The 99% has been Occupy-ing various municipalities for a few weeks now. This new group of protesters seem to be fairly committed to their task. What that task is, exactly, is still up for debate I suppose. Some say they want a fair distribution of wealth. Some want companies like Monsanto to stop fucking with nature. Some want a "transparent" government. Some just want a goddamn job. The point, I guess, is that they all want CHANGE.
But change to what, exactly?
I'm all for shaking things up. I want my politicians (or should I say "their" politicians) to stop lying to and stealing from us. I want corporations to hire American workers at a fair rate of pay. I want to be able to treat my disease (Type 1 Diabetes, the genetic kind, not the "I eat terrible food and never exercise" kind) without having to choose between rent and medicine. I want these things, but how do we re-organize without destroying our country for generations? How do we completely reset our system without leaving millions of people without food, water, work and even a semblance of "freedom".
Thats the tricky part, isn't it?
These protests make me feel good. It makes me think that we are starting to wake up. At least people are taking notice and looking behind the curtain. The problem, of course, is that the proverbial "they"have all of the power and might of the top 1% at their beck and call.
Our (their) government has a well organized, well supplied and extremely well trained military at its disposal. They ARE the police. They have the corner on all media outlets and, again, the financial backing of the richest people in the world. Make no mistake: These people do things every single day that would make your skin crawl. Unspeakable shit. They start wars. They make human beings disappear. They restrict constitutional freedoms - legally. They rig elections. They take checks from lobbyists on the floor of Congress before taking a vote. They have zero fear. Effecting change on machine that big and that powerful is not just difficult, its damn near impossible.
I know this, massive change doesn't come without massive cost. Do yourself a favor and take good long look at the end of the Roman Empire. Granted, we've got a lot more technology and knowledge at our fingertips than they did, but there are a number of parallels. I can assure you that their version of "The 99%" suffered immensely after what little protection they had failed.
Our fate could well hinge on the actions of the protestors when the police begin crossing lines, or vice versa. Don't think for a second that "they" won't try to push the issue. "They" want the protests to erupt. That way they can point their fingers and lay blame and crush the whole thing with impunity.
Even if the protests don't erupt, they will do whatever is in their power to cast the 99%-ers in the same light as the Tea Party (crazy hillbillies) or the Civil Rights movement (dirty, drug addled hippies). They will try to strip credibility, undermine the message and spin public opinion back in their favor. Thats what they do and they do it better than you can imagine. Example: Ron Paul has been running around for months, talking publicly about "The Shadow Government", winning straw polls and dominating any debate he's allowed to participate in. Yet, he barely gets a mention on any of the major news networks as anything but a joke.
Bottom line: THEY. ARE. ON. FUCKING. POINT.
Always. They never let up. While the Occupiers are sleeping, They are running 24 hour news networks. While the Occupiers are trying to muster more people, They are pushing legislation. Remember that scene in "Fight Club" where the guys threaten the politician with a rubber band around his balls, a big knife and a reminder the these guys "Guard you while you sleep"? We are the politician. They have the rubber band and the big knife perched perilously close to our man-parts.
So I ask again: Whats next?
Winter is coming kids. New York gets awful cold. Do you have the resolve to see this through to the end? After that, then what? Are you prepared to fight a war? Are you prepared to have the hammer, swung with the full weight of trillions of dollars and the might of the military, down on your head? How do you fight the system when the system fights back?
I don't have an answer. I don't think anyone does. I know that I want this country to survive. I don't want the world to look back, a thousand years from now, and regard America as a failed experiment in Republican Democracy. I don't want our legacy to be one of revolution and misery. I don't want our children to suffer because of an ideal. I just want what everyone wants. I want to go to work, raise a family, retire and die in peace. That's all.
So while you're out there, screaming for change, ask yourself:
How does this end?
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