The Super Bowl, being held today, has higher ratings than any other TV broadcasts. It is truly the quintessence of American “culture”. It is violent, flashy, showcase some sexy cheerleaders during breaks in the game and just like the Roman games has a lot more brawl than brain. In a nutshell, it is a representation of what most Americans would want to be but are not or would want to have but have not. Top football players are on multi-million dollar a year contracts and are huge celebrities. Unlike gladiators, who were expendable slaves, the media and the public adoration has given top athletes almost a god status. After all, they have what most Americans want: fortune and fame, and all the “trimmings” going with it. Even if a large proportion of Americans are barely scrapping by, they still want to be entertained by a bunch of extremely overpaid athletes which achievement in life consist of being big, fast and able to either throw or catch a ball.

This would not be such a problem if  the politics of distraction applied by US mainstream media wasn’t across the board and around the clock. But just like the fascination from the “gods like” football players of today’s super bowl hypnotizes Americans by making them “comfortably numbs”, the US election, getting furiously in gear with the GOP primaries, is part of the same circus. The circus of politics as a farce, as a distraction. I could write an article today and entitle it: Breaking news- Mitt Romney wins the GOP nomination. And even so I am not a gambling man, the odds of me losing this kind of bet would be minute. In this sort of  cynical, but realistic, perspective where one can predict American politics way ahead of the “game”, I could also easily lay out, way before November, something called: Breaking news-Obama get reelected for a 2nd term.

In our system which is neither a democracy nor a republic but rather a pluto-oligarchy, politics seem to be pre-ordained, as if going to the polls didn’t really matter that much. Intuitively and unfortunately, Americans have resigned themselves to the fact that their voices would not be heard, yet one more time. Some have managed to stay engaged with the Occupy movement despite a more or less complete blackout from mainstream media, but most would rather get their daily feeding of the talking points that they want to hear. Citizens, and it is not only in the United States, are confusing talking points and news, they are confusing politics with endless charades, and they have been played in such a way for decades. The Super Bowl is a giant circus just like American politics, but at least the outcome is slightly less predictable, and have far less consequences. May be one day, Americans will want more than just be entertained, either by athletes, celebrities or politicians, and instead they will want to get involved and do what needs to be done to take charge of their own destiny.

Maggy Gousse with her father and sister in New-York

A bit more than two years after the devastating earthquake, the country which used to be called “The Pearl of the Caribbeans” is still in a complete state of disarray. Many Haitians are very religious people, and some put their hopes more in the hands of God than in human beings for help. The numbers are grim, and quite frankly unacceptable. Two years after the 7.0 earthquake killed some 316,000 people, more than 500,000 are still living in camps, often in horrendous conditions without enough food, clean water or access to toilets.  Some lingering questions are on the mind of all Haitians, either the ones living on the island or the ones of the very large Haitian diaspora. What happened to the billions pledged or donated by foreign aids? And further, why are the participating NGOs so inefficient in their efforts to rebuild Haiti?

"Port-au-Prince" Haiti

After the earthquake, 11 billion was pledged by donor countries and financial institutions combined. If one consider the United States as a typical example, from the $1.14 billion allocated to Haiti, only 30 percent has been spent. For many observers, Haiti seems to be now run by NGOs which may have the best intentions at heart, but are lacking basic transparency and coordination between each other. In her documentary, “Haiti: Where Did the Money Go?”, which was broadcasted by PBS journalist and filmmaker Michele Mitchell raised and pushed this issue better than anyone else. However, in a sense, foreign aid money- with many strings attached- has been armful for Haiti in many ways for decades. For more than 10 years now, Haiti has been called “The Republic of NGOs”, and the earthquake has only compounded the problem by encouraging Haitians to rely preliminarily on foreign aid. Instead, Haitians must relearn some of the forgotten lessons of their rich past and start relying on their strength and the resources of the vast Haitian diaspora.

Grand Rue Downtown Port-au-Prince Street no longer exist

The Haitian Diaspora

More than a 1/4 of the Haitian population lives outside of Haiti. Historically, most of this massive migration started under the rule of Papa Doc Duvalier. Since the mid 1950s, it has constituted an enormous brain drain for the island by depriving it from its best educated people: engineers, doctors, teachers, lawyers, entrepreneurs, nurses, and academics. Around 4 million Haitians live abroad. In the United States there is an estimated 1.2 million Haitians, in Canada 200,000, 2 million in the Dominican Republic, 90,000 in France, and more than 80,000 in the Bahamas. While most people leaving on the island have relied, to some degree, on the financial help from their relatives of the diaspora to survive for decades, this constant assistance (over almost 60 years), just like foreign aid, has been as much of a curse than a blessing. It has, in many ways, prevented Haitians living on the island to believe they can be, once again, truly master of their own land and destiny.

Ibo Beach

Since the earthquake, many Haitians within the diaspora want to do a lot more than just help their own relatives. A few have moved back, some plan to go back and forth, and others want more accountability over the help they provide from abroad. But what they all want, more than anything else, is to help Haiti not only to rebuild from the rubles, but to thrive and become a sustainable nation without handouts and foreign interferences. If this kind of momentum builds within the Haitian diaspora, perhaps a catastrophic event can become the catalysts for a much brighter future for Haiti. But now it is time to let Haitians from the diaspora tell us their stories, to ask them what they want to achieve and how they are planning to do it. News Junkie Post is handling this story in three parts, with each individual story illustrating a deep commitment at different stages.

Delmas Blvd. Port-au-Prince 1981

For Part I, NJP interviewed Maggy Gousse. Maggy Gousse is a realtor, an actress, and a Creole interpreter at the Superior Court of California. Maggy’s family left Haiti when Papa Doc took power, and she was born in the United States. After numerous phone conversations and before responding to our questions, Maggie Gousse made the following statement: “The idea of giving 10 percent of my income to non-profit organizations such as private orphanages, schools, and other projects took place earlier this year. Like everyone else, I gave money to help organizations such as Oxfam, World Vision, and so on. However, I found out that my money was mostly spent towards keeping the staff from different organizations living “the good life” in Haiti. It is the reason why I came up with this idea to get more involved personally and to spread the word and action through the diaspora.”

Maggy Gousse 15 years old

Gilbert Mercier: First, tell us a bit more about your family background. Why did they leave Haiti?

