I learned the dangers of single-issue and uninformed
votes with my first vote. Richard Nixon said he would get us out of Viet Nam
and that was all I needed to hear. My boyfriend’s knee injury would save him
from the draft but my brother, my cousins, and other friends weren’t lucky
enough to have bad knees and they weren’t foolish enough to shit their drawers
like Cat Scratch loser. I was naïve, uninformed, hard-headed, defiant, and more
interested in all the wrong things so I was going to take what pitifully little
information I had and make a huge mistake no matter what anyone said. Not only
did I regret disappointing my intelligent, liberal parents, I’m in my sixties
now and still haven’t completely forgiven myself for being that naïve.
I wish I could say that was the end of my naiveté but
it wasn’t. Not even close. It was, however, the end of my single-issue,
uninformed voting. My lingering gullibility exhibited itself in the error of thinking
that everyone else learned what I did, when I did. (It’s okay to laugh.)
Skip ahead to the 2004 primary race, when I was a huge
fan of Dennis Kucinich and still in deep mourning over the 2000 disaster.
Finally, I was surrounded by people who I assumed disliked Bush for all the
legitimate reasons that I disliked him, and who I was certain could recite
every word of Kucinich’s platform as easily as I could. It was refreshing to be
around laid-back people who worked toward positive change, got involved, and
were hopeful. I turned my home into a campaign hangout, made and stocked
posters for every position, occasion and event, spent every waking minute on
the phone, writing letters, organizing events and fund raisers, and talking to
anyone who would listen – even some who didn’t. I believed the people I met and
worked with on that campaign were kindred spirits who shared my ideals and
willingness to absorb and deliver facts.
It was years before I admitted the whole truth about
how wrong I was, maybe because in order to come to that conclusion I had to
think negatively about people with whom I had bonded. A few were everything I
believed them to be and are still friends even if we don’t agree on everything
political. The others fell into several categories: single-issue voters
(legalizing marijuana or absolute pacifism), people who wanted to hang out and
eat free food, and, most disappointing of all, people who thought Kucinich
could help them force old people out of the Democratic Party so they could turn
it into what they wanted it to be. The last group caused me a great deal of
embarrassment and actually caused me to be the somewhat abrasive, outspoken
person I am today. Even though I was probably as progressive at heart as most of
them, I also knew that it was not only wrong – it was impossible to force
people to be where they weren’t ready to be.
To me, people who try to force instead of lead, and
who insist that everything must be their way or no way are bullies. They are
also regressive because they do more harm than good. Some of those people left
the Democratic Party when things didn’t go their way. Yet, they still believe
they are justified in representing themselves as Democrats so they can
infiltrate meetings, groups, and discussions where they do nothing but
criticize the party, spread ridiculous notions like “both parties are the
same”, and even share right-wing, dishonest talking points about Democratic
candidates. One puts his name on ballots as a Democratic candidate, thinking
that gives him credibility when he joins every liberal or progressive group he
can find and tries to damage Democratic candidates in almost every race.
The real wake-up came when some of them treated
President Obama with the same disdain they had for his predecessor. Soon, I
noticed they hated all politicians except for brief moments when one is
championing their single issue. That might not have been totally bad if they
hadn’t given those people credit for lip-service without action.
Then came Occupy – the lesson of a lifetime for me. I
was thrilled to see young people take to the street regarding a problem that
affects so many. I (have no life) watched from the first day via live cam on
the internet, paying close attention to their organization – NO groups, NO
political parties, NO religion, NO main stream media, NO leaders, NO violence,
NO staging, NO defiance of law and order. Perfect! A movement of individuals
willing to take on a cause.
I watched for days, wishing I was young and healthy
enough to make the trip and join them. Instead, I contacted them to ask if I
could start a group in my city. We don’t have Wall Street (the part that so
many forgot quickly) but we do have financial institutions and people who had
lost homes to foreclosure. They responded quickly to say they were worried that
the purpose would be diluted, but would consider my request. While I awaited
their decision, I investigated permits and locations, and continued to watch
and learn all they were doing. Especially pleased that they continued to avoid
main stream media and were respectful to law enforcement, even when arrests
started, I liked this movement more every day.
I contacted the many people and organizations that I
had worked with when organizing events in the past and explained the Occupy
movement, which was still so new that most people had heard nothing about it
yet. I invited all of them to participate--as individuals, not organizations or
groups-- for a united cause. I shared the list of NOs with everyone. They
seemed to understand and even to share my excitement about the format. I asked
everyone to tune in to the live streaming on the internet and watch what these
young people were doing.
