Sean O'Flynn-Magee was homeless before City of Vancouver named him in Occupy Vancouver court document
On the first day of the Occupy Vancouver protest, Sean O'Flynn-Magee said that he was in for the long haul.
The City of Vancouver has gone to court against a well-educated man who decided to be homeless for a documentary film.
The city's notice of application against Occupy Vancouver protesters names Sean O'Flynn-Magee, Jane Joe, and John Doe as defendants. In the legal proceedings, civic officials are seeking a court order to remove tents from the front of the Vancouver Art Gallery.
I happened to spend quite a bit of time talking to O'Flynn-Magee on the first day of the Occupy Vancouver demonstration on October 15.
"I was one of the first ones to arrive last night," he told me two hours before the protest was set to officially begin. "I don't plan on leaving any time before the end."
O'Flynn-Magee, 27, told me that he had previously studied political science at UBC. And he expressed frustration over media reports saying there wasn't a clear and coherent message coming out of the occupy movement.
"There is a bunch of people who know there isn't something quite right about this world," he said. "For some people, it's income inequality. For some people, it's ongoing environmental degradation. For some people, it's wars that our countries are fighting."
What intrigued me the most was his decision to try to learn more about homelessness by living in the streets. He and a friend, Vancouver Film School grad James Kirkpatrick, decided to make a film on the subject because they felt that their friends didn't know much about the issue.
On October 15, Kirkpatrick explained that they rounded up four other young people to also go homeless for a while, and he started filming. In less than a month, O'Flynn-Magee was the only one left on the streets.
They both said that they've learned a great deal from homeless people.
"There is this gentleman named William, who lives in a shelter at First United [Church]," Kirkpatrick revealed. "He is absolutely brilliant. He has been on the street for a very long time. A lot of the ideas he has to help his peers are brilliant. We want to track him down. We want to help bring some of those ideas to light."
Kirkpatrick said that O'Flynn-Magee went back to a tourism job after three weeks in the streets. After a few days, O'Flynn-Magee decided it wasn't for him, and chose to be homeless again.
"It has been jaw-droppingly eye opening," he conceded.
He said he felt sick on his first night. On a couple of other occasions, he was soaked in the rain.
"I tried to make a little shanty," he recalled. "The shanty fell apart. I'm not much of a shanty maker."
But he also described many enjoyable times, and characterized the experience of homelessness as "positive".
"It has been very stimulating," O'Flynn-Magee said. "I've been finding myself able to adapt to what I need to do in the world to satisfy my needs and desires. So it has been really cool."
At that point, he hadn't stayed in any shelters because he didn't want to take space from somebody who might need it more. Instead, he slept in parks, doorways, alleys, and on beaches. Over weekends, he slept on school grounds.
"I had a shopping cart for a while that I discovered on my journey," O'Flynn-Magee said. "I got robbed a few times when I wasn't around it. I haven't felt any danger. I'm a strong believer that violence happens when people want something from you. I don't have anything that most people would want, so there is nothing that would warrant a violent confrontation. I feel safe."
He acknowledged that he tended to sleep wherever he ended his night, because then he wouldn't have to shell out $2.50 on transit to get to another destination. To raise money, he would put out a sign offering free advice. Sometimes, people would give him tips.
"I tend to do pretty well," he said. "I certainly don't need most of the money I make, so I end up passing it back to people on the street."
O'Flynn-Magee said his parents aren't too worried by his decision to live in the streets. He admitted with a smile that his mother was more concerned on the day that he called from Turkey earlier this year to say he was going to travel to Iraq.
"She kind of likes that I'm close to home," he stated.
O'Flynn-Magee said there's lots of food available for people living on the street. He's been impressed by the generosity of Vancouverites, who share their leftovers after they leave restaurants. In addition, he said that people can have a nutritious meal at the Carnegie Centre for $3.
Only once did the police make him move, and even then, he said, they were pleasant. But he also noted that he has not tried being homeless outside of Vancouver city limits, where he would have to deal with the RCMP.
O'Flynn-Magee said that the homeless come from many different backgrounds. Some, he claimed, want to live outside and don't want to "participate in the mechanisms of society".
"Just as there are some people who want to have a home, there are people who don't have that same sort of attachment," he said. "You meet these guys who pick up cans in Kitsilano. They do their own thing. They are lone wolves. They get their cans. They get their money. They sleep on the beach. You talk to them. Life's not bad. They're not complaining about things."
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Comments
Your Sebby misses you!
If you're bright, you could be a nurse, a doctor, an architect, a lawyer, etc. etc. We need those people, you know, to serve others.
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0758758/
Perhaps Sean should have enrolled in an English class instead of Political Science - his grammar is atrocious.
Sean is a bright kid, he decided to be a non-joiner of the game. Back when I first immigrated here, our community had much compassion for the homeless. Now we just blame them for all our troubles. It sickens me what we've become.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IMheNLq97D4
Did he? Or is he simply a parasitic game-player?
"O'Flynn-Magee said there's lots of food available for people living on the street. He's been impressed by the generosity of Vancouverites, who share their leftovers after they leave restaurants."
So, absent "the game", do you think there would be as many restaurants, as much food available? Absent health codes, how safe would it be? And here is the big one: water. Absent "the game" called the Waterworks, do you think that water out there is safe to drink in quantity sufficient for us all?
I am all for drop-outs. And Sean from this article seems like he could get a job, if he wanted it. He could have a "normal" life playing 'the game' as you call it. That he does not means less competition for people who 'play the game,' so he is acting in their interest, to a degree. The interest he is not acting in is that of the general safety of the people. We do not have enough doctors or nurses, for example. Men are under-represented in the nursing profession. I don't know if he's bright enough to do those things, but if he is, it's pretty sad that he is not.
Further, I don't see who blames the homeless for all their troubles. I think people mostly want to get away from the ridiculous cultural theory view of the homeless/disaffected which says "they are irresponsible. Only institutions are responsible for poor quality of life." If people, especially the homeless, are unwilling to accept responsibility for their own lives, they will forever live in a state of infantile dependency. And as Sean illustrates, that is possible---largely due to the true love and charity of others.
— Henry David Thoreau
Outlook varies with the individual.
Life is the great leveler.
What a privileged arsehole. I wonder if he will give away any inheritance that mummy or daddy might lay on him?
So easy to drop out, when you have have alternatives, and enablers, on standby.
????
I'm surprised by the negative comments, he certainly seems a little rough around the edges but also seems to be genuine in his desire to help and better understand others.