Occupy Vancouver: Get Your Act Together, or Go Home!

 - Vancouver, British Columbia - Back when Occupy Wall St. began, there was a lot with the movement that I identified with, even if the idea of camping out in tents for a long period of time wasn't really my thing. Many have derided the movement for failing to have a singular leader, as well as for not having a specifically defined goal that they wish to achieve through their protest movement. The fact that I identified with this movement at all is unique, since generally speaking, I find protests to be limited in practical or useful terms beyond simply allowing a group of people to gather of a like-minded belief or outrage towards a common issue or problem. And if I'm to be quite honest, I find many protests irritating. However, what drew me to the Occupy Wall St. movement was that their not-very-explicitly-stated point of contention was that many people, such as Wall St. bankers and politicians in Washington, who were in fact responsible for the collapse of the American economic system, and thereby the financial ruin of many hard-working Americans, were allowed to walk free without having to face any recourse through the justice system, despite their risky business moves or the lack of proper financial regulation by the government, while the rest of us have to pay the penalty for their idiocy. This, in the opinion of yours truly, is what is most disgusting about this entire financial meltdown that greedy men and women have been able to ruin the world economic system for everyone else, despite these individuals typically already enjoying incredible wealth.

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Deconstructing Voter Apathy

 - Vancouver, British Columbia - Democracies in North America have often been maligned by their lack of voter turnout, or voter apathy. Some suggest that voters simply don't care, nor do they value their democratic freedoms, when millions around the world would cherish the right to vote for once in their lives. When voters don't turn out, the blame is more often than not laid at the feet of the voters, or better said, those who didn't vote at all. I have been one of those accusers in the past, but recently, I've been asking myself if I've been correct all of these years. While I'm not about to go join one of the Occupy Wall St. protests in Vancouver, the dialogue that they have been able to force upon the mainstream discourse has been impressive, as they've caused normally political inactive citizens to think about what the movement is saying. Certainly, it is challenging to say what exactly the Occupy Wall St. movement wants changed about society, but it is clear that they are protesting a system that they view as being broken and benefiting the "1%," while taking advantage of the "99%."

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