A Paper Tiger
Occupy Montreal All Isms, No Action
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When the Occupy Wall Street movement came to Montreal this Saturday, it came bearing a confused message—one that is unlikely to result in any sort of change, let alone lead to any progress.
The battle-cry behind the Occupy movements around the globe has been one against wealth disparity that cannot continue. But you would never have known it by the scene on display at Square Victoria this weekend.
While there were certainly people representing the 99 per cent, standing in protest against the richest one per cent of the world, those voices seemed to be diluted
by the presence of so many other people protesting for other causes.
A quick tour around the square would show you people advocating for Quebec and Palestinian nationalism, environmentalism, socialism, pacifism, feminism, Republicanism, anarchism, communism, and a wide range of other isms. There were also groups protesting prisons, the police and the prime minister
Theoretically, this protest had the capacity to bring a lot of people together against the large and growing gap between the haves and the have-nots in our society. Instead,
the demonstration manifested itself as a summation of small groups standing in the same space, each advocating their own pet cause.
This had the effect of transforming what could have been united stand with a positive message into a disjointed protest that ended up having no message at all.
If one were forced to pinpoint a prominent message coming out of Saturday’s protest, it would be one of opposition of the current capitalist system. It’s unfortunate though, as anyone who witnessed the protest would be forced to conclude that its participants were in no way prepared to take any real or practical action against that system.
For starters, it’s hard to take someone seriously when they say they want to drastically change the capitalist system while they are shrouded in and actively consuming its products.
Many of the the participants at Square Victoria were wearing brand name clothing and consuming brand name food, coffee, and cigarettes—all while protesting. Given that
the profits from the sale of such products are what sustains the system they were protesting against, their commitment to drastically changing it seems suspect.
The fact is that although those involved in the Occupy movement profess the desire for fundamental change, they are simply not ready to take the actions necessary to bring it about.
The richest one per cent of the world has too much at stake in the current capitalist system, and is unlikely to relinquish their control of it simply because a couple hundred bohemians spent a day in the rain.
The sort of change those in support of the Occupy movement wish to see would require millions making a concerted effort to reject the material trappings that fuel the current capitalist system.
That is evidently a tall order considering that participants weren’t even willing to refrain from doing so during the protest this Saturday.
While spending a day with friends in a public square and pretending it’s 1969 may be fun, doing that alone is not going to change anything.
Until those in the Occupy movement decide that it’s time to take practical steps towards achieving their professed goal, the movement will remain what the richest one per cent of the world certainly recognizes it as: a paper tiger.
