Last night I had the pleasure of witnessing the revolution up close. All of the lame stream media does not know what to make of this phenomena. They have images of the protests of the Vietnam era. They couldn't be farther from the truth. They have this idea that some one or some organization is behind all that is going on. They'd be wrong. This may have started with a group calling for a protest on Wall Street which did happen. About 100 protesters did show up in mid September to show their displeasure with the banks and investment houses. Main stream media ignored it as they have done for most protests of late that don't fit their corporate purposes. You'll note the the Tea Bag revolution was promoted long in advance of it's actual happening and called a grass roots movement even though people were bused in with the support of the Koch brothers. That movement was only started so that the candidates with radical right wing ideas could gain office with the help of the Kochs who dumped millions into the process.
But this is a different revolution that is not working with corporate media. Even the pages of Yahoo and Google news do not tell the real story. While the outdated means of communications (print and TV) thinks that they are still relevant, the entire process has quietly changed without much notice. What used to be spread by word of mouth in a slow and laborious process now moves faster than any teletype could tap out characters. It was fascinating to watch as information was disseminated at lightening speed and fact checked just as fast. Information can now be verified in minutes rather than having to wait for the film at eleven. And there are rules of etiquette in this process. Anyone not following them is given a warning and the next time is removed from the conversation. It isn't some slick packaged process but it does work.
But the one thing that has given me great hope for the next generation is their sense of compassion and ability to get things done in short order. I had always worried that in the event of some disaster that those of the younger crowd would be clueless. Nothing could be further from the truth. I watch as they solved problems within an hour or less that would take any company a half a day to solve. But the beauty of this revolution is that it's not limited to just one group. It includes young, old, black white and every manner of backgrounds. Even the police are part of this because they know that their jobs benefits and retirements could be next.
Yes I do believe change is coming. It's just that they are working out the details now. That is why you've not seen any demands list or working framework. They are realizing just how hard it is to form a new structure from scratch especially when everyone has a voice in the process.
8 comments:
You young people are so idealistic.
Good post, and I share your feelings of encouragement. I'm especially impressed with the lack of violence. That speaks well of the protesters and will strengthen their credibility.
Young people have plenty on the ball. It will be a transformative achievement for them and the country, and a tremendous setback for the forces of greed and selfishness, if the OWS people can make peaceful collective action bring about badly needed reforms. Nothing is for sure at this point, but there is reason to be hopeful.
media did their damnedest to make a joke of the protesters but that failed so now they are trying to find out who is behind it. They don't get it, the people have had enough.
The young people will have to fix this mess, it's us old fucks that fucked things all up.
Or allowed them to get fucked up. I hope those young people have a lot of guns.
My 74 year old father is going to downtown Vancouver WA tomorrow to join in on this.
I guess we have the government we deserve.
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