Maggy Gousse: My parents, Antoinette Noel Gousse and Ewald Gousse, wed and left Haiti during the campaign that brought Francois “Papa Doc” Duvalier to the presidency of Haiti in 1955. By the way, Haiti should be called Ayiti, it is a Caribbean word, which means “country of mountains”. My mother was a cousin of President Paul Magloire, the president prior to Papa Doc, and my father was related to Louis Dejoie. Both were very involved in politics and were obligated to leave for the sake of their lives. They traveled by plane in 1955, unlike what some people think! I was born in New-York at the Brooklyn Jewish Hospital in 1958. At the age of 3, my sister (she was 4 year old) and myself were sent on American Airlines (in the care of a stewardess) to a boarding school in Haiti. A few months later, at the request of Papa Doc, my sister and I had to be pulled out of the school. The owner, Jacqueline Turian, contacted the American embassy. They immediately came for us and escorted us to a plane back to the United States. In other words, I owe my life to the United States, and being an American is a good thing. After a few years, my parents visited Quebec, and there it was again, another boarding school in addition of having a French Canadian family watching over us. A French education was a must for my parents. They would come and see us regularly. Later on my parents sold the house in New York and purchased one in Laval, a suburb area north of Montreal. After Papa Doc’s death in 1971, we began to travel to Haiti on a regular basis. In my adult years, I returned to live in Haiti in 1989 and worked on a soap opera. I stayed a year until the Aristide campaign begun. There were curfews and shootings on a regular basis. Everyone was afraid. We had secret meetings amongst friends, because it was very dangerous to meet publicly. In our meetings, I always said that Aristide was dangerous because you cannot be a priest then suddenly go into politics. Nobody really listened, it just didn’t make sense to me. Aristide’s campaign raised hatred amongst our people. For example, he said in speeches: “These bourgeois, if they have three cars, they do not need all three. They must share them with all of you”. Therefore, people begun to revolt and went to people’s houses to steal whatever they could. It was the beginning of “dechoucage”-it means breaking into homes. It raised a lot of anger, and it is still present. I really felt the tension then in addition of seeing people being shot right next to me. I left with the intention to go to France. However, my travel agent suggested to stop in California in transit. I took an open ticket for a month, and I have been in California for 20 years.

Maggy Gousse with family in Montreal

GM: In June 2011, President Martelly addressed the Haitian diaspora in New York, and said: “It is important that you understand, you are Haitian, you can not wait until Haiti is good to go back”. What do you think of this statement?

MG: President Martelly is a living example of what he is saying. It is also the very reason he became president. As matter of fact, President Martelly has been helping mothers and children in Haiti for years through his foundation, “Roses and Ayiti Est Trop Riche Pour Etre Pauvre” ( Haiti is too rich to be poor). Martelly started developing support for Haiti the moment he started playing music in the early 1980s. His music has always been about bringing a sense happiness and togetherness to people. Martelly never stopped helping Haiti, although he was renowned worldwide, he always lived in Haiti even so he had a residence in the United States. In 2008, Martelly launched the “Go back to school campaign”. President Martelly is aware of the immense range of professional expertise that Haitians from the diaspora can indeed bring to Haiti. In addition, unlike Aristide, he knows it is practically impossible to accomplish what needs to be done without the help of the Haitian diaspora. Throughout the years, prior the Duvaliers (Papa Doc and Baby Doc) to this day, Haitians throughout the world have preciously kept their culture at heart. Living elsewhere doesn’t change Haitian people. Haitians can easily integrate within the culture of a host country, but the basic cultural identity stays the same. President Martelly sees this and just keeps reminding Haitian people that they are Haitians. It is a reminder for people of the diaspora, like myself, of the very essence of the Haitian revolution victory against French troops in 1804, and it is expressed on our flag by the words “L’Union Fait la Force”-Unity is our Strength.

Manoir Alexandria Hotel

GM: I was recently in a relationship with a Haitian from the diaspora. When I mentioned to her that we should go to Haiti and help, she categorically said no. It was obvious that she is scared of her own country and perhaps even of her own people living in Haiti. Is this fear widespread amongst Haitians from the diaspora, and if it is – why?

MG: Earlier I mentioned “dechoucage”-breaking into homes- which began during Aristide’s campaign in 1990. The situation never stopped and has escalated to kidnapping. Apparently, it is very dangerous in Haiti in regards to kidnappings. As soon as you arrive at the airport, if you are wearing jewelry, you might be followed. I was told not to go. People are desperate right now, they are in survival mode. I know when I am hungry, I get in a bad mood, most people do. Now how about if you have no shelter, just a tent with mud flood everywhere, gasoline at around $6.5 a gallon, a small bag of rice at $5.00 etc. Then you see UN troops, NGOs personals such as the ones working for Oxfam, World Vision, the Red Cross, not to mention celebrities and government officials living in the still standing houses and paying up to $3,000.00 a month of the world-sent money. I think I would be upset as well, and I would be thinking of whatever I can do to support myself and my family. I am not saying that it is right to kidnap or steal, but there are some very big problems in Haiti right now. I do not blame the Haitian woman you mentioned who seems to be afraid to go back. I must say, many Haitians of the diaspora are as discouraged as the ones living in Haiti in whatever condition. Many Haitians from all over the world feel helpless, hopeless and have a huge amount of lack of faith. This misery did not begin with the earthquake. It has been a longtime in the making, with so many unimaginable tragedies going on. To just go to Haiti, as I want to do, takes a whole lot of bravery. First Lady, Sofia Martelly, has done some incredible work with her “Roses Foundation”. The Martellys effort to clean up Haiti’s endemic corruption has to be admired, but corruption runs deep in Haiti and it will take more than the police to deal with it. Haiti needs its own army, in addition to Haitian psychologists, Haitian psycho-educators and Haitian educators, and last but not least Haitian actors. Theater and film have always had a great deal of unconscious influence on people, it is a form of psychology. It is my opinion that artistic expression can be a great tool amongst others. If sending money to Haiti is a great thing to do, it is, however, not enough.

GM: Do you  think the role played by foreign aid, either from countries, the UN or NGOs have been and are beneficial for Haiti’s long term future?

MG: No. Opportunist is the word. I see these people as living the good Haitian life in Haiti that Haitians cannot live in their own country. The Haitian culture is very complex. Now, you must understand that people from different cultures, either the US or elsewhere, shouldn’t go to Haiti thinking they can show Haitians how to live their lives and rebuild their own country. Let’s face it, none of groups of people had ever been to Haiti before the earthquake, and if so very few of them. They never built houses in the Caribbeans, and if so, not in Haiti. I am sure when these groups realized and saw the beaches, and most of all Haitians’ innocence and kindness, they realized how much they could take advantage of them. Saying this, I am also talking about young children, hungry young children giving themselves for a little piece of bread. Yes, it is going on right now as we speak! And it makes me sick to my stomach. If you know what I mean. These people, maybe not all, but most of them are polluting my country of origin by taking advantage of Haitians. The sunshine is one thing, but poverty is the other. The Americas and the rest of the world never ever accepted Haiti because it was the first independent black country in the world which won its freedom by defeating Napoleon Bonaparte. Why? Because it was very important that black people in the United States were never made aware of what freedom truly is. This has always been. America’s dream was always to gain control over Haiti, but it will never happen because Haitians have a revolutionary spirit, and it will never be taken away from them. The UN, the NGOs, and foreign aid should be carefully watched and monitored, held accountable and even investigated because they are abusing Haitians and underestimating the people’s intelligence. Haitians are very smart people. As an example, when Haitians come to the United States, after seven years they own property. Give Haitians possibilities and all is done and happening!

Cook at the Manoir Alexandria Hotel

GM: You are doing a great deal to help Haiti financially, do you feel that your contributions have made an impact?

