This is the question I see as the key to our future. I won't pretend I can answer it, but I do get some feelings here on this site. Am I wrong in seeing elections as being the thing that will kill still another popular movement? We saw it happen in the sixties and seventies. The two party system is amazing resilient and seems to fit the mind that most Americans have developed with their reliance on Television and the newest of technological engagements in the name of being informed citizens in a democracy. In the midst of what seems to be the biggest expression of dissatisfaction with the system, the Occupy movement, the people have begun their seasonal orgy that is being counted on by the 1% to distract them as well as to keep the money flowing to their pockets. The rather shallow political theater anticipating the 2012 election is capturing far more attention than the movement can even hope to. The system grinds on and the protesters get shooed away like pesty insects. Read on below as see if I am seeing clearly as I assess where we are.
The slogan about the 99% has bothered me from the start. Oh how I wish their were a shred of truth in it beyond the reality of the statistics it comes from. Living in rural Virginia I have a very slanted perspective about what is going on, but I am glad that I do not live among people who think like I do for then I might not ask the questions I am asking here.
My community is not a bad way of seeing how far we are from being a united 99%. I have been here in the South for a long time but it was in Buffalo N.Y. when I was at my first faculty job at SUNY that I tasted the same things up North. One memory burns in my mind. I was playing basketball at the "Y" in Town of Tonawanda the night Martin Luther King was assassinated. When the announcement came over the loudspeaker system the rousing cheer sent me home never to return there. My time teaching at Harvard Medical School exposed me to similar things in Boston. My experiences teaching at a predominantly Black undergraduate school and then Meharry Medical college showed clearly that we remain a highly segregated society . I suspect that the election of Obama will strengthen that not help cure it.
The seasonal spending orgy and the false remedy for the jobless are a part of a system that has matured and evolved into a very stable thing. They and the elction theatrics are signs that the Occupy movement may turn out to be a cry of pain that ultimately also strengthens the system. The authorities and manipulators are using the movement to test their skills should things ever get out of hand. So far the fact that they have been relatively successful without any significant public outcry suggests that they have the upper hand.
The weakness of the Occupy Movement is not in a lack of resolve. I watched until 2:00 am EST the live blog from L.A. and was impressed with the organization and use of technology. I was also impressed by the police being sensitive to the fact that the world was watching and their decision to wait until most of us were in bed before they struck. Having been in many demonstrations where we used non violent methods and were attacked by police and many of us hurt and/or arrested I have some feeling for what it takes to be out there. I also am old enough now to be able to ask about what we accomplished back then and to compare what happened to almost totaly erase any effect we may have had with what is happening now.
There are few ways to overcome a system's resilience when it is as complex and well entrenched as this one. Clearly if we behave as we did before the occupy movement came on the scene we help the system, not them. As we saw back in the sixties and seventies, people are not all that sure about their commitment. This is not a surprise if you take into account how much of our mind is accustomed to what the system provides for us. We are foolish in that respect for the pain of changing the system will be immense if it ever happens. The whole jobs scam is a very good example. The loss of jobs that contribute to the manufacture of throw away items rather than sustainable items should be welcomed. There are so many other examples, but the point is that going back to where we were, even if it were possible, is no solution!
The system has to be replaced by another. That process of replacement will not come from within the present system. Therefore the things that need to be done have to be things that take away from the present system's stability and its magnificent capacity to recover from and incorporate weak attempts to change it. So far, if you try to step back and evaluate the Occupy movement's actions, there are lots of questions to be asked. What is the hope for a real impact on this thing we are dealing with? My take is that we are being set up for a big disappointment one more time. I was foolish enough to forget these things when I went all out for Obama. This time I am still hurting and I will ask these unanswerable questions. If you think I am not accurate please tell me. I need whatever shreds of hope I can get.