American's are not mad enough about injustice and inequality

It's evident. The occupy groups are in many cities and doing their things but most of the time small. The 6000 in NY was a great thing to see, but still in the context of uprising and protest, relatively small. What's amazing is in other countries it has taken over and grown to exponential proportions.


Why is it a struggle here? Even with the media reporting it now, it seems dwarfed by other countries? Are we spoiled? Are we scared? I don't know. Maybe too damn busy?

Not impressed. More media than protesters. Ask people about it and they are like making fun of it. I see the massive gatherings in other countries and it dwarfs NY in so many places. Have you attended or supported?????

attended or supported???? (I have and will continue to do so.)

Think Wisconsin. Those folks never give up.

And Virginia is hardly indicative of the rest of the country. You're not going to get much from a state that votes Red.

for "most" of the people out there.

They're only aware of "something" going on in NYC, maybe in Seattle the "other day" from what they've seen on the local news and the in the newspaper. And then, it's only my SIL who reads the newspaper.

They generally understand that we've been screwn but since it hasn't personally affected them, they're just don't realize how many people have been hurt really bad.

They DO catch some of the crap the Republicans are throwing around, and always vote Democratic, but beyond that... :shrug:

:(

It's just amazing what is going on over the globe. Come to a protest in Norfolk and it's like, well, I don't know. Hard to explain. People youtubing themselves holding signs. Media sitting around laughing. It's frustrating. Sigh. Big ole sigh.

people I interact with daily just vaguely aware of this, of the extent to which we've been compromised.

When I mention it people may say "well, I agree" -- but that's it. No involvement. No effort or interest to educate themselves. It's discouraging.

Folks are spoiled or lazy or brainwashed. Or too fat and happy. I don't really know.

not paying attention enough to know what's going on..well, sadly, they're just not paying attention, period. and will go with the path of least resistance...no matter what happens. Maybe you're right that most Americans are like that or have been. One of the most deliciously surprising things about this movement is the passion and awareness and consciousness of the participants. I have faith and it couldn't have happened without them.

and when they do, they don't know why.

And Europeans have been out in the streets over the economy already. They're in worse conditions than we are.

I listened to some people joking about it and I knew they were democrats anyway. I interjected that it is just the beginning and they said it was a joke. I see other countries' people really rising up. I guess I am frustrated. There is so much reason to rise up in the US and put a stop to the thievery and corruption! I get the feeling people are distracted with American Idol and stuff like that, that they have no clue what is being destroyed with the 1% in this country that don't pay their fair share.

population controls 40% of its wealth and that 10% of this country's population controls 80% of its wealth? If they are joking, is it because they somehow fancy themselves part of that 1% or 10%? If not, then they are the joke (and a pretty pathetic one at that).

Very different in Europe (at least.) 'MSM' there very different.

I need that. I just feel like Americans are so fucking spoiled and brain damaged sometimes. They have been brainwashed.

Educational system sucks. I grasp my optimistic moments!

We work midnights as CNAs in a nursing home. He didn't know much about what is going on with the protesters because, as he said it, he's "working for a paycheck" and has no choice but to focus on that and that only, for his family. He works three jobs and is going to school. He says there is no time for 'leisure activities' like researching non-school related subjects.

This guy is sincere and one of the kindest people you would ever meet.

putting food on the table and paying the "man". The bank for a mortgage or the fatcat renting an apartment who uses people to collect.

Constitution says, "In order to form a more perfect union . . ." Does your co-worker understand that 1% of this country controls 40% of its wealth? If not, you can start educating him now.

We just haven't all channeled it in the same direction just yet. Give us some time. 3 Decades of right-wing policy is going to come tumbling down in a hurry. It's had it's run, and the people have been savaged enough by it.

People have every reason to be mad but seem more interested in "America has talent" or "American Idol". They can't even name the Secretary of State. Frustrating.

We need to see what is going on in the neighborhoods around us, the lives of the people around us, and start caring about the people around us.

This "My way or the highway" mentality needs to give way to "let's pave the streets together so we and our children can all walk upon them".

families are so spread out nowadays. for a job.

