We really are the 99%

First of all, the important issue: New York Times answers the all-consuming question: what to wear to a protest? Click here for revolutionary fashion tips

The interesting thing about this mostly funny article is that it does not give an accurate representation of the diversity of the people at the protest.  My friend Christian made us crowns that said 'tax the rich,' which were a big hit, but there were some amazing signs.  My favorite was "I'll believe corporations are people when I see Texas execute one."  Nice.

The mood was happy, the music was excellent thanks to two kick-ass brass bands.  Marching for 3 hours is made a lot easier to New Orleans-style music.

We were all kind of amazed how many of us were marching, and I haven't felt this cheerful in a long time.  Again, I don't know what this will or won't accomplish but to see class trump race for once in the US is something I didn't think I would live long enough to see.  To see union members and trendy kids, all races and ages, artists and engineers, clothing workers, Teamsters, teachers and the Coalition for the Homeless all together was great.

I slept better than I have in ages afterward and taught the best class so far at BCC.  There is something cheering about saying the obvious with thousands of other people, namely: the rich are running this country, they are only 1% and we are 99% and that is wrong.  Most of the wealth of the country and all of the power devolves to this 1% and as mentioned in my last post: that is Not the American Project.

The American Project is: radical democracy - no one person or interest should run the show.  That's why there are checks and balances.  Even if that system has somehow managed to accept the idea that a corporation is a person, and therefore is protected as such, and that money is speech, which leads to all kinds of absurdities, there are mechanisms to upend those assumptions - because they are legal constructions.  And those constructions can be changed.

For all the cynicism and for all the problems caused by all the money in the political system greasing the wheels, in theory and in practice, if an effort is concerted enough, the laws can change.

And part of the way that happens is a turn of phrase, a moment of understanding and identification, such as: we are the 99%.  The fact we all are part of that 99%, well 99% of us are anyway, is a powerful idea and reality.  Understanding, accepting and acting on this idea could make significant change happen.

I also want to send a shout out of respect to the handful of people who have been occupying Zuccotti Park for weeks, who have been objects of ridicule and mischaracterization, and who have now been given respectability by virtue of the fact the rest of us got off our butts and marched.  I am also glad the unions have decided to support this movement, even though they know they cannot control it.

The use of consensus decision making is frustrating and can create moments that are downright silly, and can give one person inordinate power to block ideas, but it is a brave way of having the conversation they are trying to have down there about what next.

It is a red herring to ask for an agenda, because the fact is as soon as there is some 5-point plan, that will be used to dismiss this movement as 'impossible' or 'untenable,' etc. and the politics of the possible, meaning the politics of traditional politics will take hold.  In insisting the next steps be a conversation, this movement insists on representing what it claims to represent: the 99%.  99% of Americans will not easily agree on much, and obviously 99% of Americans are not marching right now, and some of this 99% includes people in the Tea Party.  So, it's not a simple thing.

On the other hand if the Occupy folks and the Tea Party people (meaning the people in the Tea Party not the corporations bankrolling it) got to talking about their various economic woes, we would all see soon enough how much in common we have.  We may not agree on the solution, but we could probably all agree on the problem, which is not a solution but sure as shit is a start.

A good start.

Both sides hate the fact that the banks got bailed out by the government.  Who in the Tea Party could not agree with the chant "Banks got bailed out, We got sold out!"?  Just for starters.

And so like maybe it seems obvious, but then again, no one has been saying it.  Most everyone in Congress is a millionaire, probably everyone is in the Senate.  So who is representing the 99%?  Good question, since Congress and the Senate also receive campaign contributions primarily from those huggable corporations, banks and their CEOs.

So, here's hoping we are going to embark on what one sign at the protest referred to as "The American Spring."  May a thousand flowers bloom and all that...except without reeducation camps and the nasty bits...