Paul's Perambulations a personal blog

Fran and I attended the Occupy National Gathering that was held in Philadelphia the week of July 4th, 2012. For part of the time we were a Friendly Presence assigned to the parking area (actually, the old grave yard) of the Meeting House at 4^th and Arch Streets, where Occupiers congregated and slept at night. We were glad to be there and help out as best we could (including sleeping there ourselves one night), but overall I was disappointed. When I last posted on Occupy (November 19, 2011) there were still encampments and I felt things were quite hopeful. I am still hopeful, but there was nothing to make me believe that the decline of the current Occupy movement has been halted. The Occupy process is fascinating and valuable, but seems to be mostly in a holding pattern at this time. My best hope at the moment is that among those few hundred who were there, there may be individuals listening and learning and preparing to become the next ML King or Gandhi. There is a need for leadership by example, not by command or ego. Perhaps some of the other principles of Occupy will be more successful at a later time.