Notes on our 20th Meeting and #OccupyMcAllen Event

The Rio Grande Valley Zeitgeist Movement held an abbreviated meeting on Wednesday, October 5th, at 6:00 PM on the University of Texas-Pan American campus. The 4 members in attendance were very excited about and discussed the recent Occupy Wall Street movement that was growing across the nation and around the world, as well as the local Occupy McAllen event scheduled for the next day. We were also very pleased to have Sandy Lopez be in attendance after being out of town for an extended period of time. We ended the brief meeting after an hour or so and the majority of our group went to the sign making meeting for the Occupy McAllen meeting in Edinburg, hosted by a very generous family.

While there, we were fortunate enough to be joined by other RGVZGM members as well as other residents and activists throughout the evening. We shared our various views about the Occupy movement, our life experiences that brought us to this movement and how we can help each other achieve the different goals that we all had. I am glad to have met the wonderful artists, activists and other individuals who attended that session and am very grateful for their hospitality and generosity of art supplies and space.

On Thursday, October 6th, over 300 people arrived at Archer Park in McAllen to march in protest of the grotesque inequalities that our current social, economic and political systems have created. We moved across the downtown district and around the local Chase Tower to demonstrate the disdain we held for the large banks and the monetary system they represent. We concluded the event with public speakers, voicing their opinions, their concerns and their calls to action. The media coverage of the event was somewhat uneven, but we were for the most part well represented. As expected, the media does not yet fully comprehend the meaning of this worldwide movement, and is unlikely to be truthful about its underlying causes and desired outcomes. This is where the ideas and understandings of a resource based economy can flourish, however, as the upset masses begin to recognize the failures of the system and demand resolutions to it. I encourage all people who want a better world for all people to learn about the root causes of the current corruption endemic to our culture and begin to think about what are the real values that are relevant to the survival of you and your loved ones. Only then can we start to demand a better world, not only for all of us, but from all of us.