On the night President Obama was elected in 2008 he had this to say: “This victory alone is not the change we seek. It is only the chance for us to make that change. And that cannot happen if we go back to the way things were. It can’t happen without you, without a new spirit of service, a new spirit of sacrifice.”
Part of what made him an appealing candidate is that he expected more out of us and believed that the people were still in control, as long as we organized and advocated for change. The issue is too many people who elected Barack Obama thought that electing him and stopping at that would bring change when in fact there was so much work left to be done.
President Obama ran on the premise that if Americans wanted change they could have it, but only if they advocated and fought for that change. Well for three years now I have been waiting for the American people to finally pick up that call and advocate for that change that they so badly wanted in 2008.
It should come as no surprise that I have been watching the Occupy Wall Street movement closely now for the past three weeks. I whole-heartedly believe that this is a movement not defined by partisanship or what is liberal or conservative, but about what is best for all Americans, not just those who can afford to have the ear of politicians.
This movement is advocating for the 99% of Americans who are not benefiting from our current system and are finally willing to fight for change. Former Congressman from Florida, Alan Grayson, defined the movement best last week when he said,
“They are complaining about the fact that Wall St. wrecked the economy three years ago and nobody has been held responsible for that. Not a single person has been indicted or convicted for destroying 20% of our national net worth accumulated over the course of two centuries. They’re upset over the fact that Wall St. has iron control over the economic policies of our country and that one party is owned completely and the other caters to them as well, that’s the real truth of the matter. They believe we shouldn’t have 24 million people in this country who can’t find a full-time job. We shouldn’t have 50 million people who can’t afford to see a doctor. We shouldn’t have 47 million people in this country who rely on the government in order to feed themselves and we shouldn’t have 15 million families who owe more on their mortgage than the value of their home.”
For the past two weeks the mainstream media has been doing what the mainstream media does, which is to turn this story into a circus and completely misunderstand its goals.
They have complained that this movement stands for nothing when that is far from the truth. Their lack of understanding and comprehension truly highlights what the protestors are fighting for and how out-of-control the political culture in this country has gotten.
Over the past two weeks, I have seen a lot of conservative activists, mainly Tea Party leaders, try to shrug off this movement and say it is not important, leaving me to wonder why is that. The Tea Party when it was founded also claimed to fight for every American and to get government working again. They formed in the wake of the same bank bailouts that these protests are based around and tried to ensure that the average Americans voice was being heard.
Although, in my opinion, their movement was doomed from the start thanks to their association with large corporate donors, they fought with many of the same populist messages. To now see them turning on this movement calling the protesters “Leftists,” “Hippies,” and according to Ann Coulter “Fascist Nazis,” shows that not only are they unable to put partisan issues aside but that they have now became a part of the establishment.
I don’t know where this movement is going to go or how effective it is going to be but the fact that a large, and still growing, number of people are advocating for the rights of the other 99% of Americans in this country is a fantastic thing. Whether this movement be deemed left or right is of no concern to me because the fact that Americans are getting engaged organically and fighting for the rights of the majority is extremely uplifting.
This is the calling for change that I have been waiting to see since 2008. Finally the message of the American people fighting, advocating, and organizing for change has been realized and is currently raging across this great nation of ours, and I for one am pumped!
Jordan Posner can be contacted at jposner@ksc.mailcruiser.com