I want the Occupy Movement to make a difference. Whether they are the 99% or Occupy Wall Street, they have earned a tenuous positive momentum. Now they need to keep it going. At present it does not look like anything of note is taking place. This cause is starting to look like a collection of diverse people with nothing better to do than waste time and resources to accomplish nothing of note on a daily basis.
When this economic slide began, I believe it was covered up, or ignored. We went on as if nothing was happening because it was not us who were effected. A few people were losing their jobs, a few others were losing their homes. Bad financial choices were banner-ed as the cause, nothing more. Happened every day, and like any other news story, after a while stories like these take on a numbing effect.
People graduating college were finding it hard to find work equaling the cost of their education. They obviously picked the wrong fields to earn a degree in, it happened. We have seen this happen before of course, everything would work itself out as it always did. As if we asleep in Dream Land, the true state of our economy did not show itself for what it really was.
It was not a few people being laid off. It was not a few families losing their homes due to bad financial decisions. More than a few college graduates were not able to find any reasonable employment. People were being effected on scale almost none of us have ever seen before. Not in the seventies, not in the eighties, and not in the nineties.
We became so accustomed to problems working themselves out, we were numb to reality. Our idea of the good life was rapidly crumbling around us and we were ambivalent. Life was crumbling for everyone except the upper 1%. The One-Percent were making money faster than any proverbial money tree could grow it.
Those who voiced the idea there was something wrong were shouted down. Fear of losing the American way of life was subtly introduced to silence people who were cognizant enough to see what was really happening. The American way of life was disappearing. The stance was it is the fault of the unemployed and the college graduates who were not willing to do work for a living. That was the crux of what I heard being peddled on the street.
Then came Occupy Wall Street, and the 99%! They had a voice, they were the focal point of for problems in our economy. They were the people who went from have to have not. They started talking and demonstrating, and they were being heard. They were people who were not able to find their slice of the pie.
Rallies and sit-ins gained the worlds attention. Occupy movements were receiving positive air time on the evening news. These groups were being heard. America and the world stopped long enough to notice, and actually understand the real social and economic problems we created for our neighbors and ourselves.
Occupy groups were not outsiders trying to cause trouble. Nor were they tainted college radicals from within. They were Parents and Children of Parents who like all Parents wanted a life for their children as good or better than they have achieved. Occupy Groups were the brunt of what life had been until recently, when suddenly life was no longer being lived in wonderland.
Truthfully, it feels as if these sit-ins and camp-outs are becoming more of a nuisance than focal point for any real cause. The Occupy Groups are mobile, they can a force to be reckoned with. They are in the face of America, and the World. What they do not appear to have is sound Leadership and Vision.
Jumping from cause to cause lacking cohesion between causes is indicative of children who easily lose their focus for the newest bauble across the plaza. Making a stand for this today, and that tomorrow is wasting valuable air time. Acting out silly illegal gestures against private property is not the correct way of keeping focus on the cause and sympathy of the public.
Where is the Occupy Movement going? Are they to become nothing more than mobile Shanty Towns in City Plaza’s and Squares? Hawking the cry of the day for the newest cause? Are the Occupy Movements allowing themselves to be reduced to a mix of people perceived as having nothing better to do? People out for some excitement and a warm meal? People perceived as holding no real interest in making a difference? Are the Occupy Movements and the 99% going to allow themselves to be caught in the net of Public Nuisance?
Any Army no matter how strong, can only fight effectively on so many fronts. Castles are built for defense, not for aggression. The Occupy Movement needs to take steps to keep itself focused, lean, and mobile. Sticking with a few major issues, instead of trying to umbrella every problem that bubbles to the surface daily.
Reasonable People should want the Occupy Movements to succeed and make a difference. We are all the 99% like it or not. We all feel the unhealthy state of our economy. It is more important than ever for the Occupy Movement to stick to a few solvable issues and not disintegrate into promoting the cause of the day.
