Photo: Stacy Lanyon
For many years, I’ve been wanting things to be different. I
had worked to get Obama elected in 2008 and was severely disappointed following
that. There was a whole series of unfortunate events. I didn’t have a job. I was
living at my mom’s house. I came to New
York with nothing, nowhere to live and no job. I was
just hoping that things would get better. Then, I got the email from Adbusters,
and I was like, “Oh this sounds like something that’s going to get shut down
immediately.” Then, on September 18th, I was like, “Oh, they’re
still there.” I went down to Liberty Square, and I was really amazed to see all
of these people coming together and talking about these really important
issues, these really big questions. It was something I had never seen before. I
came back the next day and stayed a little longer. Then, I came back the next
day and stayed even longer. That’s what drew me, just a lot of people
coming together and trying to figure out a solution to these problems that we
face.
We live in this nation where we are told that we have
freedom, where we are told that we can express our freedom during the
elections. I don’t feel like that’s a real freedom when we are given an option
between two people who don’t represent the interests of the majority of
Americans, who represent the interest of corporations instead. I feel that the
only way that we’re going to be able to effectively change the system is if we
come together, put aside our differences and figure out what unites us all, and
figure out a way of living that’s sustainable and that will work for this
generation and for future generations. There are so many different issues from
the destruction of the environment to these endless wars to money for education
being cut. There are an incredible amount of things that are wrong with the
United States right now that I feel can only be solved through us coming
together and talking about it.
I would like to see a world where we take care of each other
and where we are not just focused on climbing the corporate ladder, getting
ahead at all costs. I want to see a world where we understand that we are all
connected and that there are consequences to our actions. Everything that we do
has a reaction. I want to see a world where we are conscious of what we do at all times and how it affects people all around
us, where we understand that as long as there is someone in prison, we are all
in prison, that as long as there is someone starving in the streets, we are all
starving in the streets. I would like to see a world where we understand that,
where we are all working together to make sure we all have a place
where we can live, not only to exist but to thrive. We shouldn’t be
struggling to survive. There’s enough resources for all of us to live a good
life.
Interview by Stacy Lanyon
http://buildingcompassionthroughaction.blogspot.com/
https://www.facebook.com/stacylanyon
https://instagram.com/stacylanyon/
https://twitter.com/StacyLanyon
http://stacylanyon.com/
Interview by Stacy Lanyon
http://buildingcompassionthroughaction.blogspot.com/
https://www.facebook.com/stacylanyon
https://instagram.com/stacylanyon/
https://twitter.com/StacyLanyon
http://stacylanyon.com/