Yesterday, we showed you what we feel is the single core solution that will allow the resolution of the majority of the economic problems Americans currently face. If we get money out of the political system in the United States, the system will begin to function again, to the benefit of ALL Americans, not just a few.
Sadly, getting things fixed in our society isn't as easy as having Steve Jobs and the rest of Apple whip up a new iPhone, with new apps that magically fix everything. The problems facing our society are issues that have been ignored and grown over the last thirty years.
Much of the mainstream media is still ignoring the Occupy movement, which is now in its third week. There's no question - this movement is far more newsworthy than many of the stories our colleagues are wasting their pixels, ink, bits, and bandwidth on.
Still, for those of our colleagues that have finally begun to cover the Occupy movement, the primary question they're asking - "What do these people want, specifically? " - is the wrong question entirely. "These people" are our fellow Americans, and what they want specifically is as varied as the millions of Americans who are suffering through the disastrous economy that is generating these protests from coast to coast.
Thousands are "Occupying" now. Millions more are speaking out online - for now. The question that worries us the most is "Will this accelerate - and badly?" That is not at all our wish, though - and we hope it isn't yours either. It's also not the question the media should be asking.
The question our media colleagues SHOULD be asking is actually sickeningly simple: Why is this happening now?
You can find the answers in post, after post, after post by Americans involved in the Occupy movement at the website wearethe99percent.tumblr.com. There are Americans of all ages there, all races, and nearly every life situation you can imagine. These are people who've worked hard, busted their asses, done everything society told them to do. They've gone to college or tech school, served in the military, faced their demons of mental health and gotten treatment, expensive though it's been.
They've taken care of their parents, their kids, themselves in the best way possible. Many live with family, in hand-me-downs. Many don't have TVs, computers, or even rooms of their own. Most don't have pets, and some don't even have shoes. Seriously. In America, in 2011. Most of them have more than fulfilled their end of the social contract with our American society.
They want what America has promised to the world, what America has advertised as possible for anyone to achieve, especially since the end of World War II. They want a fair chance to work for a better life.
This is happening now because that chance is being actively denied to them. It's even being denied to the President they elected to help them change America, for the better.
President Obama has been NOTHING but compromising during his first term, bending over backwards to try and find common ground with those whose only goal is his failure. Yet, Republicans like Eric Cantor revel in stopping the President's JOBS plan - the ONLY legitimate jobs plan even presented to Congress. What's more, House Republicans are planning on fighting another massive battle with the President - instead of helping millions of Americans in desperate need of a chance for a better life.
No one is asking for a handout. Everyone simply wants a fair, legitimate opportunity. But those at the top don't wish to give even that anymore. So we get what you're seeing now: protests, popping up all over the country.
These protests are a precursor. They are a last cry for hope.
Think of these protests as the Revolutionary Warning App for our society.
Here is the thought process we fear may take over soon: If hardworking, decent, intelligent, spiritual, honest Americans are denied all hope, then why, exactly, should those millions of Americans continue to play by the ethical and moral rules of society? The top one percent on Wall Street didn't - and look where it got them.
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