Occupied With What?

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Activism, Edmonton, Liberation, Nozomi Hayase, Occupy, Revolution

A blog post by Nozomi Hayase entitled The Rise of the Occupy Insurgency, The World’s First Internet Revolution #OWS from October 2011 got me thinking about the what exactly the Occupy movement was all about.

I remember Occupy Edmonton’s protests against the 1% taking place in the downtown core in a little park just a couple blocks from where I work. I’d pass by almost every day. The first thing I always thought when seeing this group was that they would freeze to death in the winter. After that my question was: what exactly are they protesting? Yes, they were, like Occupy Wall Street, fighting against the oppression of the 99% by the 1% who make millions of dollars a year and who dictate how our capitalist society works. But, underneath that there was a heavy mix of issues that were being brought to the fore. Environmentalism, rights of the First Nations, equality for all genders, age, race, sexualities, etc. were being touted as reasons for the movement.

Discussing this with co-workers, we agreed to an extent with the protesters, that, yes, life isn’t fair. Should a CEO be making millions of dollars a year with tax breaks while thousands of employees are getting by on minimum wage? After all, without the 99% there would be no money to be made. Despite that, we questioned how these protesters even had the time to be there, living day in, day out in a tent on privately owned land. Didn’t they have jobs?

Myself and others I knew weighed the options and decided that having a job and career was more important than fighting “the man.” How else are we going to pay the bills and get ahead? Those of us who have what we think is security are too scared to lose that safety net. There is too much at stake. I cannot speak for those who participated in Occupy Edmonton, but perhaps they had nothing to lose by being there. Hence, my question to them is: did you gain anything in the end? I hate to be the bearer of bad news. Things haven’t changed and things likely won’t for now.

Don’t stop on my account though. Keep doing what you’re doing. If May 1, 2012 was any indication that you intend to continue, I wish you luck. I hope that one day you see the world you need.

Anonymity: Saving Face in a World of Fame

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Activism, Anonymous, COMM 506, E. Gabriella Coleman, Liberation

In a world where being famous for doing nothing is the new norm – yes, I’m talking about you, Kim Kardashian – and fame can occur seemingly overnight, how does a group called Anonymous fit in?

Anonymous, as their name implies, means they don’t want people to know who they are, but rather what they are fighting for. E. Gabriella Coleman, in her article Anonymous: From the Lulz to Collective Action for The New Everyday, talks about the group and how they transformed from internet pranksters consisting of hackers and “geeks” looking for “lulz” (laughs) into a group concerned with more traditional political issues such as human rights and censorship. They used their beginnings as an online group to expand to the point of organizing global days of action whereby online members converged in real, physical space.

If you are part of the Anonymous movement, you are faceless. You don’t strive to be a leader or a celebrity because everyone is essentially equal. If you participate, you do not seek personal attention from the media. To do so would mean being expelled from the group. While that might seem harsh, it is understandable. Taking part in Anonymous is not about making a name for yourself, but bringing voice to issues that need to be heard (for the most part).

That brings me to some questions for you to ponder. If you could shroud yourself in anonymity, would you be willing to publically protest an issue? Does it make it easier if your identity is hidden? If no one knew it was you, what would be important for others to hear that you are too afraid to say out in the open?

That also leads me to my last point. Think about whether or not anonymity on the internet is good or bad. Every day when we make our way through pages online, linking from site to site, reading and commenting, we can, for the most part, remain unknown to other users. Anonymity can be great. It often makes people feel safer and more open about their thoughts. On the other hand, it can be seen as too much of a good thing when people take their anonymity as a warrant for bad behaviour because they believe there will be no consequences for what they do.

So remember this: Just because you are invisible, it doesn’t mean your actions are. Actions are always louder than words. And both, when put out there, cannot be taken back.

Liberation Through Social Media

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Activism, COMM 506, Decentralization, Facebook, Harry Cleaver, Jeffrey Juris, Liberation, Social Media, Twitter

Our readings for Friday’s COMM506 class by Harry Cleaver and Jeffrey Juris are both touting the idea of liberation through the use of technology, more specifically with regards to uprisings against political regimes. Citing the Zapatista Army of National Liberation as the trigger for what are now known as global justice activists, groups with members assembled from far and wide, coming together to fight for what they feel are injustices. These groups have no central authority, they are open and they readily share information. Last year, we saw this happen with a number of middle eastern countries where people gathered on social media sites in order to converse and plan their next steps.

While I don’t mean to lessen the plight of those who are in situations where they feel oppressed, I thought I’d take Juris and Cleaver’s idea of liberation through social media and make this post a little more lighthearted to end off the week.

We have all seen how the availability of tools like Facebook and Twitter can open up dialogues between people and spread information at lightning fast speed in order to get something done. And, we have all, I am sure, experienced at some point or another, the failure of technology as well.

That brings me to this gem of a commercial:

It makes me laugh every time I see it. Today, we are not only seeing the rise in use of social media for more serious and dire situations like the uprisings in the Middle East, but also to bring random (often unconnected) people together for one-off events like with the flash mob craze. These technologies can be used to literally change the world or they can be used to brighten a stranger’s day. Both can be seen as liberating scenarios; liberating a country and liberating individuals to move outside of their comfort zone. Either way, social media is causing a scene and making our lives a bit more surreal.