Monday, November 21, 2011

A response to being called absolute human garbage.


 
"Just think about. How many veterans scarified their marriages, families, health and lives so that these individuals can Occupy Wall-street and whine about democracy, capitalism, environment and whatever else they can latch onto and bitch about.

Blood, sweat and tears defending the American Flag only for the occupiers to step on, shred, paint, shit on and burn it.

I can proudly say I am not in the 1% wealth bracket in this nation but you associate me with this 99% group consisting of absolute human garbage and I'll punch out your fucking lights.

I am proud of America; of being an American. I am proud of where I am in life. If I have any regrets or dislike for my current position in life, the only person I have to blame is myself. We are all in control of our own destinies and choices. Now live with the consequence of your own actions."

The message above was a facebook post by a person who Im not going to name on my blog - it doesn't really matter. The writer calls me, as a member of the Occupy movement, a piece of absolute human garbage. Much more importantly, he said a lot of things that point to the fact that he has been mislead about the Occupy movement. I'm not reaching out to 'prove him wrong' or 'start a fight', I'm reaching out because I believe very strongly that the main stream media has misrepresented the Occupy movement in a lot of ways and I think intelligent people should be able to make their own decisions, not accept the decisions fed to them. This letter is addressed to the writer of the message:

Sir,

I'm not going to talk much about the fact that the picture is of a person stepping on the flag - mostly because I wasn't there when that photo was taken and all the flags I saw were being waved proudly by protesters, as we believe that we are protesting in accordance with the ideals of America, fighting to protect these ideals - not against them. For all I know, the person was waiving the flag a minute before this photo was taken and he sneezed and dropped it or was hit in the face by pepper spray and stepped it while blinded… or maybe he was stepping on the flag as some form of political protest (which has been protected as an act of free speech by the US supreme courts) - I don't know and Im guessing neither do you. So I'd much rather talk about some of the radical, hateful points in the note below the picture - which I assume are your opinions regardless of the truth behind the photograph. 

I know its not likely that this will happen, but I want you to go down to the location of an Occupy Wall St event to see with your own eyes and ears and use your own decision making skills. Talk to people - I've spent a lot of time there and I can promise you: no one will bite you for showing interest. Its not a brainwashing camp and the worst that can happen is that your previously established notions will be re-inforced, if you find them to be accurate. But the people down there are not human garbage, they are Americans exercising their constitutional rights that veterans fought so hard to defend. Not using these rights hardly honors veterans at all and I don't think the veterans fought for the rights so that you could mock anyone who exercises those rights. BUT those veterans fought equally hard for your right to mock them, so I guess you should continue doing that if you want to.
It is true that offering free food and medical service has attracted homeless people, but homeless people are also not human garbage - we are all products of the random placement of birth and it is impossible to say what you would have done being born into someone else's womb other than your mothers. You didn't work for your place in her womb, don't pretend that you did (I'll return to this later).
And the majority of protesters are smart, friendly, patriotic people who can intelligently express their political opinion, will not be violent or destroy property to express those points and who love this country (many have served). They may be willing to commit acts of civil disobedience to bring awareness to their expression and they will serve the consequences of their actions - sit down on a bridge, get arrested (for example). 

This great country was founded by people committing acts of civil disobedience because they were left with no other discourse through which to express their political ideas. So when the founding fathers formed this country, they protected the rights of people to free speech and to assembly. Make no mistake - the right to free speech and assembly are key to the democracy that we've been involved in wars all over the world to spread and codify. They are not extra goodies given to citizens if they 'behave themselves', they ARE the ingredients of democracy and without them you do not have democracy anymore.

I want to tell you why I support the movement but first I want you to think of these reasons in the context of me because we tend to pretend that politics are not personal. But calling someone human garbage is personal. I'm a brother, a son, a husband. I have nieces and nephews that love me and get excited to see me because Im fun to play games with. Im also a freelance designer, my clients trust me and depend on me. I have friends that know they can come to me for advice, Im thoughtful and a good listener.
I'm not a terrorist or an anarchist or a violent person or a piece of human garbage. I might disagree with you but this country is supposed to allow for disagreement - and compromise can only be reach if we view each other with humility and understanding. Only if we try to find common ground, unlike our elected representatives are doing right now in Congress. Be better than we've seen other people set the example for. And make no mistake - this world is a crazy place and whether you view Iran or Climate Change as an immediately problem that needs attention: this country needs to move past name-calling, bickering and digging in our heals when we sit down at the table. 

I believe that a combination of factors has led to the disenfranchisement of a large portion of the population of America - what I  mean by this is that while people still technically have the right to vote, Americans (not just liberals) are being denied actual and functional representation in our government. The main factors that I see are skyrocketing costs of election campaigns and a lack of effective limitations on campaign contributions. The formula is simple: even the most honest, well meaning candidate for any federal office must raise millions of dollars and, if they want to spend any time at all on policy, meeting constituents, etc (as opposed to fundraising dollar by dollar) - they must accept large sums of money from wealthy people and wealthy groups of people - for example, large corporations (unions are another example). Once these politicians are in office - they owe favors to these large donors and must keep the donors in mind if they intend to run for another election round. This produces laws and policies that are more representative of campaign contributors than constituents, that skew towards the wealthy and big business.  [The focus on Wall St is that they are a particularly blatant example of political influence leading to a lack of effective regulation, which allowed/caused a financial collapse in 2008 and nearly zero individuals or companies are being held responsible for their actions because of their friends in high places]. 

