It has been quite a while since the last entry. I blame it on the craziness of December — holidays, end of the semester cramming, travel, and well, general laziness. I have been thinking, however, about what little gem would provide my blog ending to 2011. What would capture the last 12 months? What might provide a creative springboard for the new year?
There is one word that stands out for me as capturing the essence of 2011 and offering a guideline for 2012, and that word is occupy. Most of us probably now associate this word with the Occupy Wall Street (and beyond) movement that burst into our collective consciousness over the past few months. This movement has been subjected to a number of criticisms (no leadership, unclear message, drumming circles, etc.), most were undeserved and usually way off the mark. It is worth taking a moment to reflect on what this movement has brought to and demands of us:
- Socio-economic issues are THE issues. The heart of most problems in this country have to do with class. Pure and simple. This movement drove home the basic point, and in the process raised for discussion, that the U.S. is a grossly unequal society (come on — 50% of all Americans at or near poverty). And is usually in abject denial about this.
- Citizenship is not a spectator sport. To be a good citizen mean assuming the responsibility of acting — whether is through self-education, calling officials, leafletting and canvassing or protesting in public.
- The elite and their allies have no shame. The manipulation of people’s fears so that they would work against their own interests was amazing. The abuse of the media was astounding. The attack on public school teachers and other workers was disgusting. The mocking. The denials. The pepper spray. All appalling. These shameful attitudes and actions need to be called out. Silence is their friend.
- Community matters. I was amazed at the mini-villages that sprung up in the Occupy camps. People wanted social connection and established all sorts of creative ways to make that happen. Critical within these networks was communication. People talked, debated, tweeted, and dialogued.
We need to carry these movement gifts forward. We need to embrace the double meaning of “occupy” – to take possession or control of and to engage the attention or energies of others (thanks Merriam-Webster). To honor the incredible work of the Occupy activists (who often placed themselves at all sorts of risks), we need to make the commitment to occupy our legislatures, communities, houses of worship, schools, workplaces, playgrounds, neighborhoods, and civic organizations. We need to occupy our families. We need to occupy our own lives.
No, you can’t do it all. And don’t even try. But, we can all do something, and probably more than we are already doing. The responsibility for keeping the Occupy movement alive rests on all our shoulders. Democracy can not be sustained when the citizenry is uneducated, uncommitted and unequal. And ultimately, that’s what I saw as the core message of the movement — “fight for our democracy before it is sold and dissembled.” So let’s occupy democracy. Let’s take control of it. Let’s engage the energies of ourselves and others in it’s preservation. The alternative is simply too frightening to contemplate.
OCCUPY. And that’s the word of the year.
