A feeling of hope

Tonight's GA felt different. I don't know exactly how, or why, but there was something in the air tonight. Perhaps it was the rain; perhaps it was the aftermath of the destruction of Zucotti Park; perhaps it was the mutual acknowledgment of a problem and that things have to change. Occupy Austin is not dying. We had about 100 people at the GA tonight. That feeling was in the discussions I participated in and overheard. People were thinking about what we can do and how we can do it.

We are starting to plan for the future and not just the future next week but the future in two months, the future in March, the future of this movement. Although we live in an age when we think that everything and anything should be able to happen instantly, societal change never has been, and never will be, an instantaenous event. No, societal change happens through slow but steady exerted pressure. We are just beginning to exert that pressure. We cannot get sidetracked or waylaid by the small stumbling blocks in the road. No, this movement is bigger and more important than a food table or a welcome table.

Right now we desparately need to craft a social contract. There are many of us who are occupying 24/7 and there are many of us who are only at City Hall for the GA's a few hours before or after. Each of us has decided how we are spending our time. Yet, we are all occupiers. We are all equally important and equally a part of this movement. Occupy Austin is trying to craft a document that reflects our shared desire to live together and respects our need to have respect and have a plan for when that respect and trust is violated. Right now there is no trust. Some Occupiers trust some others - but there is no trust among the group. In fact, there is a high level of distrust. Once this trust is created than we can begin to live out our social contract.

I am hopeful that we will be able to create and live a new social contract. This lifestyle is going to be something that carries this movement on as we make the changes we seek. Tonight's GA had the energy of a movement that is just beginning to thrive. I hope, and pray, that Austin will be a beacon of hope for the Occupy Movement. We will become a center of this worldwide movement; our occupation can be an example to other cities of what can happen through our lifestyle.