Monday, September 19, 2011

Gathering at the Castle Walls

In the past four millennia of recorded history, humankind has been embroiled in revolutionary conflict for social and political change.  Wikipedia lists hundreds of rebellions and revolutions over that period.  Most were violent, some peaceful; some successful, others not.  Even when unsuccessful, they brought about change in some form or another.  The recent uprisings in the Middle East (Arab spring), Bangkok, Krygyzstan, Myanmar, Greece, and others, are beginning to point to a growing new phenomenon:  Global Revolution.  
The fall of the Berlin Wall and most of the events of the Autumn of Nations in Europe, 1989, were sudden and peaceful.
The September 17 peaceful effort in NY to occupy Wall Street is in protest of the poor economic conditions brought about by bad financial practices globally by banks and other institutions.  Those bankers and financiers have emerged unscathed by the economic catastrophe they created.  They continue to be rewarded with obscene salaries and bonuses while receiving "bailout funds" from government coffers.  All the while, families lose their homes, jobs evaporate and governments provide no answers.  Those affected by the reckless behaviour of the financial sector now see it for what it is and they are not happy.  This protest effort is being mirrored around the world in solidarity.   Most notable is the silence of the main stream media outlets but, despite their best efforts, the news is out.  Already the protesters are feared enough to be absent from the airwaves.  Ghandi once said “First they ignore you, then they ridicule you, then they fight you, then you win" 

A speaker addresses the crowd in Zuccotti Park on September 17, 2011
Through the Internet, social networking and streaming media, the people of the world are engaged in conversation.  Millions of participants are experiencing an awakening.  They are more cognizant of the plight of those in more oppressive regimes.  They are aware of the suffering and shattered lives of those most affected by the failures in the global marketplace.  There is much to be said about the control of the world's economy by a remarkably small number of individuals. They see whole populations succumbing to the ravages of storms, floods and drought brought on by effects of global warming and climate change while the ruling class struggles to maintain the status quo.  

Storming of the Bastille (1789)
In the introduction of his visionary book, "The Third Wave (1980)," Alvin Toffler remarked:

"In a time when terrorists play death-games with hostages, as currencies careen amid rumors of third World War, as embassies flame and storm troopers lace up their boots in many lands, we stare in horror at the headlines.....Banks tremble. Inflation rages out of control. And the governments of the world are reduced to paralysis or imbecility.....
A powerful tide is surging across much of the world today, creating a new, often bizarre, environment in which to work, play, marry, raise children, or retire.  In this bewildering context, businessmen swim against highly erratic economic currents; politicians see their ratings bob wildly up and down; universities, hospitals, and other institutions battle desperately against inflation.  Value systems splinter and crash, while the lifeboats of family, church, and state are hurled madly about....
...many of today's changes are not independent of one another.  Nor are they random....These and many other seemingly unrelated events or trends are niter-connected.  The are, in fact, parts of a much larger phenomenon:  The death of industrialism and the rise of a new civilization."

Heady stuff.  But it, perhaps, indicates some of what is to come.  Whether the protest in New York is successful or not, it is only the beginning.  The stirrings are everywhere.  Young people will not accept the bleak future planned for them.  They will not go quietly.  They are gathering at the castle walls. Expect them.

Faceoff at 55 Wall Street