Occupy and the 99%
"There's something happening here
What it is ain't exactly clear"
The Occupy Movement, the 99%, have been criticized by the Left, the Center and the Right. They have been criticized for not having a clear agenda. They have been called to task as agitators, whiners, complainers, misdirected, lazy, indigent, opportunistic, subversive, dirty, affluent, hippies, yuppies, gen-X'ers, millennials, hipsters, veterans, peace freaks, elders, and general trouble makers. They have endured weather, police brutality, media dismissal, pepper spray, hunger, fear, arrest, humiliation, taunting, violations of civil rights, violations of legal rights, even the tongue lashing of political pundits and prognosticators who spout vitriol in print, radio, television and the Internet.
"There is a man with a gun over there
Telling me I got to beware"
The militant arm of the Establishment has been used to send the clear message, "Submit and withdraw." Under the auspices of maintaining the democratic rule of law corporate government has chosen to again to address the perceived symptom while appearing unsympathetic to any possible reason for social unrest. Instead of representing the people the corporate government has instead attempted to maintain the status quo - the very environment that has fostered such a grassroots backlash, an Occupy Movement. Sadly it is the Establishment's insistence on submission that fuels the fire of dissent. Quite simply, submission does not equal freedom.
"I think it's time we stop, children, what's that sound
Everybody look what's going down"
The Occupy Movement and the 99% did not evolve in a vacuum. It is an attempt by a social entity to acknowledge the disparity in values espoused by the leaders of our corporate government and the on-the-ground real-life issues facing not just Americans but the entire Human Family. In the simplest terms we, the 99%, can no longer reconcile our wealth and well being when so many children across the planet are feeling the pangs of hunger every minute of every day. As we stand in our hot showers we cannot accept that many of those same children do not have safe drinking water. While I enjoy the freedom to express myself there are those who cower in fear that truly brutal dictatorial regimes will 'disappear' them for uttering even the most superficial yet obvious criticism.
"There's battle lines being drawn
Nobody's right if everybody's wrong"
"Nobody's right if everybody's wrong" is a convenient excuse for drawing the battle lines. What must come of these growing pains is the moral and ethical sense of Human Responsibility. We must promote change that speaks to the disparity of the Have's and the Have-Not's. Somewhere along the line we have lost track of the sense that "with great wealth comes great responsibility." That responsibility should not be solely to the shareholders, the profit takers. That responsibility should not be solely to the corporate sponsors of our government. That responsibility should be to the greater Human Family. We must turn the perspective - Everybody is right when nobody is wrong.
That being said, the Occupy Movement does not support a Rob-from-the-Rich or Communist position. It is clearly understood that free market Capitalism serves as the best means of transferring value for value. Moreover, it is not realistic to suggest that Capitalism can function without the impetus for realizing a profit. What the 99%+1% must do is assure that the children do not go hungry or thirsty or cold. The 100% must assure that children do not become wage slaves in order to survive. The 100% must assure equal human rights. The 100% must assure a just and fair world that we all can live in together.
The 100% is the Human Family.
For What Its Worth
Buffalo Springfield
There's something happening here What it is ain't exactly clear
There's a man with a gun over there
Telling me I got to beware I think it's time we stop, children, what's that sound
Everybody look what's going down There's battle lines being drawn
Nobody's right if everybody's wrong
Young people speaking their minds
Getting so much resistance from behind I think it's time we stop, hey, what's that sound
Everybody look what's going down What a field-day for the heat
A thousand people in the street
Singing songs and carrying signs
Mostly say, hooray for our side It's time we stop, hey, what's that sound
Everybody look what's going down Paranoia strikes deep
Into your life it will creep
It starts when you're always afraid
You step out of line, the man come and take you away We better stop, hey, what's that sound
Everybody look what's going down
Stop, hey, what's that sound
Everybody look what's going down
Stop, now, what's that sound
Everybody look what's going down
Stop, children, what's that sound
Everybody look what's going down
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