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If you were worried that government has become so gridlocked and moribund that it is no longer capable of acting swiftly, look no further than the response to the Occupy movement and restore your faith. Witness the lightening speed with which one community after another has passed ordinances to crack down on what must surely be the most perilous looming threat to our economic and national security: urban camping.
Occupy Boulder is the latest encampment to receive such thoughtful civic oversight. Starting on January 3, a new rule proposed by City Manager Jane Brautigan would close all public spaces between 11pm and 5am, but only for people who aren’t in motion. You can run through the park, you just can’t stop apparently. Brautigan claims this has nothing to do with the occupy encampment. No doubt it is borne of the same sudden concern for “safety and sanitation” that is currently gripping the nation.
Occupy Boulder is encamped at its third location, the lawn of the municipal building at 1777 Broadway. It has become home to many who left Occupy Denver after its numerous police raids. They’ve collected nearly 1000 signatures of support and reached out to people across the political spectrum (including local tea party members) for help in opposing the plan, which just coincidentally shuts them down.
There will be a town hall meeting to discuss the city’s proposal this Wednesday, December 28, from 5pm to 9pm. We’ll be sending out an email to readers in the area asking them to attend, and if you live near Boulder, please consider showing up to support them.
Occupy Boulder is the last encampment we know of in Colorado, and in places where Homeland Security local officials have managed to shut down all of the occupations, it has been a devastating blow to the entire community. The loss of that constant visual reminder, and the vigil taking place there, demoralizes everyone. Donations drop off to almost nothing, and despite what people tell themselves they never seem to be able to “do more” in terms of activism once they don’t have to maintain an encampment. They wind up with shifting GA locations, people drift away, and it becomes very difficult to overcome inertia and motivate people to action. In short, shutting down the occupations does everything Homeland Security wants it to do, which is why no expense has been spared to militarize local police forces.
It is extremely critical that people turn out in their communities when these kinds of threats manifest, when it’s still possible to turn things around. Even a handful of committed people at a town can have a big impact.
The occupiers are out there freezing for all of us, giving hope to people in their communities and inspiring us to believe that real change is possible. If you’re in the Boulder area, please try to attend the Wednesday town hall meeting and show your support. The encampments are the lone bright spot in an otherwise bleak political and economic landscape, and if we sit back and allow them to be extinguished, I do not know that we will get another chance. We are remarkably lucky that the dissent which inevitably appears at times of economic hardship has taken such a constructive and positive form. The next time around we might not be so fortunate.
Town Hall meeting organized by members of Occupy Boulder on the city proposal to close parks and open space after 11 pm, this Wednesday at the Nomad Theater, 1410 Quince Ave, from 5pm-11pm.
Occupy Boulder web site * Occupy Boulder Facebook page * Occupy Boulder on Twitter
FDL OccupySupply State of the Occupation: Updated List of Encampments Across the Country
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About FDL Action
In its essence, Occupy is a profoundly conservative movement, in that it seeks to preserve what this country once represented in terms of democratic hope. The Occupations are tiny islands of the nation’s better past that have reemerged from the autocratic ocean that has engulfed us since the Y2K coup and 9/11. That is why they are seen as such a threat by the current PTB, and why the PTB so urgently seeks to swamp them.
Occupy Boulder live streams: One (looping a video tutorial by Robert Reich) and Two (offline).
Meanwhile:
Interesting development. It seems people have only been physically occupying there for a few weeks … and the choice to do it the way it was done was not without controversy.
http://dagblog.com/reader-blogs/i-left-occupy-boulder-rest-12485
Kind of seems like the Boulder GA lost at least some of the better-connected liaisons within the local government/community as active participants when the Denver group moved in. Wonder if this action serves to bring ‘em together or if the folks who saw this as having messed up their groundwork and long-term plans for a community-embraced occupation will feel vindicated in their hesitance to embrace the Denver model and simply write off the OWS movement going forward … or something else entirely.
I really am sorry to see the Boulder government go this direction. The relative speed with which they have acted (especially in light of supposedly months of “constructive” communication between the GA and officials) and the clearly disingenuous approach that has been adopted make me suspect that there weren’t enough hoops that could ever possibly have been jumped through. If they won’t act to accommodate the protest now, they wouldn’t have done so in three months. In retrospect, it was probably a tactical blunder to push the issue in the dead of winter instead of when a much larger number of participants could be expected to stand with the encampment.
Maybe I am naive but come spring some are going to be in for a surprise. I know in St. Louis they are constantly in meetings of some sort. I am going to try and attend some of these meetings to get a sense of what is happening. I know their Facebook page is very active as well. We need to support this movement in what ever way we can. They need to know people have their backs.
The occupiers are the best people in this country. But they are sitting ducks in their urban encampments. I am a (modest) supporter of Supply OWS and I hope there are still gains to be made by this tactic. Much has been accomplished already and many have been radicalized thanks to DHS.
The Occupy movement needs *legal* base camps. Actual buildings with actual occupancy permits in sectors where space is available on the cheap. There they could begin to perform the functions of a shadow government. A good place to start would be assistance to the homeless. And they could foray where they choose and have a place to return to when they get out of jail. Of course the rest of us would have to step up our support. Eventually we will occupy the whole country as sovereign citizens like we are meant to be.
Thank you for all you do Jane and Company.
Occupy Asheville has a website:
http://occupyasheville.org/
And here are some pictures of Occupy Asheville from 12-24-11:
http://dancewater.blogspot.com/2011/12/occupy-camp-asheville-12-24-11.html
A local story about one of our terrific Occupiers:
http://www.citizen-times.com/article/20111225/NEWS/312250049?odyssey=mod|mostcom