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ON A REGULAR AND UNSEEMING NEW YORK DAY IN SEPTEMBER IN THE CITY'S (AND NATION'S) FINANCIAL DISTRICT, A GROUP OF PISSED-OFF KIDS, some of them never having stepped foot in a political rally or march, went through with what can be arguably defended as being the single-most important first step in revolutionizing the United States - something that hasn't been part of popular discussion since the 60s, but is more closely related to the economically-trying times of the 30s. And much like the Great Depression Era 20s and 30s, a mass movement using catchphrase words like "reclaiming democracy," "Capitalism is the Crisis" and "Banks got Bailed Out, We got Soled Out" were part of everyday news, culture and language - if only briefly.
A revolution, short-lived. Was it (is it) paused, momentarily interrupted? Betrayed? Internally doomed from its inception? Or has Chris Hedges implications of the tactics used by the Black Bloc been the movement's downfall?
Not sure. This is not an analysis. I will not begin to try and answer these questions. If I answer a fraction of the above questions, it was on accident. The writing that follows is exploratory, nostalgic and definitely, fundamentally biased.
Nothing has been more important to the on-going struggle in fighting for transparent government and democracy in this country recently. Not any election. Not any politician's campaign stance.
And what started in New York did not end in New York. I remember meeting with organizers in Downtown Los Angeles (who would probably hate to be called that) only a week after Occupy Wall Street materialized. Most of them were younger than me. I was 28 then. Most - if not all - were college kids or recent graduates. They were all in debt thousands of dollars, unemployed, profoundly bothered by the current economic and political state of things. And news that people with similarly fucked situations were doing something about it in New York, however inarticulate, vague, spontaneous or seemingly unnoticed, inspired us all.
With the double-sided sword of the absence of a single political party or group with a structured platform, the Occupy Movement has been able to work with virtually anyone but at times has suffered from detrimental infighting. However, that said, there has been some core points of unity. Such as: anti-political and economic corruption that is now part of the popular American lexicon.
Now, this is vague enough to encompass almost all of the political spectrum (from rightwing "small-government, gold-standard, end-the-fed, libertarian, closeted Republican enthusiasts" to "take-over-and-destroy-the-state-with-organized-masses-Red-and-Black radicals"). Another, maybe less favorable or at least more controversial ideology has been the Occupy Movement's overwhelming systematic critique on our entire economic and political system. Capitalism.
As I type this, sitting at the kitchen table that really isn't in the kitchen, a kitchen table that was found on the street, myself brought back to my parents due to the dwindling part-time monthly paycheck of my tutoring job (the only one I was able to get), my debt, my school debt, court fees, my dad mentions how he was only given four month notice of his job going to Mexico. And although he has received a severance package (for eight-months) and is guaranteed unemployment benefits, for a 50-year-old man the labor market is bleak.
Economic and political issues, once being a thing for the privilege, intellectual, academic, are now common issues for common people. As it should be.
Because, and thankful to the Occupy Movement, people have now begun to connect the dots, that, no, it's not conspiracy (maybe not aliens, Illuminati or the Masons), it's blatant corruption and profit-driven greed that knows no bounds or moral, that is limitless with imagination and destructive with creativity.
Families are losing homes as a direct result of banking and financial institution risky-loan packages and trading; and further still, the ability to create profit using other people, worse-off people's money is not merely predatory. It's criminal. And it has been a part of the American market system for decades.
People are angry enough now to question everything. Not just corruption of one political party or politician. But an entire political system.
A revolution, short-lived. Was it (is it) paused, momentarily interrupted? Betrayed? Internally doomed from its inception? Or has Chris Hedges implications of the tactics used by the Black Bloc been the movement's downfall?
Nothing has been more important to the on-going struggle in fighting for transparent government and democracy in this country recently. Not any election. Not any politician’s campaign stance.
Not sure. This is not an analysis. I will not begin to try and answer these questions. If I answer a fraction of the above questions, it was on accident. The writing that follows is exploratory, nostalgic and definitely, fundamentally biased.
Nothing has been more important to the on-going struggle in fighting for transparent government and democracy in this country recently. Not any election. Not any politician's campaign stance.
And what started in New York did not end in New York. I remember meeting with organizers in Downtown Los Angeles (who would probably hate to be called that) only a week after Occupy Wall Street materialized. Most of them were younger than me. I was 28 then. Most - if not all - were college kids or recent graduates. They were all in debt thousands of dollars, unemployed, profoundly bothered by the current economic and political state of things. And news that people with similarly fucked situations were doing something about it in New York, however inarticulate, vague, spontaneous or seemingly unnoticed, inspired us all.
With the double-sided sword of the absence of a single political party or group with a structured platform, the Occupy Movement has been able to work with virtually anyone but at times has suffered from detrimental infighting. However, that said, there has been some core points of unity. Such as: anti-political and economic corruption that is now part of the popular American lexicon.
Now, this is vague enough to encompass almost all of the political spectrum (from rightwing "small-government, gold-standard, end-the-fed, libertarian, closeted Republican enthusiasts" to "take-over-and-destroy-the-state-with-organized-masses-Red-and-Black radicals"). Another, maybe less favorable or at least more controversial ideology has been the Occupy Movement's overwhelming systematic critique on our entire economic and political system. Capitalism.
As I type this, sitting at the kitchen table that really isn't in the kitchen, a kitchen table that was found on the street, myself brought back to my parents due to the dwindling part-time monthly paycheck of my tutoring job (the only one I was able to get), my debt, my school debt, court fees, my dad mentions how he was only given four month notice of his job going to Mexico. And although he has received a severance package (for eight-months) and is guaranteed unemployment benefits, for a 50-year-old man the labor market is bleak.
Economic and political issues, once being a thing for the privilege, intellectual, academic, are now common issues for common people. As it should be.
Because, and thankful to the Occupy Movement, people have now begun to connect the dots, that, no, it's not conspiracy (maybe not aliens, Illuminati or the Masons), it's blatant corruption and profit-driven greed that knows no bounds or moral, that is limitless with imagination and destructive with creativity.
Families are losing homes as a direct result of banking and financial institution risky-loan packages and trading; and further still, the ability to create profit using other people, worse-off people's money is not merely predatory. It's criminal. And it has been a part of the American market system for decades.
People are angry enough now to question everything. Not just corruption of one political party or politician. But an entire political system.
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About Luis Rivas
Luis Rivas lives in Los Angeles, California. He was a telemarketer, construction worker, flower delivery driver, fast food cashier, sales clerk, non-profit canvasse... <read more>
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