On some level this is hardly new news, as the nation has been living with this degree of constipation since the mortgage bank implosion of 2008, but if one adds the spectacle of watching other international states resisting world bank mandates (such as in Athens, Greece), Arab states revolting and overthrowing their leaders (a situation not lost by the US government as it sat on its hands, publicly crying for democracy and freedom but privately vexed that any overthrow of the puppet state hoods that they had helped to bring to power could potentially mean the end of political proxy, Libya was of course the only convenient exception, with Western states conspicuously running over themselves in throwing dissidents loaded F-18’s at their feet) one can begin to see how these chains of events could begin to eventually inspire a collective here in the US.
Adding to the discontent of the Arab uprisings was the then recent lootings in London that served to remind us of the vast disconnect between how most of the subordinate classes and how the elites lived. Yet unlike the pan Arab uprisings, this display of public turmoil was now happening at the doorstep of powerful industrial nations. The irony of the display of class divide was perhaps best underscored by the fact most looters ended up looting for those items that alluded to conspicuous consumption (really who in desperate economic peril loots for $300 NIKE sneakers?) which on the surface acted to demonstrate the banality of the looters demands and as many would later argue their immoral behavior. Nevertheless the point was made, that even in arms the poor and uneducated and derelict at then end of the day wanted to be just as glamorous and adulated as those on their television sets (which really should have earned any fortune 500 marketing director an instant bonus for their ability to transcend class barriers).
All of which may have finally been enough to suddenly almost out of thin air inspire a collective to take its struggle to a head here in America, as they sought to challenge the disproportionate affinity towards financial institutions by the media and the government as opposed to the greater concerns of a hurting greater America. After all, if the people could revolt overseas, why couldn’t they revolt in the place founded on revolt?
What makes this taking to the streets beguiling is how insidious it has been referenced to by the press and local police officers who have even taking to invoking murky laws from 1865 to arrest individuals (which should be tipping us off how threatened authorities really are). That said the lack of concern by the press and the bullying tactics of authorities ought to strike some degree of consternation in all of us, because even if a collection of individuals choose to scream at the top of their lungs about something they don’t like and even we don’t like what they have to say, they should nevertheless be allowed to state their claim as the constitution asserts the freedom of expression, as opposed to being rounded up and roughed up…
What also makes the recent protesting at Wall st even more beguiling is the general public’s underwhelming reaction to it, even if they are the ones who could ultimately stand to win if the ‘occupy wall street’ sit in sessions gained momentum. But that raises another question- why doesn’t the public care, when common sense tells us that they ought to?
This could in part be due to the fact that the once romanticized notion of protesters has gone out the window, add that in America staying alive and ahead of one’s paycheck has become a more important undertaking than taking the time to join a privileged group’s (so I have been told they always are…) grievances, legitimate or not.
