WINDS OF CHANGE
2011 is sure to go down in the history books as a year filled with massive political and economic upheaval. The winds of change have been blowing around the globe. Starting in Tunisia in May 2011, this change became known as the Arab Spring. Global outrage from ordinary citizens could be heard on every continent, from North Africa to the Middle East, and from Europe to the United States spawning our own movement known as, Occupy Wall Street.
The first breezes of the winds of change began in Tunisia, when a vegetable peddler had his vendor’s license revoked by Tunisian beaurocrats. Government workers confiscated Mr. Mohammed Bouzizi’s pushcart, depriving him of the means to make a living. His protest was self-immolation and was the spark that ignited a world wide protest towards corrupt government officials, greed and social injustice.
For the next several months, the Arab Spring spread to Egypt, Libya, Syria, Yemen, Bahrain, and Algeria. Indeed, the winds of change ultimately toppled both the governments of Egypt and Libya, whose dictators enjoyed decades of stealing billions of dollars from their countrymen, and caused massive unrest in other Arabic countries..
Middle Eastern countries, like the one’s mentioned, used to blame their country’s economic problems on the West. Who is the West? The West are countries that have free-market economies. For example, the United States, most of Europe, Australia, Canada, and Israel have been perceived by some Arabic countries as economic and political adversaries. They also are seen as ideological enemies because most of the West is Christian, and parts of the Middle East and North Africa are Muslim.
The fascinating part of the winds of change is that, these revolutions occurred because of internal pressure. Corrupt leaders like Gaddafi in Libya, Mubarak in Egypt, and Assad in Syria, could not blame American hegemony, or Israeli Zionists, as the instigators of their internal protests. It was Arabs wanting and demanding change from corrupt leaders who were only interested in power and enriching themselves at the expense of their society.
For the first time in years, main stream media outlets showed, in real time, large demonstrations in these countries without the usual American flag- burning and slogans chanting, “Down with America.” In Egypt, the use of the internet and cell phones helped spread the message of change, and linked the globe as millions watched a revolution in the making and the birth of democracy.
The winds of change did not limit itself to North Africa and the Middle East, but spread north to Europe as well. The twenty seven countries of the European Union are still reeling from the effects of the global recession and the unintended consequences of the Arab Spring. As a United Nations diplomat, Gunter Gloser said, “It is – if another reason is needed – why we in Europe must engage in a genuinely open dialogue with the Arab world on democracy, the rule of law and the social market economy (World).”
European countries like Italy, Spain, and Greece compete daily for headline news as their own citizens take to the streets to protest what they perceive as social injustice. As these countries practice world wide capitalism, inequities in wealth and political power have galvanized ordinary citizens to march in protest.
Similarly, these countries are not bemoaning immigration across LAX boarders as their cause of economic upheaval, but, rather towards its country’s systematic policies of large banks, corporations and the political leaders who protect them. Like the AIDS virus that started in Africa and spread to every continent on the globe, the Arab Spring, and its clarion call for freedom and democracy, likewise, has spread from North Africa to the Middle East, and to Europe and America.
The winds of change have crossed the Atlantic Ocean and swept its breezes across the country. In New York, on September 17, 2011, in a little park called Zuccotti Park, the Arab Spring morphed into the American version, now known as the Occupy Wall Street Movement (Occupy). What started as a protest against social and economical inequality, high unemployment, corporate greed, and political corruption, has turned into an indictment of corporate greed and its corruptive influence on democracy. Wall Street banks are a metaphor for the same kinds of abusive power that Arabs are protesting in Egypt’s, Tahir Square and throughout the Middle East.
If you listen to the American pundits who are analyzing our Occupy Wall Street movement, one might get the impression they were talking about a country thousands of miles away. Some of the comments you hear describe the protestors as, “anarchists,” or “provocateurs.” America, in my opinion has not seen this kind of unity around a social issue since the protests over the Vietnam War in the late 1960’s and early 1970’s. The protestors are called the “99%” and are comprised of students, teachers and general workers and are made up of millions of people in dozens of American cities. Their protests are centered on jobs, healthcare, education, and housing. Yes, there are anarchists that have tried to incite violence and who advocate destruction of private property, but the vast majority of the protestors are practicing non-violent civil disobedience. They are also exercising their first amendment right of free speech and the right to assemble peacefully.
Not since the sixties have the winds of change so captivated a sleeping population. The civil rights movement and the Vietnam War galvanized a nation into action and forced our political leaders to make significant political and economic changes.
The Occupy Wall Street movement has spread to every corner of America as ordinary citizens say, “enough is enough.” Every socioeconomic class has been affected by the policies of large corporations, especially banks, oil companies, insurance companies, and weapons manufacturers. More importantly, our Democratic system and its two political parties have become corrupted by the influence of corporate money.
Since 1886, in the case of Santa Clara County v. Southern Pacific Railroad, corporations are now regarded as persons (Supreme). This “corporate – personhood” affords the same rights of the Constitution to corporations as they do for individuals. What this means dear reader, is that corporations have the right to privacy, free speech and the pursuit of happiness.
Further, because our politicians are elected using campaign contributions, the moral and humanist candidates will often lose to the better financed ones who are now beholden to their corporate donors.
The winds of change were blowing favorably back in 1886 for corporations, and again recently in January 2010. Those same winds of change blew a dark cloud on the average citizen. In the case of Citizen United v. Federal Election Committee, the court affirmed the corporations’ right to donate huge sums of money during elections, thus compromising the results as winning mostly goes to the highest bidder.
This Corporate influence is the main complaint of the Occupy Wall Street movement. The winds of change are indeed blowing, as students, teachers, senior citizens, and others march in solidarity as the 99%.
America has taken notice despite a steady diet of TV, movies, and sports, which keeps our society passive and compliant. Drugs and alcohol are not the only medications that keep our culture immobile and impotent. The events such as Occupy Wall Street that manifested in city after city are merely the expression of deep anxiety, frustration and rage that our citizens feel towards corporate America and our elected officials. Sometimes the winds of change come with a price. Freedom is not free and at times like these, with daily demonstrations from the Occupy movement, it reminds us that our society is vibrant and healthy. Our constitution is a dynamic document that is alive and flexible. Political and cultural change is sometimes messy and often disruptive. The women’s right to vote movement and the Civil Rights movements were messy and disruptive. The movement to end the Vietnam War was messy and disruptive. Each of these events produced significant, historical, economic and social changes in our society and empowered formally marginalized people. This is the nature of change. It needs to be embraced, nurtured and understood in a historical context.
It appears that the winds of change are blowing all across the world, including New York, Oakland, and the City by the Bay.
