I stood outside of Comma Coffee Wednesday night, observing the people entering. I was hoping a friend of mine was going to come.
Finally, I went inside. There was a sign leaning against a chair that said OCCUPY NV CAPITOL. I introduced myself; these were the people I was here to see.
There were only 12 or 13 of us, but we all had one thing in common: we were disenchanted. We were the hungry, the tired of being pushed around, the broke. We are the 99%.
I should probably back up and explain myself now.
Like a good chunk of the country, I've been paying a great deal of attention to what's been going on at Wall Street. Specifically, I've been paying a great deal of attention to what's been going on in the streets surrounding Wall Street. In September a group of people, fed up with the lack of jobs and the corporate greed that forced them to live off of hand-outs and welfare, decided to take a stand. They exercised their rights as American citizens, and protested.
These peaceful protests became known as Occupy Wall Street - people are literally living at the protest spots right now, camped out in the bitter cold. I expect some of them have nowhere else to go - a lot of the protesters are homeless or near-homeless. All of them want one thing: a job.
Some of you may have heard of Occupy Boston – the same movement, but in Boston, Mass. There was a little issue of police brutality the other evening, when 300 armed police officers swooped in on a group of peaceful protesters - being protected non-violently by a group known as Veterans for Peace -at 1:30 in the morning, arresting 141 people and tearing down the camp. They threw away personal property like tents and sleeping bags, and confiscated personal medication that people need to live. The police also destroyed around 80% of the group's medical supplies - things like gauze, medical tape, and rubbing alcohol. We're still not entirely sure why this was done.
The most disturbing piece of media circulating after that fiasco was of the moment when the police came into contact with Veterans for Peace. You see elderly veterans - doing their sworn duty and protecting citizens against threats, foreign and domestic - being pushed to the ground and tripped. You see them standing resolute and their flags being torn from their hands. And you hear them screaming, as the police cuff them, "I AM A VETERAN OF THE UNITED STATES MILITARY!" over and over.
The police also arrested clearly marked legal observers, and medics who were in the midst of trying to render aid to the injured. Afterward, the mayor's office stated that some anarchists had taken over the Occupy Boston movement, which was an outright lie (the group had voted to stay there with an 80% vote – hardly something a group of anarchists would do). Those sorts of lies may have flown in the sixties, but this is 2011, baby, and we have access to instantaneous media. Try again, bucko.
In a strong testament to the power of the Internet, the Occupy Boston group has managed to raise over $11,000 towards bail and legal aid for those arrested. That's in the two days since this happened, in a group of people who is overwhelmingly broke. People are skipping meals to donate to this cause.
Anyway, back to Occupy Carson City. We met up over Facebook, the group of us. It has about 100 members right now. About 13 of us made it to the first General Assembly, which is what we call our governing meetings. The thing that surprised me was the variety. We had a disabled person, several young people, and many persons edging toward elderly. We had journalists (and former journalists). We had union reps. We had teachers and students. We had an organic farmer. There were business owners and employees, and the unemployed. We come from all walks of life and all political belief structures, because the Occupy movement is nonpartisan.
When we broke up - shortly after Comma Coffee closed for the night, or else I'm sure we'd have talked until the early morning hours - all of us dispersed with a sense of purpose. I drove home with a lot to think about, but one thing is absolutely certain.
We are here, and we're not going to be quiet any longer.
If you're tired of corporate greed, of being forced to live a hand-to-mouth existence because of outsourcing and corporations being allowed to formulate public policy, you might consider joining us on Saturday, when we take to the Legislative grounds to protest peacefully. Bring a sign and a jacket - it might get cold. We'll be there from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m., and some of us will then head up to Reno to support the Occupy Reno movement, who is beginning their protest at 1 p.m. at the skating rink downtown.
Either way, consider coming down and supporting us. We'll welcome you with open arms, because you - like us - are the 99%.