Jackie Summers, on the “haves”, “have-nots” and the conditions for social change.
Last month, when The Good Men Project discussed classism, I compared it to a game of Monopoly.
Here is a direct quote from that essay:
“Classism can be defined as the deliberate act of creating and maintaining income disparity. It’s sewn into the fabric of civilization, creating a frail balance upon which all (feigned) civility hinges. It’s instrumental to a stable society and simultaneously detrimental, as unsettling the delicate balance creates class warfare, and as any student of history–ancient or recent–knows, class warfare precedes actual warfare.”
Here’s why:
It’s well documented that in most “civilized” nations, a disproportionally small percentage of the population controls the majority of the wealth. The general populace willingly concedes the right of governance to the minority who controls the distribution of resources, based on two conditions:
A) that the basic needs of constituents are met, and
B) that no matter how minuscule, the possibility of leaving the “have-nots” and becoming a “have,” exists.
When those base conditions go unmet, the proletariat rise up. Systems get overturned, and governments get overthrown. Does anybody remember the French Revolution? No? How about the recent revolt in the streets of Egypt?
Economic imperialism inevitably collapses under the weight of its own greed. Profound economic inequality is the fuel for social unrest.
This game is doomed to failure. How much longer before the masses simply get tired of playing?”
♦◊♦
As the Occupy Wall Street movement spreads from city to city, the message is crystal clear: the masses have stopped playing. The 99% are rising up.
As famed President John F. Kennedy one said, “Those who make peaceful revolution impossible will make violent revolution inevitable.” What happens next involves us all. What’s YOUR story? We’d like to hear it.
Send submissions to lisa at goodmenproject.com
photos:
top: shankbone / Flickr
So just what the h*ll is it the “occupy Wall Street’ protesters want? An end to corporations owned by mutual funds which are in turn owned by pension funds?
I’m pretty sure they want to blame other people for their inability to find a job after majoring in comparative theatre.
Yeah, that must be it, because all those engineers and business majors coming out are doing AWESOME.
It’s pretty amazing to watch this unfold.
Jackie, bravo! Do not pass Go, do not collect $200. What I don’t understand is how we were all so transfixed by the protests in Egypt, etc., and marveled over the power of the people and social media to affect change with wall-to-wall coverage, but our own citizens are trying to do the same thing–with hardly any MSM coverage–and the top 1% seems not to know about Occupy Wall Street, or if they do, not to understand what the protests are “about,” or what the protesters “want.” I call that “money goggles.” So proud of the democracy we fought so… Read more »
Lori, not everyone gets to be alive during an actual social revolution. The last American revolution was Civil Rights, before that, the Labor Movement. We just might be lucky enough to witness–and participate in–the long overdue corporate revolt.
American Autumn it is.
JFB
I would like to see better MSM coverage of this, but it’s not like we have a stellar media here so I’m not holding my breath. That said, the newsworthiness of Occupy Wall Street does not yet in my mind come anywhere close to that of the Egyptian revolution. In Egypt, they were throwing Mubarak and others in his government out of office with the intent to try and punish them for crimes. I have not heard any demand from the OWS movement demanding that Obama or anyone else in government step down, or any of them or their predecessors… Read more »
Kirsten,
No single snowflake ever thinks it is responsible for the avalanche. When Rosa Parks refused to give up her seat, she wasn’t trying to start the Civil Rights movement, she was just sick and tired of the same old shit. I think that is how a lot of people are feeling nowadays: fed up enough to to something, anything. Their manifesto lists grievances but not demands, but this is still in it’s infancy. What happens next remains to be seen. http://nycga.cc/2011/09/30/declaration-of-the-occupation-of-new-york-city/
JFB
Yeah, it’s going to be interesting. We have four groups forming in our “cities” in Montana. I’m going to try and get to the Missoula one tomorrow and see what happens. Work may preclude that, though.
Things are getting back to normal in Egypt ….. there is a new version of Monopoly out in the stores titled “January 25”. Where Mayfair should be they have Tahrir Square and the Chance and Community chest cards are now Military Council and Coalition of revolution Youth packs. Sample cards: You damaged the national economy move directly to jail; you raised the sedition between people pay 100LE. I feel sorry for Mubarak… he did his best to encourage the development of the middle classes and then they shit on him.