Finally, the Occupy Wall Street people contacted me
and said to go ahead since others had without asking, and thanked me for asking
and focusing on duplicating exactly what they were doing. I created an event
page on Facebook, talked with the city and local law enforcement, got permits
for camp areas as well as sanctioned marching routes, obtained legal counsel
for the group, posted flyers around town . . . The response was overwhelming –
and exciting.
Until (self-described) anarchists flooded the event
site with their own agenda and to let me (and anyone watching the public event
page) know they would come armed, no matter what I, or anyone else, said about
it. Their leader (also, self-described) contacted me to explain that he was
teaching this group how to force the police to arrest them to “make a
statement”. I reviewed the list of NOs (see above) with him and said I thought
his group seemed to have an agenda of their own that was not consistent with
the movement. He said I was wrong to get permits and his people didn’t like it.
Eventually, the leader of the anarchists called to
tell me I was correct and that the anarchist group had gotten out of hand, scaring
him, even. He agreed that we should have permits and do things peacefully. Because
of the NO leaders request, I actually had permits for two locations so there
could be – according to Occupy Wall Street’s protocol - a group vote to decide
which we would stick with. I gave the leader of the anarchist group, and posted
on the event page, a location between the two for a meet-up spot at which we
could vote and proceed to the location most people wanted.
The night before, self-proclaimed leader of the
anarchists also proclaimed himself leader of Occupy My City. Not only did he
not like permits and the NO leaders aspects, he also didn’t like the NO main
stream media part so he managed to get himself on local television for an
interview as the self-appointed leader.
I had lunch with activist friends the morning of the
kick-off and expressed my concerns. I am a middle-aged, disabled woman.
Sleeping on the street for however-long-it-takes was not feasible. My goal was
to organize, procure a safe location, and let the young people take this event
where it needed to go. My friends nodded where appropriate, wrinkled their
brows when I spoke of anarchists with guns, nodded again when I reviewed the
list of Nos, and smiled when I said drummers would be there to add the peaceful
tone to marches, etc. We left the restaurant and went to the bigger, more
accommodating, longer-term accessible location that we felt certain the group
would choose, to drop off the things we had brought with us and meet other
friends. Then, we were to walk over to the meet-up location to join everyone
there.
I was doing a live interview with public radio when
the leader of the anarchists came and led my friends over to the meet-up
location. After my interview, I waited for my friends to return but they
didn’t. One of them called to tell me I should come join them because, “They
have music and food and politicians giving speeches (another NO),” and this
group and that group were there handing out literature and signing people up,
and . . .
Shortly before going to the police station to
relinquish my permits, I admitted, finally, for sure, that many of the people I
had been associated with were not at all who or what I thought they were. Food
and music were all it took for them to abandon the hard-working people at
Occupy Wall Street. The movement was infiltrated everywhere, by self-serving
people with agendas of their own.
A couple of weeks later, I passed the lingering few
occupiers in my city. A young man stopped me to ask if I knew about Occupy. I
smiled and asked him to tell me about it. He explained that first, they keep
the police so busy they have to use overtime, and then they force them to start
arresting people . . . I stopped him there and introduced myself. He did know
who I was, despite the many articles and rumors stating that I was a nobody who
had never organized anything and was only trying to ruin what the anarchists planned
(which resulted in me receiving threats). I told him that, as much as I wanted
to avoid main stream media as requested, I would stand in front of every camera
I could find and repeat what he told me the first time anyone tried to
implicate the police department, who had graciously tried to accommodate the
movement.
My organizing days ended with Occupy, not because of
the threats but because I saw how easily my activist friends had been manipulated
into doing everything that they had been asked not to do, some for self-serving
purposes. Their perspection of this is that I was angry because I wanted
everything ‘my’ way when there was no ‘my’ way. I wanted to respect and honor
the group of young people who started the Occupy movement on Wall Street by not
allowing others to use and damage their name for self-serving purposes.
Today, I am aware enough to spot the people who
haven’t done their homework and who are preying on followers. Memes make that
possible (the preying and identifying) without even leaving the house.
In conclusion, I learned not to trust:
- · followers
- · self-serving people, organizations, and groups
- · people who are more interested in being cool, accepted, or popular than they are in finding and sharing truth
- · meme and petition pushers, especially memes without links or ownership
- · petitions based on false information
I hope everyone will pay attention and
spend more time questioning.
