Park occupiers benefit them as people in protest. I must admit, the sense of community was beautiful. Rapper Lupe Fiasco donated money and tents for those sleeping in; protesters divided themselves into committees like they did in Tunisia and Egypt, groups that dealt with security, legal, medical, clean up, food, media, and economic issues, among others. They took care of each other, and after we got confirmation that the park owners, Brookfield Properties, permitted the protesters to camp out overnight, everyone was at ease. No clashes with the police. Friends and I left the park of no more than 300 people feeling optimistic though there was uncertainty about how many people would be there in the morning, how much longer this would go on, and whether it would turn into a hostile situation with the NYPD. And of course we didn't know what the protesters planned to do next in regards to their demands. Uncertainty held out over the weekend, and on Monday we went back to check on them; get answers to some of our questions. 5pm. No more than 200. After the first person I spoke to, I was almost completely turned off from #OccupyWallStreet altogether. A protestor standing with a sign where Zuccotti meets Broadway, as others were, tells me that the global solidarity they received was so strong that people called local restaurants and had pizza delivered to the park. While I thought that was friendly and supportive, my friend Micha later disagreed, arguing that because it was organized poorly, because there wasn't a large presence of homeless people and people in need that they were feeding; they did not deserve free food. “What change are they bringing?” It got better. The same protestor told me that a number of his colleagues were demanding vegan food from their sponsors. I couldn't listen past this, and I was inclined to interrupt, voicing my frustration. A bunch of people sitting in a park, attempting to emulate revolutionary tactics of oppressed countries, meanwhile not doing much other than smoking, socializing and hanging out, were demanding vegan food, to “accept New York's diversity and take care of our nutrition”. Because, you know, there's just so much peanut butter one can handle. This is when my own rage was ignited. No offense to vegans, as I was one (briefly) at one point, but I just did not feel that catering to specific dietary needs was of utmost importance at a time where people should be organizing to protest against corporate tycoons. And as I walked around, realizing how ridiculously chill it was, the ‘missing ingredients' that people have been wondering about were so blatantly obvious. Rage and organization Here's where my anger is. The people at Zuccotti Park are living. Yes, their economic situation may be shit, they are drowning in student loans, debt, unemployment, they feel unrepresented by their elected politicians, but they are living. They're alright. They'll go back home, whether that be in NYC or upstate, Florida, wherever they felt the need to come from to support this sad, lost cause. They'll be able to shower, and put on a clean outfit, and eat. And those who are not; those who were displaced from their homes and were neglected after Hurricane Katrina, those in the outskirts of New York's boroughs, the sad Bronx, roughed-up Brooklyn, THOSE people were not present. And they should have been. If these hippie anarchists want to bring about change, they have to reach out to grassroots organizations, labor unions, people living in poor conditions of housing projects, all not limited to New York, mobilize and get them to come stand in solidarity, and fight for what they deserve, just like they got pizza delivered to their precious dirty feet. Not sit around in blankets and skull caps, while pretty girls are wearing oversized glasses and perfectly done makeup. From what I saw, they're more obsessed with the image of being revolutionaries than agitation. It's frustrating. Don't get me wrong, I'm not trying to belittle these people. By all means, it is their right to protest, and had they organized this better, they would have my full support. The next protestor I spoke to, when I asked if they need anything, he replied, “Yeah… people.” They need people. Who know what they are doing. And this is most difficult in the so-called democratic United States of America. The sad irony about the American people who really do want change, a real democracy, where officials and our representatives are not chosen by deep-pocketed organizations larger than an average man's life; is that we will have the most difficult time achieving a true democratic system. We live in a hegemony, and those in power are not going anywhere anytime soon. Unfortunately the people who want change in this country are but a small minority. Everyone else has been dumbed down by their Jersey Shore, and their frustratingly stupid Twitter top trends, and the outrageous media that is on a never-ending mission to instill fear in the hearts of the masses. Into believing all Muslims are terrorists. Believing they need certain pills that they most certainly do not. Believing that if they work just a little harder, the impossible can be accomplished. The glamorized American Dream; a mirage for the 99%. And it's all part of the government's plan to censor critical thought and dissent. So this is my (repeated) message to the people still in Zuccotti, who probably won't be for long due to lack of productivity, and the rain: This is just a practice. A practice gone wrong. People outside of your tight-knit circles need to become aware of these issues. This doesn't mean posting on Facebook to your friends, or to people who already know what you know. This means stepping outside of your comfort zone and talking to them. The people out there, who don't want to listen. The people whom are affected by the current economic crisis, just as you and I are, who have been kept under the veil of Fox News and dumbass television that has blinded them from the injustices of their government. Practice what you preach. If you compile a boycott list of God awful corporations to stay away from, stay away from them. How should people believe that you detest corporate greed, when you are sporting products from the very companies you claim to be so strongly against? Don't be so hateful towards Apple when most of you are tweeting from your iPhones and typing away into your MacBook Pros. Achieve, then celebrate. Work your asses off toward the goal, by reaching out to the millions of Americans who are without healthcare, who are unemployed, uneducated, are being harmed by budget cuts, and then do your drum circles. Partying before the mission is complete just makes you look like a bunch of fools reminiscing over an era before your time. You won't be taken seriously. Learn lessons of revolutionary tactics from Tahrir, but don't compare your narrow first world problems to those of a people oppressed under a 30-year rule. Don't get caught up with fighting like an Egyptian; rather come up with ways that could work within our society. While you're discussing how to keep your laptops and electronics safe from the rain by hanging them from trees, they were protesting while fasting, long after the 18 days, under the merciless heat. If you're really in solidarity, work at changing the policies that support their toppling dictators. Before the world sent you Clif bars and Dunkin' Donuts, your government was sending them teargas canisters. Whatever it is these people want to achieve, with detailed evaluation and a solid knowledge of political context, is not impossible. It just needs much stronger organization. You can't say f*ck the police without knowing whether your actions are legal or not. (And then demand for them to get a raise later). We need to target the choking ignorance in our society, get people away from MTV and the circulating bullshit, which will take lots of time and effort. Until then, we'll be ready for parties and music festivals. Not revolutions. ** This was originally published on Kandil's blog. BM
