It appears to be a protest movement, Occupy Wall Street, Occupy Boston, Occupy Oakland; and it is that. Over 2,500 people have already been arrested in the streets and a young veteran of the Iraq war seriously injured by police while exercising his well-earned right to seek justice and freedom here at home.
It appears to be about the numbers after more than four decades of reckless policies have generated the greatest disparity of income since the Great Depression. It appears to be about the long overdo awakening of the voice of 99 percent of the people who increasingly suffer while the other 1 percent greedily grab more than 40 percent of all the income in the country. It is certainly that.
It appears to be about the narrow politics of ideology that foolishly polarizes the political process and blindly pits the classes against each other. It is clearly that. It appears to be another conflict between young people needing things to change for a better future to be born and older folks who fear that the future will be lost if things change too much.
It is all of those things, yet also more than any of them. The increasing unrest in the land and intensifying protests in the streets are a necessary lament for a collective dream that has been lost. Not simply the loss of the "American dream" of a consumer society and endless economic growth; but, the loss of the real dream, the dream behind the dream, the dream of an America that has not been yet.
The rising tide of protest involves both a witnessing of what has been lost and the stirring of a desire to look for the dream of America again. While some try to cling to an America that has already passed, while others try desperately to defend a malignant America suffering from growing disparities and heartless intolerance, others have begun walking the streets and searching their hearts for an America that is yet to be. For, America has always been a dream dreamt by those most needing a dream to follow.
The current protests cannot be reduced to Americans fighting Americans or be dismissed by simplified notions of class warfare. The diversity of signs and variety of messages being displayed by protestors throughout the country are live, streaming dreams of change erupting amidst political paralysis and the growing blindness of ideologies and fixed ideas. It is not simply left wing vs. right wing, or conservative vs. radical. Rather, it is the dream vs. ideology, imagination vs. blind belief, and necessary idealism vs. the cynicism born of greed and manipulation.
Young people are out in the streets of America again, not simply looking for work, although they are seeking meaningful employment. They are looking for an America that their dreams can inhabit, searching for a future that might help to sustain nature as well as heal a wounded, despairing culture. Like all those who have dreamed of America before, they are seeking the land of hidden promise more than the promise of simply owning the land.
America has always been a dream needing to be renewed and re-imagined by each generation. Each stream of immigrants rode a wave of dreams seeking a fertile ground to take root in. The seeds of the dream have always included longings for opportunity, but also a desire for a living sense justice that includes genuine care for those less fortunate and mercy for those orphaned by fate, hampered by illness, wounded by war, and trapped in poverty.
Poverty is not simply the cause of the hostilities and divisiveness in a culture; it is also the symptom of a greater spiritual bankruptcy and loss of the deep sense of unity that underlies all of life. The current political paralysis doesn't simply call for another dull, expensive election, rather it calls for another dream, a greater and more inclusive vision than any "win at any cost" election can produce.
Occupy means "to keep and hold, to fill, to employ." It is high time to occupy America again; not the America of partisan politics and corporate influence; but the America that can hold and keep alive the dreams of its young people, the America that can employ people in meaningful work and draw upon the well of ideals again.
Young people need to dream their dreams or there can be no future. And, older people must develop genuine visions or there can be no real culture. A culture comes apart where its young people fail to live their dreams, but also where its older people fail to envision a meaningful future that extends beyond themselves.
As young people enter the current marketplace of life they encounter a political climate that is dangerously toxic, public institutions that seem hollow and ineffective, and an environment that extends bleaker every day. If those who are young shy away from the intensity of life-changing events before them, something more tragic than protesting for change may ensue. It is not the task of youth to understand the nature of what changes them as much as to embrace it. It is the task of those who are older and perhaps wiser to add clarity of vision to the dreams trying to emerge through the confusion.
The dream of America was never simply an economic enterprise, never only a search for a greater personal share of the so-called "free market." Freedom is a dream ever trying to awaken in each young heart; but also trying to re-awaken in the hearts of those old enough to know better than to fall for the rhetoric of fear or the politics of division.
There has always been a deeper dream of America, not simply the political notion of a union of states, but an intuition of a deeper unity of life. Not simply a shared economy that needs dull sacrifices in order to balance the national budget. But an opportunity to dream America forward and sacrifice for a future of renewed meaning and universal ideals.