MG: Oh no. Not necessarily. I decided to bring my knowledge and professional work experience to Haiti a long time ago. It is the reason why I went to live in Haiti in 1989. I obtained a role in a soap opera because I wanted everyone to know me in Haiti. I left Haiti under difficult circumstances knowing and promising to a group of children living on the streets of Petionville that I would come back and do something. I worked in Cite Soleil, a rural area in need, which school of 3,000 children was started by a French Canadian priest while I was in Haiti. I went and sat in a number of little schools-we call these schools “Ecoles Payi” (countryside schools). After my research in Haiti, I wrote an educational program with the hope of implementing it there. The program is based on appurtenance, self esteem, self sufficiency and the love of your country. I studied psycho-education, therefore I applied my knowledge to this program. Anyway, it didn’t work and I was never able to get the educational program off the ground. So instead, I got into real estate thinking that I would sell a substantial amount to make enough money and go to Haiti to to implement the program. I decided to give 10 percent of every completed  real estate transactions to non-profit organizations such as schools, orphanages and private groups located in Haiti. The Haitian people, either living in Haiti or from the diaspora, are the real backbone of Haiti, not foreign aid. If we stick together, as a united people, we will make it happen.

Bourdon Road

GM: For more than a decade now, Haiti has been called “The Republic of NGOs”. How do you think that your proud nation, which was the first one to win its independence from a colonial power and freedom from slavery, can regain its confidence and the control of its own affairs?

MG: I just said it, Haitians are the master of their own faith. It is interesting, the existing problems can turn out to be one of the best things that happened to Haiti. But, it is up to us, Haitians, to turn it around. We have to get rid of the crutches to be able to walk again. Some people have to leave and let President Martelly guide our country. President Martelly went from playing keyboard in small gatherings, then raised himself to a musician known worldwide to finally become president of a country, and he did all of this without cheating. I think it can be called very, very smart. Let him do his work, please. Now, being called whatever names doesn’t mean anything to Haitians, because we have heard it all. When you say something negative about a country like Haiti, in reality, it is trying to raise people’s insecurities. In other words, the very people doing the labeling are insecure, not us Haitians! Labeling by using cheap tactics of inferiority versus superiority never worked, especially with a country like Haiti. Haiti’s nickname is “The Pearl of the Caribbeans” (“La Perle des Antilles”), and always will be. The Pearl of the Caribbeans has been our nickname for centuries.

Maggy Gousse Present

GM: Are you planning to move back to Haiti, and do you think more people from the diaspora should do so?

MG: I must say, I am American born, French Canadian raised, and most of all Haitian, but I can not say I will move back to Haiti. Haiti is the country of my heart, the only place on the planet where I can take my shoes off and feel the soil go right through my veins. It is home. I will always go back to Haiti regardless of the situation. As a matter of fact, if all goes well, I will be there in April. I will do whatever I need to do to be useful. I want to go so much, it is my unconscious everyday mantra. I miss the people, I miss the water- I always pray in the water, I miss the food, I miss the noise, the roosters, I just miss being there! I believe most in the diaspora probably feel very much like me, however, we must become examples and just simply go. The more we go, the more others will. I really believe so. Most Haitians have plans to retire to Haiti. My parents made plans and they actually did move back to Haiti when they retired. They are both resting in peace now, but I am sure there presence is here as I share this with you. Haitians are not that fearful. There is some selfishness like everyone else living a better life elsewhere, but nostalgia often sits in. I am sure of this. I see it whenever there is a Haitian gathering around town. We all go with so much passion and all we talk about is who is going and when! It is simply a matter of time. As matter of fact, I have a very good friend, Gesly Leveque- I understand you are going to interview Gesly in NJP’s 3rd installments of  your Haitian diaspora stories- who was also living in Los Angeles and recently returned to Haiti. She is working on housing development and is very happy being back home. It is indeed very possible to return and make it happen.

BITAHR is a non-profit organization which ambitious goal is to eliminate commercial sexual exploitation. The event, Fighting Trafficking Through Film, organized in collaboration with The Suffolk University Law School, will be held at the Modern Theater at Suffolk University in Boston. The three days forum will showcase domestic and foreign films about sex trafficking. BITAHR has also invited speakers to the international event. More than 40 guests speakers will participate in the forum’s discussions to share their own experiences and perspectives, and to help define coherent strategies to fight human trafficking both domestically and globally. The speakers will include politicians, authors, survivors, and international activists against human trafficking. Among them will be Congresswoman Carolyn Maloney, Kathryn Bolkovac, Representative Eugene O’ Flaherty, Rachel Lloyd (survivor and author), and  Siddharth Kara (UN adviser on human trafficking). BITAHR’s Executive Director, Rebecca Merrill, took the time to give News Junkie Post an exclusive interview.

Gilbert Mercier: What triggered originally your interest in fighting human trafficking?

Rebecca Merrill: I was driven by the impact that “The Day My God Died”, a film featuring Anuradha Koirala and Maiti Nepal, had on me both personally and professionally. After nearly a year of research, and the development of my own documentary during law school, I had the opportunity to sit with Anuradha and to discuss life’s passion and how it often drives one’s career. During that meeting, Anuradha admonished me to listen to my heart and to open my ears. Her voice was delicate but commanding as she asked me simply: “How can you not be passionate when you listen to the stories of these women and girls? How can you not do something about it?” Those words, the stories had a lasting impact on my academic studies and now professional life. Alas. I think it is a wonderful complement to pair the human voice and images with the research and theory.

GM: Sex trafficking is a multi-billion global business which is getting more and more controlled by large organized crime networks and no longer by small time local pimps. Do you think we need a global strategy to fight such sophisticated criminal organizations, and if so what would you recommend?

RM: Absolutely. Second only to drug trafficking, human trafficking is the largest criminal industry in the world, and it is the fastest growing. We need a holistic and multifaceted international strategy just to keep up with the growth of the industry, never mind to eradicate it. There are numbers of non-profits, agencies and individuals doing great work around the world. That said, we really need national governments and law enforcement agencies to work together against trafficking. We need governments to recognize that victims of human trafficking are victims in need of social services, not criminals subject to detention and deportation. There are circumstances where return to countries of origin is appropriate, but agencies have the responsibility to ensure return isn’t directly into the hands of the victim’s traffickers. All too often, victims are simply deported to the countries from which they were recruited, most often subjecting them to the same vulnerable circumstances and a mixture of societal shamming, family rejection and condemnation, and an inability to rejoin the workforce. Moreover, the circumstances giving rise to vulnerability are not typically eliminated but rather exponentially and detrimentally worse. If  governments worked together to provide victims with social services after exploitation abroad and at home, re-exploitation would not be such a threat. In addition, while we are seeing an increase in transnational crimes of exploitation, the “independent contractors”, if you will, still operate and regularly increase in number. This can be linked in large part to economics. Where there is a profit, particularly of the margin available through CSE ( Commercial Sex Exploitation), entrepreneurial criminals will find a way.

GM: Some countries, such as Germany, have legalized prostitution. Do you think it is a valid approach to end sex trafficking?