Now, the Occupy movement is not a members only club and there are no stated/declared goals. There are many members of the movement and many different opinions - some do talk about healthcare and others about education - but I think people are coalescing around what I have listed above because it underlies all other issues (i.e. the pharmaceutical companies lean heavily on the members of congress, right and left, who sit on the department of health subcommittees). The only opinions that are outright rejected by the movement are those that include the use of violence or destruction of property. Anyone with goals like that is ejected from the movement - it has already happened a few times (this includes anti-semitism, by the way: a man with a sign that said 'Kill the Jew Bankers' was immediately kicked out of Zuccoti Park by the group as a whole). 

To close with a reference to your own closing sentiment: I am also proud of America. I am proud that America is a place where disagreement is not only tolerated but protected by our Bill of Rights and Supreme Court. I disagree that we have only to blame ourselves for our situation: if a law is passed tomorrow that Jews or Graphic Designers or Right Handed People are not allowed to be employed or owe a higher tax rate and I can no longer afford food, that would not be a situation for which I had myself to blame. The 'blame yourself' response is oversimplifying a complicated political situation that we live in. Our government is, in its current state, making laws that favor wealthy Americans and large corporations and they do not deserve disproportionate representation or sway in our Congress any more than lower and middle class people deserve to have their votes ignored. Thats not how our government works and blaming ourselves would be logically incorrect because we didn't create this situation. And, further, even if we did blame ourselves because maybe we, as a whole, should have more carefully protected our rights to representation over the last decade, then the Occupy movement is the way that we are dealing with the consequences of our actions. We are not waiting around for someone else to fix this mess - we are taking an active role in shaping our future - isn't that what you asked us to do? 
"We are all in control of our own destinies and choices. Now live with the consequence of your own actions." 

We can blame ourselves for the results of our own actions but this country is based on a very powerful notion that every man is created equal

Have you ever thought about this phrase? 
Have you ever thought how you would feel if you had been born into a situation that made it hard for you to get ahead?
I have and it makes me thankful for my own privilege and it makes me fight in the streets to ensure our government works to represent and protect every single American. 

- Mark

Sunday, November 06, 2011

"All Men are Created Equal" and the new American revolution.

I had an epiphany just now, here it is (expanded slightly from its original form).

The reason why 'all men are created equal' was revolutionary is because concepts like 'the monarchy' and 'the aristocracy' (circa England in the 1700s) made it seem like being born into the right family or social class is something that fetus worked hard for and earned - something they deserved. But the American revolutionaries that founded this country said: no, its not - all men are created equal, some have had the fortune of being born to rich parents and some haven't but we are going to create a society where being born into a lower class doesn't mean you'll be there forever as if you did something for which you are being punished. All men are created equal was not a bumper-sticker-esque chantable catch phrase but a completely radical notion, an affront to thousands of years of religion-based governments and kings and nobles and aristocrats. All men are created equal broke all social class laws. All men are created equal did not pretend that each man was actually born into exactly the same amount of wealth with the same opportunity - thats factually untrue, all men are not born into equal situations. All men are created equal said that the second we are born, we are all equal. We've committed no crimes, earned no honors - we are completely and exactly equal. Even this is a slightly idealistic notion because education disparities will mean that the mother may not have known to avoid alcohol or get enough vitamins or may not have taken Lamaz classes; and a child born into Kings County General Hospital (in Brooklyn) may not exactly have all the luxuries as a child born into a private hospital in the Hamptons.

But to build a government based on the radical principle that "All men are created equal" would be set a ball rolling that would try to correct thousands of years of systematic oppression. This is the basis for why 'the american dream', now a cliche used to sell us crap we don't need, was once an equally radical idea worth dying for. Its so easy to think of the Statue of Liberty as this plastic figurine that is sold for too much money at every gift shop in New York City but it was a beacon of hope, attracting people from all over the world (including my own grandparents and great grandparents from Eastern Europe) with a bold promise:
“Give me your tired, your poor, Your huddled masses yearning to breathe free, The wretched refuse of your teeming shore. Send these, the homeless, tempest-tossed, to me: I lift my lamp beside the golden door.  
Its so easy to forget how revolutionary this was. You can leave the country that is oppressing you based on factors that you had no control over and be free in America. Especially in the context of the America that we live in today, its easy to forget what this country was built on. All men are created equal - if it wasn't such a famously American phrase - one might get laughed at in Congress for quoting it and called a 'socialist' by the political clowns in Washington. They forget - those privileged, white millionaires that laughing call themselves our representatives - they forget that this country is literally filled with immigrants and the children of immigrants and the grand children of immigrants who came to this country based on the promise that All men are created equal. And then Herman Cain has the audacity to tell Americans to blame themselves for not having jobs or being rich?! And right wing politicians tell Americans that the notion of a government supplying basic health needs to those who can't afford to pay for it is wrong? That doesn't sound equal to me, that doesn't sound like its based on the principles of this great country - it sounds like its based on the principles that this great country was founded in OPPOSITION to: that if you were born into a poor family, that is YOUR FAULT and if you were born into a wealthy family, GOOD FOR OUR, you DESERVE IT.

If Thomas Paine and John Jay and James Madison and Thomas Jefferson and Alexander Hamilton and George Washington were alive today: where would they be standing? In the polished halls of Congress or the scattered city block at Occupy Wall St's Liberty Plaza. Would they be defending a corporation's right to spend unlimited amounts of money on those running for political office? I doubt it. I actually think the founding fathers made several warnings in their political writings (such as The Federalist Papers) that would right true to our ears right now and perhaps provide us with some guidance in these dark times. I may return to my high school days as a constitutional scholar and try to turn up some of these writings and put them here on my blog for your enjoyment.

As always offered but seldom taken up on, feedback would be appreciated: questions, comments, disagreements, counter arguments, anything.

- Mark