Direct Action

Occupy 2012 and Beyond

- Adam Clare

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.

Just Show Up

- Adam Clare

People often say to me “Why go to protests? They don’t change anything.” Usually my response relates to the necessity of an actively engaged population within a democracy. If we’re not on the streets asking for change then change won’t happen. The usually response to that is a lame excuse that we can’t change the institutionalized systems.
occupy
We can and we do.

If 2011 has taught us anything it’s that being on the streets matter. Talking politics matters. Talking about injustice matters. Telling friends why you’re protesting something matters. Voting matters. Writing politicians matters. It all matters.

Not going to protests and not talking about these things ensures that change will not happen. If anything, if people aren’t involved then the change that happens is usually the change that isn’t good for society.

So let’s change things for the better. Let’s do this because we can and because we need to.

Looking back on 2011 we have seen a near-global awakening of people-powered movements that come in a different form everywhere. We’ve heard a lot about Egypt and Libya in the west but there have been more. Some are still ongoing in Syria, Bahrain, and many other Middle Eastern countries. Closer to home in North America we have the Occupy Movement.

All of these movements have different concerns, different people, different reasons why they are on the street. They even have different goals.

There is one thing that they all have in common from Occupy Sydney to the oppressed people of Bahrain: to make the world a better place through democratic inclusion.

Who can’t get behind that?

For the upcoming year of 2012 I challenge every reader of Things Are Good to get out there and just show up at your local protest for positive change.

The Arab Spring initiated a jarring series of events in 2011 that illustrate the radical political possibilities of just being present. When the regime won’t listen, when being heard as an individual isn’t really a viable option, simply standing together and being seen can be profoundly political and empowering.

But will just “being there” really bring significant change?

Revolutions never happen overnight. They result from accumulations of dozens, even hundreds of moments, often stretching over a period of years, that make possible the ruptures that emerge when vast numbers of people begin to imagine, and then to demand, an alternative to their living conditions. We have been seeing these moments over the past year, first in the Middle East but then spreading to England, Brazil, Spain, Great Britain, the United States, and elsewhere. In this sense, we are experiencing a revolutionary moment in which the popular perception of what is possible has indisputably shifted in a way unseen on a global scale since 1968.

The Radical Power of Just Showing Up.

Global DIY Window Gardening

- Adam Clare

A TED Talk by Britta Riley is filled with inspirational information about the online movement to get efficient, open source, window gardening. Worth every minute:

Help Santa Keep His Home This Christmas

- Adam Clare

ice melt
The David Suzuki Foundation has launched a campaign to raise awareness of the lack of ice coverage at the North Pole. Where Will Santa Live? is a fun spin on a serious issue and looks like a good way to talk about ice coverage while keeping the conversation entertaining.

“We’re asking Canadians to do something novel and give a gift to Santa this holiday season,” says David Suzuki. “We have to help Santa, the elves and the reindeer evacuate the North Pole and find a suitable temporary workshop in Canada.”

Why give?

We hope you'll forgive us for having some fun with a beloved holiday figure. But climate change is no laughing matter.

Global warming is a serious problem, and poses a very real risk to all the winter traditions and experiences we as Canadians hold dear.

By supporting our “Where Will Santa Live?” campaign, you will be helping us develop a clean, renewable energy plan for Canada, affect climate policy decisions at a national and provincial level, and provide more resources to Canadians on how to go carbon neutral at home and at work, among many other initiatives.

Learn more about our work to turn back climate change and how you can take action to be part of the solution.

30 Ways in 30 Days

- Adam Clare

30 Ways in 30 Days is a December long project that encourages people to do a small good action everyday.

There are (obviously) 30 small things that you can do everyday to make the world around you a little better. Today’s action is to Like We Day on Facebook.

When you ‘Like’ We Day on Facebook, $1 will be donated to Free The Children—an organization that empowers youth to make a difference. By joining their community, you’ll be helping to raise $1 million dollars for education, health, alternative income, water and sanitation initiatives in the developing world.

Scroll To Top