Occupy This

The Occupy Wall Street Movement is growing and to be honest I haven't been following it.  But I have been around long enough to remember the anti war protests of the 1960s.   The Occupy Wall Street Movement according to Wikipedia:

The protests are against social and economic inequality, high unemployment, greed, as well as corruption, and the undue influence of corporations—particularly that of the financial services sector—on government. The protesters' slogan We are the 99% refers to the growing difference in wealth in the U.S. between the wealthiest 1% and the rest of the population.

Unfortunately, with all of these kinds of movements, people join for lots of different reasons and they often degenerate into a sort of infantile performance art.  People stop listening to each other, the other side becomes demonized, and people on both sides behave badly destroying the opportunity to have a dialogue that might actually solve some of the issues.  The real irony, in my mind, is in certain parts of the world our 99% would be the 1% in their world. 

Protesting is easy, change is hard - we need both.  But change has to come from us first.  Each and everyone of us is responsible for the social, economic inequality, greed and corruption.  Corporations are made up of people, each and every one of those people contribute to the greed and corruption that exists.  A corporation can not be corrupt or greedy if the people that are its life blood refuse to be greedy or corrupt. We are the problem, we are the corporations.  Each and everyone of us has to suck it up and take our own personal responsibility for the mess we have created.  Who did you cheat to day?  Who did you lie to today?  Did you buy the cheap factory farmed, de-beaked chicken breasts because they were on sale and cheaper than the humanely raised chickens that cost more?  It is easy to look the other way when it benefits us. Both chicken raisers might be a form of corporation, but which one are you helping to survive?  A corporation in and of it self is not necessarily evil.

Everyone needs to wake up and realize that you have more power than you know, it is in your pocket book and in your integrity.  Look around, follow the reduction of harm model, pick one thing that you could do different that would benefit our world.  There is no them and us, them is us.  

So protest if you must, but don't break the law to do it, and besides your 15 minutes of fame for being a protester, what are you really doing to help?  Do you have your own greed and corruption handled?  I'm just curious.

We Have Met The Enemy And He Is Us