Occupy Portland

"An imbalance between rich and poor is the oldest and most fatal ailment of all republics."--Plutarch


Thursday I rallied, I protested, I watched, and I listened as 5,000 or so Portland residents gathered to send a message that we are pretty pissed off.  "At what exactly?" numerous media personalities asked.  We know.  And they also know.  Conservatives dismiss us as a rabble, a mob (Lars Larson), stinky and unemployed (Ann Coulter), and of course "useful idiots" of a George Soros-planned-union-supported socialist power grab (Glenn Beck). Typical stuff from the far right.  But I have learned in life that the louder someone yells, the more aggressively someone attempts to marginalize a point of view, then the more scared they are about the validity of their own position. "The lady doth protest too much, methinks", don't ya know.


I, of course, can't speak for everyone in the occupy movement but I suspect that the "demands" of the protesters cannot be summed up in a 30 second sound bite.  Mine certainly can't. We're talking about 30 years of government policy here; to be able to condense it to an "acceptable length" for the media is like trying to drive from Portland to Seattle on one gallon of gas into a headwind. There are indeed many grievances the occupy movement puts forth but I contend that these many branches have but one taproot: Government Policy.


Deregulation, the continued encroachment of corporate interests into the political process, free trade agreements, and tax codes, to name a few, have so ludicrously tilted the playing field that it is now almost impossible to hide it any longer.  Hence the protests and corporate media marginalization.  And before you think this anger is merely a progressive phenomena, aimed solely at conservatives, I will argue that BOTH parties are responsible for this debacle.  

While Republicans are an easy target because of their pro-business platform, many Democrats are just as guilty.  It is no longer about parties, it is about income disparity.  Instead of an 'R' or a 'D' after their name, I suggest that we start using 'M' to show these politicians' true party affiliation.  Millionaires make up approximately 1% of all US population according to 2010 census data, yet they comprise 66% of the Senate and 41% of the House of Representatives.  http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-503544_162-20075586-503544.html Millionaires may not write all our legislation but they have a super majority in passing or killing it, as all bills must be passed by both houses with exactly the same wording.   Millionaires run our country and quite frankly they don't care about the 99% until election time.  Meanwhile, they enact policies that further enrich the few and increasingly punish the rest.


That's it.  That's what we are pissed about.  The evidence is irrefutable.  Our country is teetering on depression simply because we have elected millionaires who, for the last 30 years, have looked out only for themselves.  To cover their tracks, they would sometimes throw the 99% a bone, to occupy our attention, to mislead us, but it's now impossible for them to hide anymore.  Never mind that the IMF issued a report that shows that gross income disparity is BAD for the economy, http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/ezra-klein/post/imf-income-inequality-is-bad-for-growth/2011/10/06/gIQAjYADQL_blog.html , never mind that corporate profits continue to increase http://economix.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/11/23/visualizing-booming-profits/ while few jobs are created.  Never mind that 10% of the population holds 80-90% of stocks and bonds in the country http://sociology.ucsc.edu/whorulesamerica/power/wealth.html and stocks are those things that corporations pay dividends on when they are profitable.  I could go on and on with the "never minds", but you get the idea.  The continued greed of the wealthy is so utterly transparent that people are finally protesting these injustices.
So when the media ask "what are you demanding?", I will simply say we are demanding that Congress enact policies and laws that benefit the 99% of Americans. The 1% have had 30 years of getting everything they want. It's our time now. Period. 

The Big Wake-Up?

"None are more hopelessly enslaved than those who falsely believe they are free."--Goethe


