Another Occupy Toronto report

By Jacob Kearey-Moreland

Emerging citizen occupations around the world are micro-societies based on the fundamental principles of equality, non-violence and direct participatory democracy. They are models for the future and in many ways, the occupation itself could be the "one demand." Despite the cold and continuous rainfall, there are anywhere between 200-300 people staying overnight in St. James Park in downtown Toronto, known as Occupy Toronto.

Every day, the occupation grows as thousands of people pass through the park to participate in the various activities and events. The logistics tent deals with the logistics of running and maintaining the village. There is a medical tent, staffed by volunteer doctors, nurses and alternative health practitioners, legal aid, media, library, music, arts, culture and food. Every day, the food tent serves thousands of free, donated vegetarian meals to anyone who's hungry, including many homeless people in the neighbourhood. It is supported by St. James Anglican church which is providing sanctuary, water and energy. Trained marshals and the morale crew ensure the security and happiness of every occupant. In addition, they have a growing number of committees which are open to the public focused on specific events, projects or actions.

Twice a day, hundreds attend the general assemblies which can last hours, where people discuss everything related to the occupation. They focus on logistics, committees, and proposals put forth by the people which are then voted on and adopted by the community. They use hand signals and the people's microphone to efficiently communicate with each other in large groups and rotating facilitators ensure the general assemblies are run fairly, smoothly and fruitfully.

The general flavour of politics being discussed is how to organize and increase awareness of the perverse inequality of wealth and power in society, and the corresponding decline in the quality and quantity of life on this planet. We discuss ways in which we can enrich and empower people and communities to address local issues. There are too many issues to mention here, however, some include fractional reserve banking, treatment of indigenous peoples, the oil economy, corporate media, military industrial complex, eco-genocide, state support of failing corporations and corporate support of our failing state.

Many things regarding the Occupy Movement I've heard in the media and from our leaders have been attempts to discredit, delegitimize, and denigrate the people. Prime Minister Stephen Harper does not believe the occupations in Canada are justified because our banking system is much stronger than the Americans, and our economy is recovering. Canadians should politely shut up and be thankful for what we have, not want anything more, and not want anyone else to share in what we have.

Harper spins the focus of the movement in order to delegitimize it. In reality, Canada's banking system, like most others, enables private banks to print new money out of thin air through fractional reserve banking (Google it), essentially creating money out of debt. This debt-based monetary system sustains inflation, structural inequality and the "debt crisis." Global and local austerity measures will not resolve the crisis, but rather shift the debt burden onto middle-class and working families, and their children.

Harper doesn't acknowledge fractional reserve banking, or the hundreds of other serious ethical and human rights issues caused by corporate corruption and greed globally because his policies and failed leadership are only making them worse.

Ignorance or the inaction of others does not excuse us of moral responsibility. Our individual and national economic "success" is dependent on the continued exploitation of billions of people around the world and the destruction of nature itself. Please wake up. I implore you to educate and empower yourself by pursuing alternative forms of media, and most importantly, getting together with others in your community to resolve this madness. We can do better. Occupy Together.

Jacob Kearey-Moreland is an Orillia resident and student at the University of Toronto studying philosophy and sociology. His founding and co-ordinating of Orillia Community Gardens demonstrates a sustainable alternative to current monetary-market economics. Contact him at jakop79@hotmail.com.

Report from Occupy Movement in Toronto

Friday, October 21, 2011

The creature recently conceived by Adbusters in Vancouver, Occupy Wall Street, has spread to over 1,000 cities internationally. It is now called Occupy Together.

I'm actually in St James Park at King and Church at the Occupy Toronto site.

On October 15, the park next to the cathedral thronged with a huge crowd. It is hard to think of it as a protest movement, or a transformative movement like Healthcare Reform in the US. Thankfully there is no shared message that would create people who were 'for' or 'against'. It is an expressive movement where each person reaches deep inside to give their authentic contribution to the discussions and collaborations from moment to moment.

I went on my first Occupy march this evening - through Dundas Square. We saw a live newsfeed of the march (I’d be happier with ‘parade’) playing on the CITY TV billboard while we walked through the square.  Dancing at the Yonge-Dundas intersection, holding up traffic while singing "This is what democracy looks like" was both fun and informative.

