Believe it or not, I got friends.  Honest.  Some of them even like me.  I am never quite sure which ones hold me in current favour but I know that some do.  A few.  Maybe three at a time on any given day.  I hope so.  Call me an optimist.  Whatever.  What keeps us together is that I like them.  Perhaps my standards are low and I am desperate but it is a love of some kind.  I am the glue and I think you guys are great!

OK, maybe it is an unrequited kind of love but men learn about that kind of thing very young – with the onset of puberty, actually.  It should be called the onset of ‘rejection’ but, nevertheless, I am comfortable with it.  I know from rejection.  I can take it.  This cheese can stand alone (with Sal).

But, call me silly if you want to, I don’t want to be rejected through misunderstanding.  If you ‘get me’ and reject me, that’s fine. Those numbers are legion.  But if you don’t understand me and decide to reject me, well, that just makes me try harder.  And that is so much work.

Anyway, one of my friends is dyed-in-the-wool establishment.  Probably votes Conservative.  I know he voted for Campbell.  Still, despite that, he is a wonderful guy.  Really.  C’mon, you gotta trust me on this one.  He’s OK.

Anyway, he is currently against the OCCUPY movement.  Thinks it’s stupid.  He’s rejecting me.  “The protesters are dirty and unkempt and have tattoos and piercings and they just want stuff for free!  I work hard for my money (he does) and they are just a bunch of freeloaders.  Dave, how could you support that nonsense?!”  

Basically it comes down to this: peaceful resistance is the only way to achieve lasting change.  See Ghandi.  See Martin Luther King.  See Aung San Suu Kyi.  There really is no other way.  And even my friend acknowledges that big changes are needed.  Therefore, you have to protest and the OCCUPIERS are currently doing that for you.  So, support them, already.

To be frank, I am glad they are doing it.  But I wouldn’t.  I hate tents.  In fact, I hate crowds and I really hate police and crowds.  Ewww!

I think protest can take many forms and I choose a more comfortable one.  I write.  I talk.  I buy books.  I make sushi.  I even moved away!

That’s a form of passive resistance.

I might lob an egg at a politician from a long way off in a crowd someday but that would be mostly for the atheletic challenge of it.  I don’t really expect an egg to make a difference.

The point is this: the system is broken.  Not 100% but broken enough for a radical overhaul.  Tinkering and fine-tuning isn’t enough.  Voting in the clones won’t do it.  I have no idea how radical, fundamental change is achieved but it is definitely needed and needed quickly.  We need new leaders, new messages, a revitalized sense of morality and a redefined sense of purpose that does not include the worship of wealth.

(Actually, I do have some ideas but I am a little afraid of rejection)

Given climate change, poverty, a growing world population and the inclination of some to shoot others, it just might require the worship of peace, the planet and our own personal survival.