Tuesday, October 4, 2011

Movements and creating crisis

Successful movements tend to create an existential crisis for the wealthy and powerful. Martin Luther King Jr. challenged the Christianity of people who supported segregations. Gandhi used non-violence to make explicit the violence of colonialism that had, until then, been implicit. By forcing the state to respond, Gandhi made revealed the chasm between the justification for colonialism, a civilizing mission, and the reality of colonialism, economic exploitation.

Both these movements did not start out with neat and tidy demands. The Civil Rights Bill was the culmination of a process not the start. And after the passage of the Civil Rights Bill, Martin Luther King did not declare victory but started formulating a grander vision for a movement that would explicitly challenge state power. Even in India the demand for decolonization was not a legislative package to be debated in Parliament but a demand to destroy the colonial regime.

Those people clamoring for the #occupywallstreet protesters to come up with a list of demands are missing the point. The mere presence of the protesters on Wall Street highlights the vast inequities in a system that privileges the few at the expense of the many. By exposing the emperor, the protesters are just asking the privileged and wealthy to explain themselves. There are only two responses to such a challenge: (1) You’re right, the system sucks and I’m going to join you. (2) Justify your position on some very shaky moral grounds i.e. I deserve my money and you deserve to be poor.

Hence, just by occupying Wall Street the protesters have created an existential crisis for the wealthy. Seen in this light, the response by the elites starts to make sense. By attacking the seriousness of the protesters, whether it’s demanding a list of demands or labeling protesters as entailed, snotty and/or dumb, the wealthy and privileged are avoiding the reality that there is very little moral space between the first and second response i.e. they are trying to change the subject.

By taking seriously the position that they need create a list of policy proposals, the protesters would let the wealthy and privileged off the hook and avoid answering the only question that matter. How did you become so wealthy? Luckily the protesters have not taken the bait.

However, one question remains. What’s your response to #occupywallstreet? I ‘m will down there tomorrow with a contingent from SEIU 1199 UHE and UnitedNY. Come see what all the fuss is about.

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