CAUTION: THIS LABEL IS A PEACE RETARDANT

Consider for a moment, the devastation and wars that have been spurred by something as seemingly innocent as a label. Labels have the power to exclude and in some cases destroy others because of their inherent ability to stir feelings of both love and hate. When they stir negative emotions, it seemingly gives permission for others to feel justified in any act of aggression through those labels. What labels might those outside the Occupy Movement use to describe its participants and supporters alike? Perhaps terms like young, non-conformists, rebellious, unemployed or radicals. These labels are imposed on us and can carry negative connotations, depending on how we each translate them. If that happens, we promptly place anyone using even one of these terms, in our oppressor basket. But what if we made a mistake and mislabelled? What if they meant courageous when they said rebellious, what if they meant enthusiastic when they said young, what if they meant leaders when they said radicals? What if they meant disenfranchised when they said unemployed? What if the oppressor label we created only in our minds and imposed on others, has simply coloured our translation of their message? Its a slippery slope and once you use them, its difficult to take them back. Any labelling we impose, immediately colours our interpretation of the message from others no matter how open-minded we might consider ourselves to be. Its because labels cripple critical thinking and cloud judgement; they are created, defined and coloured by the limitations of ones cultural and religious beliefs, social status and views that often have been adopted from others that neatly fit within our own limited experiences. The definition we give labels can also be affected by generational gaps. Someone who grew up in the sixties might use the term wild to describe the movement, and that in turn could be easily interpreted as meaning feral and out of control. The problem is that when we use labels, we inadvertently risk losing the opportunity to invite wisdom and experience into the fold. We might shun

without trial, exclude without reason and flirt with the danger of failing to attract those who could be our greatest allies when we trap our movement with labels. This is especially true when an idea or opinion is shared in an online forum by individuals. Not only is it difficult to attach inflection to a typed word, but one wrong word typed in expressing an opinion could trigger another to change the label they had for you. From then on in, anything you say is coloured by all the connotations of this new imposed label and in my view might account for the cause of 99% of divisionand we all know how nasty some of them can get! What about instead of Im a reformist, Im a unionist or Im an occupier, Im a rebel or freedom fighter we say, I am a humanist? I dont mean to literally say it if anyone asks, but instead to quietly reject labels and reflect in every action you take all the meaning that a humanist carries for you. Just hearing the term conjures images of the beauty in humanity. It lives in the world of neutrality and it has the power to change everything. It disables the invitation of attack and removes the risk that we isolate any individuals because labels are after all, a very personal illusion. When a person or group is no longer defined by their label, they are defined by the substance that is the building block of a civilised society. They are defined by the spark that makes them humansomething we can all relate to. We become free to colour their words with our understanding of what it is to be human; and suddenly we see their beauty. You see; labels cripple the very thing we are so desperately trying to encourage in our society. Not only does it cripple the ability to be creative and critical thinkers, but it cripples the ability for each of us to see the beauty in one another. That is; the ability to look at them through the eyes of what it is to be a human being. Not as a democrat, a socialist, a liberal or labor supporter or even an Occupier; but simply as a human being. Thatchanges everything. We then permit ourselves to consider one another from a stand-point of an equal. It allows us to bestow upon them the same civility and respect that we expect for ourselves and from others. It is the seed of unity and the glue of cohesion that can strengthen any cause when it is reinforced through action. It allows us to wage a war of peace and drag our oppressors (albeit kicking and

screaming) into an unfamiliar territory and onto our battleground. That my brothers and sisters, has a real chance of wholesale change and peace.