Here is a copy of a short manifesto, written in response to the direction of Occupy Nova Scotia. It will be presented either November 24th or 25th at Occupy's GM.
Occupy the Idols
A political manifesto in response to Occupy Nova Scotia
November, 2011
We are a generation faced with a crisis. This is not crisis of wealth, though that is certainly a part of it. Nor is this crisis one of the looming global disasters: environmental abuse, global poverty, disease, climate change or genocide. All of these are symptoms of the problem, but are not the problem.
What our generation faces is the same crisis that has faced each and every generation before it. Every generation has faced what it perceived to the crisis. The boomers before us faced the very real threat of nuclear war. Their parents were defined by the greatest military confrontation yet seen, and the genocide that shortly followed it. Before them, the world had faced the grim realities of colonization and rampant industrialization; along with the gross inequalities, extreme poverty and social injustice that followed from it. Each generation formed movements to overcome these problems. Each time one of these crises were “solved”, new crises emerged for the next generation.
Our generation has to try to break this cycle. We perceive our struggle to be against the 1%, much like our great-great grandparents who formed the labour movements in struggle against capitalism. This should not be our struggle. Our struggle should be against the cycle of revolution and counterrevolution. Our struggle is beyond politics.
Idols of the Right:
There is a temptation to blame the problems of the world on people’s willingness to change. There has never been a civilization with such material wealth as our own, and we can go so far as to say that there has never been one with so much social liberty and access to education. Many among us may say that these are the sort of things worth preserving against the coming storm. Others among us think that, given human nature, we cannot do better than what we have.
This has to be wrong. Despite having all this material wealth, all of this access to education, young people today may just be the most apathetic generation in the history of industrialized civilization. We recognize that such wealth comes at a cost: a life of petty distractions for the rich, injustice for the poor, and environmental catastrophe for all. Yet, we do nothing. We feel powerless. This is not a world that we were told we would inherit; we were never entitled to such a "perfect" world in the first place. To be apathetic and to settle, is to settle for an unjust world. This is to worship idols that will destroy us.
Idols of the Left:
There is an equal temptation to blame the problems of the world on people’s unwillingness to change. There has never been a civilization with such material wealth as our own, and we can go so far as to say that there has never been one with so much power over those who would otherwise resist it. Many among us believe that because of this, ours is a civilization worth destroying. Others among us suggest that by taking arms against the problems of the day, we are certain to make a better world.
This has to be wrong. We are not the first to suggest this; the history of similar movements show that this sort of project cannot succeed. In the 1840’s Europe was locked by a series of revolutions. These revolutions occurred around the same time, but in many different nations. Each wanted to see the ruling authoritarian powers removed, and liberal reforms introduced. Many of these succeeded in establishing constitutions, and many of the governments of Europe today were formed out of that movement.
Yet, this only solved the problems of the day, and with it, came bigger problems. These movements ushered in an era of colonization, economic development and diplomacy which resulted in the Great War and the formation of the Soviet Union. This would usher in one of the darkest periods of human history. Change does not necessarily make the world better. Change for its own sake almost certainly makes the world worse. To worship change is to worship an idol which will destroy us.
Occupy the Idols
How, then, do we break the cycle of revolution and counterrevolution? Institutional change guarantees new problems, but resistance to change guarantees that we are stuck with the old problems. Neither of these is acceptable.
Let us look to the things that made industrial civilization as it is. Where does it fall short? This is not necessarily a problem with capitalism, as capitalism was one of many (albeit the most powerful) articulations of industrialized civilization. The problems have to go deeper than this. Ask yourselves: what does it mean to take a right action? Where does this “rightness” come from? What are ethics? Is rightness merely a matter of ethics? Does our civilization really deal with deep disagreement about the big questions? What does this disagreement suggest? Why should we care? Why should you care?
These are taboo topics in our culture. We avoid the questions that go “all the way down”. This may seem superficial, but the taboo is designed to avoid the conflict that inevitably arises with such conversation. Perhaps you agree with this “secularization”. After all, if we can keep the real questions private, or pretend that there are no such values, then we “can get on with our lives”.
Industrial civilization’s struggle is not a political struggle. It is a spiritual struggle. Ours is a civilization formed on the idea that we can separate values from the public sphere, and keep conversation about our values and convictions private. It is a civilization formed from the enlightenment. The Enlightenment’s conclusion was that values are either found or made, certainly not in the world.
This is my challenge to occupy. Deal with the really big questions, not just the political. Be different from the fascists, conservatives, moderates, liberals, socialists, communists and whatnot. Find and identify the features of our civilization that trap us in the cycle of revolution and counterrevolution, and occupy them.
Be part of a change that goes beyond a generation.
Signed,
Colin Conrad,
[others undisclosed]
