Democracy or mob rule: Occupy Brisbane

Last week I decided to visit the Occupy Brisbane camp. One of many world-wide Occupy camps, setup in support of the original Occupy Wall Street camp and to sympathetically protest against corporate greed.

What drew me there was the vitriol Occupy Brisbane was receiving online on Twitter and Facebook. I was curious to see for my own eyes if these people were as crazy as some claimed, or if the vitriol was only a bunch of hot air.

Occupy Brisbane received a lot of flack when someone on Twitter shared his experience with a group of protester who heckled him for buying a cup of coffee nearby the camp. This was condemned by the Occupy Brisbane organisers and participants of the camp has been told to not approach people, but let people approach them instead.

I visited the camp two days in a row, to get feel of what is going on there. And I have to admit, I am impressed with the Occupy Brisbane camp so far. I could see no heckling, every decision within the camp seems to be made in a very democratic manner, especially during their daily General Assembly meetings.

An officer from QPS informed me that they have not had any major issues with the Occupy Brisbane camp so far. If they have raised any issues to the organisers, they have quickly complied with the orders. This shows that the QPS wants to resolve any issues peacefully and to hopefully avoid what has happened in Melbourne and Sydney.

In regards to any protest, when protesters are forcefully moved they usually move to another location and become even more violent towards the police. Something the QPS seems to be avoiding by being diplomatic.

So is the vitriol about Occupy Brisbane online warranted? From what I have experienced and seen for myself at the camp, no. But if you take your time to visit their Facebook page, where anyone can post, you might get a different impression when some of the participants freely express what they believe in.

A few days ago I was witness to some petty, internal bickering between Occupy Brisbane participants and organisers. An organiser was accused of abusing his power and not being democratic, when he apparently was just acting out what the majority had voted on. In a democracy, that is referred to as ‘majority rule’, which is done when a group is unable to reach an unanimous decision. Which raises the question, what political ideology do the Occupy movement support?

Which is why Occupy Brisbane must publish a Mission Statement. Not only to show people outside of the protest why they are protesting and how they are running things, but also to show their own supporters what is going on. Because if petty power-struggles like this continues, the whole operation will implode on itself. Unfortunately “proving” to the sceptics that the Occupy movement don’t know what they are doing.

That is not the only unflattering things I’ve come across on their official Facebook page. A person, whom is known to have extreme opinions, has shown her support of Gaddafi and said he was wrongly persecuted by his own people and Western Countries. Claiming anything negative about Gaddafi is fabricated by the ‘lame stream media’ [sic]. And also using a right-wing propaganda poster comparing Hitler and Stalin to Obama — claiming tribalism is the best societal structure.

I was advised to ignore personal views [like those], as some might be a bit extreme and put Occupy Brisbane in a negative light. Yet, I’m still writing about them? These opinions are already publically available on their Facebook page. I understand they want transparency and openness, but why let opinions like this be associated with them online when they tell me, a journalist, not to mention them?

These opinions might be only held by this person, but again, for those on the outside, it will be associated with Occupy Brisbane as a whole. Something they need to ask themselves, do they want that kind of opinions associated with Occupy Brisbane?

Taking a step back, looking at it only as a protest, I find it hard to criticise Occupy Brisbane. Because it’s nothing more than a reaction. A reaction to hope to make this world a better place. That we have issues that needs to be dealt with now, not later. And that people are not afraid to speak up in public — instead of sitting at home whinging online. However, the lack of respect for the organisers within the group is scary, but not as scary as a lack of Mission Statement. In addition, what is equally frightening is when you have people, part of a grassroot movement, sympathising with a dictator who had no problems with killing those opposing him, terrorising his own people for decades and comparing leaders who try to do good with Hitler.

So I can kind of understand why those standing on the outside being a bit confused and wary about Occupy Brisbane.

However, only time will tell if the Occupy movement is successful or not. All I can say, it’s too early to make a final judgement. We just have to be a bit more patient.

Originally published in the Westender. But as I full ownership of my work published through the Westender, I am allowed to re-publish it. I’m publishing it here because I feel this is a very significant movement. A movement that might have an impact. Or will it?