The American Autumn and Arab Spring

United States ' Response to "Occupy Wall Street"

            2011 is sure to go down in the history books as a year filled with massive global political change.  Many countries all over the world are struggling to adjust to the global recession.  For example, some countries in the European Union are bordering on insolvency, like Spain, Italy, Ireland, and Greece.  Other countries in North Africa and the Middle East have taken the initial protest of inequality, in terms of economical policies, and have overthrown their unresponsive leaders, like Hosni Mubarak in Egypt.

            If you listen to America’s political pundits who are analyzing America’s "Occupy Wall Street," movement, one might get the impression they were talking about a country thousands of miles away.  Some of the comments to describe the protestors are, "they're anarchists" or "provocateurs."  America, in my opinion, has not seen this kind of unity concerning a social issue since the protests over the Vietnam War in the late 1960's and early 1970's.  The protestors call themselves the "99%" and are comprised of students, teachers, and general workers who number in the millions in dozens of American cities from coast to coast.  Their protests center on jobs, healthcare, education and housing

.  Are there folks who desire chaos and destruction?

 Yes, there are anarchists who have tried to incite violence and engaged in destruction of private property, but the vast majority of the protestors are practicing non-violent, civil disobedience and exercising their first amendment right of free speech.

.

            It appears there is a double standard being applied to the "Occupy Wall Street," movement by the mainstream media.  On the one hand, politicians voice their political support for Arabs protesting against autocratic leaders as average Arabic citizens demand social equality and economic prosperity.  However, on the other hand, the same politicians say and do nothing when it's the average middle class American citizen demanding an end to corporate greed and ineffectual government leaders. Some prominent Republican politicians like, Speaker of the House, John Boehner have described the protestors as "un-American" and "provocateurs."  Herman Cain, one of the Republican Presidential candidates, said to a news reporter that the demonstrators should, "get a job and stop bringing down America."  Ironically, many of the protestors cannot find a job and that's why they’re in the street protesting.

            Interestingly, up until now, no major Democratic politician has joined the movement or stated publically their support.  One of the reasons the "Occupy Wall Street" movement has spawned is that middle class Americans are realizing that the "system" is broken and that both political parties serve the interests of corporate America.  It's especially disheartening when the Democratic Party, which ideologically exists to represent the middle class and poor citizens, as well as other marginalized groups like the homeless and disabled, ends up serving the needs of Wall Street. 

            The frustration that the majority of Americans feel, after 25 years of corporate greed, has reached a boiling point.

            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.

Average Americans who normally do not engage in marches and organized protests have taken to the streets demanding change.  In my opinion, I believe the "Occupy Wall Street" movement is a healthy expression of dissatisfaction from average American citizens.  What started as a protest in Tunisia in May of 2011, has led to revolution in that country as well as others like Yemen, Libya, and Egypt.

 Computers and cell phones have spread the messages’ of politically disaffected people throughout the globe uniting them in their global struggle against greed and corruption.

                As the United States struggles with the unrelenting recession and its consequences, a glimmer of hope emerges as new ideas and ways of thinking are sweeping the nation in the voices of the “wall street occupiers.” The message of the growing movement is not the overthrow of the American Way of Life or a rejection of the “free market economy”, but rather, the rejection of greed and a desire for a society based on social justice with fairness and equality for everyone, not just the “1%”. All of humanities greatest cultures like the Mayan, Roman, Egyptian and Asian empires have all had to respond to the needs of their citizens in order to have historical longevity. Sometimes citizens have demanded freedom, social justice, and equality by violent means as in the French Revolution when the government protected the “1%” and let the “99%” starve.

In a civilized society non-violent protests have been part of the world’s legacy as preached by Gandhi, Mandela, and Martin. The “occupy wall street” movement is America’s call for economic and social change, and an opportunity to mature into a great civilization based on liberty, justice and equality.