Gentrification In Vancouver

Occupy Vancouver
Affordable Housing March
November 12th, 2011

Being at Occupy Vancouver a couple times already, once being overnight, I knew for the most part what to expect. And for the most part, much was unchanged in terms of functionality. The community feel was still withstanding the societal anxiety and tensions caused by poor regional reporters, always keeping in mind the fight was meant to be for the 99%: with those placing blame for the moment being included in this demographic. The fight is in the hearts of those involved and there is no doubt that conviction for change has not changed.

One thing I've noticed about Occupy Vancouver is that every single trip there offers a lesson or educational experience. Personal speeches by locals signify the struggles we collectively recognize, and lectures by intellectuals of local status anecdotally examine and reinforce the values we fight for. What I had not yet experienced was the power of a sentimentally united march. The topic of the day was affordable housing, an issue connected socio-economically with the concept of gentrification.

I had little knowledge about affordable housing conceptually, well, I suppose I still do. I had researched gentrification briefly after hearing the term in an Immortal Technique song entitled "Harlem Streets". The lyrics of note are still stained in my memory:

"And fuck flossin', mothers are trying to feed children
But gentrification is kickin' them outta they building
A generation of babies, born without healthcare
Families homeless, thrown the fuck off the welfare"

I found many resources related to these words, and came to find out that Harlem is a brutally distinguished symbol of gentrification. It is an unsettling reminder that our society is riddled with inequality, with the brute end of that manifesting itself in concentrated levels in particular social niches, such as Harlem, New York. Rich man's attempt to restore neighbourhoods by developing them has rendered many homeless, and many displaced. Economic measures often indicate social progress, but that is measured merely by economic output. Social health indicators such as homeless rates, are often left out giving us a false sense of social cohesion and progressiveness. Low-income individuals get left out of the discussion, as developers take centre stage on the evening news after another "lucrative property acquisition".

I was much less aware of the fact that Vancouver's low-income population has fallen victim to the same type of property manipulation.

During the march we stopped at various locations to carry out planned activities and speeches. We occupied intersections, and at one near the waterfront we heard a speech of support by running mayoral candidate Randy Helten. From there we trekked into the Woodward building, a once occupied site of protest that I had absolutely no knowledge of. Inside we congregated, in circles or in crowds. Several people spoke of their struggle, highlighting their connection or knowledge to the Woodward complex and its less than progressive history. I was touched by the speeches of those who struggled to find affordable housing as Woodward was being sold off to real estate companies, reducing low income dwellings and making them more expensive all at the same time. The words shared represented the negative social consequences of gentrification, a process of destroying opportunistic equality in regards to housing while investors continue to convert living space into luxurious living space; profit being the highest order of concern, obviously.

It has been said that real-estate is Vancouver's own type of Wall Street, where developers are given more than generous opportunity by our elected leaders to take affordable living space and transform it into space reserved for elites. Of course Wall Street uses financial trading as a means of increasing inequality on all levels, but the corporate parallel is what should be noted as a comparative means of observing greed as it continues to degrade social health.

The fact that the condo developments at the Athletes Village are STILL not sold is an indication that we should not be encouraging the continual upgrading of a city to the point where costs begin to rise beyond our means to afford our necessities. We are slowly but surely following the socio-economic trajectory of our neighbours to the south: social stratification through economic inequality. It is true that societies with higher levels of economic inequality also have higher crime rates, lower literacy rates, etc.. the magnitude of the effects caused by inequality are evidentially proven and documented by a vast array of intellectuals and academics. A simple google search would likely render you countless results.

Profit over people is a common thematic vantage point for the "Occupy" movement to criticize. The affordable housing debate is a definite example, and as demonstrated in the housing march in Vancouver it becomes easier to see that the lower income people of Vancouver are in fact at a disadvantage when it comes to housing.

The working poor need a place in the discussion, and one that isn't moderated by business interests. Vancouver's homelessness rate is stubbornly high and it is my contention that this is largely due to the real-estate plunders of short sighted local and provincial governments. Money should be taken out of the equation, with social needs replacing it as a focal point of policy validation.

Kids are taught to help each other, forgive each other. It is a lesson that we seem to fail at withholding as time ticks away, along the way forgetting that humanity comes first.  We're stuck in a value system double standard and it needs to be changed.

