Last night I was dropping someone off in front of Occupy Long Beach. There is a bus cutout in the sidewalk there. It is painted red. People who bring food for the homeless population who lives here used to use that cut out to park their cars while they dropped off food until it was painted red.
I sat in a meeting with the Assistant City Manager, the Deputy Police Chief and various other officials on Thursday. We were attempting to negotiate the ability to leave our Occupy site in the park 24 hours a day. We failed in that attempt, but at the end of the meeting one of our team asked if we could use that cutout for picking up and dropping off. City representatives agreed that we could do that.
As my friend was getting out of the car, an officer on bike came up to my window. He surprised me because I didn't hear him coming. He ordered me to move my car. His face was full of harsh judgement. I said that I was under the impression that we were allowed to use the cutout for drop offs. He demanded to know if I saw the red curb. "Respect the laws!", he said to me.
That small experience stuck in my throat. I am out in Lincoln Park because the Bill of Rights gives me the right to assemble peacefully and the right to use my voice. I believe it is my responsibility as a citizen of this country to gather and demand that my voice be heard. I am part of a growing number of Americans who believe the legislative process in this country has been co-opted by a small minority of citizens.
For the past thirty years there has been an organized effort by monied interests to change the laws in this country to benefit a small minority of the citizens. We were told that changing the laws would benefit the vast majority of Americans with better jobs. The top 1% of Americans now own 40% of the nation's wealth, so this strategy has worked very well for the people on top. Although we are supposedly in a recovery, median annual household income continues to fall.
Median annual household income has fallen more during the recovery than it did during the recession, according to a new study from former Census Bureau officials Gordon Green and John Code. Between December 2007 and June 2009, when the U.S. economy was in recession, incomes declined 3.2 percent. While during the recovery between June 2009 and June 2011 incomes fell 6.7 percent, the study found.
The people who crashed the world economy two years ago have had no legal consequences for that act. Why should they? They lobbied and changed the laws so they could go on a greedy and short-sighted rampage, consolidating wealth from the hands of many in the working class into their own hands. The behavior that created booming good times for Wall Street has imperiled families across the country. Food pantries are having to close their doors as the demand for food grows beyond their ability to address it. People are going without medications because they can't afford them.
Laws change as we as a country develop a clearer idea of our collective goals. This nation is currently heading in a direction that is unsustainable and unjust. From repealing the Glass-Steagall Act to painting a curb red to make it harder for people to bring food to the homeless, the laws in this country need to be reconsidered. It is our responsibility as citizens to watch our lawmakers and make sure they are passing laws that ensure a stable economy and society.