Do you remember? When we were young and we wanted to set the world on fire?

I never really found my tribe. There were political parties, philosophies, Internet groups and a handful of other social experiments that I tried that all helped me to better form my words around how I felt about life. In the end of all of these experiments I walked away feeling the same dogma and ultimate conformity that I was trying to escape.

One of these experiments nearly blew my relationship with my family completely apart and ended many friendships. Fortunately many of these wounds are being healed, and although the shape of my relationship with my family will never be the same, at least now it’s more honest than ever. I do have a great group of friends who listen to what I have to say without looking at me like I am a nut case and certainly do not ostracize me for my ever evolving views. Maybe that is my tribe, but I do not think any of them will ever fully understand or support my viewpoint. And that is probably a good thing since I do not like dogma.

So once again I’m a philosophical free agent, careful not to attach an ism to the way I think.

As a result of my last experiment I have become skeptical of any new mass social uprising. Skeptical is not the right word. Cynical is more like it. That ounce of hope I had when the Occupy movement began a few weeks ago was quickly stomped out by the mainstream media’s reports of the manifestos that were emerging from these groups. After that I was more quick to make fun of the movement rather than try and understand what was really happening.

As the day grew nearer to the large protest in New York and the smaller gatherings around the country, I started to itch to see what was happening. I almost didn’t but then I saw a post on a Facebook friend’s wall that cut at me. She accused those of not taking a closer look at Occupy to be “arm chair philosophers”. There is no greater insult to me than to be accused of being all thought and no action. So instead of stewing in my own anger I decided to step back and see why this post (which was not even necessarily aimed at me in particular) had set me off. I realized that my passion for action had been burned down and I had become more prone to criticize others’ action rather than try to understand it. I could have just beat myself up about it but decided to take a trip down to downtown Atlanta and figure out what Occupy Atlanta was all about.

To give those readers who are not familiar with me and the way I think a better perspective, I am one of those starry eyed idealists who can not stand violence in any form as a solution to social problems. What that translates into in reality is that I do not trust any group or persons authority over me to make decisions for me or anyone else. You could call me an anarchist, although I do not like to use that concept to fully explain what I think. Mainly because it often paints a picture of an angry molotov cocktail throwing teen dressed in black. But what it really comes down to for me is that I think it would be grand if people could live their lives however they see fit and not use violence to force their ideas onto others.

And that is the spirit I think a lot of people have, until they are oppressed. What has happened world wide lately is that people are starting to wake up to the different ways they are oppressed. From the unequal distribution of government representation and power to the unequal distribution of economic power, everyone can find an area in their lives where they are unable to move freely about without bumping into someone else’s idea of a good world. And they’d rather have that power than see some other group of people have it.

So I went to the rally not knowing what to expect. I hoped to find a few more philosophical types who wanted to see the old economic system of crony capitalism to fall and start anew, but I realized a long time ago that people had twisted their concepts up too badly to hope for that. So I went seeking a general spirit of change and progress. Below is a video I took of the event. I suggest watching it before you continue reading.

Occupy Atlanta from Road Rich on Vimeo.

Since I was seeking the general spirit, let me tell you how I felt about the rally. Overall it was fairly exciting to see a group of young people in the open demonstrating their grievances with the system. Many of the demands had the spirit of goodness towards humanity, which even I could see and understand. We all want a world where everyone can be safe, have open access to information and get the care they need in hard times. My huge issue with demands and rights is that as soon as you start talking about universal rights for humanity, that means a group of people must exist to enforce these universal rights with the threat of violence. That means that if I as an individual disagree with the demand for the right to free and open Internet, it doesn’t matter because there will be someone in power waiting to lock me up if I do not contribute to the system. That is where I no longer see the peace in the peace signs that were held up. This is where democracy becomes the tyranny of the majority and just another dogmatic system that I feel completely out of place in.

Does that mean I’m right? Does that mean we should all be non-violent idealists? If I look at reality I would have to say no. Most of all I would just like those who value peace so highly to realize that their demands are ultimately violent. Does that mean they are bad people? No. Just misguided.

Ultimately I do not feel a huge urge to support the Occupy movement, but I am still curious to watch it evolve. I will likely be at more gatherings with my camera in hand to document this new incremental movement in our species’ social evolution. I might not agree philosophically with the demands that have been put forward by the local group, but have to admit the spirit is much more hopeful than the spirit of those who currently hold a position of power. (The chanting does feel a little culty though)

As far as my personal feelings go about mass social movements, especially anarchism, I leave you with this beautiful song by Against Me! I always play it when I feel once again separated from another tribe.

And if you see me at a rally, I’d love to talk to you and learn more. I may not agree with your ideals, but I love to hear a different perspective. And I would certainly never want to want violence used against you just because you hold those ideas. And please contact me if you’d like to talk more about this. I love meeting new people.