Young Man’s Message Was “a critical piece of information for this Congress to hear at this moment in American history,” says Wall St Veteran & Expert/ NYC Was Ablaze with Real Populism This Week, As #BlackLivesMatter and #FightFor15 Movements Commanded the Streets Two Days In a Row/Local Dem Politicians Lend Fiery Words In Praise of #FightFor15’s Minimum Wage Increase Movement, Where’s Everybody Else?
It’s poetic in one sense that in the days after the media blackout of 22 year old Leo Thornton’s dramatic suicide message, the progressive wing of the liberal Democratic party was finding its footing again, by marching in the main streets of America, which by extension put Leo Thornton’s last wish in front of the American public again.
Economic Inequality was the elephant in the streets, and many now seized upon and were connecting the dots during these two massive rallies/marches this week. The problem as many correctly see it is concentrated wealth in the hands of the few and our government's reluctance to progressively Tax the 1%.
First up was on Wednesday, when in NYC a major #BlackLivesMatter anti-police brutality march began in Union Sq in the early afternoon, culminating in a dramatic march over the Brooklyn Bridge and confrontation with police in downtown Brooklyn. Cornel West, Carl Dix and others of the Stop Mass Incarceration movement led a call for an end to the systemic police and prison violence and institutional racism toward the black and brown populations. The large younger faction were distinctly spirited and radical.
(Below is the Daily Mail's video from their story here.)
At the foot of the bridge I witnessed yet again a stark reminder of just how sold-out the media is to corporate interests, as I watched a local WABC buffoon/reporter ask the stalest, most retread question of activist Carl Dix: “Do you think the protests interfering with people’s traveling and shopping will help or hurt your cause?" Jesus Christ, the same retread bullshit MLK was constantly harangued by, and which compelled him to address directly the “white moderate” in his Letter From Birmingham Jail.
There was also this disturbing incident, in which a leading #BLM activist/comedian and LGBT queer Elsa was thrown violently to the ground by police and suffered broken ribs.
The Gothamist filed this report: “NYPD Arrest 42, Plainclothes Officer Draws Weapon On Protesters.
Neoliberalism was on notice big-time on the following day, as the #FightFor15 movement and revitalization of the unions reminded the entire country how critically important economic justice, participatory democracy and social justice are to core Democratic Party platforms. Frankly, lip service populism ain’t going to cut it. Acting - and doing so resolutely - is what is what must and is being demanded, right now.
60,000 Workers Join Historic Strikes for $15-an-Hour Minimum Wage
A populist people’s movement in the streets, a long rich tradition which exists in this city and all over this country for over a century and more ago, is what unquestionably drove all the legislation listed below to be proposed and passed - and it's been reignited. Just as people stood arm- in-arm in massive public demonstrations in the 19th and 20th centuries, refusing to be told no and in towns big and small all over this country, a new movement has piqued an enthusiastic and fearless radicalism that's been simmering for a while. Consumerism and endless distraction may have numbed many into passivity, along with relentless RW he-man individualist propaganda since the 80’s. But this movement hitting the streets and pinpointing its targets with social media is learning how to galvanize a dormant spirit amongst the working class. There's finally something progressive liberals can not only cheer for but get behind to throw support.
Surprisingly, both Attorney General Eric Schneiderman and NYC Comptroller Scott Stringer spoke and were particularly animated. The AG said repeatedly, “you’re winning this fight,” while the Comptroller said the current minimum wage was “a disgrace” that "no one could live on." Both have admirable experience fighting for strong protections of the social safety net, exposing and combating fraud and putting back into the public coffers. Schneiderman has at times seemed a lone bloodhound on the trail of Wall St corruption with muted help from the Feds, while Stringer recently announced findings of pension fraud by the gangsters of Wall St, which featured the memorable quote that even "The Lenape tribe got a better deal on the sale of Manhattan island than New York City’s pension funds have been getting from Wall Street," who wiped out $2.5 billion of NYC pension funds in "fees." Public Advocate Latisha James also roused the crowd, proving herself yet again as an unflinching fighter for the people.
The NY Daily News heard a painful refrain over and over, "'Fight for $15' movement takes to the streets on Tax Day, calling for better pay."
“I am 72 years old. I make $10 an hour, and I can never retire,” said Micheline Zuverneau, when asked why she was marching.
“I can barely pay the rent and what am I supposed to eat?” said the home health care aide, a member of 1199 SEIU.
Manuel Santiago, 49, was one of many construction workers who joined the Fight for $15. But unlike hardhats in the city’s unionized building trades, Santiago only makes $12 an hour.
“I work as many hours as I can. I’m a welder in a factory,” said the single dad of two. Santiago, who came to the U.S. from Mexico, said things got immeasurably harder when his wife died nine years ago from cancer.
“I just want to have a future and support my family. Sometimes we don’t have enough to get by, or enough for food,” he said.
Vice filed this report:
"Workers at Nationwide 'Fight for $15' Rallies Demand Higher Minimum Wages" and of course Democracy Now: "60,000 Workers Join Historic Strikes for $15-an-Hour Minimum Wage."
