We are all Occupiers

http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/cifamerica/2011/nov/17/we-are-all-occupiers-arundhati-roy


We are all Occupiers

Tuesday morning, the police cleared Zuccotti Park, but today the people are back. The police should know that this protest is not a battle for territory. We're not fighting for the right to occupy a park here or there. We are fighting for justice. Justice, not just for the people of the United States, but for everybody.

What you have achieved since 17 September, when the Occupy movement began in the United States, is to introduce a new imagination, a new political language into the heart of empire. You have reintroduced the right to dream into a system that tried to turn everybody into zombies mesmerised into equating mindless consumerism with happiness and fulfilment.

As a writer, let me tell you, this is an immense achievement. I cannot thank you enough.

We were talking about justice. Today, as we speak, the army of the United States is waging a war of occupation in Iraq and Afghanistan. US drones are killing civilians in Pakistan and beyond. Tens of thousands of US troops and death squads are moving into Africa. If spending trillions of dollars of your money to administer occupations in Iraq and Afghanistan is not enough, a war against Iran is being talked up.

when they helped Obama get elected. That is why they have taken to the streets, taking over politics doesn't work. The politicians have been bought.

zalinda

History is full of clues. In order to be effective, protests need to do a number of things. (And yes, protests have worked.) Whether the occupiers know it or not, the encampments are doing several: Confrontation, symbolism, space/community, and activation.

It's not the end game, but it is a good start.

They say a picture is worth a thousand words, the sight of those tents are worth a million.

Then it seems to be a success. Now what?

to the politicians/political leaders, business community and to the masses via the Internet and one way or another through the corporate media.

Rome wasn't built nor destroyed in a day.

Lest we yield to the impatience of the modern desire for the instant solution, something with potential can be seen to begin.

The occupations are not ends in themselves, which is obvious. They are more like thousands of reality farmers out in the fields of this bankrupt and distracted culture, planting heirloom seeds of freedom in the soil of our noble collective.

One does not force a plant to mature and bear fruit for, rather than quickening the process, one will only bring its demise by doing so. It doesn't help to be impatient or demanding as anger and frustration are useless. The emergence will occur naturally and on its own timescale.

Doubting that the fruit will ever come is also rather futile and might simply lead to negligence when it comes to caring for the crops. What we all can do is assure that we weed, water and provide nutrition and safety to what is growing that it might yield something very essential and vital in due time.