Time
Can anyone tell me why the latest issue of Time Magazine went out to the rest of the world with a cover photo and story of the Tahrir Square protests, and yet, in the United States - land of freedom of speech, and freedom of the press - our cover story is Anxiety? Who called for this, and why? Could this be a little whitewash so we don't look to closely to what is going on in our own streets, or the hypocrisy being shown by our leaders?
One of the biggest messages of those who oppose OWS has been that there is no message, that the occupy movement is confused, incoherent, and directionless. If this is so, why the crackdowns?
Can someone tell me why a group of Tea Party protesters who all were carrying firearms were not dispersed or confronted by police, yet, across the nation peaceful, unarmed protesters, relying on the protection of their first amendments rights have been brutalized by police? (not saying that these folks don't have the right to carry their firearms, or to protest, but does that seem a little odd to you?)
(two things to notice - the sign on the armed dog could definitely be seen as a threat to the President of the United States. 2. A lot of the signs say the same thing as OWS protesters signs do...)
The Tea Party folks feel like they have been taxed enough already, that seems to be their message. Don't tax me. They don't support taxes for anyone, not even the richest of the rich in this country, people who have escaped paying their fair share of taxes and contributing to the infrastructure of this country for a long time... people who are the reason the teapartiers, and the rest of us pay so much taxes. But according to them no one should pay taxes! The streets will just magically pave themselves. The ambulances, and fire engines, and police will just magically show up on their own. The schools will magically have all that they need to educate our kids. Everything will be fine, just don't touch my teabag. These are the same folks that are so fond of parroting that OWS has no message... but.
OWS definitely has a message, and it is a dangerous one. It's one that those in power don't want to hear, and they are doing everything they can to dilute it, diffuse it, derail it, redirect it and keep it out of the public ear.
If you haven't read this article in the Guardian By Naomi Wolf about the Crackdown on Occupy, then you need to, even if you think the OWS protesters are freeloaders.
If that is a little too pithy, then check out this explanation On Venturebeat using Hershey's Kisses.
Now, before you use the serf's favorite argument that this is all class warfare and the 99% are all just jealous of what the 1% have (we are such deadbeats), let me just quote Audiophile666's comment on this page, she/he sums it up nicely.
"The thing that people often forget to mention here is that the financial sector got bailed out in an undeniably Socialist solution to a capitalist problem-- and the plan was made by a Republican president! It can make your brain hurt, for sure. Especially when the democratic president following him had to be the one to administer the bailout.
But let's not forget the Federal Reserve's extra special secret loans to the biggest banks: http://sanders.senate.gov/news...
... also the blatant conflict of interest of the Fed's "board of governors" ... and the fact that the original bailout was hatched by several government officials who had previously served as either CEO's or on the board of directors of many of the financial institutions in the first place.
OR how about the fact that mostly these problems got so big because of lobbying to remove sensible sector divisions, or to prevent regulation of derivatives, which are more or less just bets... or extreme leveraging of assets by these huge institutions... Or for the fraud for packaging toxic assets in CDO's and selling them to everybody as AAA rated products and then betting against them...
What about the people who got caught in the crossfire and lost their jobs or homes or suddenly had the rug pulled out from under them? They received no bailout. And those that are receiving "benefits"? Those benefits are by no means "lavish".
Oh yes... And after all of this lobbying to become huger than ever, and after the fraud and collusion, and the greed and the bait-and-switch loan terms and reckless endangerment by excessive leveraging and "creative accounting" and the crashing of what is, essentially, the world economy....
Yes, you got it. The 99% is merely envious of what the 1% has.
#sarcasmalert
Also, the 1%-- just a figure that came up when the 2010 Census revealed that there are now more people in the US living under the poverty level than at any time since the Great Depression... while the richest are richer than they've been at any time since the 1920's.
Coincidence? ...probably not. Check out google's news archive- scanned newspapers- from 1929 and so forth. They read a lot like today's... "
Occupy stepped on some toes by noticing what was going on in the financial and political sectors, and getting pissed off about it. You should be pissed off about it too. Whether you like strapping a gun on, or sitting at home watching TV, or standing in front of your city hall with a sign... we are all American Citizens, and we all stand to lose. We all need to stand up and say something.