There was a vivid juxtaposition in last week’s Sunday NY Times of two cover pieces which illustrated just how much unsustainable this city has become in the ever devolving saga of two cities.
The cover of the Metropolitan section was a story called “Just $10 Million? That Seems Reasonable” about a luxury apartment on the Lower East Side, a historically artistic enclave that’s been pretty much devoured by skyrocketing rents due to massive high-rise luxury living space and boutique shopping. A truly staggering thing to contemplate for one who has been coming to the LES for 30 years and has worked here for the past decade.
Flip to the Real Estate section and “Married, With Roommates” shined what could only be viewed as an antiseptic light. The front page story focused primarily on young couple in E. Williamsburg who took in two boarders to make ends meet in order to save a little money. The article brushed over a subject that deserves far more investigation. In my personal circle I can think of more than a few people in their 40’s and 50’s who have been forced to share apartments or resort to Air BnB just to make rent. Somehow the Times got the themes reversed in their sections, and didn't dig into an omnipresent situation every working person is all too aware of.
New York City has become a veritable wasteland playground for the 1%, an invisible gated community between the haves and have-nots.
It’s the place where Thornton’s message should ring the loudest. We're still not levying heavy taxes on the pernicious high-speed computer trade/latest scam used by Wall St. We're still giving gigantic corporate tax breaks to real estate developers. We're still allowing the paltry Dodd-Frank bill to become even more watered down by relentless batteries of lobbyists and lawyers.
Pam Martens of Wall St On Parade was the only journalist I could find who had the courage to see the symmetrical prescience of his simple profound epitaph.
“Was the message of Leo P. Thornton of Lincolnwood, Illinois a critical piece of information for this Congress to hear at this moment in American history. You’re damn right it was. Outside of Wall Street’s wealth transfer system, provisions in the U.S. tax code are the second biggest wealth transfer system to the one percent.
Together, these two systems have created the greatest income and wealth inequality since the economic collapse in the Great Depression. They threaten a repeat of the 2008 financial collapse because the majority of Americans do not have the wages or savings to support the broader economy.”
Martens also lays out very clearly in her piece exactly how the 1% game the tax system, wiping out capital gains tax and using “carried interest” tax perks. Why should we be concerned about tax rates, abatements, off-shore scams, etc.? Because in a capitalist system all that hidden money invariably winds up in the hands of the few, who in turn own all of the private sectors that we all depend on. And when that plutocrat money gets turned over to Wall St for a little casino gambling, combining with the banker’s penchant for speculation, the sheer weight of it represents an unnatural consolidation of resources, that when it all falls apart – as every scam eventually does – it is the governments, who collect the people’s money in exchange for services, who are threatened successfully with bribery, coercion and quid pro quo deals.
In the kind of capitalism-gone-amok we ascribe, money belonging to the public coffers and needed to conduct society, continually gets siphoned off to private enterprises for their own gain. A big reason is because we’ve had an almost 2000% increase in members of Congress who have gone from legislators to lobbyists.
Then comes Austerity. Maybe we should call it something else, because it has an innocuous-sounding ring to it like some sort of technical term for a cold. Because it is much more lethal.
Austerity means decrepit bridges remain unmaintained, airlines are understaffed and overworked, bus brakes are not checked often enough, healthcare providers deny coverage, schools cut back on classes and facilities, leaking gas lines are ignored, etc. Additionally, nature preserves are razed, mined and sold off to the highest bidders of private industry. Every thing, even if it’s bolted down, is dismantled and put up for sale. To pay for the interest-free money the thieving bastard criminals on Wall St have heisted from us.
That is why we are in the streets.
Thornton echoed a core tenet of Occupy Wall St with his message. That conversation is still happening all over our streets, coursing through the pubs, at the ball games, while shopping for groceries and at the water cooler. It’s on the lips of throughout ALL of our Main Streets, but not in our mainstream media. Again Martens hits it right on the head:
"Today, the infrastructure of the United States is in decay. Students are struggling under $1.2 trillion of student debt. In 2014 the Federal Reserve released a study showing that 52 percent of Americans would not be able to raise $400 in an emergency by tapping their checking, savings or borrowing on a credit card, which they would then be able to pay off when the next statement arrived.
But Wall Street CEOs and hedge fund managers are still partying and raking in obscene compensation like there is broad-based prosperity in America. And on top of that, they’re enjoying obscene tax loopholes.
If a 22-year old falls in the Capitol and no one hears his message, did he die in vain? We urge everyone reading this to write your own obituary for this young man and his message and share it on your social media site."
I hardly have ever left my home since the Occupy Wall St movement without some kind of political button stuck to my jacket, shirt or knapsack. The two favorites I've been wearing for the past couple of years have been "99%", from an Occupy activist, and "Tax The Rich", from the
Socialist Alternative folks, who deserve most of the credit, along with
Kshama Sawant, for building the #FightFor15 movement.
Those buttons have a deeper resonance now.
I am ever more committed to them.