May I Demonstrate?

I have stood by and watched this “Occupy Something/Anything” movement move from a crawl to almost motionless and all the while, telling myself to keep quiet.

But I cannot any longer…

Those of us who grew up in the 60s/70s have an appreciation for the protests and demonstrations that rolled through the better part of two decades. It was in those days that I spent my time as a radical. I did not consider myself a liberal, though in the strict definition, I was.

Countless books and songs were written and several documentary movies were made to memorialize a fertile history of movements that not only changed our country, but much of the Western World.

I don’t profess to be an expert of this period, but having lived through it, I believe that I have some first-hand knowledge or at least a pointed perspective of many key events.

I want to say that we owe this nation’s awakening to protest marches to our British brethren when, in the late 60s, they started the protest years with the “Ban the Bomb” marches.

In fact, I have it on good authority that the Peace symbol that adorned our clothing, flags, bumper stickers and album covers in the 60s/70s originated in Great Britain.

Does anyone remember the green Peace emblem that symbolized the “Ecology Now” movement?

The Peace symbol became the emblem for our counter culture. It separated us along generational lines and symbolized our anti-war (Vietnam), anti-establishment (parents/adults), anti-military industrial complex (government), anti-government (Washington), anti-discrimination, anti-authority (police); in addition to shepherding in the Feminist (Burn the Bra) Movement.

Please excuse me while I reflect…

Ah; those were the days.

I mean; we had very structured and very defined causes that allowed the faces of the “revolution” to move freely between them. From Abbie Hoffman, Jerry Rubin, Tom Hayden, David Dellinger, Rennie Davis, Bobby Seale, Angela Davis and poet Allen Ginsberg to name a few; they travelled the country, addressing and leading the masses on the doctrine that identified and united a diverse population of young minds that saw their country in a different light.

As we watched the freedom of choice replaced by the military draft; our politics in the hands of the powerful few; gunboat diplomacy; ratcheted rhetoric from the nuclear powers; our freedom of speech silenced with nightsticks, tear gas and guns; demonstrations across the country grew in numbers, intensity and frequency.

There was nothing abstract about it-it was REAL! It was not a contrivance of the news media-it bled; it cried and in some cases, died.

It was ground-breaking and bone breaking. It was done without cable-vision or political action committees.

When I think about the social issues during that period of my youth, I think back to the many misconceptions that came from the “other side”; you know…the Establishment. In their eyes, us “hippies” were socialists, communists and anti-American.

What I know is that, among my college mates, there was a lot of discussion about the “Amerika” that we wanted to grow up in and how we could change it.

And we knew that we didn’t want it done through force, but rather through education.

But then our peaceful path of resistance was destroyed by the Weatherman Underground Organization (WUO).

Like many at the time, I believed that it was a “government conspiracy” to discredit and to destroy the movement. Then, the WUO published their “declaration of war”. In my mind, that was the day that the Movement died; but, not my interest in politics and that brings us to the current circumstances.

Organizers-if there are any-of the “Occupy Wall Street” movement might have benefited more from an “Occupy Sesame Street” action.

Then, the movement would have a face; someone that we could identify the issues with. Granted; it would be Big Bird, Bert or Ernie, but at least they could articulate the “cause” in terms that we could understand, because with each, new interview of a participant wherever there is an “occupation”; some disjointed diatribe tumbles off of someone’s tongue that only adds to the confusion.

I mean; the general idea is that protesters oppose Wall Street wealth, but yet; they talk about wanting to re-distribute the wealth!

Huh?

You know; in retrospect, maybe the “face” of this movement should be the bearded Peggy from the cell phone commercials. I could TOTALLY get behind Peggy.

Do I get from the news coverage that these jobless protesters simply want to receive government checks, live in their parents’ basements and dream of a day when their Link card will be replaced with a government pension to compensate them for the six weeks that they sold magazine subscriptions “back in the day”? Ah; only in America!
You know; I have a job, own my home free and clear and dabble in the stock market.

Does that make me an “enemy” of these movements?

Tell you what; I will rent a porta-potty and put it in the park across from my house.

Please; have your “movement” THERE!

TCSS.

The views and opinions expressed are those of the author, Art Goodrich, who also writes under the name ChiefReason.  They do not reflect the views and opinions of www.fireengineering.com, Fire Engineering Magazine, PennWell Corporation or his dog, Chopper. Articles written by the author are protected by federal copyright and cannot be reproduced in any form.