Occupy the Bastille

"Tell me again. Why are we walking around with these signs?"

The basic desire of the Occupy movement is to establish a Participatory democracy which is a process that emphasizes the broad participation of constituents in the actions and operation of the political system. The protestors feel the current system is an Oligarchy which is the name given to a system which is led by the elite and the rich.

 The origin of the current Occupy movement in the U.S. can be traced back to the Arab Spring which began with demonstrators in Tunisia and spread across the Arab world. The demonstrations in Cairo’s Tahrir Square seemed to have been given the most coverage by the news media and probably encouraged the actions of Spanish Indignants movement. The Canadian anti-consumerist publication know as Adbusters suggested that numerous simultaneous protests throughout North America could and should be organized with the use of the internet social networks such as Facebook, which are accessible through cell phones.

 Advances in communication technology has placed  powerful tools in the hands of the people and, as with any other tool or weapon, the merits or faults of modern information access on the  New World Order have yet to be determined.

 I would venture to say that most folks, who are defined as Conservatives by the current sociopolitical system of political pigeon holing, think that an overhaul of our system of government and financial system will require a violent rebellion. Many of these people began stock piling weapons and provisions during the Y2K frenzy. After the 21^st century began without disaster, many Americans became motivated to prepare for survival through because of fears generated by economic instability brought about by the Government’s mismanagement of the nation’s monetary resources.

 The folks who have come to be known as Liberals or Progressives have subscribed to the belief that change can be brought about through public demonstrations which will encourage a shift control of government closer to those being governed. This assumption is reminiscent of concepts such as “States Right” and other means of making the rules closer to home.

 If any major changes come about it may be through a combination of stratagem and unity of the above named camps and will need to include more emphasis on election by popular vote rather than the abstract notions like the Electoral College.

 Some people feel that history repeats itself and that the US has just about ran its course as far as longevity of a nation goes. Hopefully, however, the people won’t have to resort to revolution and can just “storm the Bastille” in order to get the country back on track.