I'm a bit surprised that there are still some progressives who don't "get" what the Occupy movement is truly about. Some think it's just so much street theatre, a bunch of unambitious but greedy kids eager for attention.
Bollocks!
Quite predictably Rolling Stone's Matt Taibbi gets it - loud and clear. I'm not sure you can find a better take on Occupy.
4 comments:
I "get" it.
I just don't think that Occupy Canada = the original Occupy Wall Street, the focus of Taibbi's article and a movement I happen to support.
That's all.
Ah but the broader Occupy movement is, like the Arab Spring and the street riots in Athens, Madrid and London, a rejection of rapidly spreading inequality in wealth, income, opportunity and social justice as well as the rise of corporatism and oligarchy.
Around the world, self-indulgent societies are handing their young people the shit end of a very large stick and they realize it. From writing stacks of IOUs they'll have to pay to savaging the climate they're going to have to endure we have set in motion an oppression that's only just beginning.
When Egyptians mass in Tahrir Square to march on the US Embassy in support of Occupy Oakland, you're seeing the beginning of a nascent global movement. The 21st is going to be a Century of Revolution. The Chinese and the Indians know it and are scrambling for ways to prevent massive uprisings that could destabilize their own countries.
In Canada we're so much better off than many other nations but I know my kids' generation is going to get a far worse deal than the one I experienced. Our leaders aren't rising to the challenges of the day much less the challenges of the future.
While we may not be losing our homes to the banks in Canada, we are most certainly being robbed of future quality of life. As Bill MacKibben states, Tar Sands oil and the KXL are the poster child of corporate greed and arrogance. We are subsidizing oil companies to rack up huge short term profits while ignoring the pollution of our air, water and soil. Sure, we get to drive SUV's with cheap gas, but the 99%, not the oil companies, will pay the long term price.
Anyong....
The two most damaging things governments do in Canada is to cut health care and education. The two most important things to sustain a reasonable life. It's a great way to keep the masses in check. It is a form of bondage.
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