As we look toward the future with a global environmental catastrophe, a dysfunctional political system, and a crippled economy, I frankly have little faith in the powers that be who support the status quo.
On Oct. 15, millions will form protest encampments in 1,200 cities across the globe. Ottawa will answer the call with Occupy Ottawa’s first general assembly at noon in Confederation Park.
While I by no means speak for the leaderless groundswell of popular dissent, I recognize the hope for a fundamental change in the way we do things as a species. A transnational movement is beginning to take shape on this Earth — one that’s fed up with the prevailing mindset of profit before people, the increasingly Orwellian behaviour of our governments, and the overall bleak future we appear doomed to inherit.
These protests raise existential concerns, which are outside the realm of current political discourse. One can’t run for election by questioning the logic of economic growth, a campaign can’t be fought on the contradictions of consumerism and sustainability, and no politician would question the ability of dominant civilization to function as it does within a post-carbon world.
There’s no discourse to ask if stock markets truly promote human fulfillment, or if the labour-for-income paradigm is still appropriate for an increasingly automated economy. This movement represents the chance to embrace a new human narrative. We know we don’t have the answers yet, but that’s besides the point.
As we enter into an era of immense technological possibility, we face challenges that may require a new definition of progress and a new relationship between humanity and the planet. Albert Einstein reminds us: “the significant problems we have cannot be solved at the same level of thinking with which we created them.”
— Peter McCartney,
third-year journalism