I will be the first person to tell you that it is important to say something when you disagree. Whether it be at your job where you might feel like a new policy is unfair or with your spouse who has a different idea behind your budget, it is crucial as a human being with thoughts and ideas to express them. If you stand idly by as other people dictate your life, you might be alive, but you are not living.
The images of protests before I was born fill my head when I hear there is a movement taking place. I think of solidarity of people fighting for fairness and change. Stop the war in Vietnam! Let Women Vote! I have a dream! The history classes and books we had as children spoke of strong people making our country better. It was romantic and passion filled. As a child, and even now, I wish I could go back to that time just to feel the energy of one of their gatherings.
It is now 2011, and although many things are so much better than they were 45 years ago, there is still change that would make life for the majority of Americans better. Government spending is too high. Household debt is astronomical. The unemployment rate is out of control. Personal freedoms are threatened. Party lines have become almost vicious. There are a lot of things we need to do around here.
The other really big change, though, is our voice. We are not ones to allow things to happen without making sure our opinion is heard. We have more journalists since there are more publications out there that need to cover social turmoil. We have bloggers, who like me are writing about what is taking place in the world today. There is 24 hour media coverage of any event that stirs up a little controversy. We are wired all the time, and there is no moment that we can’t find out the most up to date news on any topic, and often the news we are reading is riddled with bias.
It is this collective voice that helped bring about Occupy Wall Street. A Canadian magazine called Adbusters was the first to mention OWS. Back in July 2011, they suggested a peaceful protest. This protest was picked up by several groups, including the activist group, Anonymous. These groups urged their followers via Twitter and other means to join this move for change.
By September, OWS was in full swing. Media coverage would soon follow and now we are at a point 2 months later, where the movement which could have been something grand now just comes across as a giant joke.
The signs emblazoned with, “I am the 99%” were seen everywhere from t-shirts to images on the web. People with their woes handwritten on notebooks with a solemn look on their face staring at the camera, trying to win sympathy and thought became so common place we stopped reading them. They became almost comical, and their message backfired into parody. There were signs from Luke Skywalker indicating he was the 99%, and Scrooge McDuck backing the 99% even though he was the 1%. How can anyone take this seriously?
The mockery wasn’t the only issue I took with the movement. I have a problem with the lack of a true message. Yes, you want change, but for what? And what exactly do you want changed? Do you have an idea as to how to accomplish this? Or are you simply throwing a hippie tantrum hoping that the very people you claim you do not trust will give in and fix it all?
When I approach my boss about an idea on how to improve a process, I never just go to him telling him something is broken. I will think of 3 ideas, create proposals and take all of these to him with pros and cons for each to him. This allows him to see there is a problem, and he will see he doesn’t need to actually do much accept to use a new idea as his own. The process is improved, I am happy, boss is happy and it changes.
This is obviously on a smaller scale, but how do the principals of this exercise not apply on a grander scale? My generation watched the cartoons School House Rock, right? Didn’t we all watch how a bill became a law? It took time and ideas and perseverance. In school I remember a class project where we had to come up with an idea for a bill and we went through the steps it would take to get it passed into law. We didn’t all gather in some park with signs. We wrote up an idea and used the system we have in place to make a change.
Democracy isn’t easy. This is a country filled with more opinions than we have population and truly, we all do want what we think is best for us. The only way to get to that happy medium is to come together and make a plan. OWS’s tactic is described as “people’s assembly” which is designed to “facilitate collective decision making in an open, participatory and non-binding manner”. The idea was taken from protests in the Arab World in 2010-2011 that resulted in the overthrowing of heads of state and the killings of leaders (see Gaddafi). Is this really the plan of OWS? Are we hoping to stage a massive coup? Are we planning on taking over Wall Street? Are the people on the streets staging these protests ready to be Wall Street?
I have never been patriotic, so perhaps my distrust of this movement is based in that. I would like to think that my frustration with OWS is deeper than that. It is about being the change we want to see in the world. If you feel the economy isn’t working, then take control of your own finances. Sitting with a sign doesn’t stimulate the economy. If you don’t trust your congressman, find a better candidate and get him elected. If you think you can do a better job, then come up with a detailed plan that you can present to the people who can change things. Your voice will be so much more powerful if you speak up about change instead of speaking down on the people who are not doing enough.
Perhaps I am misinformed about what is really going on in cities all over our country. This proves my point. If we all are truly the 99%, and we are supposed to have solidarity, the message needs to be retransmitted. Use your passion, protesters. Give me a reason to support your efforts. For now, I have enough childish feet stomping to deal with at home.
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