I didn’t want to be a f—-ing pop star. I wanted to be a protest singer.
- Sinead O’Connor
There may be times when we are powerless to prevent injustice, but there must never be a time when we fail to protest.
- Elie Wiesel
There’s something wonderful going on in New York these days. That’s it’s spreading across the country ought to cause thinking people to consider the meaning of. Occupy Wall Street is a movement that I think should be starting conversations across the country. I’m not sure if this is the start of something that will resonate with Americans from all walks of life or not. At the very least, it should be forcing us to reflect on why we are where we are, how we got here, and who’s responsible for getting us here. It’s not necessarily about assessing blame, but it is about changing a system that seeks to enrich a select few at the expense of the many. If this is what constitutes “revolution”, then so be it.
….#OCCUPYWALLSTREET is a people powered movement for democracy that began in America on September 17 with an encampment in the financial district of New York City. Inspired by the Egyptian Tahrir Square uprising and the Spanish acampadas, we vow to end the monied corruption of our democracy … join us!
It’s difficult to take a good look around and not be left with the sense that something needs to change. We simply can’t continue to live in a world governed by those who worship Ayn Rand’s Objectivism as the highest and best social order. We can’t continue to prosper in a world in which the gap between the “haves” and “have nots” grows ever wider. We can’t create a future in which the vast majority works to support the greed and avarice of a very few. We can’t continue to be a great people and a great country when compassion is considered a weakness and generosity of spirit is derided as “Socialism”.
A country geared toward perpetuating a system predicated on inequality is a country in decline…and that, I fear, is where America is heading unless We the People force change upon the system.
Occupy Wall Street is a movement rife with problems, inconsistencies, and disorganization. There appears to be little in the way of a centralized leadership, there have been no demands. Does that render the movement irrelevant? Not hardly. Tahrir Square could have been described in much the same way…and look where it got Egypt.
If you listen to the mainstream media, all that’s evident in the movement is anger and dissatisfaction with the system. Because of the loose, disorganized nature of the protests, it’s been easy for the corporate mainstream media to mock and dismiss the protests as irrelevant and pointless. Some Right-wing pundits have arrogantly dismissed Occupy Wall Street as “The Left’s Pathetic Tea Party”. In doing so, all the naysayers have done is provide fuel for the protests. Of course, the corporate media is threatened by Occupy Wall Street; their bottom line is dependent on maintaining the status quo. As for the Right-wing pundits, if I’ve said it once I’ve said it a thousand times: smug arrogance does not a convincing argument make. Conflating the words of one wooly-headed protester into a mantra for an entire movement may serve the ends of those who would maintain the status quo, but it doesn’t define Occupy Wall Street. Nor should it.
The fact that NYPD has seriously and repeatedly overreacted should be taken as proof that the Establishment really is threatened by what’s happening in their midst…and they should be threatened. It’s not violence that protesters are looking for, it’s change. And change is never easy when it’s contemplated on a wide scale. In this case, it’s about neutralizing the greed and avarice of a small segment of Americans for the Greater Good. And what is that Greater Good? How about an America where social justice isn’t considered a quaint notion without practical application? How about an America where your access to quality health care isn’t dependent on the contents of your bank account? How about an America not ruled by greed and self-interest, that recognizes that community means we’re better together than as individuals? How about an America that recognizes that we bear a responsibility to care for the least among us? How about an America where all-consuming greed and avarice aren’t the defining characteristics of those at the top of the economic food chain? If we cannot find it within ourselves to care for the poor, the disabled, the sick, and others in need of a hand, what claim do we really have to humanity?
In a very real sense, Occupy Wall Street is an opportunity for you to decide which side you’re on…and this isn’t a conflict where fence-sitting is feasible or even possible.
I don’t know what the ultimate outcome of Occupy Wall Street will be. Will it be our Prague Spring? Our Tahrir Square? Or will it eventually be beaten into submission by those who work on behalf of the oligarchy? Time will tell, of course, but to quote a trite, overused phrase, every journey begins with a single step. We can’t know just yet what journey this single step will set us upon, but I think we’re about to witness history being made. I can only hope that history will record this as an instance where the People decided they’d had enough and forced change upon the country. It’s time.
WE DESERVE BETTER.
