“You can never have a revolution in order to establish a democracy. You must have a democracy in order to have a revolution.” G. K. Chesteron
I love the Occupy phenomena. I love that the group of young people who all we over 40 folk said had no enthusiasm, no backbone and no focus in life are out there. They are loud, they are thinking and it is wonderful. Occupy Wall Street started as a small group on September 17, 2011 and has moved on to a global phenomena, Occupy Together. Today, October 17, 2011, Occupy Wall Street marks one month of occupation of Liberty Square and celebrated successful day of global action on October 15, 2011. And it has grown to include people of all ages, occupations and races. There is an innocence to it. Maybe.
Why has this grown so quickly and why have so many jumped on this bandwagon? Well the reason is two fold, but number one is that finally, instead of be quiet and listen, to your parents, to your teachers, to your politicians, the young are being asked to use their voices and tell us their thoughts and wishes. Many more mature individuals, from their own past experiences, say this cannot work. But Rosa Parks was one woman who had enough and sat in the “white” section of the bus. I am sure the original suffragettes were laughed at and yet, today things have progressed after civil rights and women’s rights movement. Can there be such a thing as a World Rights Movement?
From a group of small protestors Occupying, rather than waving signs around and leaving, one square this has gone viral with protests and occupations against the 1% have spread around the world. One of the things that has really made this work has been the “General Assembly” at OWS. This has been based on other general assemblies in Spain and other countries. One thing people have been missing in our governmental process is that no one, including myself, feel that they are making their voices heard or that they are having an impact. The General Assembly meetings have been very creative. NYC said they could not use amplifiers, and instead they used human microphones, as demonstrated here in this link. And even the New York General Assembly have their own webpage, NYCGA.net. People communicate via hand signals when proposals are brought forward to quietly show support, disagreement, point of process, or to block a proposal. There are smaller working groups to facilitate everything from sanitation to media to communication. People get to have their voice heard, their opinions heard, and try to work toward the world they would have. And have no doubt that this is popular. After fighting to find a job and not succeeding, after saving for retirement in stocks and bonds and finding out you’ve been duped, it’s very satisfying to point a finger of wrong-doing. Yes, corporate America has grabbed as much wealth as it could and the 1% have manipulated politics, the economy and more. But the answer simply can’t be to super size everyone’s bank account or to super size the occupy revolution.
They have come up with a beautiful, idealistic and almost poetic Declaration of the Occupation of New York City. From the declaration, “As we gather together in solidarity to express a feeling of mass injustice, we must not lose sight of what brought us together. We write so that all people who feel wronged by the corporate forces of the world can know that we are your allies.”
Wronged by the corporate forces of the world. This is an interesting statement, for in the past, the advancements of corporations helped us to have a better life. They were our employers and provided us with pensions in our old age. We respected them and they respected us. But somewhere, everything made a left turn, and jobs are outsourced, manufacturing is moved to foreign countries where the people may be treated unjustly for a higher profit, and “We the People” have lost our voice. Corporations were not always as evil as the Occupy Movement say they are. Where did we lose our way? I think understanding this turning point is key to turning our economy around.
“After the Revolution, things will be different. Not better. Not worse. Just different.” A historian friend quoted this at me many years ago, and I can’t find the source. Hopefully this movement will not make this merely different. Hopefully we are listening to ourselves, and can start by living our lives ethically and truthfully. The little things do count.
Oh, and yes, I said there were two reasons why this movement spread so fast. There is the dark side to the Occupy Movement, it’s shadow brother Anonymous. One of the appealing things of the Occupy Movement is its spontanity. The rising up of the people’s voice, uncontrolled and unmanipulated…or is it? In a video by Anonymous released on June 15, 2011 it set forth a three phase plan. First was to educate yourself about the violations of freedom and human rights and to discover the oppressors. Then approximately 5 months, later phase two. Funny October 15 and the global occupy movement arises, spontaneously, at the time of phase two as suggested in this video. Anonymous states, “We will give them a year they will never forget.” I wonder, who is behind “us”, and who are “we”. It is easy to ride the crest of this movement like a surfer on a big wave. I love that corporate America and the mainstream media has at least noticed that the majority out there are unsatisfied and we have noticed when they have sucked profits out of the country like vampires feasting on the blood of a victim, and the victim, is dying from their actions.
But can you remember who was also against Wall Street? Who also wanted the financial system of the West to fall? Osama Bin Laden, remember? You cannot destroy an infrastructure without having one to replace it. Dreams and wishes are great, but revolutions are dangerous. Be careful what you ask for. Work honestly and truthfully for constructive dialogue and do not be caught up in the excitement without constructive thought. We need ethics, and we need justice. Just make sure they come from “us” and are not being manipulated by another force, as there are those who would like to see democracy die.
