Goals and Outcomes

Tonight we had a planning meeting for Occupy Worcester.  There were about 20 people there.  We introduced ourselves and set a date for the first GA to be held Sunday at 1:30pm on the commons.  We talked about process and goals.  As is common for this movement throughout the world, we have a common vague goal.  My explanation of it is a call for a change to the systemic ways that profits are being put before people and the planet, but I may be missing others goals in this explanation.  There are myriad ways this comes about and many specific reasons why people are calling for this change.  People have different ideas about how we can change this.  That is what makes this movement so widespread and dynamic. 
We went around the room last night explaining why we were there.  I said something along the lines of needing a drastic change and and because the capitalist system didn't work.  On the ride home Doug asked me what I meant by that, if I was saying I wanted a revolution.  My answer was quick and unwavering: YES.  
I think the root cause of this problem is the global economic system of capitalism and the ideology behind it.  It pits us against each other and rewards greed.  It tells us that the best thing there is, is to be rich, and the only way you can be rich is by having others under you.  This capitalist, individualist ideology is what has created the situation we are in now.  There is no reform that will change that. 

I don't know what will come out of this movement but I know it's getting people to think. I know it's showing people they are not alone in feeling an abuse of power from above. I know it's breaking down barriers between all sorts of people.  Some kind of real change will have to happen, we're too far in to turn back now.

I also thought last night about what are the differences between the movement and my own views and goals.  My views on this reach wider than our country.  Yes, things in our country for the not uber-rich are getting worse, but think about other countries.  Think about communities that have no clean drinking water.  Think about communities that have had their land or their way of life destroyed or taken away from them.  Think about countries that have been at war for probably longer than I've been alive. Think about wealth inequality that far outstretches 1% having 50%.  Think about the destructive practices that we use in order to feed our addictions.  This, to me, is more than student debt, labor rights, greedy ass banks and backwards governments.  For me, it's a hope that there can be a global respect for people and our planet.