Ideas that will divide Occupy
THE OCCUPY movement across the U.S. (and the world!) has been a breath of fresh air. Even broader than the movement around the uprising in Wisconsin earlier this year, it has shown that people will stand up and fight against the attempt by the 1 percent to further drive down our living standards. It is one of the most significant turning points in years.
As with any movement, various political questions come up right away and more as time goes on. One example is the debate on the role of the police. Another is what to do when Nazis attempt to participate.
On October 30, early in the morning, three Nazis tried to disrupt the occupation in Seattle. The response of the occupiers varied. Most started chanting, "Fascists out" and surrounded them to get them out of the camp, which succeeded fairly quickly. A few occupiers defended the right of the Nazis to be there since they are "part of the 99 percent." This division unfortunately resulted in arguments and even physical conflict among the occupiers.
If the movement is to be successful, it must be a movement for the interests of the 99 percent. It needs to take stands on divisive issues that some in the 99 percent will disagree with. It cannot expect to represent all the opinions of the whole 99 percent and should not try to do so. Trying to please everyone will just water down the movement to the point of being ineffective.
If we want to continue to include women, people of color and LGBT people in the movement, we cannot tolerate racism, sexism or LGBT-bashing. Most occupiers accept this in general, but some balk at it when it comes down to concrete cases.
Opposing racism and sexism means opposing open participation of racists and sexists in the movement. The case of the Nazis is the most extreme, but it applies more broadly. A recent SocialistWorker.org article explained this in relation to libertarian politics.
The Nazis and the police may be part of the 99 percent as far as their income, but they defend the interests of the 1 percent in their actions and ideas. If we want to fight for the real interests of the 99 percent, we have to take a strong stand against those who defend the 1 percent--no matter where they sit economically. This applies most importantly to the hypocritical politicians who support us in words but continue to lay off public workers and cut budgets.
As time goes on, the movement will need to take stands on economic conflicts within the 99 percent. Workers' strikes are sometimes against bosses who are part of the 99 percent.
If the movement is to effectively support and gain strength from the power of workers to shut down production, it must support workers on strike, no matter the size or wealth of the employer.
Discussions on issues like these are a sign of a growing, vibrant and important movement that we all have a great stake in!
Steve Leigh, Seattle
