dreadgeek
10-25-2011, 03:06 PM
News junkie that I am I have been following the #OccupyWallStreet protest movement with great interest. As a political creature of the Left, I've been reading various ideas expressed here and elsewhere on the Internet with a growing dismay. I have read, both here and elsewhere, that 'occupy' is the wrong word because America is already occupied land. It is this idea, or more accurately the consequences of this idea, that I want to address and I didn't want to derail the OWS thread so I started this one.
I have read in a couple of places that since occupy is loaded for Native Americans that perhaps the term 'decolonize' Wall Street would be better. Let's take both of those words at face value.
Occupy, in the sense that is being used related to the presence of the United States on the continent means:
Occupy (verb) 3: take control of (a place, esp. a country) by military conquest or settlement.
Decolonize (verb): (of a country) withdraw from (a colony), leaving it independent.
If we take these words to mean what the dictionary says they do, it means that in order to rectify the occupation of North America the United States would have to, well, leave. This is not to say that North America wasn't conquered, it obviously was. But if we say that the United States *currently* is an occupying force then the US would have to leave. The same applies to the word 'decolonize'.
In 1962 the French ended their occupation of Algeria by leaving. In 1947 the British quit their occupation of India by leaving. The period following WW II was called the post-colonial period because the European nations quit their colonies.
So for those who are concerned by the phrase 'Occupy Wall Street' what would it mean for the United States to NOT be occupied land? Would it not require that the land be returned to the peoples who were inhabiting the continent before the arrival of Europeans? If not, then what can it possibly mean to say that the United States is *occupied land*.
This isn't an idle speculation. Native Americans (who are not of Latino/Mestizo origin) make up ~4% of the US population. That means that there are ~12 million Native Americans. The US population is 300 million. This means that roughly 280 million people would have to be counted as 'occupiers'. That would mean that in order for the North American continent south of Canada and north of Mexico to no longer be occupied all of them would have to quit the North American continent. This would be a displacement the likes of which the world has never seen.
So what are people saying when they talk about America being occupied? It can't actually be the dictionary definition because that would require people to buy into the idea that 280 million people have to find another place to live. So what does it mean? What is being communicated by talk of America as an *occupied land*?
Cheers
Aj
I have read in a couple of places that since occupy is loaded for Native Americans that perhaps the term 'decolonize' Wall Street would be better. Let's take both of those words at face value.
Occupy, in the sense that is being used related to the presence of the United States on the continent means:
Occupy (verb) 3: take control of (a place, esp. a country) by military conquest or settlement.
Decolonize (verb): (of a country) withdraw from (a colony), leaving it independent.
If we take these words to mean what the dictionary says they do, it means that in order to rectify the occupation of North America the United States would have to, well, leave. This is not to say that North America wasn't conquered, it obviously was. But if we say that the United States *currently* is an occupying force then the US would have to leave. The same applies to the word 'decolonize'.
In 1962 the French ended their occupation of Algeria by leaving. In 1947 the British quit their occupation of India by leaving. The period following WW II was called the post-colonial period because the European nations quit their colonies.
So for those who are concerned by the phrase 'Occupy Wall Street' what would it mean for the United States to NOT be occupied land? Would it not require that the land be returned to the peoples who were inhabiting the continent before the arrival of Europeans? If not, then what can it possibly mean to say that the United States is *occupied land*.
This isn't an idle speculation. Native Americans (who are not of Latino/Mestizo origin) make up ~4% of the US population. That means that there are ~12 million Native Americans. The US population is 300 million. This means that roughly 280 million people would have to be counted as 'occupiers'. That would mean that in order for the North American continent south of Canada and north of Mexico to no longer be occupied all of them would have to quit the North American continent. This would be a displacement the likes of which the world has never seen.
So what are people saying when they talk about America being occupied? It can't actually be the dictionary definition because that would require people to buy into the idea that 280 million people have to find another place to live. So what does it mean? What is being communicated by talk of America as an *occupied land*?
Cheers
Aj