Occupation On The Street

Image by david_shankbone via FlickrIt began as a small protest at a park near New York's Wall Street, the financial capital of America.  Then it spread to other cities across the country to a degree that hasn't been seen since the anti-Vietnam War demonstrations of the 1960s.

They call themselves Occupy Wall Street, and they're protesting against what they see as the corporate takeover of the United States at the expense of the ordinary folks they claim to represent.  Their list of complaints go like this:  How politicians have been bought and sold by corporations.  How many jobs are being created overseas and eliminated here.  Why banks and corporations get a bailout and the rest of us do not.  Why more financial profiteers besides Bernie Madoff deserve to be in prison after the collapse of 2008.  And why the rich should be paying more taxes than they already do.

Republicans have largely pooh-poohed the movement, essentially telling the protesters to get a life.  Democrats are offering their support--sort of.  And the rest of the country is looking on with puzzled expressions.

The mainstream media is owned by several large corporations, many of whom happen to have a presence on Wall Street.  That's why you haven't seen much coverage of Occupy Wall Street, unless you're a devotee of "Countdown with Keith Olbermann" on Current TV, which has offered extensive coverage.  In between the networks' coverage of Amanda Knox's acquittal and the death of Steve Jobs, the media only gets interested when there's conflict.  A little police brutality here (to date, hundreds of demonstrators have been arrested), pepper spray there, and soon you'll have fodder for the Six O'Clock News.  "If it bleeds, it leads", you know.

Occupy Wall Street claims to represent the 99 percent of us who aren't rich and never will be.  They're not unlike members of the Tea Party except that they don't wear funny costumes, wear their racism on their sleeves, or are funded by corporate backers.  And just like the Tea Partiers, the protesters we've seen seem to be 99 percent white.

Fortunately for Occupy Wall Street, there is a Democratic President in the White House.  Had someone like George W. Bush or any other Republican been President, there would have been a crackdown under the Patriot Act to rival, let's say, Syria, China or Iran.

Forgotten in all this is that we've just reached the 10th anniversary of the American military invasion of Afghanistan.  How come nobody's protesting that?  Oh, that's right.  We love Our Troops, even though they haven't done a damn thing to earn it.

Folks, this isn't 1968.  We appreciate what Occupy Wall Street is trying to do, but it may be too little and too late.  Wall Street is more concerned about computer hackers and European countries defaulting on their loans right now.   Politicians aren't going to give up the money and influence they get from their corporate backers, thus they're not going to stop passing legislation favorable to Big Business.  Banks will just keep raising fees and foreclose on more houses.

Oh, and one more thing:  You think it's tough trying to get a job now?  It'll be doubly harder when potential employers find out that not only did you participate in the marches, but that you were thrown in jail as well.  Not a good thing to put on your resume, unless you're planning a new career in activism.