RM: No. I cannot recognize the legalization of prostitution as a valid way to end the sex trade. Legalization would not end modern-day slavery; it would simply empower pimps to continue manipulation and exploitation with less likelihood of identification because the line between “legal” and “illegal” would be so fuzzy. The rationale for legalizing prostitution is relatively easy to understand. Legislators, often pushed by well meaning advocates, may believe or accept that prostitution will happen regardless of legalization and, if legal, the laws will at least document the industry and license the “workers”, making it theoretically easier to provide healthcare and other services to prostituted women. There is also the feminist argument that a woman should be “empowered” to do what she wishes with her body, including selling sex. These arguments are flawed. Legalizing prostitution does not reduce the enormously harmful physical and psychological effects that being sexually exploited inherently caused. Women and girls who engage in prostitution do not choose to do so. The idea that prostitution is a choice does not take into account that in order to choose something, one needs to have several options to choose from. The majority of those in the sex trade- admittedly not 100 percent- in countries where prostitution is legal and illegal alike, are vulnerable to commercial sexual exploitation due to a complex set of circumstances often including economic desperation, unrest or instability in homes or even communities or countries, psychological manipulation and more, not because it is a viable choice.

GM: Traffickers make an extensive use of the Internet and even of social media site to lure, recruit and exploit victims. Should this type of activities be more closely monitored by law enforcement agencies with perhaps the help of anti-trafficking organizations, such as yours, acting as a network of whistle blowers?

RM: It is true. Traffickers may use social media sites to recruit underage girls into commercial sexual exploitation. Once recruited, sites like Backpage.com are used to advertise sex with the exploited individuals – children and adult alike. The illegal age of children is disguised using language like “youthful”, “fresh”, “barely legal”, “tight body”. The Internet provides anonymity for the exploiting pimps and endless “choice” and anonymous shopping and exploiting for johns who are purchasing sex. In some areas, ordering sex is easier and cheaper than ordering a pizza. Screen names and pseudonyms make it harder to identify and prosecute pimps. In addition the “handles” provide protection for johns from the negative stigma that buying sex should carry. In reality, companies that facilitate this type of exploitation like Backpage, for instance, are just as guilty as the pimps that exploit minors, because they too, are making hundreds of thousands of dollars off the sale of the bodies of very young girls. Not only should law enforcement agencies monitor this type of behavior, they should shut down websites. The problem is that regardless of our pointing out that commercial sexual exploitation is happening online, the criminal facilitation must be prosecuted and punished. In addition, advertisers must take some responsibility – if they voice their opinions by pulling ads and affecting the facilitators’ bottom line profitability.

GM: In a phone conversation we had sometime ago, you mentioned that we are living in a “hyper-sexual” world fueled by popular culture, online pornography etc, and that it could be one of the reasons why a substantial number of men seek commercial sex or indulge in “sex tourism”. Can you please elaborate on this?

RM: Of course. Over the past few decades we have seen a shift from the most risque magazines including one spread with a suggestively clad woman, to a society where pre-adolescent boys see literally hundreds of thousands of images of nudity before they even reach middle school. When sex education comes in the form of magazines, the Internet, song lyrics and popular culture instead of from teachers and parents, it can be a very confusing topic for young men and women alike. By hypersexualizing children at a disturbingly young ages, we have diminished the gap between buying the idea of sex in the form of a magazine subscription or a calendar to buying the act of sex in a massage parlor, in a hotel or car, or even in one’s own home. When we see so many sexual images of women in circumstances that suggest that they are happy naked, exposed, in sexually dominated manners, we are normalizing the notion that girls and women should be dominated, subordinated and subject to sexually violent and aggressive behavior. These progressive and persistent images make it harder to believe that exploited are victims. Moreover, products like “loungerie” or “lingerie for girls” for four to six year old girls feed into this idea of children as sex objects and “sexy” as ideal for children.

GM: A cynical view of commercial sex, and a stereotypical rationalization of it, would be to say that prostitution will never be eradicated because it is “the oldest profession in the world”. Do you think, one day, men and women will be able to free themselves from the sick correlation between sex and money?

RM: It is true that commercial sex has existed in various forms over centuries throughout most if not all countries. It is also true that women have historically been subjected to oppression, domination and silencing. I am not sure that as a society we will ever be able to eradicate the correlation between sex and money. It is my hope, however, that as this topic becomes a priority for the feminist movement and society at large- and as women everywhere continue to fight for equal opportunities- that one day women and girls will have sufficient opportunities that they will not be so vulnerable to coercion and forced to prostitution. Females need sufficient opportunity to utilize their skills and abilities in a productive way that positively contributes to society. It is also our organization’s goal to spread awareness- in collaboration with a global coalition- such that it minimizes demand by educating purchasers on the harmful, long-term repercussions their exploitative conduct has on children, families, and the community.

GM: In countries of origins for victims of traffickers, socio-economic factors play a huge role. Does your organization reach out to local organizations in human trafficking hubs such as Cambodia, Nepal, the Dominican Republic, Lithuania, Estonia, Nigeria and Ghana?

RM: We are cognizant of trafficking atrocities around the world and do our best to spread awareness about it in each and among all countries. We are mindful, however, that to utilize our resources effectively we cannot work in every country or every issue in the complex effort to combat trafficking. We focus most intensely on domestic trafficking, that which happens within the borders of the United States. We are also working in conjunction with a Congolese-US NGO, Promote Congo, on a program that will focus on aid for girls and boys being trafficked for labor or sexual exploitation in the artisanal mines in the Democratic Republic of the Congo.

GM: Do you think, realistically, that human trafficking can be one day abolished and how?

RM: At present human trafficking is extremely profitable for exploiters. If we apply a standard cost benefit analysis, we can see that the economic benefits of human trafficking far outweigh the miniscule risk(cost) of being prosecuted and the repercussions that might follow. As long as human trafficking is extremely profitable, criminals will continue to take the calculated risks. To reduce the occurrence of sex trafficking we must continue to raise the cost associated with prosecution, so that the risk of being caught and punished is no longer worth the economic benefits of trafficking while simultaneously reducing the revenue. To achieve this, we must change the way society looks at trafficking. We must realize that the victims of this exploitation are just that-victims. Instead of thinking of labor trafficking as poor individuals deserving of unfair labor standards or girls that “wear too much make-up” or “parade around in provocative clothing” as criminal prostitutes, we must identify these exploited people as victims and publish the traffickers. Without this identification, victims will continue to be plagued with negative stigmas, fear and vulnerability-some of the factors that very likely led to the exploitation at the onset.

GM: It is your organization’s first film forum. Do you have other events in preparation?

RM: BITAHR 2012 Film Forum: “Fighting Trafficking Through Film” is the second annual forum. Our first forum in December 2010 engaged audiences in compelling discussions. We also host periodic benefit concerts called (human) Traffic Jams, where we use music to bring together a community of young adults to raise awareness for the cause and begin a conversation that we hope continues throughout circles of friends, students, colleagues, neighbors, families, and more. This ongoing dialogue shines a light in what is currently hidden in plain sight-the commercial sexual exploitation of people. We also screen individual films throughout the year followed with gripping panels of experts in the field, again to generate a critical conversation and a reverberating call to action to end human trafficking. This March, we will host a conference on International Women’s Day entitled “Ending Impunity for Sexual Violence”. In addition, we will host a three part film series on organ trafficking in collaboration with a local university.

