I’ve tried to refrain from writing about the movement that’s been going on for nearly a month now because admittedly I’ve had a hard time myself just trying to separate the message from the noise, but after spending a little more time watching videos and even reading about our own local involvement, I think I’m starting to get a better grasp of my own perspective here and I wanted to take a few moments to talk about it…
Originally I found myself getting hung up on the less informed because like it or not, there do appear to be a number of folks on the ground in various cities who really don’t have a clear understanding of what they’re against and what they’re trying to accomplish – at least not beyond “Corporate Greed = Bad,” anyways. And it doesn’t help that these are the people who many in the media are quick to put on TV because it’s a great way to drive the argument that these are just a bunch of unemployed hippies and college students who’ve got nothing better to do than sit around and bang their drums in the park all day.
That said, I don’t think that this is a fair representation of what’s taking place here because there are always some like that in every crowd.
Instead, taking a closer look what I do see is a group of extraordinarily frustrated Americans who are fed up with our current society and feel helpless as a number of issues swirl around them with little regard for their own interests as fellow citizens. Our economy is shot and people are having a hard time finding jobs, despite plunging themselves tens of thousands of dollars into debt for student loans; a lot of people are losing their homes due to irresponsible lending from the housing boom, yet no real repercussions were ever really felt by those involved; and the divide between the ultra rich and the commoners continues to grow, all the while legislation continues to serve those corporations at the top while further citing more and more cuts from the actual people at the bottom.
And then to have to hear groups like the Tea Party citing that they’re all just bums who should go out and work harder if they’re not happy because that’s what all of the millionaires and billionaires did – I can kind of understand why they’d start to feel like the cards are stacked against them!
On one hand, I certainly do agree that success should come as a result of hard work and dedication, and I don’t want to discount that by somehow implying that I think that this crowd just wants handouts and a free ride. Quite the contrary, I think the frustration lies in watching other people get handouts and continue to get propped up, giving each other huge bonuses and drinking champagne on the backs of people whose livelihoods they gambled with, while they’re left without any recourse because the corrupt Wall Street bankers have a corrupt Congress to back them up, who are then supported by hordes of followers who’ve been brainwashed into thinking that this is just how life goes.
But I guess ultimately what I’m still having some trouble wrapping my arms around is the idea of where we’re supposed to go from here, and frankly, this is where my own ignorance with regards to protests throughout history gets the best of me because as moving as it is to see tens of thousands of people around the country all banding together to say, “We’re mad as hell and we’re not going to take it anymore!”, I’m still left scratching my head as to what happens next. I mean, we’ve seen some, but not a lot of people get arrested, we’ve seen local businesses “irritated” by the occupations around the country and local governments trying to figure out ways to “get rid of the problem.” Luckily there hasn’t really been much for violence yet, except for a few isolated incidents, mostly in NYC itself, but at the end of the day, they can’t just sit in the park holding their signs of injustice forever…
Can they???
The thing is, I’m still blind as to what the real trigger for actual change needs to be. The corrupt bankers certainly aren’t just going to stop what they do – most have done little more than snicker from balconies overlooking the protests, which I guess fits because they’ve continued to get away with what they did while they watch below to see the police smacking down the angry mobs that have gathered for them. The politicians and lobbyists are all still in business, and aren’t likely to be voted out as long as we remain such a polarized nation, either.
Is it a legislative change, a sudden surge of ethics among corporate America, the realization that “socialism” can also be as simple as figuring out how to live in a society together instead of the big, scary word that many would like to suggest? Any of the above?? All of the above???
I honestly don’t have a clue, but I’m definitely starting to get a little more curious about the direction that this thing is going. What if it really is the start of something BIG…