Okay, so I've been observing #OWS from the vantage point of this blog since it's inception and I've made some observations as an old hippie from the 60s, but I haven't joined in because I'm more concerned about getting President Obama re-elected and taking back the House of Representatives and keeping the Senate than I am in camping outside with the 99%. I'm also not absolutely certain that the majority of occupiers plan to vote for Democrats in 2012, although I can't imagine they'd vote for anyone else.
But that's another story. Today, something really shocking has happened which has convinced me that #OWS is bigger and more important than the American public may yet realize. Please follow me over the fold:
My husband and I are about to spend the weekend after Halloween in a tiny mountain community called Idyllwild, which is about an hour and a half east of L.A. It's not a big tourist mountain attraction because there are no ski runs, no lakes to speak of and not a whole lot to do except hike, bike and marvel at the beauty of nature. So, it's not with a little shock that I got a link to the local Idyllwild newspaper, IDYLLWILD TOWN CRIER:
"Residents of Idyllwild have organized the first official “Occupy Idyllwild” event today in the center of town. The gathering will be at the Idyllwild Tree Monument and begins at 4:30 p.m.
A news release from organizers explained, “Just as the rest of Riverside County California has been hit hard by foreclosures, plummeting real estate values, and unemployment, the tiny picturesque mountain village of Idyllwild has not been spared. The local “Idyllwild HELP Center,” serving the greater Idyllwild area says nearly 650 clients are in need of help with food pantry, utility bills, etc.”
The group used social media to get the word out about the protest.
“If you are one of the 99 percent and/or care about our ‘Once-Great Nation’ and our children’s future and want to act locally so your voice will be heard, then welcome home. Bring protest signs, drums, percussion instruments, costumes, face-painting your chanting voice ‘This is what democracy looks like, this is what democracy sounds like,’ etc., and ‘We are the 99 percent,’” organizers wrote. “Our goal is to get at least 1 percent of the population of Idyllwild to turn out… Imagine if every town and city had at least 1 percent of the population participate in the ‘Occupy’ movement. We could help change the world!”
Folks, this is so small, it's BIG!!! When a tiny mountain community is protesting inequality, that means the people in small communities all over this country are aware they are being screwed. My husband and I are literally going up to Idyllwild to see if we fall in love with one of the 80 PROPERTIES that are currently in foreclosure and are crumbling to ruin in the freezing temperatures every year since 2008. It is, after all, a buyer's market, so the rich can more easily "invest" in these foreclosed properties. For my husband and myself, we've always dreamed of owning a little cabin in the mountains and we may take advantage of these bad times because we have the ability to do so. In the long run, it will help Idyllwild because we'll purchase all the furniture and accessories from the locals and we'll frequent the stores and the shops in the little town, as well as donate to the local food bank and support the public school. We're lucky we saved up enough to purchase a cabin in these terrible times. It was just by the skin of our teeth, since we almost lost our business in 2008 thanks to the GOP trickling economic disaster.
I find it ironic on the one hand that we're going up next weekend to cash in on someone's hardship and we're with the 99% on the other hand who can use our influx of cash when we become members of their tiny community. There is a shift in the consciousness of this country, folks, when a town like Idyllwild, CA has it's own Occupy movement. GOP beware. Your greed and avarice and lies are rising up and they're going to bite you all on the ass.
OBAMA/BIDEN 2012 and DEMOCRATIC MAJORITIES IN BOTH HOUSES OF CONGRESS or the occupation will become permanent and more violent with RETHUGS running the show once again.