Dear Occupy Wall Street (and all your sister cities):
What you have begun is beautiful and powerful, thank you. I
will not presume to tell you what to do; you are building good process and
setting a good example of how to insist on being heard. You are nonviolent;
tidy; polite; welcoming; expressive and actively listening. You are doing that
despite living in the elements; despite being arrested, maced, punched.
As I’m sure you know, living a good example draws more to
your cause. Indeed, the reason the 1960s Civil Rights movement was so effective
was the protestors’ fundamental commitment to good conduct in the face
ofoverwhelming state violence and state-sanctioned murder. I don’t expect such
violence this time, but continuing to document your interactions with police
and posting them on the web is a wonderful form of insurance.
No More Second Class Citizenship For Us 99%
The 1960s Civil Rights movement had a single demand: Honor
the principle of equality. Enact laws that reflect the fact that all Americans
are equal in creation; equal in opportunity; and equal before the law. Strike
down laws that violate that principle.
The 2011 Occupation is making essentially the same demand,
it seems to me. When 99% of Americans are harmed by our government’s policies
to protect the wealth and prerogatives of the top 1%, we’re not just talking
about “income inequality” or “wealth inequality”. We’re talking about two tiers
of citizenship; an elite corporate aristocracy and everybody else.
Consider the agenda of the Super Committee and the lobbyists
trying to shape it: cut the last remnant of a pension most people can count on,
Social Security; cut the ways millions of American can see doctors, Medicare
and Medicaid; cut aid to States, forcing them to fire teachers, police, and
fire fighters, the very backbone of our civil society. Prevent tax increases on
the wealthiest; protect corporate tax loopholes; protect corporate subsidies.
Consider the $trillion bank bailouts; the sky high paychecks
and bonuses of thebailed out executives; the difficulty of getting unemployment
benefits to last as long as unemployment; the rejection of any policies that
would put people back to work or prevent them from being laid off; the
blackmail to break the newest government agency for us 99%, the Consumer
Financial Protection Bureau.
That’s what class warfare looks like: government policies
serving one class at great cost to the other, and it’s grotesque when the
winning class is only 1% of the People.
Source: Reality Check
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