The Revolution will not be televised, but it is being live-streamed right now. As I write, thousands of people are marching through New York City to Union Square. Even as many news outlets dismiss, ignore and blackout the Occupy Wall Street rebellion, the movement is gathering force like a wave that soon will crest and smash on the shore of capitalism.
Another news piece predicts that the “non-hierarchical” protests are “doomed.” The Fast Company writer judges Americans as “notoriously apathetic people” who prefer the trivial indulgences of the “Internet, video games and satellite television” over the intellectualism and commitment that is needed to sustain a mass people’s movement.
These casual dismissals of rising civil discontent neglects not only the potential of the movement to grow and take shape as more people join but also the sacrifices the current protestors are already making. Almost two dozen people have been arrested, not counting reports of dozens more arrested today during the Union Square march. Police took some into custody for wearing a mask or writing with sidewalk chalk.
On the more violent side, the video below shows a police officer picking up and literally throwing a young man who was defending his tent.
An independent journalist on the scene described #OccupyWallSt as “a movement in formation. As protesters sometimes like to chant, ‘This Is Just Practice’” – an prologue for social quakes and shifts still in the making. To get better acquainted with what’s happening among the protestors check out the LIVE STREAM or this 6 min. mini-documentary below by WageNonViolence.com.
This is not a test, I repeat: This is NOT a test. This is the single biggest opportunity we have to take a spark and make it a movement that brings about change. The Egyptian people’s revolution was ignited, literally, by a few protestors’ self-immolation. I don’t think we should light ourselves on fire, but I do think if you have a backbone and a mind that thinks for itself you need to put down what you’re doing and contribute to the rising call for social and economic justice. Even the White House is behind us; Obama‘s vocally defending jobs, tax breaks and unemployment benefits for “The Other 98%” while calling on the richest individuals and corporations to give more back.
Here’s your chance: Get informed and get involved. Let’s not blow this, Gen X and Y.
Occupy Together is organizing people’s protests in more than 30 major cities nationwide. Visit the link above and click on the “Events” tab to check for ways to join the social movement in your area.