What a load of tosh most of those demands are. They're more a manefesto for economic destruction than anything that has any base in reality.

I especially like the request for 1% interest rates and that the minimum wage should be a living wage. What does that mean exactly, that everyone should be able to afford a wii?

Some more rioting would be funny.

Everyone should be able to afford an Ipad (un-environmentally sound product made by overworked chinese workers and sold by an evil corporation), so that they can update the google doc (hosted by a corporation, who although their corporate motto is 'don't be evil' clearly are by virtue of being a corporation. QED, etc) whilst stealing the free wifi signal from Starbucks. (evil corporation, environmentally unsustainable etc etc.)

You get the picture. Corporations bad. Capitalism bad. All of it.

That does seem to be the Canadian version. Pity.

One thing that always interests me about these types of "live-in protests".

How do the tent dwelling participants survive financially?

I understand. Everything is bad, especially because I have responsibilities that I don't want to face, like doing the best to provide for myself and my family. I'd much rather sponge of other people who do work hard.

Such an example lives in my basement at the moment.

EI? Student loans? beg? Vagrancy? Mum & Dad? Work....(sorry, that's just silly), None of the foregoing?

All joking aside it is. The OWS protests tap into a justified rage against the failings of the global financial system, fatcat bankers etc etc. The Occupy Vancouver manifesto is just a collection of idiotic demands that devalues the whole thing.

The people that really are sponging off you are not at these protests.

Yes, I agree. Occupy Vancouver is just a bunch of hippies playing at being right on.

Corporations are routinely shut down by the government for various crimes.

Their time would be better spent motivating consumers to say no to the banks, oil companies, insurance companies, cut back on what we spend. Prices going up when commodities are coming down, when individually we have little of no influence on what we pay for fuel and banking services, the outrageous interest charged by credit card companies (some 20 -30%), hitting mostly those that can least afford it and are financially less adept at knowing how to use debt.

Some of the movement current demands as warm and fuzzy as they are, are going impact consumers in the end. Hit the businesses where it hurts most and reduce our consumption of their products. Bank local, use credit unions who put back into the community.

I'm sure that's the case, but it's the sentiment that I agree with. No bankers are in jail and no bank has been wound up because of fraud, yet they all get to make campaign "contributions" through PAC's and what not because of that citizens united ruling saying that they had a right to free speech.

Given the unabashed hypocrisy, privilege and callousness of the corporate banking system and the immunity from responibility provided by discredited governments, its quite pleasing to see some outbreaks of direct democracy and direct action, even if it lacks any concrete ideological principles. The problem I see is the lack of focus makes it vulnerable to be discredited by reactionary media and the pathologically ambivalent.


Edited to note, the Metropolitan Police have issued baton rounds which are like rubber bullets. That should escalate the situation nicely.

Goodness me! I agree with you. I'll try to do better.

But to be honest, the significance of the various Occupy groups in Canada to the global Occupy movement is comparable to that of all things Canadian these days to all things global.

Zilch.