Occupy and our role as well-educated, privileged culture-leaders

So many of my friends are super-smart, well-educated -- if "privileged" isn't the right word, then maybe educationally "fortunate." I want to say to all of them -- to us -- what I said to a few such friends earlier today:

"Let's folks like us put our heads together to improve our great nation. That's all I'm sayin'. In many respects, especially education, we're the 1%. As such, it's our duty to our country to share good information, to develop smart solutions and to take a bit of time to advocate them. This isn't like a campaign season, where we do our duty by saying Yes to some guy's platform. This is a grassroots-movement season -- a sea-change season -- and as such it's as close as we ever get to the direct democracy that's the gleam in the eye of our representative republic. It's amazing. It's a big deal. It's not business as usual. So whatever side of the fence you're on, let's put aside our normal knee-jerk reactions, put on our thinking caps and step up to the plate. Friends, our country's calling us -- truly asking us, for the first time in our lives, for wise guidance. Let's answer."

 

Occupy and the homeless

Like Occupations everywhere, we in Athens have had homeless people of all types join our scene. Some are nutters; others, like the guy who's in my tent right now, worked for decades and lost their jobs in the recession. BOTH types ABSOLUTELY deserve to be represented; they've been a lot harder-hit than privileged folks like me.

They're also a crucial part of the community building that's central to the Occupy movement. Privileged folks like me have a lot to learn from them. I walked such a lady to her "home" from our Occupation camp last night. Her home's a tent in the woods in a park near my house. She needed someone to walk her home because another homeless guy who lives in those woods has been raping homeless women. He's had the cops called on him a few times, but as you can imagine, law enforcement's difficult in that community: nobody's got phones or fixed addresses, lots of folks have mental or substance-abuse problems. This lady's been homeless only for a month or so; she's been mugged, her camp's been raided and she's been physically threatened repeatedly. This is a church-going lady who doesn't read and write so well but has worked every day in her life -- she's in her 50s -- until recently. No lock on her door; no door.

If Occupy looks unsightly because it's got folks like her handing out pamphlets, great: I'm GLAD these folks, for this brief instant, aren't living in the shadows.

 

Open letter to Jeremy Bird, i.e. Barack

I constantly get these letters from Jeremy Bird at BarackObama.com asking for support. Here's what I just told him:

Dear Jeremy:

I’m one of those many people who were passionate about Obama in 2008 and aren’t now. You want my support? Have Barack come out in favor of the Occupy movement, which is where my political energy and dollars are going. Give us camping rights at federal buildings nationwide. Post a federal peace officer at every camp to help us and help local police maintain safety. Have Barack go on TV and condemn the mayors who are closing us down. Have Barack support our calls for electoral reform, lobbying reform, tax reform. Have him come out as our champion. I’m the 99%, and if Barack fights for me, I’ll fight for him. If not, I’ll continue fighting — alongside my fellow Americans and in the street if necessary — for the CHANGE he promised us.

 

Patrick Denker, Ph.D.

Robert E. Park Fellow

Department of English

University of Georgia, Athens

http://www.facebook.com/pdenker