I have not been to NYC in a long time. I have not taken part in any OCCUPY events, nor will I. I only know what I read here and elsewhere and what I see on the tube and the interwebs.
But what I see, moves me.
Everyone seems to be asking "What are they on about?". All I know is that they are on about a number of things. But what they impress upon me, what I see they want, is something that touches me on a very basic level, and others as well. And I think it is pretty clear.
Like the protesters in Egypt, in lunch counters of Mississippi, in London, in Greece, in Washington with the Bonus Army, in Syria, and even those outlandishly dressed folks so long ago ships in Boston Harbor, Occupy Wall Street says to me that many people do not know what else to do to be heard in a world of money and power. That attention must be paid, that those in power are not taking the effects of their actions on the ordinary people of the country into account, that the options left to the people to govern and direct their own lives have been lessened.
The burden is increasing just as the avenues for being heard are closing. There are fewer jobs. There are more costs. There is less ability to borrow. Austerity is in the wind, and the impact falling on those less able to carry it well. Money is swamping the governing of our countries, gathered into the hands of fewer people, who in turn use that money to secure greater hold on that governance. There is increasing debt, fewer homeowners, less jobs for the young, and increasing taxes on the old.
This is not the future we were promised. Every day we are told of advances in science, new ways to improve your home, food that is better for you, and opportunities to increase our understanding of the world through education. But what is the usefulness of all this if the foundations of everyday life are eroded so much that we cannot afford to improve ourselves, to take advantage of better food to make better places to live for our families, or even to find the time to participate in the civic life if the nation in which we live.
What Occupy Wall Street Say to me is simple:
Stop It. Stop All of It.
Stop the erosion of the foundations of people's lives. Stop insulting and blaming us for not acting or thinking as you think we should, because you do not lead our lives or share out burdens. Stop supporting those banks and institutions that care little about people, and only about numbers. Let them live with their own consequences as they ask us to do. Stop enabling those with power and money the means to gain more of each, with no regard to the impact on those with less. Stop taking our homes, because we have no where else to go, no second or third home awaiting us. End the fear we have of being old or sick, of seeing all we have built with our minds and backs broken, just so we can draw one more debt-ridden breath. Stop the anguish of families, of mothers and fathers and children who worry for each other when a parent loses a job, a student drops out of school, or when a loved one is asked one more time to serve in wars with no definition.
This is not unreasonable. These desires are fundamental parts of the American dream. Work, a place to live, and a better future, however small that better is, than we had last year. You can't have either freedom or liberty without these fundamental things, and it seems we must have this fight again and again to remind those with power they are not alone in determining the direction of this nation, or of any nation.
I cannot go to any Occupy events. But I can agree with them. I can support them. I can say it doesn't matter if you make a specific list of what you want or not for the media or anyone. I can say that you all out there are occupying for me, that you are being arrested for me, that you are being maced and beaten for me, and that you are being heroes for me. I can say thank you.