The Occupy Brisbane Movement.
A few months ago a small band of
insignificant protestors gathered in Wall Street New York to make
their voices heard regarding their perceptions of the 'greed of the
corporate world' in America.
Like so many ideas that come from the
United States of America it had at least two attributes: it was
appealing and it was stupid.
Instantly and all around the world, at
least two more people behaved in such a manner as to suggest that
this was regarded as a fairly good way to take advantage of the
rebellious idea that it was now ok to camp in a public place. And
so, the daring few carried their tents into Post Office Square and
made a stand for what they truly believed to be true. They were
determined, they were resourceful, they had no idea what they wanted
nor how to get it but that was not the purpose. Their purpose was to
get some attention and pretend to be just like their American idols.
The basic idea of a protest is fairly
simple: the protestors make everybody else feel uncomfortable until
everybody else makes the protestors feel comfortable. This tactic
has been astonishingly successful, and has proven to be necessary for
the survival of the species, among those younger members of our
society who have yet to develop their ability to speak, walk, or use
civilised and customary systems of personal hygiene.
From the outset, the Occupy Movement
has either deliberately or ignorantly refused to be part of the very
system of change that is needed to meet their demands. If they only
knew their demands.
The false hope that the Occupy Brisbane
movement has created is sad to the point of being criminal. During
the Occupation of Post Office Square, the news reported the
industrial action at Qantas. One person actually asked the Occupy
Brisbane movement to take action. This plea for help was a turning
point in my perception because it occurred to me that some people in
the fair city of Brisbane actually believed that a bunch of people
sitting in a park had real power.
From these events, it is evident that
there are people who believe that a public protest is the first order
of action for change in a civilized society. The Queensland
education system could not be so incompetent that it has utterly
failed to tell students how the political system works. That is not
the case. The Queensland Curriculum includes lessons at the year 9 level:
•
Contact between cultures has produced movements to improve democratic
participation and citizenship rights for specific groups
e.g.
government policy and legislation to increase opportunities for
participation in electoral and government
processes
for women, Indigenous people and young people.
So, the question remains on why these
people continue to follow a leaderless and illegitimate political
movement. Possibly, they either missed class that day or they do not have the
equivalent of a year 9 education.
In an effort to guide some of the
wayward followers, I asked them if they had writen to their local
member about their concerns. Not one of them had done so. They had
a feeling of helplessness and isolation and that their concern would
be disregarded. I asked others if they had looked at any of the
policies of the existing parties to see if their concerns were
already being addressed. Again, nobody had taken the time, about 3
minutes of research on the Queensland Government website, to find
out. While chatting with the supporters on
facebook, I came to a realisation that there really are people who
need to be protected from themselves. These people are truly a
danger to society. As a political movement, it is a sad dismal
failure. As a joke, the Occupy Brisbane Movement is an elaborate
social success that went severely bung.
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