Just like the people who make up the Occupy Wall Street movement, the members of Occupy Charlottesville are indignant about the state of corporate corruption in the U.S. government and “sick” of a small portion of the population “controlling the majority of the wealth, resources and labor equity.”
But in Charlottesville, the so-called 99 percent has encountered an unexpected ally: the local homeless population. Since the camp at Lee Park has been given a 30-day renewable permit from the City, some of the area’s homeless have become an important part of the cause, securing the camp at night and serving as practical examples for the movement’s newly discovered local bone of contention: taking care of each other and of those people most affected by the financial downturn.
Kali Cichon
Age: 25
Occupation: on disability
“One of the interesting things about this movement is that we have all decided that while we identify as a group, we are autonomous. There are people here who are trying to change some of the zoning and coding laws to make it easier to provide outreach services, that’s more political than I usually get into. There are people here who are just offering to show support and be here, which is also very important.
“It’s funny because a lot of us don’t really agree politically. A problem and great thing about a movement that encompasses 99 percent of the population is that we don’t have one special interest. We are not here to save the polar bears or reduce carbon emissions. The financial crisis is a big part of it, because it has affected everybody, but we are also here knowing that even if we all have individual interests, we are here to make society better for everybody. We are here to make government and the system suit our needs and that means something different for everybody.”
Shawna Murphy
Age: 27
Occupation: “wage slave” and pizza delivery
“I was inspired when I saw people doing it in New York and when you are alone in your mind, you do a lot of thinking, ‘What can we do?’ We don’t have any option in terms of change or die. If we don’t succeed, we are not going to have a country to pass down to our children. The ball has been dropped, and the ball needs to be picked up.
“We have a town that has a ridiculous amount of money, a ridiculous amount of people working service jobs. Charlottesville itself is authentic. The problem is that it’s not really acknowledging into itself that it cares about the suffering of others. Charlottesville has a conscience, which is more than you can say about a lot of other places in this world. Charlottesville wants to be in synch with its conscience. That’s why we have a lot of support. It’s like popcorn. It’s popping up in the general consciousness.”
John Wendel
Age: 21
Occupation: computer repair person
“When I first got here, I was motivated by political and economical reasons, but after being here at night and seeing the way the bottom echelon of the 99 percent is being treated, it is all about unitarian rights and making sure that people who have been ignored by everyone else have someone to talk to and someone to help them.
“We need to have programs for people who are trying to make ends meet but can’t because of the cost of living in Charlottesville. The bus drivers, the teachers, a lot of them come out here and talk to me, and everyone is having a hard time. There’s no reason to be paving the downtown mall with new bricks when you’ve got people out here with mental health issues who are being completely ignored and the only help they get is a meal.”
Ian Downie
Age: 26
Occupation: UVA student; Marine veteran; and movement sympathizer
“The people who come here are really interested in getting change and fixing society’s problems. A lot of times, I don’t even agree with them, but the fact that they’re willing to come out here and do this for change shows a real quality of character.
“A few points of their philosophy I really agree with. Their whole ‘consensus-based decision making,’ I find that to be awesome. I really admire that. A lot of their economic stuff, unfortunately, I think is naïve. I think they have the right goals in mind, but maybe don’t have the right means of getting there.
“I’m a Libertarian. The whole Libertarian focus is just to end the force of the law in all human interactions. All the problems with the financial crisis, I think all of it stems from the government coming in and saying ‘You have to do things this way’ and it just mangles the market. Some of the people here wouldn’t agree with that.”
Brent Palmer
Age: 31
Occupation: unemployed farmer
“The biggest thing is to break the grip of big corporations, corporate powers have on politics. Right now they fund most of the political campaigns, which means that Congress owes most of their careers to the 1 percent and not to the people who actually vote for them. We just need to get corporate money completely out of politics. Locally, for me, the big reason I am here is to raise awareness of the national issues, but at the same time, we are able to do a lot for the homeless. We are able to call attention to some issues with the parks, really get people thinking about their community.
“Locally, the big thing is that homeless people aren’t allowed to sleep in the parks. Right now, the ones who are part of the movement have kind of a lucky break, a lot of others can’t because they are not interested in this sort of thing and don’t know about it. They just want to find a place to sleep and that’s a crime. I have heard that there is a lot of talk going around about stopping them from going to the park and panhandling for money, which for many of them is their livelihood. In a time when the economy is this bad, the most important thing that we can do on a local level is take care of the people who are the most affected by it.”
John S. Marr
Age: 71
Occupation: retired, former epidemiologist and published author
“The movement is very young and it is not against government, but really capitalism, which has really destroyed the economy. It will draw the attention of others, because 99 percent of the people in the world are ‘the others,’ to reorganize it, hopefully, if possible, to make capitalism fair. It’s not fair now, it’s egregious.
“What I love about this movement is that it’s 21st century technology essentially combating the 20th century. Here we have a new group of people who is so far ahead of the government and is planning strategies and occupying could lead to other concomitant, satellite organizations, so that it won’t be literally to ‘occupy’ a specific place.
“What I begin to see here is synchronicity, almost like a mean that is immediately known to everyone, everywhere. As if ideas are being planted. Obviously, they are being communicated via the Internet. I really think this is going to be a major movement come this spring. It will be very interesting to see how the politicians and the political parties deal with it. I don’t think it’s going to be co-opted either by the left or the right.”