A friend posted this on Facebook, well, a picture of a woman holding a crudely-made sign bearing those words. And, it rung true; it was a touchstone; one that made me realize why there are so many in our country who vote against their best interests in a vain attempt to hold onto freedoms long since reduced.  Thomas Frank and Paul Krugman have long suspected such things, and I have gleaned much from their writings.  But it is my supposition that rather than realize that we are no longer free, many cling to a nostalgic view of America, reinforced by the rich, where the American Dream was alive and if government just stepped out, then the dream would be real once again.
Conservatives speak of "founding principles" as if they have some magical quality.  To be sure, America's experiment in democracy was indeed a revolutionary leap forward in self-governance and personal freedoms.  But, what most fail to understand is that principles DO NOT equal policy. Principle is Santa Claus; policy is that if one is good they will receive based on that goodness.  Principles are the virtues; policies seek to reward virtue and punish vice.  It is only when people marry principle and policy that change is affected.  When people and legislative bodies hide behind principle and enact policies that continually nullify the principle of forming "a more perfect union", then it is time to call BULLSHIT.
Conservatives have long railed against any type of program that would lead to "socialism".  While the specter of communism is long since dead, you can't turn on Fox News or an AM radio without hearing the words "class warfare" and "income redistribution" almost daily.  Ironically, I don't recall ever hearing these terms during the later stages of the cold war in which I grew up.  Labor unions, once a powerful force in the rust belt state I grew up in are have been castrated in the last 30 years by "policies".  Still, unions are a favorite target of conservatives in our times, as well as government regulations, and any taxation on the wealthy.  Listen to talk radio and you will here these three items talked about over and over and over as proof of America's move toward "socialism".  These 3 things are lies and the Occupy Wall Street protests indicate that fewer people are believing them.
LIE #1: "Unions are socialist power brokers that will destroy free enterprise". The data suggest otherwise. In 1981 21% of Americans were part of a union. Last year that number was a mere 11%. Right to work states, NAFTA, and continuing globalization (all things that aid corporate interests) are government policies.  After fully decimating private unions, conservatives have now turned to public unions.  Legislation in Wisconsin, Indiana, and Ohio has sought to strip away union rights.  In reality, American unions are in terrible shape and becoming increasingly marginalized.  Unions are, and have always been, a counter-balance to unfettered corporate power.  Without that balance, well, look around.
LIE #2: Government regulation prevents business from achieving its full profitability".  Regulation serves an important purpose: to keep the big train of capitalism from going off the rails.  While it is often cumbersome and sometimes seemingly inane, regulation insists that business be safe, responsible, and not too risky in its sole enterprise: to maximize profit.  When regulation is implemented, there is grumbling and cries of "I'll go out of business!" but the simple truth is that the American business community did quite well during the age of heavy regulation 1930-1980.  Deregulation in recent decades of the financial, energy, and telecommunication markets directly led to the S&L crisis in the 80's, The Enron fiasco, the World Com collapse, and the current economic shit storm in which the world finds itself. Deregulation and, to a lesser extent "defunding" of government regulatory agencies such as the FDA, USDA, EPA, and the MMS has led to oil spills, coal mine disasters, increased outbreaks of food borne illnesses, and destruction of the family farming culture.  Regulations may indeed retard profit, but it certainly doesn't "kill jobs" or put people out of business.
LIE #3: Taxes hurt "job creators" and "the rich already pay most of the income tax".  This one is my favorite.  Since 1979, 80% of Americans have seen their share of income distribution DECREASE while the top 19% have seen a 28% increase and the top 1% has seen a staggering 123% increase in their share of the nation's wealth.  Even more frightening is the fact that 10% of Americans control almost 75% of Americans' NET WORTH.    http://motherjones.com/politics/2011/02/income-inequality-in-america-chart-graph .  And we are still looking for the jobs.  There may indeed be class warfare going on in America but it sure as shit isn't the kind Fox News talks about on a daily basis.  A small group of people has benefited greatly from policies, not principles. Is it not just to ask them to pay a bit (3%) more to "promote the general welfare"?

And now some precognition from one of my favorite people ever (2005).

I have long suspected the coming plutocracy.  I watched as factories in my Ohio hometown closed or relocated to non-union states, turning a once prosperous middle-class town into a shit hole rife with drugs, gangs, corrupt government and a poverty rate that tops 20%.  The wealthy stayed that way and the middle class collapsed, resulting in distrust, fear, and blame.  Conservatives want you to blame the government, or the latino, or the black; anybody but the real culprit: the top 1% and how they continually manipulate government to their ends.

It's all smoke and mirrors, good people.  The Citizens United case, which basically allows for unlimited corporate donations to political campaigns without accountability, began to wake up some other people to this continuing problem.  Now, if you look at the citizens united website, you will see an incredibly conservative outfit that steeps itself in the "founding principles" of our nation http://www.citizensunited.org/ .  Their tag line is "Dedicated To Restoring Our Government to Citizens' Control", yet their lawsuit against the Federal Elections Commission seeks to allow only corporate citizens to control the government.  Think about it: if we are out to dinner and I have 1 million dollars and you have only 10, I think we will be drinking the type of wine I want.

Perhaps the "Occupy Wall Street" movement is the first stirrings of people realizing they have been duped.  As corporate profits continue to increase, it is the workers who suffer.  The constant threat of lay-offs compels workers to work longer for less money and less benefits.  As union power decreases, a worker's recourse is diminished as well.  I don't seek socialism but I seek, and I suspect most Americans do as well, a safe, reasonable workplace where our efforts are valued and our successes rewarded.  We want a modicum of security so that we may choose to take risks to enrich ourselves and our communities.  If I know that I am just a piece of equipment to my company, why should I care?  If I know I am trusted and valued as a worker, I have a personal interest in continued success.  As my dear friend Christine noted, with her characteristic flair "We cut you hair and your grass, teach your kids, police your streets, put out your fires, cook and serve your food, keep your power on and your plumbing working: DO NOT FUCK WITH US!"  
It is indeed true that conservatives wish to "take America back" but I fear that they want to take us back to the 1890's.  Let's hope more people become awake to this growing, but not insurmountable tide against what's left of the middle class.  Because if the middle falls there is nothing to support either end.