A corporation, for instance, might be boycotted and protested and eviscerated in the press for its practices, but as long as the money flows in and the bottom line holds, nothing is likely to change. Protest without economic impact is empty.

As far as politicians go, the last election saw a whole new batch of lying rotten scoundrels voted in, who campaigned against every good-government policy and against any kind of social safety net. While some good people who believed in social justice and equity were voted out. So far, on the political side, being a toady for the 1% seems to be the way to go. Until the ballot box says otherwise, its unlikely that DC or local politicians will pay much attention.

That paid no taxes and is ass kissed by the administration would be a good start. FOCUS on one entity or a small group. Wall street might be too broad. If the protest was about 99 vs. 1 and fair share, which it is in a way, it would be more focused. I don't know. I am talking out my ass in ways. I can't do better. I just attend and join in. I am not a leader in that way.

they are watching for cracks in the OWS movement. Depending on the voting booth and Elections, which have been compromised (bought and paid for) for such a long time, will get us nowhere. Recall politicians who do not serve the public, take money out of big banks, make it uncomfortable for the fat cats who live in their ivory towers, keep the momentum up and pressure and spotlight on them.

As bad as things are, they're much worse in many other countries.

I don't think, though, that it needs to get worse here for change to take place.

I think bringing this to the attention to more and more people is the key.

Education, growing the movement, simple messages, bring it to more people in a comprehensible way.

:patriot:

I will do what it takes to take people with me.

As a Canadian who was born and raised in Florida until my early-20's, I believe many Americans are essentially sadomasochistic.

I believe that much of the mentality of Americans towards the poor and otherwise less well-off can be attributed to cultural mores rooted in the Calvinist strains of Protestantism. Outside a few small pockets in Canada and in Europe, most religion (insofar as it currently exists) is either Catholic (which despite its more right-wing cultural norms is relatively moderate on economics) or of a more mainline Protestant strain which leans more towards open-mindedness and less on rigid dogma. For instance, many Anglicans in the United Kingdom will openly admit to doubting the existence of a historical Jesus and will accept evolution without batting an eyelash.

Back to the gist of this post. Americans are a pretty sadomasochistic people, especially in the south. Much of this is underpinned by Calvinist thinking that just so happens to dovetail perfectly with the interests of the 1%. Thus, it is no wonder why their dogma is omnipresent in media and in the general zeitgeist. People are brainwashed to think that the rich are so due to some sort of supernatural blessing and poverty to be some sort of punishment for sins.

People tend to come to view work as the purpose of life rather than its actual function, to provide the means for living. Everything is a battle for survival, from working, to eating, to healthcare, to housing. One must be "grateful" for having a job and one must "suck it up". That is if they're poor. The rich get to screw up and get bailed out and then 'whine' to get workers fired for a bigger bonus. That is just fine and dandy. If one is poor, take off your shirt, bite your tongue and brace yourself for the whip. And remember, be "grateful" that your masters have deigned to permit you to retain some of the skin still on your back, peasant!

This ends up making people calloused towards the suffering of others. In turn, this atomizes society making control and further exploitation easier than it was before. People forget that we are all beings with a finite lifespan on a blue speck of dust floating in the cosmos. Instead of "sucking it up", we need to bitch like hell so that we can ALL live lives in dignity and with a degree of happiness.

Brilliant stuff. Really. I like to think about things and you just blew my mind with insight. Thank you.

the Republican Party post 1964). So I'd take issue with the 'masochistic' part of your 'sadomasochistic' (while agreeing with much of your subsequent analysis).

Thank you, David in Canada.

:yourock:

"I've got mine so fuck you".

That's what the "53%" bullshit is all about. These people are comfortable with the safety nets they already have in place. And with those safety nets they refuse to acknowledge that people are struggling anywhere else in the world, it's only their world that matters.

Absolutely.


It's frustrating.

That's one reason corporations keep our workforce tattered and ragged...it takes energy away from organizing. I think we look pretty ok at this point...the fact that tiny little suburbs are also participating is a good yardstick for enthusiasm in the US.

