I haven’t made any comment in regard to the Occupy Wall Street Movement. Needless to say, I am in full support of the efforts of the movement and wish I could be there. Since it started, I have been gone on an extended trip planned many months ago. So much for excuses. My wife and I did go to the Occupy San Francisco occupation site last Tuesday and I was underwhelmed, to say the least. We had planned to spend the day joining in the events, but there seemed to be more venders than activists.
From what I can gain from the mainstream (lame stream) media and the various feeds from MoveOn, the underlying principles are: more effort must be given to employment, accountability for the financial services sector, and a hodgepodge of issues that concern us all from homes being foreclosed on, the wasteful spending on at least one war (Iraq), trashing the environment, and in general greedy, destructive behavior and ethics on Wall Street. There isn’t a single issue that I have a problem with. But I do have a problem with the mild-mannered way in which the activists are going about the protest; insistence on not making demands and the belief that consuses can be achieved. In addition, I am very disappointed that important stakeholders have not come forward as a group to join in the protests.
To begin, where is the academic community? During the Vietnam War faculty at many colleges and universities held teach-ins, strikes, and marched shoulder to shoulder with protesters in cities around the nation. During the late 1960s and early 1970s faculty were in the front of the pack. Maybe they were there because there was a draft and some of them, or their children, were at risk of being drafted and being put in harm’s way. Thus it served their needs to protest. However, I am at a loss as to how anyone who claims to be a part of the middle class today can stand by and not participate in one way or another. We are all affected by recent financial events that began at least twenty years ago.
I’ll pick on another group. Having devoted nearly fifty years of my life to criminal justice as practitioner, student, and academic I am outraged at the thuggery of New York City Police supervisors (the ones in the white shirts) as they sprayed pepper spray on protesters for no apparent reason or beat the shit out them with their clubs. I know this happens every day in many cities around the nation as they deal with offenders, it's not right, but it does happen; I’ll skip the lecture on “dust and ashes of corruption” and get to the point that the police are supposed to uphold the law and take a dispassionate attitude towards their job. I also have a couple of incidents in my past that I am not proud of, but I don’t understand why in this day when police positions are at the mercy of citzenry that doesn't want to pay taxes for police protection. I just don't get it and neither do they. Do they not recognize that the protesters are out there for them? Do they not know that unfilled positions and furloughs endanger them and their comrades? Are they complacent about unemployment and jobs going overseas, thus resulting in less tax money to keep our communities safe? Are they not chagrined that criminals in suits go unpunished while the entire criminal justice system is brought to bear on a dysfunctional eighteen year old who commits a burglary?
Finally, my greatest scorn and disgust is saved for the legions of uninformed, under-educated, kneejerk, monkey brained idiots who call themselves “conservatives.” I’m talking about those who complain about the protesters and them as a “bunch of pseudo-middle class” delinquents, as communists, and not having an idea of what they are protesting. They assert they should get a job and stop getting in the way of working people. However, without specificity in the issues being protested, the activists fail to gain traction for any kind of sucess and it is easy for elected officials to dismiss their efforts. This is what I am getting at when I say that the protesters are too “mild-mannered.”
Here are my suggestions for making the movement more activist and more understandable to the average person:
Instead of having a list of vague issues, convert the issues into demands. Wording is important and politicians understant us when we use simple, plain language and when the demands are coupled with some sort of sanction that affects them directly, they start to act. For example, until the middle 1960s, drug use was thought to be something that could be ignored, something inner-city dwellers and jazz musicians did. But, when middle-class young people discovered drugs as a recretional outlet, they acted fast.
In my opinion there should be demands that there be a thorough investigation of the actions and behavior of Wall Street actors and CEOs. If there is enough evidence to try and convict high profile executives and hedge fund traders, then throw the book at them.
They should also demand that elections be funded by the government. No more should campaign funds be solicited from anyone, for as we know, the more money contributed, the more expected in return.
Once the demands are formulated, attach a sanction to those that are not met. I don’t mean a threat to burn down the cities or any kind of violence, but rather a sanction that can be delivered such as a swarm protest on K Street in Washington. Twitter will do the job for them.
Pull in academics, more involvement by unions; get the police to be more sympathetic. Everyone knows a cop. Bake a cake and take it over to his or her house and talk about the movement and what needs to be done. Not that the officer should defy supervisors, but I know there are nuances to enforcement. Get them over to “our side.”
Make a special appeal to black churches. Minority unemployment exceeds white unemployment with Hispanic unemployment at about 12.4% and African American unemployment about 16.1%. What are they waiting for? The Civil Rights Movement was built on the efforts of the churches. The same can be done with the occupy movement and success will directly, and positively, affect minorities.
I have abbreviated my list; I’m hoping to spark someone’s imagination. When it comes to any demands made by a movement such as Occupy conservatives will try to hide behind Constitutional issues. That will be easy to see through, but it will take Progressive Senators, Congressmen, and Legislators to speak up and do what is right for the American people. If not, I’m afraid the end is not in sight.
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