71 Year-Old Acton Resident Actively Supports Occupy Boston

Paul Garver is a 71 year-old Acton resident who is supporting the by not only attending certain rallies held in Boston but also by spreading the word to others. Garver is a retired International Labor Union employee and is a husband, a father and a grandfather.

The New York Times recently wrote a piece on what are the demands for the Occupy movement.

Q&A with Paul Gaver:

• Acton Patch: From your recent experience attending some Occupy Boston rallies, who are the people that are occupying Boston?

Garver: The core of the people who are actually occupying Boston are relatively young people, some of whom are recent students who graduated and are having difficulty getting jobs and obviously paying off their student loans. There are actually a large variety of people and if you include the entire community, not just those who sleep out there but those who take part in the marches and rallies, it’s a pretty good cross section of the Boston area community.

• Acton Patch: What is your general feeling about the movement across the country?

Garver: I think it’s great that young people are getting involved in a social struggle that many of us have been involved in for many years. I’m happy to see a lot of Labor Union people involved in these supportive actions and I think it’s important that people realize most of us are in pretty much the same boat. We are citizens of a democracy that has been steadily taken over by the rule of money rather than the rule of people and we are trying to find a way to fight back and recover the essential elements of a decent democratic society.

• Acton Patch: What does the 99 percent slogan mean?

Garver: There is a tendency for everybody to describe themselves as middle class but it is unclear to know what that middle is. What I think the 99 percent slogan means is a way of dramatizing the fact that most people are not part of the relatively small elite. Some people call it Wall Street and some people call it crony capitalism. It is this incestuous relationship between big money and politicians.

Living down here in Acton, where we have a pretty decent local government, we are not directly exposed to that. We are very fortunate and I almost feel like I am living in a bubble because I was able to collect Social Security and Medicare and I’ve had employers that gave me pentions. I actually live quite well and I don’t have financial anxieties, even though I never earned more than the medium income. But my situation no longer exists for most people in this society and I think that anxiety, the insecurity of a lack of a future is what’s motivating not just these protesters but also the favorable public reaction in support of the movement.

• Acton Patch: In your opinion, do you think the protesters and the police have been cooperative?

Garver: Generally speaking, everyone has been cooperative. The atmosphere is very good and the police were most of the time helpful. There seems to be a very strong commitment to non-violence on the part of the protesters. So, it’s a safe environment and generally a positive and upbeat experience.

• Acton Patch: What do you think will happen to the movement once the winter settles in?

Garver: Cold climates obviously make it harder to organize. It may restrict a number of people who would take part and maybe it is a little harder to go out on a demonstration when it isn’t a lovely fall day. It definitely makes it harder to use these types of forms of protest. I don’t think it’ll kill it, I think it’ll just have to evolve into something else. We will have more indoor rallies and talks and forums and discussions. I think people are pretty creative and I think the movement will keep going in some form.

• Acton Patch: What are the demands of Occupy Boston?

Garver: I don’t think it is the function of a broad protest movement to be very precise about exactly how their demands get translated into law or reality. I think that it is going to be done by people who have more experience in that field and know better how to actually move things through legislators.

• Acton Patch: What’s next for you in this movement?

Garver: I don’t consider myself a core part of it, I think I am part of the broader movement of which is still a major piece. I don’t see my role as particularly trying to influence the Occupy movement but I am very supportive of it and very happy that people are doing it and I am positively inclined to think it will continue in a positive direction.