This is not a Political Blog

I can almost hear the sighs of relief, ha ha.

But wait, there's more. I know if you're like me the word "Occupy" is starting to wear thin. It has been brutally overused lately and I am guilty as many others of being somewhat Occu-focused. I have spent the past couple of months working in this movement in a few different capacities and at times I feel like I never want to hear the word again. I will never again be able to approach an airline bathroom door without envisioning several young people with guitars sitting inside huddled next to a tiny ramshackle tent singing songs of revolution. Still I will most likely smile fondly at the memory of the phenomenon that dominated this fall.  Who knows how long this particular manifestation of social dissent will last. Probably until it becomes political.
See this movement, like me, is devoted to social change at a level that equalizes opportunity for all people, values each contribution as essential to the functioning of a healthy society  and insists on equal accountability for all.   For the most part we also share values such as  respect for the planet and her resources and desire a more sustainable economic system of  production and distribution of goods and services.  Historically, one party has tended to vote in favor of policies that would further the cause of those of those concepts, but they aren't doing  a very good job of it lately.
At our very first GA meeting we discussed potential future endorsement or affiliation with any political party as a potential for the 2012 election. The response was majority in favor of not becoming politically involved. Now that time has passed and we'e all found our niche, there are some who are making their political feelings more public, but the movement here has remained fairly neutral, much to my relief.
I don't see the solution to our problems as political. yes political systems may well be used to implement some of the changes we hope for; but it is us, the citizens who will bring about true reform and a higher state of being. We will not accomplish this by "asking" politicians to change things for us. We cannot demand that big businesses suddenly start treating others as equals, worthy of respect and a decent living wage. We create these changes by living the life we envision. We refuse to participate in systems that are broken. Realizing that complete dissociation with certain systems is not practical or even possible, we seek to reduce the level of dependence we have for those entities.
There exists a common theme in my writing, interactions with others and my efforts at creating community that those of us who have struggled in life posses knowledge and experience that can be of great value in the transformation of our culture to a more humane and loving way of life. And there is nothing political about that.

© 2010-2011 Nanakoosa’s Place, authored by Jennifer Hazard