Slow Risings in T.O

First update from Toronto: Today we mostly liaised with Labor groups and Eco-radicals, trying to exchange information about who the main organizers are, and if there are any possible ways of combining numbers or coordinating efforts. I also briefly touched base with one Black Bloc organizer and he assured me that his people are preparing to confront "security" forces if required.

What I'm finding is that while there are many veteran activists, the main thrust of activity is still being energized by young adults and students. But far from being mere "youthful idealists" these young people are intelligent, extremely well-informed and hold deep social values.

My own take on this, briefly, is that the vast majority of people 30-50 years old are too embedded in the consumption-driven economic system and invested in household level management to educate themselves about the main issues, much less get involved in protests or social movements. This is why public engagement and dialogue are just as important as public protest.

For example, we spent the last part of the day handing out zines and talking to random people about the issues being raised by various protest groups.  Besides one well-dressed clown annoyed that he might be late for a marketing meeting, everyone we talked with was generally receptive to the issues - and reported it helpful when activists make the effort to explain better 'why' they are hitting the streets to express their outrage. People need "whys" not just "whats".

My personal favorite among the handouts, and one that I shared with many people today, was a 4 page piece by Chris Hedges titled, "Calling All Rebels" (2010) - the first paragraph of which reads:

There are no constraints left to halt America’s slide into a totalitarian capitalism. Electoral politics are a sham. The media have been debased and defanged by corporate owners. The working class has been impoverished and is now being plunged into profound despair. The legal system has been corrupted to serve corporate interests. Popular institutions, from labor unions to political parties, have been destroyed or emasculated by corporate power. And any form of protest, no matter how tepid, is blocked by an internal security apparatus that is starting to rival that of the East German secret police. The mounting anger and hatred, coursing through the bloodstream of the body politic, make violence and counter-violence inevitable. Brace yourself. The American empire is over. And the descent is going to be horrifying.

 Read the entire pamphlet (PDF): Here

Whenever possible I'll keep you all posted on what's going down in T.O. Hopefully I'll get some 'down time' to finish up everything I have been working re: the Vibrant Matter reading. But we'll see, I might just as easily be staring at the inside of a jail by Friday afternoon.

Special thanks to Tory, Dan and Siobhan for helping us all day connecting with organizers and conveying awkwardly cryptic massages about what may occur during the next five days.