Follow me on Twitter: @SBtheradical

Addiction: It's Everywhere

    Sabotage is expected from the opposition of the occupy movement, however I must address one form right now. That is the issue of addiction which has been used politically to discredit the movement altogether. For example, A woman at Occupy Vancouver recently died of a drug overdose. Instead of our local newspapers reporting on the tragedy for what it is worth, and perhaps shedding light on the causes of this type of tragedy, the news teams decided to use the death as a means of trying to discredit the occupation and dismiss it as "out of hand" and "unsafe". I have yet to find a person opposing the movement who has a logical explanation for this death somehow undermining the movement. The premise would be hard to make, as it is, and it is the reason why ideology in our news has trumped meaningful and accurate reporting. This fear mongering by our major news sources is becoming more and more common as political officials continue to bicker immaturely about solutions to the occupations presence. Presence alone has got people worried and pissed off for no real reasons, while we all continue to ignore the issues actually being put in the spotlight by the occupation.

Anyway, back to addiction. The negative view of addiction as a whole has been perpetuated elsewhere also, my twitter feed was littered with tweets about an occupation that experienced something quite odd. Someone proceeded to dump needles around the perimeter of the property....

Somehow, some people in society have gotten the idea that falsification through drug abuse exposure will be effective. I might remind some people that those on Wall Street are notorious for cocaine use and prostitution. Several elite prostitution rings around New York have come out publicly and stated that a good portion of their business comes from high-ranking banking officials, representing all of the major financial firms. Studies have also come out showing that the chemical reactions in the brain caused by winning monetary reward are the same reactions caused by ingesting cocaine. This explains the cyclical nature of Wall Street drug use. Therapist Jonathan Alpert stated "it is amazing to see how much cocaine these wall streeters can use, and then get up and go to work the next day". Huh, post-binge bankers are responsible for handling and investing my money... that's just fantastic.

We never hear about the drug lawsuits involved on Wall Street, yet we always find a way to blame the homeless for participating in addiction. We forget that addictions take many forms, power and acquisition of wealth both included in this terminology. We see nothing wrong in de-humanizing an addict for a Meth addiction, but forget that this type of addiction is far less reaching socio-economically than say; General Motors cutting jobs in the 80's while posting record profits in attempts to improve their bottom line. Or a tobacco company executive deciding to spend millions more on advertising in attempts that people will buy the product, despite the fact that this will directly contribute to rising death rates and accumulative health problems in society. These addictions, as Dr. Gabor Mate explains (PhD physician who works in preventative care in downtown Vancouver), are rewarded greater despite their exponentially higher level of negative social consequences.

And although I can compare all day, it does not give me the right to falsify character on the basis of addiction, no matter what that addiction is. We are all a product of environment, shaped by the experiences that occur in our lives and also by the people we are surrounded by. Certain emotional responses are in fact there because of another experience, your brain justifying the action with the response. Some are subconscious, some are formed in the rational mind. Whatever the emotional offence, we all have coping mechanisms that accompany our addictions, as well as negative circumstances that always seem to define them. A drug addict, most likely severely emotionally scarred, is coping with the pain by taking a drug that ups the endorphines; These are our "feel good" emotions that occur naturally with proper environmental upbringing. With endorphins lacking, we feel the need to compensate, as it is our minds seeking safe haven. Who are we to judge addictions, when we most of the time have no idea of the circumstances that lead to them? How can we work to rid ourselves of these influences in the most enriching of ways, when we are so fixated on blaming them and simultaneously convincing ourselves that addictions cannot be reversed or prevented.

Addictions can be meaningfully addressed, but only if we recognize that no human is free of environmental influence; negative influence will lead to improper social connections within the brain, and thus a decreased ability to adapt to social conditions that we otherwise could have conquered through perseverance, will-power, or financial opportunity.

Addictions play a critical role in the Occupy movement. It has exposed the fact that addictions are everywhere, and that we tend to vilify the least risky of addictions as the most acute and unchangeable ones. Addiction takes so many forms, and we all experience them. We can only identify them if we mature enough to realize that we have them, and that they became manifest through emotional response to an unfavourable condition.

We MUST address these unfavourable conditions, and attack them at the source rather than try to blame some, and justify others. Housing, preventative care, harm reduction, job opportunity... these are easily implemented steps to reducing the prevalence and occurrence of devastating substance addictions. These types of policies are advocated by protesters adamantly. However, the more powerful of addictions.... power, wealth acquisition, profit margin performance, control... these are built in components to the system that we continue to justify and forget to pay attention to. It is because of this that it does not help to blame individuals in power. They are simply puppets playing their role.

The most negative of addictions have become the most celebrated, and this has to stop. Addiction built into the system has spelled trouble, as was expected. One of the key aspects of addictions is it's negative consequences and denial of them, therefore we must address the negative consequences and identify them as changeable; and ultimately, create solutions that limit our ability to inherit socially devastating addictions.

Prevention is always better than the cure folks.


