Is your town "Occupied"

• Osayidan wrote on 2011-10-19 19:32
  Seeing as how this protest seems to be happening all over the world, we may as well share how it's affecting our own homes.
  
  List of places it's supposedly affecting:
  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_%22Occupy%22_protest_locations
  
  
  In my own city, Montreal, there's one going on that has actually grown quite a bit since the 15th.
  There's now about 150 tents, portable toilet thingies (eww), generators, and around 400 "permanent" protesters staying there, with varying numbers of others who pass by and hang out for as long as they can.
  
  There's tents dedicated to electronics stuff, where you can charge up your laptop and they have wifi going. There's a medical tent, and even a kitchen tent.
  
  Random people are also showing their support by donating stuff that can be useful to them like generators and food. You see guys in classy business suits standing next to homeless-looking people. Ours is actually considered kind of small, and our police is actually cool about it, read in the paper this morning the police opinion is "they're allowed to be here, we'll just make sure it stays peaceful and take it day by day".
  
  
  Anyone else living in a town where this is happening?
• Xemnas wrote on 2011-10-19 19:33
  Nope.
• EndlessDreams wrote on 2011-10-19 19:35
  Nope.
  
  Hopefully these protests stay peaceful, and don't disrupt people that don't want to participate...
• Cucurbita wrote on 2011-10-19 19:36
  These protests are really annoying.
  
  Just like most protests, most people involved are in it just because they can. Eventually they'll lose sight of what they were fighting for in the first place, and it'll just become another london riot.
  
  Since fighting the power is now a global meme, I can only expect it to happen any time soon.
• Claudia wrote on 2011-10-19 19:36
  Boston's as close as it gets.
  
  Not really been paying attention to it much.
• Kollin wrote on 2011-10-19 19:39
  Nope. If every single person in my town protested, we would only have like 100 people. The number is of course exaggerated, but you get the point that I live in a very small town. Of course, hardly anyone in this town has the time to take off from work to protest, we have families to feed.
• Craddle wrote on 2011-10-19 19:41
  Yup.
  
  Occupy Baltimore
  
  

  [Image: http://www.baltimorebrew.com/publish/wp-content/themes/bbrew/scripts/thumb.php?src=http://www.baltimorebrew.com/publish/wp-content/uploads/2011/10/occupy-day2.jpg&w=590&zc=0]
• Osayidan wrote on 2011-10-19 19:45
  I hope it doesn't go london style.
  I also hope people don't just brush this aside. People are not happy, simple as that. The majority of people protesting are pretty young, I would say 35 and under, post baby-boomer era. These people (including all of us on this forum) are next in line to take "ownership" of the world in the coming decades. We're finishing school, going out into the work force and starting our lives. Then we notice **** is ****ed up.
  
  Do not want. Fix pls.
• Craddle wrote on 2011-10-19 19:48

  Quote from Osayidan;627059:

  
  
  Do not want. Fix pls.

  
  
  *Goes to Mayors office*
  
  *Tells Mayor*
  
  "Do not want fix plz"
  
  That last part of your post made lol so hard and that's the first thing I thought of.
• EndlessDreams wrote on 2011-10-19 19:51

  Quote from Osayidan;627059:

  
  Do not want. Fix pls.

  
  
  This is exactly why these protests aren't getting anywhere.
  
  These people just want someone else to just fix their problems. They don't have any actual solutions on fixing the problems. They just hope that SOMEONE else has the solution. Some of the problems are so vague/broad, it doesn't really mean very much.
• Skye wrote on 2011-10-19 19:56
  Nothing here.
  Nashville's only an hour's drive though, if I really cared.
• Kenny? wrote on 2011-10-19 19:59
  Not at all.
• Mentosftw wrote on 2011-10-19 20:07
  I just find the idea of global protest pretty neat.
• Micho wrote on 2011-10-19 20:10
  Yep, I saw some people holding up cardboard at downtown, last Saturday. It was only like three people though, I'm pretty sure when if I lives in Vancouver or a big city there would be more people protesting.
• Osayidan wrote on 2011-10-19 20:19

  Quote from EndlessDreams;627069:

  This is exactly why these protests aren't getting anywhere.
  
  These people just want someone else to just fix their problems. They don't have any actual solutions on fixing the problems. They just hope that SOMEONE else has the solution. Some of the problems are so vague/broad, it doesn't really mean very much.

  
  
  The ambiguity of "what's the problem and solution" is the only problem I see with this so far, but just the fact that so many people of various backgrounds, all over the world, at the same time, realize there is a problem, whatever it may be, and are doing something to express their dissatisfaction about it, is an excellent first step.
  
  You also have to consider that it's not easy to identify the exact problem(s). Majority of them are economic in nature but likely caused by politics. It's not everyone who has the knowledge and experience to analyze these things. The general population sees it like this:
  
  we graduate school with a debt
  we increase our debt to get a car/house
  we work our asses off to make ends meet
  our countries are at each other's throats all over the place.
  our politicians lie to us.
  our government doesn't work for us like it's supposed to.
  we don't want this. something needs to change for us to not be forced to live this way.
  
  That's basically the root of these things. We don't need a degree in politics and economics to decide that we don't like what is going on, we don't need one to express that dissatisfaction. Those who do have those degrees and understand the inner workings of those systems are likely the ones who will develop potential solutions. If it doesn't work? more protests.