We live amidst a narrowing of minds and hardening of hearts, yet the dream of life beckons to us and promises paths of renewal that can soften the collective heart and return the flow of imagination that alone can renew the flow of currency. Martin Luther King's "I had a dream" speech could rally millions to the cause of justice and freedom because it spoke to the unspoken dreams and called to the unlived lives of those who learn how easily injustice and intolerance, poverty and exclusion can grow. As the deeper dream of America hangs in the balance of these strife-torn days and nights, I keep hearing the voice of Langston Hughes longing for the dream of America:
Let America be America again. Let it be the dream it used to be... the dream the dreamers dream... the great strong land of love... Where never kings connive nor tyrants scheme That any man [or woman] be crushed by one above. A land where liberty is crowned With no false patriotic wreath, But opportunity is real and life is free, Equality is in the air we breathe... Instead of that same old stupid plan Of dog eat dog and mighty crush the weak... O, let America be America again -- The land that never has been yet --
children. A good health care plan, a good school. A safe place to raise your kids. Lets examine
this. This is only a dream. We all know this goal is unattainable under the current system of
government. As a matter of fact the only governmental system that has achieved this, is the
socialistic systems. The very wealthy, the rich, those who control our political system, those who
donate untold amounts of money to keep this wealth distribution system afloat for fear the socialistic
system might be a better alternative. Will do everything possible,including creating wars, using as much propaganda against this form of wealth distribution. Lets face the facts, wealth distribution is
the form of every system of government. Its all based on who controls the laws, governing the money supply, You will see in a capitalistic system, a continued effort to privatize education, this
is not done to make things better, but to continue the wealth distribution to those who have the
wealth. It only benefits the wealthy, the poor, will always have a downward spiral . Our higher
education has been the benefactor of capitalistist system, so they promote it, rather then give
all the alternatives.
Finish school, get an entry level position, apply good work ethics, work hard, gain experience, improve your job skills with employment related course, let your supervisor know that you are willing and able to take on more responsibilities and the next thing you know, you might get promoted or find a better paying job.
If you are not willing to make sacrifices to better your lot in life, don’t expect me to nullify mine so you can live high on the hog at my expense because that would be socialism and I don’t go for that sort of thing.
they are victims of the system that allows corruption. They don't prosecute the culprits, because
the culprits make the rules.
The cops are getting plenty of OT and the defense industry is now broadening their product portfolios.
FINALLY Obama is getting creative.
The American Dream is simple. The American Dream is the idea and at one time was the case, where people had the ability to dream of what they wanted to do in their life, what they could own, build, and create and do what they dreamed of and not have the worry anyone can take it away from them.
Today people are asking government to give them everything. Government give me a job, give me a home, give me an education, give me medical care when I need it. Government make sure I have a retirement account when I stop working.
This is a far contrast to Kennedy's famous quote 50 years ago saying, "Ask not what your country can do for you, ask what you can do for your country."
America is a nation growing on the "give me, give me" side. The occupiers are more greedy than the fat cats in Wall Street.
I saw a list of things that the supposed organizers of OWS want. Each demand was very greedy. A $20/hour minimum wage is absurd.
I am not bashing those who have paid into the Social Security and Medicare programs. The government should keep their promises to those people.
The problem is the legislation that prohibits people from doing what they want and allowing individuals set the rules for which they can work and hire and not government.
For example the Davis-Bacon Act is bad for people who want to work on infrastructure/construction projects. This legislation makes it harder for non-union workers (when it was passed, African Americans) from getting government contracted jobs. Now when government wants to build anything they have to pay the most for the labor while there are many other people who would do it for a lot cheaper. This makes everyone worse off.
The War on Drugs is another example of this anti-liberty streak in American Law.
Today little kids are getting shut out from even making lemonade stands.
College students who would like to work and be paid have to settle between a job with a wage the employer does not really want to pay and a wage of nothing that they don't really want to work for.
There are people who are providing medical marijuana for people to deal with health issues who are being shut down by government.
This is not America.
...Return to righteousness America, return to the truth you once believed...
The liberal agenda, where everything is good and spending to make Greece look like a little girl is encouraged, is NOT what made America great.
I am an old man, who worked very hard all my life for the corporation and my government.
I may not live long enough to see the dream. Us old timers can pass along a few words of wisdom though. One of them is this:
Never trust a suit.
White collar criminals dominate the suits of today, and has become a mark of dishonor.
I would like to see my president and congressmen in blue collar worker clothes, not suits.
"The current political paralysis doesn't simply call for another dull, expensive election, rather it calls for another dream, a greater and more inclusive vision than any "win at any cost" election can produce. "
Indeed.
Our system is broken. Capitalism today is not helping our nation. Capitalism is eating its host and we are the host. The 1% are getting rich and the rest are suffering. If this 1% helped our society than I would say great let them get richer but what I see is unemployment, home values destroyed, our retirement savings disappearing, our state governments going bankrupt, our federal government going bankrupt, our banks corrupt, our schools falling apart, and most important our children having no future.
We need change. Lets start by getting rid of Obama and Congress. Kick them all out. Lets form a new party, one for the people by the people. Lets unite not for our benefit but for our children. We demand change. We demand new government. One that is accountable, one that stops the outsourcing of American jobs, one that protects our future, one that brings back jobs, one that fires the Oakland mayor and her police chief.
We need, no we demand change. We want our great country back. We want honesty. We want our views heard. Most important, we want our children to have a future.