Occupy Calgary... and the rest of the world.

I've been aware of the Occupy Movement but carrying on with life as usual. Now I'm waking up and wondering how else I can help. I know I don't want to add to the problems that will be passed on to my grandchildren. I know I don't want to have to explain why I didn't do anything to make life better for them.

Here's a list given to me by a friend when I asked that question:

Call your alderman, MLA's, the press.
"Research the facts for yourself, rather than listen to the media.
Connect with other press outlets, like FFWD magazine asking the $40,000 question
Pick up a copy of the printed material on-site at Olympic Plaza, or, conversely... I can deliver! (you're still in Glamorgan, right?)
There's a call for donations, both material and monetary. I will dig for how that can be done online.
Start the conversation with your friends, family, coworkers. It's about peaceful discussion and mutual respect.
And of course, spread the blog far and wide. We're doing our best to report on things from a different light.
Also, if you know of anyone who is in decision making positions of internet providers or power companies, or in Council, having a place to be without threat of eviction under bylaws is important. Personally, concerned about the impending winter. We're also seriously looking at an Activist Centre that can both host the movement and provide shelter to those who need it."

I was very moved by 20 minutes of David Suzuki speaking at Occupy Vancouver:

Slavoj Zizek speaking at Occupy Wall Street:

"They tell you we are dreamers; the true dreamers are those who think things can go on indefinitely the way they are. We are not dreamers; we are the awakening from the dream that is turning into a nightmare. We are not destroying anything; we are only witnessing how the system is destroying itself. We all know the classical scene from cartoons. The cat reaches a precipice, but it goes on walking, ignoring the fact that there is nothing beneath its ground. Only when it looks down and notices it he falls down. This is what we are doing here. We are telling the guys there on Wall Street, ‘Hey! Look down!’"

Very entertaining but a little over my head ...
David Harvey explains the financial crisis in an animated fashion in "The Crises of Capitalism".

I don't know what the solution is going to be. But we need to change if only a little at a time. David Suzuki says "Satisfy your needs not your wants." Well, that's a good place to start. However, there are a lot of other Calgarians right now whose needs are far greater than mine. Our Inn From the Cold at our church is seeing women and children again. We thought the new Inn would take care of those we had, but the numbers are growing again. So many people just one paycheck from living on the street makes my heart ache for them.

later man, jan