The Occupy folks got it started. Now it is time for all Americans to turn out in the streets on Thursday, November 17 to air their grievances and take the country back from lobbyists, banksters, corporate money and self-centered special interests. Occupy movements across the globe have declared this Thursday an International Day of Action and marches and demonstrations are planned in hundreds of cities around the country and the world.
It is not important that you agree with any or all of the issues raised by the Occupy movement to date. It is only important that you turn out in your hometown to air your grievances. We don't have to all agree on a few select bullet points to have a movement at this stage. We just have to realize that the people have not had a say in how their government has been run for some time now and it is time that changed. By turning out in force, the American people will take the first step toward airing those grievances and begin the process of developing a political agenda that reflects the desires of all the people.
Mayor Bloomberg, the New York winter, the NYPD, the bankers, corrupt politicians and the traditional media cannot stop this movement. The only thing that will stop it is if it never attracts a broad cross section of all Americans. The bongo players and the puppeteers and the unemployed actors had the courage to take the first step. Now, it is up to each of you to join in. This is our last best hope for America. No, you don't need to bring your bongos, I think we have that covered.
This is our Valley Forge. Brave young people have invested months of their lives, have survived harsh treatment by the system, have slept in the cold for weeks on end, have faced adversity by turning the other cheek of non-violence and have never given up hope. It is time to reward their efforts by turning out in force on Thursday.
The Occupy movement needs to grow beyond a campsite mentality to become a true national, or possibly international movement of all the people. A worldwide march on Thursday is the best way to show that this movement is not going to end but only get stronger. If you don't like to see the movement overshadowed by a very few bad behaving types who reject non-violence as the movement's means, then show up in the hundreds of thousands on Thursday and demonstrate to all that the violent and the combative are not representative of this movement. And if you don't like to see your mayors and their police forces forcibly evict peaceful citizens from assembling in public parks then do something about it.
Big banking execs are hoping you stay home so they can keep paying themselves record bonuses for destroying the global economy with their leverage and bad loans. Big corporations hope you stay home so they can keep their employees' wages low and their profits up. Politicians of both parties hope you stay home so they can remain incumbents and enjoy the trappings of power as the country disintegrates. Lobbyists hope you stay home so they can pull the strings and control your government without your involvement. America's enemies hope you stay home so that America never begins to find the solution to her problems and the slow process of national decline accelerates into a national calamity.
I understand you have never marched in the street before. But, then again, when in our history has the government been so captured by special interests that she ignores the needs of her people. It will take courage for you to turn out. But that is what is needed, courage. The time of summer soldiers and sunshine patriots blogging and watching TV is over. People concerned about their country and their planet have to show up and be counted. Brave men and women are dying in foreign wars so that you can exercise your democratic rights to free speech and assembly. Now is the time.
America has many problems, but it is my long held belief that almost all of them result from the fact that money and lobbyists have so distorted our democracy that it no longer represents the will of the people. It is not true that government doesn't work, it just doesn't work for you. It works for the big banks and big corporations and big special interests who fund it. You won't ever hear bank executives complain that the American government is being unresponsive to their needs.
Please, show up on Thursday. Do it for me. Do it for your children. Do it for your elderly parents. Do it for the unemployed. Do it for the less advantaged. Do it for America. But mostly, do it for yourself. This is a once in a lifetime opportunity to embrace all that is good in people. This one day has the potential of not only changing the direction of the country, but more importantly, changing the direction of your life. It is time to stop the lying and cheating and stealing and reaffirm that only through love and caring for our fellow men and women can we begin to feel alive again. Our young people are inviting us to join them. Don't disappoint them. They may not make such an attractive offer ever again.
John R. Talbott is a best selling author and economic consultant to families. You can read more about his books, his predictions and his consulting activities at www.stopthelying.com.