Editor’s Note: Photographs one and two (from top down) by Gilbert Mercier, other photographs and illustrations courtesy of BITAHR.

Even though the revolution in Egypt is still at an uncertain, fluid stage, they’ve already made an irreversible geopolitical impact in the Middle-East, and beyond. If 9/11/2001 marked the start of a dark chapter in world history, 2/11/2011 may have been the beginning of a new era of positive global systemic changes challenging a worldwide unsustainable course of development.

Its progeny, the Occupy movement in America, is only four months old.  Taking root in the labor uprising in Madison, Wisconsin, the movement has spread across the country.  Occupy camps have sprung up one after the other, and, one after the other, have been struck down by the authorities.  The 99 percent are struggling to gain a foothold, but, so far, they’ve achieved little more than providing new slogans to be exploited by political campaigns and establishment activists.

Ben Ali in Tunisia, and Mubarak in Egypt, were pawns in the global game of transnational predatory capitalism. The fact that they were both toppled means that this imperialist world order can be challenged. Despite their different specifics, both revolutions were fueled by what are the universal desires of  every human beings: social justice, economic justice, freedom of speech, and the right to define our destiny through a  fair democratic process.

In America, there is a danger that this has been forgotten.  Compromise and co-option by establishment ‘activists’, and political operatives, have clouded the fundamental issues that drove people to leave the lives they knew and Occupy the nations public spaces.  The untamed fire that brought them to the squares has been domesticated and articulated in a voice not their own.  Their simple call for equality, and emancipation from the rule of the 1 percent – the global financial elite – has been turned into a convoluted diatribe encompassing the goals of every special interest wishing to ride the coattails of their momentum.

Abuse of power is not unique to countries dominated by charismatic figures, ‘strong-men’ dictators, or military regimes.  Even Western Democracies suffer from the same social and economic inequalities (America’s wealth inequality is far greater than Egypt’s), repression of dissent (the U.S. Patriot Act, Espionage Act, SOPA, PIPA, and ACTA), challenges to freedom of speech (the campaign against Julian Assange, WikiLeaks, and journalists covering Occupy), and the exploitation of the many for the profit of the few (austerity measures and loss of services to maintain the profits of global financiers).

The fundamental mechanisms that collect wealth in the hands of the few are universal to global capitalism.  Regardless of the outward appearance of any existing political system, the impact on the citizens of the planet, their livelihood, and their environment, is the same.

In North Africa and the Middle-East, the domino effect generated by the revolutions in Tunisia and Egypt is already on its way.  Despite the new narrative coming from Washington, pushing its vassals states for superficial reforms to quell the uprising, it seems that the wave is too powerful to be stopped or even contained. Former Secretary of State Henri Kissinger once said that “power is the ultimate aphrodisiac.” This statement not only defines the psychology of men like Ben Ali, Mubarak, and Putin, it proves revealing of the global elite and their pursuit of empire.

Kissinger, who had his hands in US foreign policy for 40 years, was a so called ‘pragmatist.’  In other words, he was in favor of supporting autocrats as long as the interests of the empire were not challenged. Even until recently, a common school of thought in Washington was that “Arabs were not ready for democracy.” Not only are they ready, but Tunisians and Egyptians are giving us all a lesson in courage and  democracy in its ultimate form. The Arab world is defining its own history over issues that concern all of us, and the sheer emotion of it will ignore national borders.

The American Occupy movement is still struggling with unity between cities, and developing a clarity of the message it allowed to be diluted by others, to challenge the more important question of nationalism.  A society that has been long divided by prejudice, racism, and fear of ‘the other’ is having difficulty coordinating a unified voice that overcomes these historic barriers and joins the global chorus.

It is the Empire that has been established by global capitalism that is not ready for democracy in Egypt, Tunisia, Algeria, Syria, Yemen, Saudi Arabia, Bahrain or America.  It’s the global capitalist empire that needs to maintain a strangle-hold on our global resources divided by region, just as it needs to maintain control of its industrial workforces and profitable consumer economies throughout the European Union and America.  Elements of democracy have been rationed at the minimum necessary to gain the cooperation of those under the control of the system.

When the greed of the elite supersedes the tolerance of the people, and the crumbs are spread too thin, the people rise up. This seems to be happening, but to what end?  What is the end game?

Superficial changes may be offered, such as what we saw when Ben Ali and Mubarak offered simple shuffling within their regimes, or the subsequent replacement of them as stewards of the status quo by their country’s generals.  In more sophisticated situations, like the pseudo-democracies of Europe and America, the citizens of a ‘democratic republic’ may be allowed to argue amongst themselves, and even vote, on how they will meet the financial demands of the global elite, or establish a sense of equality, among themselves.  Not a true equality mind you.  The elite are not factored into the equation.  Their status and profits remain fixed, as we have learned with the financial crash of 2007-2008.  Who will be taxed more and who will work longer, and harder, is the most that citizens are allowed to fight over.  And, if we’re loud enough, as the people in Egypt have learned, we may be offered a few more crumbs from the table.

Despite the enormous impact of what has been accomplished in Egypt, it is only the beginning.  A few wise individuals chose to remain in Tahrir square until a true, democratic, civilian government is established.  They faced pressure from the military, as well as from their fellow countrymen who were fooled by the removal of Mubarak.  The uprising has proven that the empire can be challenged, but real change will require prolonged commitment and great sacrifice. Only the appearance of change has been offered in the Middle-East, Europe, and America.  The strength of the movement must continue until the demands of the people are realized in full.

The motivation of this movement rises above petty nationalism.  The roots of the unrest go deeper than the specifics of a city, a district, a state, a region, a language, a religion or a culture.  The roots of this unrest can be found in the principles borne out of the age of enlightenment and continued in the current writings of Alain Badiou and Slavoj Zizek, among others.  The roots of this revolution are universal in principle and global in their impact.

The struggle throughout the Arab world is part and parcel with the anti-austerity struggle in Greece, Spain, France, Ireland, and America.  The global empire built on predatory capitalism has victimized the people of the world and relegated individuals to the status of serfs.  Regional exploitation has resulted in third world countries, banana republics, industrialized nations, and consumer societies… all neatly compartmentalized to service a global economy that increasingly benefits the few, the elite, the modern global nobility.

What we can learn from Egypt is that a single punch will not win this fight.  The empire has taken the this glancing blow and is shaking it off, smiling, firmly planted on its feet.  Loosing Mubarak doesn’t even qualify as a black eye.  Real change can only be accomplished with a full follow-through resulting in complete destabilization.  A protracted general strike and reclaiming of natural resources may be the only thing that can truly bring about a just, sustainable, world order.  And, a new world order will require a global effort.