Follow me on Twitter: @SBtheradical

Culture Shock: First Day at Occupy Vancouver

Strolling out of work at 2pm on Saturday afternoon, I couldn't help but smile. The last few months I have researched topics from human nature to environmentalism to tax policy, and beyond. Mainly though, I have inherited a sense of concern from this information, and the concern grows with time. I have come to find that the system we have been bred to celebrate is really one that we should be metaphorically burying as deep into the ground as possible. Our system is not void of opportunity, that is for sure. We all do have the chance of being billionaires, so long as we share the same social system with people owning that much wealth. However, the question lies in the degree of opportunity we have. Equality of opportunity conflicts with a system based upon the idea of private property and wealth acquisition. Liberal political philosophers have always tried to tiptoe around this idea, but it's premise is simple and easy to understand. The more one is able to acquire, the less there is for everyone else. I'm not preaching socialism, I'm preaching the obvious.

With so many people left out of the financial ponzy schemes of the ruling elite, this disenfranchisement of the public is essentially why people are occupying the financial centres of over 1500 cities world-wide. With Vancouver not exempt from this economic epidemic, I was interested to see just what types of people showed up at this occupation. When I showed up, it became apparent that this movement is for real, and that to me is a beautiful thing.

When I arrived at the Vancouver Art Gallery there was a sense of optimism that took over my psyche, and again I found myself unwillingly smiling for no reason; in turn inciting smiles around me. I took a picture of a fellow with a Jack Russell dog by his side, holding up a sign. (I will refer to him as John, for I have no asked his permission to be published). After the photo we began talking, and we quickly became friends after he found out I was camping out like he was. He offered up his tent to keep my supplies under cover, a generous act considering the small size of the tent. Later he offered to let me sleep in the tent too, but I thankfully declined simply due to the fact that his tent would have been cramped even just holding him and his dog. I was also adamant to sleep on the ground, something that was most definitely out of my comfort zone.

John also conveniently had sign making material; some cardboard pieces and a few markers. Inspired by the blog name, I wrote out in big letters: "Humanity First!"

While holding up the sign to the public entering the zone of occupation, I had many people taking my picture. This is a good thing, for it get's the message out there. People will go home and proceed to put the photos up on various social networks, causing a snowball effect which seems to be more effective than word of mouth these days. Snaps of photos became common, with silent smiles and thank-you's following from many. The people who thanked me appeared to be from all walks of life, characteristic of the representational diversity that was commonplace during the time I was there.

A woman approached John and I and we quickly became immersed in her knowledge as we began to converse. She told us she had a good paying job and was perfectly capable of paying all her bills and gradually reducing her debt. She then went on to explain that she has been very fortunate to have the background that she had, giving her the right mentality and financial opportunity to succeed in our current economic paradigm. She outlined various issues in our society, many of which that I had never heard of. This sharing of knowledge made me feel grateful that there are still people in society that like me, have jobs and a future but are still willing to fight for those who don't. She had a worried look as she explained her research based findings. It was clear that emotion was surely tied into her studies, as it is with mine. She informed us after about 20 minutes of discussion that she had to leave to tend to her pets, and proceeded to hand John and I a 10 dollar bill and told us to use it for a good meal so we were sure to sleep warm. She thanked us various times for occupying, and fighting the economic war for people who are financially or socially incapable of doing so. I am hopeful that I will meet this kind woman again.

After a couple hours of general speaking by the population in attendance, the General Assembly began. Essentially the General Assembly is an open platform for everybody to make their voice heard, as well as have their vote count. On the agenda was the rules of consensus, which laid the general guidelines of the assembly when issues begin to be discussed (This would not begin happening until Sunday, October 16th). Also discussed was accessibility issues for those with disabilities, as well as issues surrounding police presence in the area.

Vancouver PD and City of Vancouver littered the park, with staff members on site decreasing as the night progressed. Overnight there was approximately 8 officers to keep watch on the situation. Although presence in numbers was strong, the figures of authority were entirely respectful from what I saw. Many engaged in conversations with protesters, some going on short walks with homeless people to discuss issues on the table. I was very thankful cops and protesters were peacefully co-existing, considering the mindless riots that took place in June which has the city needlessly freaked out.

When the General Assembly wrapped up, an announcement was made that a "roaming dance party" was about to take form. John and I had decided just before this was announced that we'd have some down time, but quickly jumped at the opportunity to take part. Who doesn't like the idea of a roaming dance party right?