Look, Phillip of Macedon perfected the technique, he even coined the phrase... Divide and Conquer. He knew, when ruling the Greeks, that breaking a nation into small factions would make it easy to manage and control... that preventing these groups from agreeing, and thereby joining forces, would allow him to rule without opposition, and he could do basically whatever he wanted. Does this sound familiar?
That's basically what is happening in our country right now, and it's been going on for a long time. We have a two party system that does everything in its power to keep the populace ideologically opposed, waging a propaganda war at each other while congress, corporations, and the wealthiest .01% keep getting richer.
Phillip didn't have the tools that the ruling class have today. Of these tools, the media is the most powerful. The media shapes opinions, influences judgement and decision making, controls through fear, and very effectively keeps the American people separate and suspicious of each other. This country is more polarized than it has ever been, and the insidious propagation of the belief that coming together for the common good is somehow tantamount to communism (which most people don't understand and are typically erroneous in defining, however the word carries Cold War power and implies something distinctly unAmerican and 'wrong'), perpetuates that division. Political candidates, rather than speaking to facts and issues, speak hyperbolized rhetoric and fabrications, engaging in a trumped up blame game that keeps our heads spinning, but offers no solution to our problems. Where once an opposing opinion was respected, it is now looked upon with venemous hatred, the bearer of the opinion is accused of "hating America."
Let me just take a little detour on this "hating America" thing for a sec. I support OWS. I am what most would consider a liberal, with all that the word implies. I love my country. My father, and his father, and his father, and his father before him fought for and served this country. I learned civics, and understand my responsibilities as a citizen of this country. I vote, and I exercise my rights. I am an American, and I defy anyone to tell me that I hate the United States. How dare anyone make that assertion. The banks and corporations and politicians who are making a profit off the backs of the people of this country are the haters, and they need to answer to someone. Now, back to the point.
We are being duped, all of us. It's time to stop listening to the crap that the powers that be are feeding us and make a stand. It is time to demand, not a hand out.. not redistribution of wealth, or class warfare, or any of the other ridiculous claims made by those who oppose OWS... but justice, fair treatment, and adherence to the law. It is time to take back America, OUR America... and turn it into the country we believed it to be... the land of the free, with a government of, by, and for the people. It is time for banks and speculators to be regulated so that they do no more damage to our economy. It is time for the people responsible for the financial collapse to go to jail. It is time to reign in congress and hold them accountable for their abuses, on both sides of the aisle. It is time to bring this country back to where people can be successful and have an actual chance to live the American dream that we all have been told to aspire to our entire lives. And while we are at it, lets realize that the dream is not about how much merchandise you can purchase, but about a quality of life, and pursuit of happiness.
I was raised to believe that we are the good guys. That our government stood on principles set forth by our founding fathers. That there is the rule of law, and it is steadfast. Why do I occupy? Because I want this to be the truth. I don't want my government to have the power or inclination to use force against its citizens in an effort to silence them when they cry out for redress of wrongs. I don't want the people who hold offices that should be considered a privilege using those offices for profit at the expense and detriment of their constituency. My parents taught me that this nation was great, and that sacrifice was necessary to keep it great, and that we had a duty and responsibility to defend our rights and the rights of those that come after us. I would be remiss if I kept silent... you are remiss if you keep silent.
Speaking of Founding Fathers... lots of people out there like to speculate on what they did or did not intend for this country... but one thing is certain.
Until 1956 the de facto motto of the United States of America was E Pluribus Unum... Out of many, one.
It is time to take up that motto again, because THAT is what the Founding Fathers intended for this nation, so much so that they put the words on the Great Seal of the United States. We, the American people, are being conquered, and it is time to see past the divisions, and again become UNITED states.
We like to call the WWII generation the "Greatest Generation." Perhaps it is because they exemplify E Pluribus Unum the best. A nation united under a common goal, for the common good.
For the common good. For the general welfare. For the people. These words are not socialist, they are not communist... they are American. They are found in the Constitution of the United States, a document in peril.
I used to say the Constitution was a "self repairing document," meaning that it was authored so that future generations could continue to improve upon it and the country. So many times we have... the Bill of Rights, abolition of slavery, votes for African Americans,votes for women, civil rights, equal rights...
Is it still? Can it get past what our own politicians, on both sides, are doing to it? Is it still worth standing up for? Is it worth looking past your individual differences to become united in the cause of reinstilling the truth and transparency into our governing process, of returning it to the hands of the people?
I think so.