A shared goal and alternative system must be established.  The force of the Egyptian people stopped the old guard in its tracks, but there was nothing prepared to replace it.  The Universal Declaration of Human Rights provides a framework of principles to organize a global movement around.  These are neither regional concerns nor issues that can be dealt with by regional remedies.  The principles enshrined in the declaration must be applied to all humans regardless of geography or current status in the global hierarchical empire.  A new system of government must be explored and an alternative, sustainable, non-exploitive, economic system must be implemented to realize these principles and ideals.  In order to ensure our own rights and freedoms, we must stand for the rights and freedoms of all.

Egypt’s struggle has just begun.  It is more than symbolic.  It has demonstrated the real potential for change.  It is the same struggle as in Greece, Ireland, Yemen, China, America, and Saudi Arabia, and suffers from the same barriers… the greatest barrier being self imposed through the lack of unity, combination, and cooperation.  It is the struggle of the many against the few.  It is the struggle of the expendable class against the global elite.  It is the struggle of those who strive for true universal equality and emancipation.

Will we finally reach across borders to lift each other up rather than exploit?  Will we finally achieve shared prosperity rather than fight for table-scraps while the elite hoard our resources and profit from our labor?  Will we join in a global struggle for universal equality?  Will we build a global movement that can provide the follow-through to Egypt’s glorious first punch?  Will the many finally triumph over the few?

When Occupations face the fury of State; when tear-gas and tasers are the answer to your petitions; when your choices are to fold or to fight, what will be the reason that you remember for coming in the first place?  Will you think of reforms to the existing establishment, like the ones offered the Egyptians?  Will you think of a new candidate to perform their role in a system that has been sold to the highest bidder?  Will you wish for ways to make your enslavement to this system more palatable at the continued cost to your brothers and sisters around the world?  Or, will you remember emancipation?

Emancipation.  Emancipation from an unjust, unequal, and unsustainable system.  Emancipation and equality, unconditionally, for you, and for all. Is this the goal you’ll remember?  Will you seek to end the 1% or beg them for a few more crumbs by throwing temper tantrums in parks.

Don’t be distracted by the myriad of issues that have been placed, like land-mines, in your way.  You are not there to solve all of societies ills.  You are there to reclaim your planet, and a truly democratic system, so that we can all, together, work at solving societies ills without the interference of a self-serving financial elite controlling our politics and keeping us divided.

Remember why you’re there.  Remember the 99 percent. Focus on the 1 percent.  Remember emancipation.  Take no substitute.  Settle for nothing less.

A Crisis of Ontology

The deadly disease of our global capitalist system is rather easy to understand from a philosophical standpoint. The crisis is ontological, a profound existential turmoil. Human beings are currently defined and valued  by what they have, not by what they are. The quantitative aspect of  our lives is in the forefront of all human interactions-either between groups or individuals within a group-while the qualitative aspect has been pushed aside, not even on the back burner of our collective consciousness, but literally into the trash of our social interactions. Usually, people are gauged by their assets, incomes, and cars they drive not by evaluating what contributions they make to the common good. We live in a world where a person is defined by quantity not quality, and it is probably our biggest systemic problem.

This is reflected by countless examples in the popular culture with expressions such as “show me the money”, “money talks” or the famous line in Brian De Palma’s “Scarface”: “First you get the money, than you get the power”. Poor kids, dreaming of a better future, are constantly bombarded by the spectacle of the “bling, the cool cribs, the fancy rides and the sexy babes” which are the trademarks of most Hip Hop music videos. Money is always center stage in this out of reach universe of  “players” which regardless of any tangible cultural meaning serve as heroes  and role models for the disenfranchised. It is the deadly equation of money= success + happiness + self respect =power. The same toxic component motivates some of the brightest and best educated young people in the United States to opt for a career on Wall Street instead of becoming doctors, engineers or scientists.

In our global society, only money gives a few people access to power which in return allows the very same people the possibility to accumulate even more wealth. A typical example of this vicious cycle is the constant revolving door between investment banks, such as Goldman Sachs and the highest jobs at the US Treasury Department. Top finance executives  with a taste for power- such as Hank Paulson or Larry Summers- under the premises of an interest in “public service”, work for governmental branches for a few years, then go back to their extremely lucrative jobs in finance, and so on.

Anxiety Rising: Occupy Versus Fear and Paradigm Paralysis

Some people are still living under the pretense that “things” in our broken global system will eventually fix themselves up spontaneously by some kind of miracle. Of course it will not happen, and this model  is, by essence, the definition of magical thinking. Recently, a Haitian woman, interviewed for the occasion of the second anniversary of  the earthquake, said that she was “putting her trust in god not in people” to rebuild Haiti from the horrific disaster. With a rising uncertainty and global anxiety building up like a pressure cooker, most people are scared and either try to escape reality by putting their heads in the sand or are convinced that the global system can be salvaged by making changes from within.

But, what they refuse to see is that following this model of a “business as usual” mentality impair their judgments and lock them into the box of paradigm paralysis. Even so most people feel that we have already entered an extraordinary period of global paradigm shift, the fear of the unknown makes them want to hang on to a system in advance state of decay. More people worldwide are getting aware of the fact that it is not a question of if the system will collapse but rather when.

The global Occupy movement has two functions in this process: firstly, to be the main catalyst for systemic change, secondly, as one of the architects setting up the foundations for a new global system where quality not quantity shall finally  prevail in human relationships. Turning what seems to be Utopian into a reality is the challenge, and it  is what this brave new world is all about. It is only a question of reaching a certain critical mass, and of  developing  the psychological ability to welcome the unknown, without fear, and to enter into uncharted territories.

Editor’s Note: All photographs by Magalie L’Abbe.

January 26, 2012, will mark the one year anniversary of the first protest in Syria which led to the mass movement that erupted two months later, on March 15, and has drawn the attention of the world to the plight of the Syrian people, and the brutality of the Al-Assad regime.  According to the Syrian Observatory of Human Rights, 4100 civilians have been murdered by government forces since March 15, 2011.

On January 18 the Zabadani ceasefire was broken.  More deaths are being reported daily.  As thousands have taken to the streets in support of an armed rebel group, the Free Syrian Army, Nabil Elaraby, Head of the Arab League, warned of civil war.  Once again the Arab League is looking to the global community to support the citizens of one of the countries it represent.

The team of Official observers from the Arab League is falling apart.  If they weren’t one of the 12 already attacked and injured by Assad supporters, they’ve either quit or are seriously reconsidering the wisdom of continuing their role.

The last time we saw this scenario play out the Arab League ended up requesting intervention by the United Nations.  The United Nations then deferred to NATO.  What started out as the global community intervening to aid civilians being brutally oppressed by a dictator became a continuation of Western colonialism and a windfall for big oil.

Syria is an ally of Iran, and is strategically placed in the volatile region.  As tensions mount with Iran over the Iranian threat to close the straits of Hormuz, western intervention in Syria takes on another dimension of motivation in addition to the rights and security of the Syrian people.  Just like in Libya.

The mandate of the Arab League observers is set to expire and their report is due out today.  Any call for intervention has the potential to trigger the same series of events that took place in Libya.  The Arab League to the UN, and the UN to NATO.  Western strategists may now consider the benefits of controlling an Iranian satellite over conducting a proxy war with Iran through Israel.