Our police escorts seemed happy that they got to ride their bikes for a while after standing around all day.

Meeting lots and lots of truly amazing younger collaborators is delightful. They are consciously holding a very peaceful, non-judgmental vibe. Pacifists, anarchists, Buddhists, vegetarians, union folk, webmasters, etc. have all gathered. First we are learning to talk and be with one another without mutual oppression. Mutual oppression is what we are choosing to move beyond.

An Occu-Pie moment:
A woman from CITY TV asks the folk at the food tent where all this hot stuff comes from. A man with a ladle says, People show up with pots of homemade soup and goodies, put them on the table. Then we serve it. She asks, "You mean... ordinary people?" He says, "Yes." I felt like saying, "No. Very kind people who support this movement and contribute in their own way." I didn't say anything, not wanting to disrupt the vibe.

occupytoronto.org

 

Evolution towards Capitalism and Beyond

Here briefly are five historic precedents in terms of types of economies.  They suggest that the evolution within economies is far from over.

1. Clan-based Economies - where exchanges benefited extended families

These were precedents for what today are household exchanges (within non-markets and communal forms of organization) where labour is unpaid.

2. Hunter-gatherer Economies – where exchanges spread beyond families

Labour was then paid for in a community currency such a beads, or wampum.  These economies were the precedents for local trading systems within alternative markets and alternative capitalistic forms of organization

3. Agricultural Economies – where exchanges expanded to circulate around cities as early centres of civilization

These were precedents for non-profit state enterprises, again, within alternative markets and alternative capitalistic forms of organization where labour is paid for in 'national' coin-based currencies.

4. Manufacturing Economies – where exchanges circulate around the world via a few financial centres

These are capitalistic forms of organization where labour is increasingly paid for using electronic transfers amongst international banks.

5. Service Economies - where exchanges are increased through manipulation and control measures so as to far exceed actual public needs or demands

The manufacturing economy requires many services to solve that problems that manufacturers face. To increase sales, manufacturers require news and entertainment outlets able to attract viewers to look at their advertising plus psychologists and public relations companies to orchestrate people's buying behaviour. See the BBC's four part documentary, Century of the Self... http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jUYFr-uDQgg

The initial type of service was providing large loans for buying land, plus building or leasing factories. The expansion of influence of capitalism, as the means of getting things done, started in 19th century England.

The income generated through loans was ploughed into widespread speculation or gambling at stock exchanges, say in derivatives, or the future prices of currencies. By the year 2,000, widespread speculation had grown to about 1,000 times the size of the 'real economy' of labour-based markets. The Internet had become the world casino for gambling on speculative shares and 'future prices'.
By now speculation and gambling without use of labour have hopefully been exposed as relatively useless in terms of generating value for society.

The Emerging Economies

Emerging economies build on, but do not replace, prior economies.  They simply add to the complex mixture of economies that already exist.  For example, the agricultural economy once engaged most of the population of all countries.  Now in Canada, though agriculture shows no sign of going away, it only engages about 2% of the workforce. 

Emerging economies will probably rely on ever more complex forms of organization and forms of payment for services than we seen in their historic precedents.


6. Economies of coordination, for Mutual Fulfillment  –  


7. Economies of self-awareness for Conscious Evolution - Everyone knows the effects of his or her actions.


Conclusions:
Note the seven developmental stages proposed within this framework.  Say we are at stage 5.  Further stages are already occurring informally, and are becoming more apparent.  

We're not at the end of capitalism, and draw hope from understanding that we are not at the end of an evolutionary progress in terms of economies.

Thanks for input from Jim Delaney who studies various economies that exist today, with special interest in Feminist Economics.
delaney.jim@gmail.com---

Armineh Keshishian: Founder of Evolution Dance Theatre http://www.theevolution.com/, Certified Financial Planner with Investors Group:

What Andrew is doing is fabulous and really valuable। He has an amazing talent for accepting different kinds of people with an open heart.

Social Creators is a network where people can help each other bring their visions forward. Visionary people are drawn to the group to participate in a form of co-creation that can help many other people। At this point I have come for a few weeks and I am enjoying it and have invited others to join.