A Message to "Occupy Canada". Step One, Bring Down the Government of Harper

I am so heartened by the world wide spread of the "Occupy" movement. All over the globe, young people, old people, poor people, disenfranchised people, people who have just plain been ripped off by the Corporatists of the world, people who represent the "99%", are speaking out and trying their level best to reclaim our collective democracies and societies from the manipulative, destructive, self interests of the "1%" and their political shills. People from all walks of life are not only  saying: "we're mad as hell and we aren't going to take it any more", but are also saying: "we're on to you and we refuse to keep drinking your Kool-Aid".

All around the world, people are waking up, one by one. They are beginning to realize that "Capitalism", the word, the concept, the institution, that used to be synonymous with Democracy, freedom and equality, is, as it is currently being practiced, a lie. It is purely survival of the fittest wallet. And under the Corporatist doctrine, the rest of us, the 99%, what we think and feel,  don't matter.

Capitalism in practice, is merely a modernized form of feudalism that, through the skillful use of smoke, mirrors and clever marketing, allows the Proletariat, the 99% to mistakenly believe that our society is fair, equitable and democratic. It isn't. Our lives are not our own.  We are being thoroughly controlled by the Corporatist Barons. And we have been thoroughly sedated through the use of Hollywood and Sunday Football. As long as we have our movies, our reality TV, our beer and our big screen TVs for the big Sunday game, we believe that life is good and we are comfortable and happy. But it is an illusion we have been sold through the generations. And the Corporatist Barons and their political shills wrap themselves up in the flags of nationalism and have us believing that anything other than Capitalism is an evil enemy to be eradicated. And they inject us with lethal doses of fear and intolerance so that we believe we need protection from the Godless horde of undemocratic Non-Capitalists. It is a continuation of the "Red Scare", only with out the presence of the Soviet Union.

But the people are finally waking up  to the lies and the illusions. And the world wide "People's Movement" has finally come to sleepy, dreary, low-key Canada. It is a slow-growing, grass-roots thing. But it is here and it is beginning to take hold. Canadians, like their brothers and sisters all over the world are beginning to say "we want our country, our society and our freedom back". And it is a wonderful thing.

I had the opportunity to attend an Occupy Toronto General Assembly in one of the early days of the occupation. It was a beautiful if not somewhat painful thing to behold as it was grass-roots democracy in action. But each and every person in attendance had a right to speak, to have their say and each person's opinion, no matter how divergent from the popular one, was treated with respect. And things, regardless of the snails pace, got done. A Micro-society was being born before my very eyes and I was very much aware that I was but a tourist, that the Occupiers were the real deal, the revolutionaries, the heroes.

I was also painfully aware though, that aside from a strict adherence to the concepts of non-violence and mutual respect, there was an absence of consensus around the central focus and demands of the Occupiers. There are, it seems, so many societal ills that can rightfully be attributed to the "1%". And there are so many different people of so many different political stripes and belief systems who are coming together to reclaim our democracy and our equality. But I am eternally confident that consensus can and will eventually be reached. 

If I may be so bold however, this humble tourist would like to make a suggestion about where the movement might best place it's focus, at least in the first phase of the revolution (and the humble tourist imagines the human microphone passing his words to the assembled masses). I would suggest looking to the Iceland model for direction. The Iceland model has, thus far, contained three phases. The first phase involved firing it's ineffective and Corporate friendly government and replacing it with one by the people, of the people and for the people. The second phase involved telling the European Banks to "go stuff" their debt and then bringing the Icelandic Corporatists to justice. The third phase involved the People of Iceland rewriting their constitution to make it better reflect the will of the people and not the needs of the Corporatist Barons.

So I might suggest to the Revolutionaries of St. James Park and every other occupied park in Canada, that the place to start the movement is with the firing of the Government of Harper.  A Government of Harper, by Harper and for Harper. Every day that goes by during the reign of his  Government, democracy becomes less and less of a reality in this country. It becomes more and more about the will of Stephen Harper as he recreates Canada and Canadian society in his own twisted image.

It might be argued that Harper is the duly elected Prime Minister of our country. That he was elected with a "majority government" and as such, has the right to do what ever he wants because he was elected. I would argue back that 35% of the popular vote does not constitute a true majority. He was able to parlay that figure into the illusion of a majority government through the skillful use of smoke, mirrors and marketing techniques usually reserved for the selling of used cars. He is an ideologue, a dictator and a Corporatist sympathizer. He does not speak for the people of Canada, he most certainly does not speak for me. He is not my Prime Minister nor will I ever recognize him as such.

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So I might suggest that the most logical first step for the Occupy Canada movement would be to ensure that the Government of Harper is fired and is replaced by one that is more representative of and reflective of the will of the people, the 99%. And it should be forewarned that this new government might not necessarily be found in the traditional political alternatives. It is, I think, time to explore new political paradigms, or perhaps, to entertain such concepts as socialism, or at least, Social Democracy.

Once the Harper Government is brought down, under peaceful means of course, then and only then would the way be paved to put an end to the Corporatist agenda and to permanently end such Anti-citizen,  Corporatist trade deals as CETA. The enviro-criminals behind the Tar Sands could finally be brought to justice and Harper himself could finally be held to account for such things as his war crimes, his crimes against the environment and his violations of the the Charter of Rights and Freedoms (not to mention his contempt of Parliament, violations of the Elections Act and numerous other indiscretions too numerous to mention here).

So that is my advice to the Occupy Canada Movement. Make your primary focus the bringing down of the Harper Government. That is not anarchy, that is simply returning control of the government and the country into the hands of the people, where it rightfully belongs in the first place.