Control over Syria presents a better possibility of having leverage with Iran while not risking conflict with China, an ally of Iran’s that depends heavily on Iranian oil.

Once again, the protection of Human Rights have only earned the potential intervention of the international community as an excuse to further empire and exploit resources at the expense of the vulnerable that require the assistance.  If it wasn’t for oil, Syria would likely receive all the apathy and depraved indifference that the people of eastern Africa and Haiti have received.

Al-Assad, and his unnecessarily brutal tactics, have proven to be such a benefit to the machinations of western colonial powers that, if he doesn’t suffer the same fate as Qadaffi at the hands of the Syrian people, he may just have earned himself an estate in Saudi Arabia protected by American military contractors.

Also SOPA’s justification is to block mainly foreign websites providing illegal content, the vaguely defined provisions of the bill would allow the removal of  content including political and other speech from the Internet, which are, in principle, protected by the US constitution as freedom of speech. SOPA would allow the Attorney General to create a blacklist to censor sites even if no court has found any infringement of copyright or any other law.

“If we let that happen, that would mean they would be barring access to content that is protected under the First Amendment of the Constitution. And who knows how far the censorship would go after that. We can’t let that stand. This is a matter of protecting everyone’s constitutional right to freedom of speech. The bill as it stands now infringes on our constitutional rights,” said ACLU’s Executive Director Anthony Romero. The ACLU is adamantly opposed to the SOPA bill, and on November 16, 2011 the organization submitted a detailed statement to Congress.

If you don’t want to be left in the dark, and live in a neo-fascist Orwellian society which curtails civil liberties, free speech and the freedom of the press take ACTION NOW to stop SOPA or it might be too late.

Before MKL launched the civil rights movement, America was,de facto, an Apartheid society, divided at its core. America was equal only officially, but in reality it was a  divided and unequal social system where African-Americans were, at large, second class citizens. The message of Martin Luther King and his leadership within the Civil Rights movement were, in essence, revolutionary. But MLK wanted this deep, and much needed, transformation of  the United States social structure to be strictly non-violent. MLK’s peaceful revolution of the 1960s changed America forever, allowing for example the election of a black President in 2008, but in many ways the achievements and gains which were made by the civil rights movement have been reversed. At large, African-Americans and Latinos are still getting the crumbs from the table. Even if it is more settled than before the time of MLK, American cities are still segregated by racial and socio-economic divides. If you are an  African-American man in America between the age of 18 to 30, the chance that you will or have been through the US penal system is, today, more than 30 percent. More than 62 percent of America’s juggernaut prison system’s population is either African-American or Latino.

In many ways, it seems that half a century later, the victories of MLK and the civil rights movement were short lived. With a public education system in shamble, the opportunities  for the poor and minorities to advance and better their lives are melting away like snow under a bright sun. In term of wealth and income inequality, the gap between the 1 percent and the 99 percent has increased many folds since the late 1960s, not decreased. MLK tried to give a voice to the oppressed, the people who were forgotten by the so called American dream. But today, the voiceless are still not heard and they are certainly not invited to have a seat at the same table than the powerful. Even so, the racial divide is more defuse, the class one is more extreme.

However, since the last few months of 2011, this sad state of affairs has taken a turn in the form of the birth of the US Occupy movement. Occupy draws a lot of its thematic and inspirations from the teaching of Dr. King. From the accent on non-violent protest, its oppositions to war and American imperialism, and especially its goal to redefine a society based on the principles of equality, fairness, sustainability and social justice. Martin Luther King knew all along that he had a target on his back, but the advantage of Occupy, in comparison with the civil rights movement, is that it is a horizontal movement with no clear define leadership. If MLK became a clear and easy mark  for the one opposed to social changes in 1968, a leaderless movement like Occupy is, on the other hand, impossible to kill. If a man can be killed, principles or ideas cannot.

Sex slavery is not limited to brothels is Thailand, Cambodia, the Philippines or the Dominican Republic. In countries where prostitution is legal, like Germany, traffickers, pimps and dangerous organized crime organizations such as the Russian mafia or ethnic Albanians are controlling most sex workers, even the ones who claim to be “independent”. According to recent estimates, there are currently around 200,000 children between the age of 12 to 15 who are sold for sex by pimps/traffickers every year in the United States. The problem is  epidemic, and it often hides in plain sight.

The Obama administration- under the impulse of Secretary of State Hillary Clinton- has declared January 2012 the “human trafficking prevention month”. Even so it marks a desire from the US government to focus on the issue, the problem is so vast and global that this action is unlikely to make a dent. It is likely that the only positive impact will be to raise public awareness on the issue. By issuing its Trafficking in Person Report 2011, the State Department has been active in tracking human trafficking worldwide, country by country, and unlike previous reports the current report had the honesty to identify the United States as one of the hubs for modern day slavery.

Sex Trafficking, Globalization and the Internet

Until the communication revolution of the Internet, sex trafficking was mainly confined to brothels and street corners. But since then, the information super-highway has given criminal organizations the tool to turn sex trafficking into a multi-billions a year enterprise. It is more profitable than drug and weapon trafficking for a very simple reason: once a 100 kilos shipment of cocaine or heroin has been sold in the streets, it is gone. On the other hand, the “investment” made by human traffickers on the buying end- in women or children- will keep turning a profit over a fairly long period of time. Often large criminal organizations work together to control the recruitment of the victims, the transit and the enslavement at the destination point. The Russian mafia and Albanian gangs have the upper hand in Europe, and often work in association with recruiters/pimps in the Middle-East-where the biggest hub/distribution point is Beirut, Lebanon- to provide Estonian, Ukrainian or Lithuanian women, which are in “high demand”,for the rich “buyers” of the Gulf.

In Africa, the two biggest sources for human trafficking are currently Nigeria and Ghana. In a scheme that is more or less universal, women are recruited locally- often by other women- under the pretense of job opportunities aboard. But once they have reached their destination, either Italy, Greece, Belgium or Germany, their passports are taken away by pimps, they do not have legal immigration status, and they are forced to prostitute themselves-usually after being severely beaten and raped- to pay off the debt of their transit to Europe. According to a recent report from the British police, 75 percent of the sex trade in the UK is controlled by brutal Albanian gangs. In Germany, 75 percent of sex workers come from former Eastern block countries.

In the West, the Internet has become the number one platform for buying women and children for sex. Victims, from various countries of origin, are trafficked through pseudo-independent, but in reality pimp controlled escort services, chat rooms, and even “dating” web sites freely advertizing on the internet with ads such as “Meet Russian women online”. In the United States, there are countless brothels disguised as “massage parlors”, and in the burgeoning strip club business industry, “exotic dancers” are in fact turning tricks in VIP rooms. In Texas, migrant women from central America- either from Guatemala or El Salvador- are lured into crossing the US border by Coyotes working with local pimps, Mexican gangs and Salvadorian/US gang MS13, and will likely end up being sex slaves in Cantinas or massage parlors.

