The Current State of Occupy Bellingham

Dear Watchers,

One year ago, Occupy Wall Street and the 99-percent movement spread from coast to coast and beyond. Occupy Bellingham observed the anniversary with a 12-hour banner drop over I-5. We of OB believe that fear and hate is not conducive to critical thought, that banksters should not be rewarded, that war for profit is despicable, that our planet needs our help to sustain life we can recognize, and that uncommon sense must prevail over the kabuki theater that has dominated the media.

I was a little surprised at the intensity of the response to the banner display. OB’s two banners simply said “OCCUPY BELLINGHAM, Wall Street,” and the date those people in New York marched into Zuccotti Park and set up camp―September 17, 2011. An onslaught of waves, honks, and thumbs up ensued. The many attaboys were often tinged with open emotion. A tiny minority were angry enough to display negative gestures. I share their frustration although I don’t agree with their focus. Anger at folks protesting the few who have been, and are, robbing us blind seems counterproductive to positive change. Perhaps the difference is that we haven’t lost hope and that we also blame the perpetrators.

Deliberate Distraction From Core Issues

Opportunists with advanced degrees are distracting from the real issues. Cartoon characters are claiming that money is speech and corporations are people. We need a serious time-out from the kindergarten bullies in Congress, and those trying to get into Congress. Having a strong middle class is fantasy as long as the wealthy 1 percent rule our country. Voter suppression does not promote democracy. People who can be healed or treated should not die of their illnesses from lack of money or insurance to pay for medical care. Ethical people pay their share to support the infrastructure needed to run a functioning society. A few scream for more money and demand that they pay less to make it happen. OWS started to peacefully petition our government to address grievances that threaten our success as a fair and equitable nation. Widespread recovery requires enabling people to be able to succeed, not disabling that quest. There’s a good reason a lot of Occupiers are teachers and nurses: they care, professionally.

Public Feedback

Two weeks after the first OWS anniversary, OB was serving free coffee at a freeway rest stop. Once again, people stepped up and generously donated many tens of dozens of cookies, almost all home-baked, to help facilitate safer journeys. Many travelers wanted to talk. At least one person put a bill in the optional donation jar and took nothing in return, saying, “I’m so glad to see you guys are still around.” That one precious affirmation made it all worth it. I wasn’t privy to all the discussions that ensued during the 62-hour stint, but still learned a lot.

Pocket Portraits of Interactions

One traveler from California had been to Occupy meetings in her state, Chicago, and Frankfurt, Germany. An environmental lawyer worked on the Pebble Mine issue, upstream from Bristol Bay, Alaska, controversial because this would be North America’s largest open-pit mine and could threaten the survival of the world’s largest remaining wild sockeye salmon run, its habitat, and the subsistence livelihood of local Alaska natives who depend on fishing.

A former Bear Stearns stockbroker had strong words for Jamie Dimon, CEO of JP Morgan Chase. One person was concerned that a full investigation of the catastrophe of September 11, 2011, is not on the public record. An exchange student from France, studying in Vancouver, B.C., verified that Vancouver residents receive broadband Internet, TV, and phone service for what I’m paying for a phone, and that one major difference between B.C. and here is that B.C. requires competition from companies that use the public commons to provide their products.

One woman who had been in Bosnia during the war there described the break-up of Yugoslavia and good people helping each other as others grabbed everything they could take and tried to expand their own power bases. Another visitor to the coffee kiosk, who had not been in Yugoslavia, disputed her and minimized that conflict as only religious in nature.

My last encounter occurred after we turned off the coffee pot and packed up. A late-night motorcyclist gave me some backwoods safety tips and then real gold. Playing an online video game via Twitter, my new friend (Devin, I believe) tweeted that his opponent was quite good. “I have to be; I’m playing against my enemy,” was the answer. Questioning the oddness of the response, Devin discovered that the player was in Iran. They paused the game and tweeted for an hour. They Googled each other’s neighborhood in Tehran and Seattle and talked of families and situations. Devin reassured him that Americans bear no ill will toward Iranians, that U.S. leaders and wannabe leaders say things that have no bearing on the feelings of U.S. citizens, and that people everywhere desire peace and goodwill for all others on this planet. The young man agreed, ”Allah willing.” They finished their game and signed off, leaving the world, in a tiny, personal way, a better place. We parted ways and I drove home on a nearly deserted freeway, enriched.

The Journey Forward

Occupy has issues (boy do we) and we don’t have all the answers (we don’t even have all the questions), but we do demand the discussion continue on ways to address the problems that plague our country and world. Far greater teachers and healers have offered ways that resonate to this day and messages to enlighten. We seek to continue learning from a humanitarian perspective and implement solutions (with direct action if necessary) to effect positive change.

I speak for myself. I am Occupy. Join us if you agree.

Mark Waschke

Ferndale