This was by far the most fun I've ever had dancing, and this has little to do with my lack of knowledge in the dancing department. It had more to do with the spirit of the "party". The diversity of our crowd was amazing, considering the social niches we often form and seem to only let loose with exclusively. The energy was unbelievable. The music was handled by a guy who had a transmitter connected to his Ipod, and he also was the owner of approximately 15 boomboxes that were obviously picking up his radio transmission. He set them down on the ground, and we gradually picked up on his notion. Soon the boomboxes were on peoples shoulders, being circulated as we began our journey through many areas of downtown. We ended up in the Burrard skating rink, then down Granville and into the Granville station in the "Pay Fares"zone. It was flooded with people. We left about a half hour after, and marched up Granville towards Granville Island bridge, gradually picking up interested citizens on the way who felt like joining in. When we hit the ritzy crowd of club-hoppers, many jumped out of the lines to come dance, and many just took pictures. It turned heads, and it was fun as hell. This march proved that partying can have a unifying tone, especially considering alcohol was nowhere to be seen. Just smiles and mental unity, that's all we needed.

Winding down, I went for a long walk by myself and eventually would seek haven beside John's tent. . My bed comprised of a tarp, a yoga mat for comfort, and a small blanket. I was very bundled up in terms of my clothing, but bedding was scarce. This was poor planning at it's finest, I cannot beg for sympathy at all. I fell asleep relatively warm and cozy, just needing to wiggle my toes for a while to keep them from getting too uncomfortably cold.

I woke up 2 hours later extremely cold. Attempting to get warm, I decided to get up and take a walk to get some blood flowing. I wandered through the Art Gallery yard and proceeded to read a monument type of thing, which was situated in front of the first aid tent. I unintentionally attracted the attention of the medical professionals inside the tent and they asked me if I was feeling at all cold; I nodded. She ushered me in, and I unfortunately felt kind of stupid needing their attention when it was my own incompetence in the planning process that created the whole situation. I explained why I was so cold and she just quietly laughed as she gave me blankets and coffee. I talked with this nurse for about an hour, and with her and another guy for an additional hour. They were both nurses who volunteered their time for occupiers, and they explained their stories to me. I told mine as well. We shared stories and shared sentiments, calmly getting to know each other more and more through experience and understanding. We talked about struggle to medical anomaly's and all the way back to low-income housing on the downtown east side. I will never forget the conversations I shared with these two people. I eventually thanked them for all their help and encouragement and got on with my day.

I walked down to the waterfront by myself to watch the sunrise, reflecting on the night before. I was lost in thought, revelation and revolution fresh in mind. I came to find the fear I have of the years ahead is shared by others, and that the injustices placed upon us the people CAN be changed. I remain concerned about the levels of social apathy on the part of the majority of society, but I fully believe this would change if only we were acutely aware of it and it's ability to undermine our daily lives. The occupy movements have become a community based resistance to decades of social, economic, and political oppression on the part of the 1%. I learned much from the people I met on that day, and will continue to head down there and support this movement. It's all we have left, as the saying goes "men with nothing got nothing to lose". The more economic collapse that takes place, the more people are going to question the system we've become trained to mindlessly support. Anybody and everybody should go down to the nearest occupy to them, and just ask questions and meet people. Get to know the people who have struggled, as well as those who recognize it and just want the opportunity to change it. Change requires support, and this is just the beginning of this support system.


Written by Shelby Bouchard
Follow me on Twitter: @SBtheradical

No Direction? Get Real

    Today is the "Occupy" movements 23rd day. There are now over 100 active and on-going occupations internationally, with over 1,200 cities participating in some type of occupation planning. These numbers are astounding considering the movement began in one single location, that being Wall Street, New York. Through social media, the messages being offered by the occupation members in New York were able to spread and resonate in the minds of people from neighbouring cities, and then eventually cities across the country. And due to the internationally complex nature of the global financial problems that we face today, the movement quickly spread to the international community. The people are mobilizing, sharing ideas, and demanding justice from the institutions and governments that have for too long thrown their human needs to the curb and suppressed their right to fight this disparity all at the same time.

    The occupations themselves have began to spook the wealthy class and thrown a kink in the way that mainstream media normally operates. Challenges are presupposed when movements form, and the one that seems to be the most talked about recently is that the movement is void of any direction. This is a valid concern, because it is true that with so many minds coming together in droves that there will inevitably be a countless number of issues being brought to light. Some articles that have circulated have claimed that the movement itself has no clear direction and will likely suffer from this lack of directional unity. Michael Bloomberg, the Mayor of New York, has claimed that the movement is "not productive" and even went on to say that it is taking jobs away from people working in the city. These statements were of course not backed up by any kind of evidential data, a common occurrence among powerful politicians. But we must also remember that Bloomberg is the 13th richest person in the United States. It's no surprise who he's really working for.

