OccupyWallStreet demonstrations are cropping up all over the country. I said to someone the other day, that I was wondering when the "silent middle" was going to speak out in contrast to the Tea Partiers. It seems the "99%" are finding their voice.
What started as a demonstration against corporate greed on Wall Street, seems to be catching some steam across the country. What do the protesters want? A solution to the jobs crisis, corporate money out of politics, fairer tax rates, and policies that work for 99% of Americans instead of the 1% at the top. The interesting thing about this new emerging "revolution" is that it is basically leaderless yet it is bringing together Americans who feel disenfranchised with what is happening on Wall Street, in Congress and to our economy.
I do worry that this country is going down a dark and dangerous economic abyss and no one seems to be able to provide the lifeline. Oh sure, President Obama thinks he has the solution in short term fixes. The Republicans think they have the answers too. There are extremes in every political debate - extremes in the Tea Party movement and extremes in this new movement. If we could just push aside the talking heads of the extreme left and the extreme right, you can see common sense in both movements.
When I look at the documents which seem to be the cornerstone of each movement, the Contract for the American Dream makes a heck of a lot more sense to me than the Tea Party activists' Contract from America. Isn't it interesting that one contract says "for" and one contract says "from"? The Contract for the American Dream is aimed at ordinary citizens while the Contract from America is aimed at candidates for political office. The extreme right is calling this new movement communists. I think the quote by Dr. Samuel Johnson is appropriate: Patriotism is the last refuge of the scoundrel.
Before everyone goes to their corners and starts shouting their position the loudest, take a break. There is a lot to worry about and the last time I looked we were ALL Americans.
People need to read more, become educated, think, rather than just watching the talking heads shout verbal vomit. Not everyone is going to agree, but listening to all sides of the argument usually ends in a more informed decision.
Why does one side have to always be the right one and one side has to be wrong one and the side you happen to be on gets vilified by the other one? When compromise became a dirty word and when differing positions and beliefs are vilified to make one's point is when things don't get done.
The extreme right in one corner, the extreme left in the other corner and then all these other citizens in the middle. Welcome to the now of America.
Corporations are holding onto 2 trillion dollars in cash while 14 million Americans are out of work. You tell me who the haves and the have nots are.
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