A favorite TV addiction for many years is Jeopardy. Though not particularly well educated, I am often surprised how many answers I mysteriously know the questions to.
Then again, I have always been much better at questions, than answers.
One of the events raising far more questions than answers these days is the Occupy Wall Street movement.
Yesterday, thousands of people marched in the streets of New York City and elsewhere.
But, I cannot seem to get a clear grasp of exactly what they are marching against?
Some days it seems to be corporate greed. Some days it is income disparities. Some days it seems just some kind of general malaise or unhappiness with everything -- especially cops.
But, aren't cops part of the "99%?" (It doesn't seem too many cops are billionaires.)
I am confused about the 99% and exactly what that encompasses?
Does it include criminals, pedophiles, racists and terrorists as long as they aren't billionaires and are capable of beating a drum?
Does it include right-winged conservatives, religious zealots and USDA goose killers as long as they don't own mansions and yachts?
If something is so nearly all-inclusive and encompassing, where exactly is the focus and the principles on which it stands?
What exactly are the goals and what is the ultimate agenda of OWS?
In the two months since OWS launched on the scene, its main agenda seems to be lots and lots of daily protests, marches and "occupies."
That is fine. I am all for free speech, the right to assembly and the right to protest. But, what exactly is being protested and what is the specific remedy sought?
What has OWS got against the Brooklyn Bridge, for example?
I always thought the bridge simply provided a means for people to get from one borough to another.
Do the occupiers want the bridge destroyed and taken down? Is the bridge to blame because someone lost money in their IRA account?
Should people have to swim from Brooklyn to Manhattan?
I am not sure how that would put money in IRA's or create jobs (well, except perhaps, more lifeguard positions).
I actually believe in and support many of the voiced grievances of the OWS movement. But, I don't know that I would necessarily support all. (Indeed, I don't know what constitutes "all.")
What if, among the many complaints of OWS, some protesters hate geese and want them all dead?
I would obviously have a problem with that.
But, my greatest question or concern about the OWS movement is what will be the ultimate result of these daily protests seemingly without end or specific goal?
The American electorate seems to have a low tolerance for these kinds of disruptions and "inconveniences" over a period of time.
All those anti-war demos in the 60's ultimately succeeded in the country electing Richard Nixon in 1968 as a kind of "backlash" to all the unrest and disquiet.
Protests are important for opening dialogues and drawing attention to vital issues, particularly of social injustice. (But, then what?)
Protests for the sake of protests however, could ultimately have the opposite effect to their intentions and mission no matter how otherwise noble or well intended.
If the answer on Jeopardy is, "Tents in Zuccotti Park, drum banging and Brooklyn Bridge," I think we could all come up with the question, "What is, Occupy Wall Street?"
But, what if the answer was, "Social justice, economic equity and harmony with nature?
Even I couldn't come up with the question to that one.
Last night, there was a new family of five geese at Harlem Meer.
I am quite certain the new geesies were neither migratory nor the same family of geese observed last week. (None had leg bands and all five appeared familiar with the environment and accustomed to people and even dogs.)
I am guessing the new arrivals are former "resident" geese of Harlem Meer, returned for a day or two.
But, if the answer on Jeopardy was, "The future for Canada geese in the USA," I would hesitate to ring in with the question.
I hate to think it is really, "What is removal?" or worse, "What is extinction?" -- PCA
**************
No comments:
Post a Comment