    Our mainstream opinion leaders and media outlets need to give their head a shake. The direction of this movement could not be any more obvious! The name itself gives it all away. The protests began at the epicentre of global financial affairs: Wall Street, New York. The message perpetuating couldn't be more clear: We are frustrated with our financial and political leaders with their complete mismanagement of our economy, and the social conditions that we have been forced to live under as a result of this. The political process has become infected with monetary interests, so much that progressive ideas are often pushed to the side as irrelevant or dismissed as unfair threats to the powers that be. One only has to look at business expenses on lobbying in every industrialized country to understand the magnitude of this problem. One of the messages that I have seen predominantly vocalized through twitter is that the political process must be freed from corporate influence in all possible ways.

    Now that we have established that this movement does in fact have a premise, I will point out that there are also established sets of goals that have begun to circulate among websites in support of the "occupy" movements. Here's just one poster of goals that I have seen:

   

    One thing I find astounding about critics of this movement is their inability to realize that the present "plan" we have going for us at the present moment is really not getting us anywhere by almost any measure. I think it is very difficult to make the argument that our government leaders are successfully executing some kind of defined and agreed upon plan that is positively affecting the majority of citizens. Oh that's right, we have a system that directly goes against this notion of a "centralized direction". We have left wing vs. right wing politics (or in the United States' case, moderately right wing politics vs extremely right wing politics), which is a system that essentially celebrates political correctness and ignores political cooperation. It is a system that has bred a population that takes more pride in their political status than say, their ability to distinguish a effective policy from a defective one, regardless of it's political affiliation. I will also make this crystal clear now: effective policies to me are defined only as those that affect the most amount of people in a positive way in relation to the alternatives proposed, as well as the assurance that the policy can be sustainable economically and socially. Even when our governments do agree upon a broad-based plan, it is common for that contract to not be withheld. An example of this is Canada's recent greenhouse gas emissions report, which cited  that our emissions have actually increased despite our signing and subsequent ratification of the Kyoto Protocol.


     The direction of these movements are not set in stone, and the never will be. No matter how many ideas are officially proposed by the general assembly, there will still be issues that are kept quiet and ideas that remain under-valued. But as I point out, the sentiments that are flowing in the hearts of the protesters are what we should be focused on, because it is the sentiment of the majority. And although not set in stone, ideas that benefit the majority are, to me, much more valuable and durable than those that are always based upon an outside interest and only reflect the wants of the few rather than the needs of the many. Besides, the circulation of ideas is only the beginning of what is to come. Once people wake up to the decades of exploitation, greed and corruption by countless of our decision-making leaders, it only follows that demands will come next. Those demands will grow, and that is where we will begin to see progress.

 
© Shelby Bouchard

Follow me on Twitter: @SBtheradical
   


   

 

Occupy Wall Street: The Start of a World Revolution?

If you turn on the evening news to get your daily dose current events, it comes as no surprise that you have heard little to nothing about the beginning of a grassroots movement coined "Occupy Wall Street". In mid-September, hundreds and then thousands of people began occupying the financial trading capital of the world, Wall St. New York. It is here that the leaderless movement began, and it is there for one central reason: To challenge the economic paradigm that has been forced upon the world for several decades. By way of greed, monetary incentive, as well as legal and political manoeuvring, the world’s elite have grown to be extremely concentrated financially. Unfortunately, most of these individuals have grown to be tremendously disconnected to the social needs that all human beings have in common... I'm writing this article to explain the root causes of this movement, to outline key aspects of citizen frustration, and give insight into the massive repercussions it could have in shaping an entirely different world.

I will start first with economic inequality. This is a measure of how the money that circulates in our society is distributed to the people, which in turn creates our social structure. (Lower Class, Middle Class, etc.). Over roughly the last 30 years, our social structures have changed significantly. However, this change has unfortunately only seemed to positively affect the real incomes of the rich and famous. For example, in 1996, Canada had 25 billionaires. By 2006, we claimed 55 of them. During the same time period, CEO compensation had risen at a rate of 555%. Yes, That's five hundred and fifty five percent. The middle class wage increase? A measly 6%. (Source: The Trouble with Billionaires by Linda Mcquaid). In other words, by way of tax reforms working in favour of the business class, the growth cycles that have been fostered through times of economic prosperity have largely created a very powerful and rich upper class, while leaving less and less for the middle class. My Mass Communication teacher said it succinctly to the class that I attended yesterday: "Your generation is going to be the first one that is worse off financially than your parents". It's true, and the trend is growing. It is no surprise service costs have spiked, businesses are trying to compensate for their lack of business (remember, with destroyed demand you can't expect the people to consume at the rates they did before) by upping costs on all levels. Insurance is up, food costs are up (This is also largely due to oil scarcity), taxes are up, toll rates are up. Almost every cost in society is going up, but the problem lies in the middle class's ability to actually afford these more than modest increases. 

