WHY OCCUPY THE OCTAGON?

Many people are asking why the Occupy Wall Street movement has spread around the globe, and even into Dunedin's own Octagon? To an extent the global occupations were catalysed out of solidarity with the Wall Street occupations and the issues that the United States faces today. But more importantly, we recognise that many of these problems are not isolated to America. In a globalised world we face global problems. And here in New Zealand we have our own challenges to face, challenges which supporters of the Occupy movement can no longer sit back and just watch happen. We need to do something and we need to do it soon. We have individually unique experiences and reasons for being a part of this occupation or offering support to it. We share common knowledge that things are broken. We share common knowledge that a future flowing from the way things are now will be both undesirable and unacceptable. This is our unity. Because Occupy is a grass-roots, leaderless and all-inclusive movement, it is impossible to communicate all of the thoughts and ideas of everyone involved. However, some common themes have been recurring through occupations around New Zealand and the globe with regards to the most significant challenges we are facing today. Some of these are outlined here. ENVIRONMENT Globally and in New Zealand there are clear signs our natural world is rapidly deteriorating and that we are approaching limits to a number of essential resources, like oil, for which there is no ready substitute. We are exploiting the earths natural capital, including its seas, soils, forests, freshwater, minerals and wildlife with little consideration for other life and the future. We're also exceeding the earth's capacity to absorb pollution, causing acidification of our oceans and destabilizing climate with carbon dioxide emissions from burning fossil fuels. ECONOMY In concert with this onslaught has been an explosion in debt under the fractional reserve banking system, the marginalization of many of our youth, the degradation of our culture and neglect of community relations and functionality, largely in the interests of short-term monetary gain. OUR RESPONSIBILITIES Considering our scientific knowledge, it is now self-evident that we are at a point in the earths evolution when mankind can no longer continue to place all faith in an economic construct founded on the the principle of endless growth. To continue to do so will, in all probability, lead to global ecosystem collapse, economic chaos and extreme hardship for many peoples on earth. We consider that it is our responsibility to conduct our affairs in a manner that preserves the basic right for each human to life, safety, justice and the pursuit of happiness in a healthy natural environment.

WHAT TO DO ABOUT IT?

There are no easy solutions to these major challenges that we face. And, given the complexity of this globalised world, there will never be a single 'one size fits all' solution. The first step is an awareness of what is going on. From there we can become more perceptive of our lifestyles and the actions that we take in day to day life, to begin to reverse the harmful patterns that have come to exist today. Some actions are more urgent than others. While we hope that all individuals will take steps on a personal level to help create a better world, there are also some actions which we believe need attention at a societal level and at a political level. These include: 1. A contingency plan for the event of a deepening, prolonged or sudden financial crisis to preserve peoples capacity to provide for their essential needs including local resource access, reliable supply chains and robust infrastructure. 2. A plan to progressively restrict the extraction and use of fossil fuels so as to promote a switch to genuine renewables, smarter use of existing energy systems and much reduced levels of energy dependence and greenhouse gas emissions both here and abroad. 3. A plan to encourage each New Zealand business to actively explore economic and job opportunity in anticipation of the lower carbon, lower energy economy. 4. A feasibility plan on transition from a debt-based economy preoccupied with economic turnover and Gross Domestic Product, to one founded in community well-being, less inequality, monetary security and environmental resilience.