Human Trafficking: A Tragic Symptom of a Broken World

The cynics will say that prostitution is the “oldest profession in the world”. However, very few women enter this line of work willingly. In all cases they are forced into it by adverse socio-economic circumstances. The fall of the Soviet Union, and the rapid rise of Russian organize crime in its aftermath has flooded Western Europe and the Middle-East with an unprecedented influx of former Eastern block women seeking the dream of a better life and hoping to support their families back home. It is the same for poor women and children in rural areas of Thailand, Cambodia or the Philippines who are bought by local recruiters- for sometime as little as $150.00- and then shipped to Japan where they will become sex slaves in brothels controlled by Yakuzas.

Sophisticated criminal organizations are exploiting a situation of despair created by a global system where human beings are not much more than a resource and a commodity. Mega international corporations have outsourced countless jobs to seek a labor pool which can be paid slave wages, just like global organized crime has found a gold mine in human trafficking. And fundamentally, Albanian gangs, the Russian mafia, MS13 or the Mexican drug cartels are applying the same brutal rule of “free market” capitalism-which is to provide a product for a demand-with 30 millions enslaved human beings.

Occupy movements across Canada achieved great public attention and worked as the trigger for a paradigm shift. It is the Canadian chapter of a much required global wake up call. Occupy Canada has, through all its chapters and camps, successfully shaken the foundations of our status quo.

Last night, a vast majority of participants referred to the first week of Occupy Toronto as the highlight of the whole movement. And, I agree, it was the introduction to a new way of understanding ourselves and our relations with other human beings.

The beginning of Occupy Canada marked a rediscovery of our sense of humanity, too long denied. Prior to October 15, we were used to understanding each through social roles. How many of us have held meaningful conversations with homeless people prior to Occupy? How many of us have deeply debated political and social issues with people we barely knew? Where else would we have been able to join a physical circle of discussions with people we have never met, discussions on issues of poverty, homelessness, drug addition, living standards?

Reflecting now, honestly, it was not Occupy as a reified community that have allowed us to create a new sense of community. It was, mainly, before Occupy, that individuals did not bother engaging at the same level with other human beings.  Thus, the lack of sense of community and outreach, the lack of sense of comradery between us, was not only systemic consequences brought about the 1%, it was you and I who just lack the courage to build these relationships on our own.

Occupy created the space, but, you and I created Occupy by being, and participating. There is no Occupy. Occupy is a brand. I do not mean this in a negative way. Not at all. I mean that the people are the force behind Occupy. You do not have to maintain a camp ground and tents to prove its existence.

The Occupy camps throughout the country, and even throughout the world, have already achieved a lot of public discussion. The word Occupy is still necessary to make the editorial agenda of the mainstream media. However, have we lost the understanding that it is not the idea of Occupy that drives people? Rather, it is the people, you and I, who drive the idea of Occupy forward.

There is much that needs to be openly and freely discussed about Occupy.

Here is what I consider shortcomings. Please do not ‘hate’ on these comments. I see them as true shortcomings that can be addressed and improved upon. These comments reflect my perspective within the context of a larger strategic social justice movement. I am not intent on ‘bashing’ Occupy, rather, I’m presenting a sober analysis based only from my own personal experiences.

1. Die hard Occupy organizers want to own Occupy, its Facebook page, twitter accounts, and sites. There is so much paranoia trying to own these accounts and limit access to the public, that actual participants are sometimes accused to be infiltrators or outright censored.

We could surely find a balance between public involvement and security. Media teams in Occupy have become the information authorities of everything that takes place throughout each movement. Women were physically attacked at the Occupy Toronto camp. Did their media team report on that as a method of ensuring issues of safety around camp?

Occupy Vancouver had some very nasty confrontations between members, some of whom have publicized alleged physical and death threats. Have you been to the original Occupy Vancouver Facebook page?  People who advocated against violent tactics were verbally crucified!  Has Occupy Vancouver media team ever reported on these  in order to create and facilitate a safe discussion on these internal divisions? No. Media teams act as the very  mainstream media outlets that we criticize by failing to be honest to the movement and themselves. There was a great deal of power reserved only for those who control the flow of information about Occupy camps. This needs to be addressed if Occupy is to be a truly transparent and honest movement.

But this is a movement of the people, not of organizers or media teams! People say “I am in the media team” as though the statement is supposed to attribute them with a particular sense of respect.  But, Occupy is an idea. And, as I mentioned, it is not the idea which drives people towards social justice, it is the people who believe in social justice that move the Occupy Movement forward.

2. There is lack of solidarity resulting from the above mentioned ownership of Occupy. It seems that not everyone can act on behalf of Occupy for social change. In a leaderless movement, with dysfunctional general assemblies, who is to decide who can carry on actions under the banner of Occupy? Who does the reputation of Occupy really belong to? Who are the organizers, and, who are the people in charge of protecting the reputation and credibility of Occupy? Is there a sense of hierarchy here? Is there no sense of hypocrisy?

3. General assemblies and the consensus model have proven not only ineffective but also hindrances to actual steps towards change. General assemblies could have materialized down the road.  They were not an essential component to our organization at first. There are a couple of factors relating to this:

• Meaningful democracy does not survive on voting alone. Look at our country now. A sustainable democracy requires an informed citizenry, not just voters. Democracy requires a politically and conceptually sophisticated citizenry engaged in the articulation of their own experiences within the context of social and political structures and relations.
• Votes in general assemblies, based on quick discussions on issues that people are not particularly familiar with, are  void of meaning… especially so when not all perspectives have equal weight, or the chance to be elaborated upon.
• The consensus model, at this point, is void of all potential solutions. Imagine having a general assembly of people who are aware of the issues that are immediately affecting our lives through  local, provincial, and federal policies. Identifying problem issues would not require constant voting and blocking.
• Not all participants, at any given general assembly, have the same social or political interests. I have proposed previously that, instead of holding general assemblies, it would have been more practical to organize based on issues that matter to people. For instance, holding general meetings on particular issues at particularly affected geographical areas: i.e. Neighbourhoods victimized by Rob Ford’s spending cuts.
• Also, as to the procedural aspects of the general assemblies, those I have participated in were too bureaucratic to be emancipating, let alone truly engaging.

4. Occupy groups desperately require a news/current events team rather than just a livestream media team. The focus so far seems to have been on promoting one’s movement through livestream as a reality show. Through this focus on the movement itself, Occupy Vancouver, and Occupy Toronto, have turned inwards on theeir own affairs alienating themselves from the important issues developing in thee world around them. News has been covered about what is happening at Occupy camps but seldom about the daily issues that arise… the daily issues that the public needs to be aware of.

The above has been our main focus. Occupy groups should be advocating for public engagement on current issues. This is why a group of us decided to start 404 System Error with a new focus and a new narrative. We are tired of ongoing verbal attacks and endless rants. We want to identity specific problems, and work on building strategic solutions, while advocating for new ways of making sense of important issues. We are not advocating for utopian solutions at the moment. We are working on building tools for participation leading to actions. Some of our proposals are narrow in scope, for we believe in the importance of thinking globally while acting locally.

We hope to work in collaboration with anyone who cares to identify social, economic, and political problems. We also wish to advocate more conceptualizations while applying all the human potential, creativity, and productive skills, to challenging the status quo and moving the Occupy movement forward.