Occupy 2012 and Beyond

Megan Boler has an inspirational article on The Mark about the coming year in the Occupy Movement.

She did research into the Occupy Movement and interviewed many participants to see what some people are still wondering – what’s occupy all about? Well, Boler points out that at the core there is a commonality between all the occupiers: they want a fairer, more equitable, inclusive, and most of all a more respectful world.

Here’s one of Boler’s key points:

4. We are seeing an intergenerational and international social movement grounded in creative dialogue across diverse groups.

The diversity of age, social class, education, religion, and economic status found in protesters around the world (including within the Occupy movement) offers great hope. The global protests bring together the wisdom of veteran organizers and the energy and technological skills of the younger generation. At every Occupy site and march that I have attended, I have witnessed dialogue taking place between hundreds of unlikely conversants – homeless people talking to men in suits, black women conducting consciousness-raising workshops in the commons for diverse and rapt audiences, older people talking to the young – as people discuss solutions for a sustainable economy and environment. Occupy’s success in introducing new concepts – such as the “99%” and “economic justice” – into our political lexicon results directly from the public spaces of unprecedented dialogue. Reading online comments and Twitter feeds, one discovers thousands of strangers engaged in serious deliberation. The dream of a public commons where genuine democratic conversation takes place has, for many, come true.

Read the full article at The Mark.

Scroll To Top