Re: “Goals of Occupy Nelson protest too foggy,” Megan Cole, November 25
I’m a supporter of Occupy Nelson and, for the record, I always vote and suspect that many other supporters do too.
I went to an Occupy Nelson meeting that took place at the same time as an all-candidates meeting, and only a fraction of the people came out that had come to the previous Occupy Nelson meeting. Later that evening, I ran into another supporter who had been at the all-candidates meeting, which had a huge turnout.
Like you, I value the democratic process, and attend demonstrations, send emails and do whatever I can to participate and make my views known. I don’t think this boils down to a question of capitalism vs. communism, and I also don’t believe that the world we have now is what people everywhere have fought and died for. We are experiencing multiple crises — of democracy and of the environment — and we need many fundamental changes.
The fact that the Occupy movement is global and that it doesn’t have clearly defined goals is a good thing in my opinion.
There are so many issues that are affected by these crises that this movement acts as a big tent for them all. It’s peaceful, new methods of direct democracy are being explored and people all around the globe are looking for solutions together. It’s also drawn attention to some of the root causes of our problems.
It’s already accomplished some very important things. Please see this link to an article called “10 Ways the Occupy Movement Changes Everything” (nationofchange.org/10-ways-occupy-movement-changes-everything-1320943628).
This movement gives me hope. Within the Occupy discussions — both downtown Nelson and on Facebook — there are lively discussions; a liveliness I haven’t seen for a long time. It’s amazing to think that these kinds of discussions are going on all over the world as we collectively look for ways to address these crises and create the kind of world we want.
Thanks for the opportunity to express my opinion.
Diana van Eyk
Nelson