Grace College Prof Visits Occupy Atlanta
July 28, 2016 at 4:25 p.m.
By Daniel [email protected]
In September, groups of people flocked to Wall Street in New York to protest things like corporatism, capitalism and the widening disparity in wealth between rich and poor.
Since then, similar movements have sprung up in cities throughout the country.
Teevan, who is the executive director of the Weber School at Grace College, teaches economics at the college as well.
His main function is providing education to inmates at Indiana prisons.
So far the program has educated 350 inmates.
Concepts like social justice aren’t foreign to Teevan considering what he does.
But the idea of economic justice was something that piqued his curiosity.
So he began researching and the recent trip to Atlanta allowed him to break in with the Occupy movement.
Teevan headed down to Woodruff Park near downtown Atlanta. It had been the spot for Occupy Atlanta but, during the middle of the night, 52 were arrested and others were forced out after an edict from Atlanta Mayor Kasim Reed.
On Wednesday, Teevan eventually touched base with Matt Magnuson and Roger Sikes, two of the protesters. When Teevan spoke with them, they had just been released from jail.
Magnuson told Teevan he had been camping at the Occupy demonstration for 17 nights with the goal to “bring down capitalism.”
“Matt, he would fit sort of the group that was dramatic,” said Teevan. “They were there for the drama. Sikes is more of an organizer. He writes for ‘Worker’s World.’ He’s been trying to organize different workers.”
When Teevan pushed Magnuson on his anti-capitalist views, he said, “Capitalism is OK, but the combination of our political system and capitalism works to corrupt the nation and to hurt life for ordinary people.”
Teevan came away viewing Magnuson as an “unfocused activist.”
His recent trip to Atlanta wasn’t his first encounter with activism.
While at Princeton in the 1960s where he studied to be an economist, Teevan saw firsthand the activism of the anti-war movement.
Shortly after he graduated in 1968, both Martin Luther King Jr. and Robert Kennedy were assassinated.
With tensions across the country already high, Teevan worked at the 1968 Democratic Convention in Chicago. That convention became infamous for rioting and violence between protesters and police.
“I remember somebody came in screaming, ‘They’re killing kids in Grant Park,’” said Teevan.
That led Teevan to give up on relying on political and economic solutions. That fall he enrolled in seminary. He was a pastor for more than 30 years.
In the early 1980s, Teevan became active in the Right To Life movement and formed social concerns committees among groups of churches.
Teevan employed healthy skepticism when he met with Occupy Atlanta protesters.
That was only solidified after lengthy discussions.
“I came at it from a curious point of view, somewhat skeptical,” said Teevan. “Now I’m all the more skeptical. Some of the intuitive ideas are fine. When you really get down and study it, it’s very different.”
Despite his skepticism, Teevan did see some comparisons between the anti-war movement of the late 1960s and the Occupy movement.
“They do compare. The old people I saw there are more in the nostalgia mode,” said Teevan. “It’s not really very happy. The younger guys are pretty unfocused. Wall Street is so vague. Nobody quite knows what they’re against.”
While there are no definitive plans yet for Teevan’s book, he will continue his research regarding social and economic justice. He will travel to Chicago Wednesday night to meet with the Acton Institute, a conservative, public policy organization.[[In-content Ad]]
In September, groups of people flocked to Wall Street in New York to protest things like corporatism, capitalism and the widening disparity in wealth between rich and poor.
Since then, similar movements have sprung up in cities throughout the country.
Teevan, who is the executive director of the Weber School at Grace College, teaches economics at the college as well.
His main function is providing education to inmates at Indiana prisons.
So far the program has educated 350 inmates.
Concepts like social justice aren’t foreign to Teevan considering what he does.
But the idea of economic justice was something that piqued his curiosity.
So he began researching and the recent trip to Atlanta allowed him to break in with the Occupy movement.
Teevan headed down to Woodruff Park near downtown Atlanta. It had been the spot for Occupy Atlanta but, during the middle of the night, 52 were arrested and others were forced out after an edict from Atlanta Mayor Kasim Reed.
On Wednesday, Teevan eventually touched base with Matt Magnuson and Roger Sikes, two of the protesters. When Teevan spoke with them, they had just been released from jail.
Magnuson told Teevan he had been camping at the Occupy demonstration for 17 nights with the goal to “bring down capitalism.”
“Matt, he would fit sort of the group that was dramatic,” said Teevan. “They were there for the drama. Sikes is more of an organizer. He writes for ‘Worker’s World.’ He’s been trying to organize different workers.”
When Teevan pushed Magnuson on his anti-capitalist views, he said, “Capitalism is OK, but the combination of our political system and capitalism works to corrupt the nation and to hurt life for ordinary people.”
Teevan came away viewing Magnuson as an “unfocused activist.”
His recent trip to Atlanta wasn’t his first encounter with activism.
While at Princeton in the 1960s where he studied to be an economist, Teevan saw firsthand the activism of the anti-war movement.
Shortly after he graduated in 1968, both Martin Luther King Jr. and Robert Kennedy were assassinated.
With tensions across the country already high, Teevan worked at the 1968 Democratic Convention in Chicago. That convention became infamous for rioting and violence between protesters and police.
“I remember somebody came in screaming, ‘They’re killing kids in Grant Park,’” said Teevan.
That led Teevan to give up on relying on political and economic solutions. That fall he enrolled in seminary. He was a pastor for more than 30 years.
In the early 1980s, Teevan became active in the Right To Life movement and formed social concerns committees among groups of churches.
Teevan employed healthy skepticism when he met with Occupy Atlanta protesters.
That was only solidified after lengthy discussions.
“I came at it from a curious point of view, somewhat skeptical,” said Teevan. “Now I’m all the more skeptical. Some of the intuitive ideas are fine. When you really get down and study it, it’s very different.”
Despite his skepticism, Teevan did see some comparisons between the anti-war movement of the late 1960s and the Occupy movement.
“They do compare. The old people I saw there are more in the nostalgia mode,” said Teevan. “It’s not really very happy. The younger guys are pretty unfocused. Wall Street is so vague. Nobody quite knows what they’re against.”
While there are no definitive plans yet for Teevan’s book, he will continue his research regarding social and economic justice. He will travel to Chicago Wednesday night to meet with the Acton Institute, a conservative, public policy organization.[[In-content Ad]]
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