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| Image: mtcleroux |
Wherever you stand on the matter, the Occupy movement, which began with Occupy Wall Street, makes a point that cannot be ignored. The nutshell Occupy demand is for leadership - political and corporate alike - to be accountable and fair to those they lead. Specifically when it comes to money.
Power and resources (read: money) are, of course, not new bedfellows, and their relationship guides my title: Occupy Yourself. It is absolutely valid and just that we demand accountability, fiscal and otherwise, from our leaders. (In a free market democracy the argument goes that they wouldn't be leaders in the first place if we hadn't put them there based on their positive traits.) People who want to camp out on Wall Street or elsewhere to demand this are welcome to it, provided they do so civilly, but I think there is more at stake here.
The question I ask is, before we occupy Wall Street, Washington or Warsaw, can we honestly say that we have occupied ourselves? Are we fully accountable and fair in our actions, whether it is in the way we treat others (especially those in positions of less power), our environment and, yes, our own finances? Do we make provision for ourselves and others by being resourceful, cultivating what we have (whether it is talent, human relationships or a patch of soil that can be nurtured to sustain us) and exercising control over, yes, our money? Are we in control, or are we in an entertainment-induced daze of ignorance? Are we the ones who choose how to invest our funds, or do we allow ourselves to be duped into buying products we don't need with money we don't have?
Accountability and fairness, and giving "the 99%" their piece of the pie, is a fine cause. But rather than occupying Wall Street, I hear this movement as a call to Occupy Yourself. As the chief leadership in your affairs, I dare you to accept this challenge to be accountable for yourself and your actions, to be fair to those with less money, less supposed power (and to yourself), and most certainly to be resourceful, making the most of what you have. And you have a whole lot more than just money: you have a mind that you can cultivate and make up to act on your own decisions, not on what some brand or bank or pinup or politician or even protesters in tents tell you.
Occupy Wall Street if you like. It is a noble cause. But Occupy Yourself first. In every sense of the word. Tent optional.
