In fact Global TV interviewed me with the clear intent of getting an outraged person demanding the park be cleared -- they were startled when I didn't say that and even more startled when I was prepared to give my full name.
I felt totally safe and comfortable walking through the Occupy Toronto site. No one even looked at me funny. Taking pictures was no issue.
Everyone was polite, respectful and organized. They were politically astute and have a platform; a platform that is far more (small c) conservative than is generally understood.
Canada has changed. Good jobs are hard to find. I look to the courts -- jobs that once were staffed by full-time workers with benefits and pensions, court staff, are now staffed by part-time contract workers without benefits or pensions. The good jobs at GM in Oshawa, Stelco in Hamilton, the mills around Pembroke, where are they now?
Are the Occupiers correct in their analysis? Maybe not -- there is a simplicity that is probably an over simplicity -- but they make a valid point and we should not just ignore it. The inability to get ahead, to have a good job, to have income security is a bad thing. To want a pension and benefits and a house and nice holidays is not a some lefty pipe dream -- it is the stuff of middle class Canada.
The Occupiers are not protesting for socialism -- they are asking for us to return to a time where opportunity was open -- they are, in a very real sense, conservative in their goals. They want to be and integral part of the greater society.
Tonight there was music, drumming speeches and ... lots of police massing with prisoner vans just to the west of the park north of King. Police who were very clear they did not want me taking a photograph.
I hope the situation ends peacefully. The people in the park are non-violent and looking to protest some very real problems in society. They have a legitimate point -- one I hope they take forward into political parties and political activism. I hope they can bring us back to a time where everyone had a chance to 'do well'.
12 comments:
Kudo James, great post. I don't always agree with you but here you have earned my respect. If ever we met, the first beer is on me.
CWTF
Thanks Anon! I will take that beer!!!
You have hit the nail on the head. Canada was a place to get ahead. Now it's full of fear and 'me first'. When you came to Oshawa I thought you were a phony stuffed shirt Liberal ass. You weren't. You may look like and talk like a 1% but you are a working man at heart.
Your a Communist
"Which Side Are You On?"
Come all you good workers
Good news to you I'll tell
Of how the good old union
Has come in here to dwell
Which side are you on boys?
Which side are you on?
My daddy was a miner
He's now in the air and sun
He'll be with you fellow workers
Until the battle's won
Which side are you on boys?
Which side are you on?
They say in Harlan County
There are no neutrals there
You'll either be a union man
Or a thug for J. H. Claire
Which side are you on boys?
Which side are you on?
Oh workers can you stand it?
Oh tell me how you can
Will you be a lousy scab
Or will you be a man?
Which side are you on boys?
Which side are you on?
Don't scab for the bosses
Don't listen to their lies
Poor folks ain't got a chance
Unless they organize
Which side are you on boys?
Which side are you on?
Interesting post. You've inspired me to take a walk through occupy toronto myself!
"Your a Communist"
At least he can spell.
Actually I prefer to think of myself as a Progressive... :-)
A few rounds of grapeshot and they'd be long gone
Anon,
Doesn't seem to work that way in Syria...
The easy part is protesting. Where are the solutions?
They don't have any as far as I can tell.
I notice you say they are non-violent. Certainly, that is not true of the Caledonia protest but that one is allowed to continue anyways.
There may not be violence but they are breaking laws. They must be part of the 1% that get to break the law while the rest of us stiffs work, pay taxes and abide by the rules.
There has already been a death in Vancouver and a serious medical emergency in the Toronto site. A continuation of this nonsense will lead to more injuries,illnesses and probably deaths.
We were once a country where anyone could succeed through hard work. Sure, there has always been some inequality, but it was not so obvious. However, now we got to the point when middle-class neighbourhoods are slowly but surely disappearing and turning into low-income residences. Achieving success through hard work looks more like a cruel joke than a genuine dream right now. I am glad that even people in Toronto protest against inequalities. We really need to show that we care about such things as well.
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