        It is impossible to place blame on one social niche within society for the massive economic inequality that is ever growing. However, there are certain people, institutions, and governments which do have a large impact on this. And they all have one thing in common: HUGE financial leverage, and consequently greater power & ability to influence the way these things are handled. It is unbelievable to me that governments are allowed to appoint former representatives of banking related institutions. In the US, Secretary of the Treasury at the time of the recession (2007/2008) was Henry Paulson, a former Goldman Sachs CEO. Goldman Sachs for those that are unfamiliar, is one of the world’s largest investment firms. Paulson served on the board of Goldman and other financial institutions even after he collected his millions in severance pay and began work with the Treasury. Is there a more blatant conflict of interest than this? And It does not end there by any means. The list of government appointed personnel who also have involvement in large for-profit businesses is almost without end. It Is not difficult to realize that there is a fundamental problem with government when it's own members have financial interests that undoubtedly affect policy outcomes. A main driver of inequality is tax cuts, most often given to the wealthy surprisingly enough. It is because of this that business interests have started to become of utmost importance to some politicians and corresponding political parties. As little as I like to tread political party lines, it tends to be the right wing parties such as the Canadian conservatives that favour business influence during elections. For example, our government cut subsidy contributions to political parties after the last election. Instead of government determining the rate of election costs (I think it's safe to say most are not pleased when hearing about the costs of  an election and the large burden this has on our tax base), it is now up to businesses to decide. The most profitable are undoubtedly going to be involved with the parties that support their interests, so it is no surprise that an oil company is going to contribute money to support a conservative party that promises tax breaks. While this helps the businesses, it does nothing for real wages and income for the MAJORITY.

Tying into the problem with government infiltration of our political system, is our system of monetary distribution (the way money is created and circulated). In America, the main solution to the recession has been to print more money for the stimulus packages. This seems convenient, but it in fact creates a devaluation of that money. This is why China and other countries are moving to get their investments out of the American dollar, because the value of that money is declining. Canada is intrinsically connected to America in such a way that this devaluation also affects us.... As many see the Canadian dollar is now below the American dollar, even though Canada's economy is in much better shape. This is also due to the fact that Canada also prints money, albeit on a smaller scale. In America it is the Federal Reserve that prints money, in Canada it is the Bank of Canada.

Here's an easy way of looking at it: Say there's a trading group of just 5 people and they can only trade with each other. All have 10 dollars to spend. One trader decides to print out his own money in attempts to have greater spending abilities. Seems like a great idea! Until the other players catch on, and they recognize that he has an artificially inflated buying ability. These other 4 players knowing they now have a disadvantage; decide to up the price of their items that they sell. So even though this one trader upped his trading money to 20 dollars, the actual value of his money decreased. This is a prime description of inflation, and it is built into our system because of the constant creation of new currency.

This is precisely what is happening within the Western-style monetary system, and its effects are becoming more and more widespread due to the inter-connectivity of world economies. This is a global problem. When America sinks, Canada is not far behind. Neither is Australia, neither is France. Greece's debt problems alone might be enough to cause a financial panic in the global markets. In America, the solution to debt has been to just keep going deeper and deeper in debt. It never seems to end. Consumers in industrialized nations went through the same cycle of growth in the early 2000's when the housing bubble began. Housing prices skyrocketed because, due to financial deregulation in the US, mortgage firms were now allowed to lend money to anybody, no matter what their ability was to actually pay back that money. It was because banks were lending so easily and unconditionally that the housing prices began to spike. (Remember, the Federal Reserve doesn’t mind printing out money to lend because they make money from obligatory interest payments)People could not actually afford these huge increases, therefore people turned to credit. It is absolutely true that people were unknowingly forced to begin participation in a world-wide credit binge. It is because of this debt addiction cycle by both consumers and our national governments that both Americans and Canadian families are now swamped in more debt than they ever have been before.

And it is here that we lead back to the focal point of the OCCUPY WALL STREET protests. These ever-growing demonstrations, which have even spread to Vancouver, are unlikely to subside. The people are pissed right off, as we should be. Our government institutions have been sold out to corporate interests while we make small gains but at the same times the prices of the things we need are skyrocketing due to the inflationary nature built into this system. The housing bubble that burst in the US has created a world landscape where buying a house  or even renting a decent apartment is increasingly out of reach. As well, food prices have gone up at a staggering pace. 

Food prices are hugely important to the public, because food is a necessity that people will not often settle to go without. It is a human need, and when that need is not addressed, people resort to any means to which they will be able to satisfy that need. Thus, the crime rate!

