I was lucky enough to procure a phone interview with Michael Collins, a person directly involved with the Occupy London (Ontario, Canada) movement. He’s been in on the action since almost the beginning.
What are three major points to tell people about Occupy?
– Direct democracy /consensus is the main goal of the movement. If we can get 80-90% of people to participate with local issues, to understand legislation, to get involved, that would mean that more people in general are represented. A consensus would force the government to act in our best interests. As it is right now, we have officials who are supposed to represent us, but sometimes don’t act in our best interests. Tied in with this is the idea that there should be accountability for where tax dollars are spent.
– The second point is that Occupy does not have a problem with wealthy people. The problem is that the money or the resources of the country/world are being controlled by a few people: forests, water, oil, land….it belongs to everyone, not just big business. More people should have more say in how these resources are used.
– The third point is our fight against inequality – our current education system is molding people to work within certain big business…it doesn’t foster creativity, it doesn’t allow people to find what they’re best at, or what they enjoy. People can’t afford to work in jobs they love, because they don’t exist – and most low and low-middle class people can’t afford to go to school. Another form of inequality we suffer from today comes from wage disparity: executive vs. worker. We don’t believe that the CEO of a company should be worth 200 times the value of all the employees put together.
How do you see the movement changing/evolving as time goes on?
There is a major evolution of understanding and education within Occupy groups right now. Back when there were physical Occupy Camps, everything was about logistics and planning how to handle camp issues – it was very insular. Now that there are no camps, there is more communication among inter-occupy groups. Here in London, we’re focusing on local, municipal issues. We’re also working with other Occupiers within Ontario to tackle Provincial matters and all Canadian Occupiers to deal with Federal issues. Another priority right now is to develop an organizational structure and policies so that we can function effectively and efficiently.
What are three words you would use to describe the atmosphere within your Occupy group?
Inclusivity – no one is left out.
Outreach – help people understand what we’re about and to help them identify or relate their values in our events so that they’ll want to participate.
Teamwork – so that it remains a democracy.
Thanks to Michael Collins for sparing some time to speak with me!