November 03, 2011
Live from Occupy Oakland
I spent the late evening at the Occupy Oakland site, watching an event that seems to have been taken over by professional protesters. On the edge of the tent city were 5 pre-school kids (and another sound asleep on the concrete) banging away on drums on the other side of the Oakland City Center square in the “kids’ tent.” Never mind that the drums were out of rhythm, nor that there were no adults in the “kids tent,” at least when I went by. A bunch of kids in tents, with drums out of rhythm. No adults in the room. Somehow that seemed to sum up the whole event.
The site was set up a bit like a shopping mall. Want a little anarchy? Join the ones standing under a gigantic “Death to Capitalism” sign draped across a 3-lane road with a dramatic downtown Oakland backdrop. How about some peace and understanding? There was a “Chill out” tent just around the corner from an interfaith tent that had Peace written on flags in various languages, surrounding three people meditating amidst candles. Are you the media, looking for a quick quote? There was a message center, dominated by a projected image of twitter feeds based on #OccupyOakland tag, and people looking more or less quote-ready. And of course the tents. Lots of them, and nearly all more expensive than any tent I’ve ever owned.
It was unclear what this “movement” wants, other than to shut down the system. Few offers of solutions. And many non-sensical, such as the big sign encouraging people to “take back the system #OccupyFarms”. The person carrying that may want to rethink what it would take to occupy farms, as well as that most Iowa farmers are going to be much less accomodating than Oakland elected officials. Especially during hunting season.
And therein lies the weakness. When I emerged from the BART station at 12th Street / Oakland City Center, I wanted to find something to cheer for. I like seeing efforts to bring systemic change. I count myself a disciple of the person who is without a doubt the greatest system changer in history, Jesus Christ. I ran for public office myself, not to fiddle at the edges, but to restore government that works for, well, the 99% rather than to protect the money and power elite. I understand what broke the economy. Shoot, I was on first name basis (though not in “the club”) with some of the very folks who did it from their perches on Wall Street. I get it.
But what the Occupy movement does not get is that a movement needs a messsage. Fire burns through kindling fast; it needs something more substantial to last. Jesus’ message was clear, ‘The Kingdom of Heaven is among you!’ The abolitionists were clear, ‘Slaves are people…free them.’ The Tea Party is clear, ‘Government is not the solution…shrink it to restore American freedom.’ The Occupy movement? It is 5 little kids, and 500 older ones, banging drums discordantly. I think the only way this movement will last is if they find a fact-based, solution-oriented, emotionally-gripping message to rally behind. It still has time to do that, but winter is coming fast to those tent cities.
