ALMOST a month on, what started as a valid exercise in highlighting social inequalities with the Vancouver "Occupy" movement has degenerated into a sorry spectacle on the lawn of the Vancouver Art Gallery.
The movement had idealistic and laudable beginnings - pointing out how "the system" does not necessarily work to better the lives of many and how our most vulnerable suffer the worst in any economic downturn. The occupiers lit a torch on important social issues and garnered public sympathy.
But somewhere along the line, the occupiers went off the rails. The idealists moved out and the drugs and hangers on moved in. The "autonomous, leaderless collective" lost its way.
Today, the group finds itself in conflict not with the elites of society but with a city administration that's done more than most to further the causes occupiers lay claim to.
Firefighters aren't the one per cent - they are people whose job is to protect the public and ensure their safety.
City officials are also not the enemy. They do, however, have a responsibility to be concerned after a young girl died on the site, apparently of a drug overdose.
Antagonizing a largely sympathetic civic administration - and adding fuel to much more conservative arguments - does nothing to further the cause.
Eventually the tent encampment will come down. It would be better if that happened peacefully and willingly.
It's time for those at the site to pack up their tents and occupy the political process instead. Democracy is indeed a flawed system. The only thing worse are most of the alternatives.