Energy costs are going up, so even if you can afford a mortgage, the costs of living continue to increase.

Gas prices continue to rise. Yeah, they take occasional dips. But on a year by year basis, there has not been any substantial gas price decreases since the OPEC oil embargo of 1973. There's a reason for this: Oil is FINITE. It will not last forever. I encourage all who are unfamiliar with the peak oil movement to watch the films "Collapse" with Michael Ruppert and "Blind Spot". These will give a greater understanding of why oil prices are never going to fall substantially ever again, and why we're headed for a global oil crisis in correlation with the western addiction to consumption.

We are headed for hyperinflation unless the issues of resource scarcity and privatized money printing are unitarily reviewed and logically addressed. Hyperinflation sounds scary, and it is. But it’s happened many times before and it is looking like it will happen again.

As you see, it is unreasonable to assume that demonstrators of OCCUPY WALL STREET are just petty thugs looking to upset the establishment by waving some signs. This wave of protests is for a slur of reasons, and the anger will continue as the economies of the world collapse in front of our eyes. These protests represent change in the following ways:

1. Social - The people of this world are pissed off at having their human needs thrown aside in the name of profit. Working hard for an earning is one thing, but the massive wealth concentration is not justified when it does not leave enough for people to address their human needs. It is no surprise that we have crimes when so many people in society are growing up with their human needs NOT being met. If you look at financial equality on a nation-by-nation basis, it is the more unequal societies which have the greater rates of crime. People often do not realize that lack of wealth and criminal behaviour are related to each other in profound ways. More and more people are losing their buying power, thus it only makes sense that the people are fed up and willing to stand up to challenge this trend. As the slogan goes, "We are the 99%".

            2. Economic - Small business has been destroyed in industrialized nations. When large companies such as Wal-Mart are able to open in emerging cities, their extremely low costs cause people to divert their buying to these cheap and often less durable products. Wal-mart outsources jobs overseas in profound ways, with a great number of their products coming from sweat shops in developing countries. This is why the products are cheaper, it's not because Wal-Mart is some saint of a company really looking out for the good of people, it is because they source the cheapest labour. Back to my point, big business has created a working environment that is looking more and more like a subservient pool of wage slaves. Most of the service jobs available to me as an 18 year old student are jobs available from companies whose CEO's I'll never know personally, and who's interests exclude me completely. But it's what the norm has become... personal potential is being greatly hindered because we're forced to spend 40 hours a week at a job we hate. It's become a terrible delusion that working just to be able to feed yourself for 40 years can be considered the best life a person can get just because they worked hard at it. What happened to doing things that define us, and spending time on the people we love?  You can call it laziness, but that really isn't the case. One of my favourite artists puts it this way:

"We the American working population
Hate the fact that eight hours a day
Is wasted on chasing the dream of someone that isn't us
And we may not hate our jobs,
But we hate jobs in general
That don't have to do with fighting our own causes.
We the American working population
Hate the nine-to-five day-in/day-out
When we'd rather be supporting ourselves
By being paid to perfect the past-times
That we have harbored based solely on the fact
That it makes us smile if it sounds dope..."
- Aesop Rock

And to make matters worse, the money we do earn really doesn't do much for us anymore...

3. Environment - Through quest for profit and satisfaction of shareholders, which is essentially a bare bones description of Capitalism, the environment has become a waste land. Through desertification we are destroying our land base, through deforestation we are destroying our forests and the ecosystems associated with them, through oil exploration and weak environmental regulations on business we have managed to destroy our water base, and through carbon emissions we have polluted our air significantly. It is quite difficult to understand why more businessmen, particularly in the food production sector have not pushed for greater sustainability policies. Without the earth acting as a replenishing mechanism for the soil, water and other natural processes, how can we expect to live the same lives with the same access to the same resources for much longer? The earth is similar to the human body in that, if you stress it out, it's natural reactions will not be favourable;  Especially when we create an entire economic system that is based on the premise of infinite growth and an infinite supply chain of oil, natural gas etc. The world has lost touch with these natural processes that are vital to our plentiful living, and it's time the earth has a meaningful part in the discussion as well. After all, the earth will be fine. It is us humans who will go extinct with the naive mindset that we can keep exploiting the earth at the pace that we have been...

4. Media - One reason I'm writing such a detailed note is because I believe there is little other way than social networking to get people informed about this event. Mainstream media is entirely centered on business principles. Ie: Profit-making. it is amazing to see how big these protests have got given the pathetic coverage offered by bigger news companies. The protest itself will seek to gain attention through massive amounts of social networking, because it is one of the only effective ways. I watch economic news everyday from the Wall Street Journal wesbite, and in the last two weeks I have seen only one article about the protests. It should be front page news. One of the central premises of a democracy is the full functioning and fair flow of information. The fact that media businesses rely on advertising money by large and often multinational corporations for funding should be incentive enough to realize that mainstream media is basically watered down news with the intent of keeping the status quo. This is media infiltration, and it has and will continue to be challenged by protesters.

