Life of Wry

So, this is happening in Davis.. Davis’ contribution to the greater national, now global, movement.

Went by this morning to visit the group… a small crowd gathered on the deck beneath the giant oak in Central Park.

Maia, a young woman who appears to be the head organizer, said many more were there last night, 200 she said, and they expect to maintain a presence for the duration, whatever that might mean.  I hope they get a lot of support.  Hard to sustain energy when your effort is relatively isolated and quiet.

Talked for awhile with another woman, someone whose path I’ve crossed for 30 years, another of us Davis oldies. It was nice to see that she’d also wandered by.  We assured the younger organizer woman that there are thousands of people in Davis who sympathize with Occupy Davis’ efforts.  We just can’t all come sleep in the park, but we appreciate their work.  And that’s true.  I gave Maia $20 toward supplies.  Stopped short of offering our bathroom, though she seemed ready to inquire about that possibility.

Anyway.. the Occupy movement.  Or the 99% movement.  I hope it gets massive traction.

Debra DeAngelo wrote a good piece this morning in the Enterprise.  My favorite part was this:

Although the collective anger boiling over at the Occupy protests has pushed its way into corporate media coverage, it’s frequently footnoted with criticism and outright sneering that the protesters don’t have a clear message. Excuse me? They most certainly do have a message: “We’re angry!” That’s a message, you dolts!

The occupiers are like a guy rushed into the emergency room, clutching his chest in agony. His message is crystal clear: “I’m hurting!” It’s up to the doctor to figure out why he has chest pain, be it heart attack, stomach ulcers or that ax protruding from his sternum. I rather doubt the doc would sniff, “Come back when you know what the problem is, pal.” Unless, of course, the doctor’s paycheck is signed by Rupert Murdoch.

For me, the final blow to our already frail democracy occurred when the Supreme Court bestowed corporations with first amendment rights, as people, removing limits on corporate campaign contributions in the name of free speech.  Gag. Politicians can now officially be bought.  I mean, really?  How could that ever be considered fair and democratic?  Ever?

And when those same corporations control the media and shape the message…. yeah.

Easy to call it corporate greed, but business is just doing what business does, maximizing profit.  Really, rather than corporate greed, the problem is the rise of privately held government.  The government’s been bought.  The fate of elections, policy decisions–all of it–in the hands of private, corporate–not public–interests.

Corporate power trumps all. Game over.