Sequestered into working to live.

Also we're one of like only three countries in the world that don't have mandatory paid vacation laws - the other ones were I think North Korea and Burma. That says a lot.

to rid ourselves of apathy. Coming together, seeing each others pain and frustration, eye to eye is very important..the human element. We have been drown in junk TV, faux news on every station, dancing shows, survivor shows, and corporate controlled media. Lost in our own private little world of I pads, lab tops and cell phones. Obedient and silent for to long. This important movement will grow with patience ,strategy and courage. The civil rights movement, the woman's movement weren't built overnight or in a month, nor will this one. Occupy Wall Street, occupy the world, until justice prevails for all of us.

People are reflexively uncomfortable with unrest and resistant to change. There's a powerful narrative/myth here, and a long history of divisions among the working and middle classes that other countries don't share. Plus lots of people still have somewhere to live and something to eat, and are pretty worried about hanging on to that. Really, I think there's reason for cautious optimism.

Cold rage makes a decisive difference, and opening your heart is the great answer.

black kids had invaded the town square and been allowed to stay (I know it's fantasy, but bear with me), while they yelled, and screamed, and put out calls for all the oppressed black folk to join them, to walk away from the plantation.

Uh huh.

Rosa Parks was a secretary for years for the NAACP, and her "famous" moment on the bus was the second time that she had been told to move. The time from that first incident to the second was filled with years of training, education, thoughtful study, strategic planning, (she talked in an interview about her time at the Highlander School, where she took classes with Septima Clark). I don't see much evidence of that with the OWS crowd - and I may be too far away to see it. The specific event wasn't likely staged, but her years of self-education and study leading up to that moment had everything to do with the impact of her actions.

But that is the story of the civil rights movement. There were decades of hard work, failed legal strategies, pain and death before they began to have real success. The NAACP already had over 30,000 people they could call on for support the day Ms. Parks refused to move, and through the churches and other community outlets they changed the thinking of many tens of thousands of others.

Despite how great the injustice was, until they found a way to reach out to others and train them to recognize the oppression, there was no real hope that the American public they desperately needed on their side would join with them. Slaves are oppressed, their thinking is shaped by their oppressors, and there is a large element of danger and risk in stepping on their old way of life. They might even attack you for trying to "save" them.

Today is no different. The wealthy, the plantation masters in the banks, and their friends in the government have structured policy so they alone can profit, at the expense of others. For many in the 99% it may be a terrible life, right on the edge all the time, no opportunity - but they cannot possibly see that there is less of a chance for them if they remain than if they take the wife, kids, and dog to the cold park and hang with a bunch of kids who may never have worked to support others a day in their lives. Most people that I talk to are only vaguely aware of the protest, and perhaps as long as the movement is dependant on the MSM to do their publicity for them it is going to stay that way. I don't think it is possible to help people understand how much their thinking is shaped and their lives controlled by the corporations by relying on MSM and social media.

I am fully in support of OWS, have been to our local one. I think they will need to discover how to make a connection to the wider public, (and this is just my opinion), reach into people's homes and hearts, (we could draw on the examples of the 50's through the 70's in consciousness-raising groups, getting people to take a chance on a different philosophy, making sure there was visible support when they took the next step). Without that I don'e see how they gain substantial power. But I still hold out hope.

I'm middle-aged and barely remember Carter. Part of this protest is also educating folks as to just how unequal things are.

We've got a media and government controlled by the top 1%. The official media messages are all about the American Dream and "working harder" mentality. Finally Americans, as more lose their jobs and homes through no fault of their own, are realizing we've got a big problem here no matter what the "officials" say.

This fight is only beginning and you see many more folks on the streets in Europe because they've been there for awhile. I did a journal a year ago with tons of photos of protestors in various countries: http://journals.democraticunderground.com/TBF/22.

We have a long way to go but we'll get stronger with each round. This is going to take a little patience and a lot of hard work.

still view "injustice and inequality" in terms of individual rights rather than money.