5. Social & Cultural Values - Because we live in a society where material wealth determines class structure, we have become a very individualist culture. We tend to view things like addiction and unemployment as "problems of the user" rather than "by products of the system". This is a fundamental problem, because it disconnects us from the social needs of each other and denounces empathy towards them all at the same time. We need to release ourselves from the assumption that money can buy us happiness. We need to focus on the things that matter, and that is the well-being, safety, and happiness of everybody. Until fundamental human needs are met, we cannot expect any real inter-personal harmony. 

6. Food - Business has also affected us negatively in a way that many people go day to day without realizing, and that is our food production system. You see, it is strange to note that the sicker people are, the more money the health system makes. These people are not idiots, they know very well that the more patients they help, the more money there is in their pockets, or for the system overall anyway. We have, in the last 30-40 years, undergone an immensely crude way of producing food, whereby organic and plant based diets are demonized and the most unhealthy of choices are celebrated. It is no coincidence that McDonalds shares have been steadily increasing as peoples wallets become less dense. It is cheap, it is quick, it is convenient, and tastes unusually good to most people. The problem is these institutions are not as threatened by economic collapse as others, because their cost schemes are so much more sophisticated. They know they're too big to fail, and they know their unhealthy food will continue to sell. It is because of this that we see a disgusting amount of processed food, genetically modified food, with a particular reliance on other cheap foods such as sugar. Foods that are high in carbohydrates, sugar, and sodium are most often the cheapest. These production methods are cost-effective and profitable, but they have rendered us an obese generation with an unusual amount of completely avoidable health problems. (The fact that cancer rates have exponentially risen since the 60's is no coincidence).

As you see, business the way it has been running is not sustainable and CAN NOT continue to be supported. We're in a vicious political cycle, and that cycle is present in almost every single industrialized nation on the planet: Conservatives want to cut deficits, and they do this by cutting social spending. Conclusion: Modest business savings, but decreased buying power and social health. Liberals want to keep existing social safety net structures, but spend money on stimulus. Conclusion: Businesses cannot keep up with rising taxes and costs, while the buying power of the middle class becomes slightly greater and the social safety net still somewhat intact. The problem with this attempt at a solution is it does not address the debt at all (Not that Conservative deficit policies would ever come close either). We're wasting our time by arguing over left vs. right politics. No major political party in North America comes close to addressing the real changes needed for a sustainable generation, because neither of them predicts the end of the availability of oil. It is that simple. Without oil, everything will change. Not only that, but we also have interest (Which many people believe to be the foremost root cause of these issues). The concept of compound interest is a form of slavery; it is essentially creating money out of thin air. It is not based on anything tangible. Interest is a way of keeping the people subservient, because it forces them to continue to work no matter what the cost is to them or their family. Debt is a massive stressor, and as you know stress is related to majority of illness and disease. Until the debt issue is seriously taken up, we will continue to have a very stressed out and pissed off workforce. Not to mention the ridiculous amount of debt it can take students in University just to get into the workforce....

       And it is here that I conclude. I know you're probably saying something like "thank goodness" or "goddamn that was long". However I felt like I had to write it. I am very concerned for our generation, and even more so for the generations that succeed us. The elite and powerful of this world have done a wicked job of justifying greed, and setting up institutions to protect these ideals (ie. Police, The Market). The elite, through our apathy, have managed to protect themselves very well...

But not for much longer. The change is on Wall Street, where what started out as an occupation of hundreds has sparked a movement of several thousand all over the world. The one thing that we the people have going for us is the sheer size of our army. But this army does not want to kill, it does not want to harm, and it does not want to take all and leave nothing for anybody else. This army wants to free, wants to spread the love that is within all of us. I have a tremendous faith in the good nature of people. It is this good nature that will wake up the world from it's apathetic sleep, and hopefully foster a generation that looks after each other and after the earth in which we inhabit. New paradigms will emerge, and new norms will be formed. Along the way we are going to face resistance from those who wish to preserve this terrible and unsustainable way of life. Let it come. One thing is for sure though, this movement is just getting started....

 "In a decaying society, art, if it is truthful,
Must also reflect decay.
And unless it wants to break faith with its social function,
Art must show the world as changeable,
And help to change it"
- Ernst Fischer

 © Shelby Bouchard


Follow me on twitter: @SBtheradical