The Occupy Movement is Full of Socialists, Marxists, Anarchists, Homeless and Crazy People whose primary objective is to eliminate capitalism and democracy.. Au contraire, mon frère.

The question for many has been: Who are the leaders behind the Occupy Movement? If one listens to the ‘mouthpieces’ of the plutocracy in the U.S.,  the impression is that those in the Occupy Movement do not represent the majority or the Ninety-Nine Percent, but are a 'rag-tag'  bunch of radical activists conspiring to bring chaos and disaster to 'The American Way of Life' and U.S. democracy. (''The American Way of Life' is now a hollow concept which has been destroyed by the plutocracy. Also, U.S. democracy likewise has been hijacked by them through powerful lobbies and their political machines which have bought politicians, including the U.S. President and all prominent world leaders. To expect any reform from these lackeys that will result in change for the global community is fantasy.)   This is blatant propaganda from the plutocracy meant to distract and diffuse a popular uprising which threatens their stranglehold on the global economy and political environment. 

From all reliable sources it can be proven that those involved in the movement are clearly representative of the majority, supported by the majority and count among them as supporters experts with intelligence and experience to lead the the U.S. and the world into a new era of sustainability, giving prosperity to the global community, not to the few.   This frightens the plutocracy who are clueless, and entrenched to protecting their place. Many in the plutocracy  must be already acknowledging that they must  join the revolution. Others in the One Percent blindly believe that suppressing the movement, continuing to buy their candidates to continue their 'feeding' off the decay of a system, 'playing' with financial markets and causing more to sink into poverty due to austerity program without fueling the Movement further because they think the U.S., public is apathetic and reigned in by limited democracy controlled by them, have no idea what will be unleashed. The Occupy Movement will only get larger and stronger. We are witness to a tragic time, but one where the entire  globe population  has been re-energized to see a world filled with light and hope instead of dreary sacrifice for the Ninety-Nine Percent while the rich continue on with their complete dismantling of the Middle Class.

At the present moment, the Occupy Movement adeptly has not attempted to push leaders to the forefront and have deliberately stated it is a leaderless organization. This is a smart and very political move in a world still controlled by the plutocracy.  No doubt if leaders would emerge in this early stage regardless of their intelligence, honesty and conviction they would be demonized by the media that the One Percent control.  The plutocracy has already shown that they can spew venom and will resort to violence to protect their position.  However, is it really a leaderless movement?  This may not be exactly true. But, it is not the ‘ghosts’ of Jerry Rubin, Eldridge Cleaver, Lenin or Marx who are the ‘brain trust’ of the Occupy Movement but level-headed individuals such as economists, political scientists, sociologists and myriad other experts who are supporting and apparently giving advice to this movement behind the scenes, yet gaining nothing but the satisfaction that they are on the right side of history.   Although there are some radical elements, as in any movement, the vast majority are discussing correcting capitalism to better serve the public, participatory democracy and economic prosperity and sustainability for the entire global population, not just the few (the One Percent.)  These are concepts which have been discussed at length in various forums for at least twenty years and are the ‘stuff’ of reform, but not belligerent and destructive.  They are proposals whose time is right to start to implement. .

In a recent commentary (15 November 2011) in The Guardian by Ha-Joon Chang whose title is: “ Anti-capitalist? Too simple.  Occupy can be the catalyst for a radical rethink” (http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2011/nov/15/anti-capitalist-occupy-pigeonholing .), he  recounts that the vast majority of those protesting are not anti-capitalist Anarchists or Marxists, but average people wanting to have a capitalist system that brings about more prosperity, not less and evens out the disparity between rich and poor.  For most, except for those protecting the One Percent, this is what capitalism is about.. allowing for everyone to be prosperous and incentives for those with abilities to stimulate further prosperity to have greater wealth, but not wealth that controls the very lives of the majority.  Henry Ford, not exactly a Marxist, paid his workers enough so that they could afford to buy Ford products.  The concept that consumers for products manufactured in the U.S. are dependent on the buying power of the public has been ignored and substituted for a population that is enslaved to credit due to declining real wages yet attempting to maintain a decent standard of living.  Likewise, the ethos of the noblesse oblige, that those who are better off have the obligation to serve the public, has ceased to part of the ethics among the rich.  That this group is absolutely morally bankrupt is evident in the acceptance of bailouts and tax breaks, making them richer, while the majority became more impoverished and burdened with debt or reduced to poverty and homelessness.  Chang also states that capitalism varies in countries such as France, Germany, Sweden, Japan, U.K. and the U.S. in fairly dramatic ways.  For example, in Germany and Japan, workers have a significant role in running the corporations. Such a concept in the U.S. would probably be labeled as Socialist and under-mining capitalism.  Yet, both countries are very capitalistic in nature.  He reminds the reader that minimum wage and child labor laws were once considered radical in the U.S. and other developed countries.  It would also have been a radical idea a century ago that certain companies could be broken up, such as the Standard Oil Company.  To summarize and to expound upon his ideas, capitalism can be dramatically altered to serve the social needs of the populous and not just the few.  This notions mirrors the sentiment of many over the last two centuries who suggested alternations in capitalism such that the many share in prosperity. The evolution of capitalism need not be an evolutionary confrontation as depicted by Marx, but more of significant adaptation as expressed by modern political/economic critics such as Jeremy Rifkin and Amory Lovings. 

In this polarized environment where the plutocracy is fighting reform, they should be reminded that reform will come because the vast majority of the public demands it and that efforts either through creating ‘dead-locked’ legislatures or using force against non-violent ;protestors eventually will only accelerate the movement.  The end result will be significant reform. This is proven by the reforms of the early 1900s and those of the 1930s related to the New Deal. 

The anxious public must be reminded that in democratic nations, this is part of the inherent process which has happened in previous times (i.e., freedom of slaves, rights of women to vote, social security, economic and political equality for African-Americans.  We still have a civil society protected by constitutions, laws and democratic institutions to bring about reform in a peaceful manner in developed countries and some developing ones, such as Turkey, Brazil, Chile and Argentina (although the latter are still struggling with the development of civil society.)  At the present time, the movement is in its beginning phase. Soon will come agendas, leaders, changes in the existing parties or new parties, reforms will be made and governments will usher in a new era, hopefully better and pointing to an improved future for the vast majority of their citizens and the global population.

There is much that still has to be done. But, his is the stuff that makes history and change a marvelous thing to experience.  Let all of the global society engage in peaceful dialog and introspection, not resistance to outmoded notions which should be abandoned.  As in the former Czechoslovakia, South Africa and in the U.S. during the Civil Rights Movement, those who protected the status quo fell to those who championed a just cause.  Like these other movements there will be violence against the non-violent by security forces (as already witnessed in Oakland and New York), attempts to discredit the Movement through the media and other elements and inadequate political responses to ‘band-aid’ the situation such as debt manipulation and austerity programs before things start to give way to reform. The vast majority of the world population, clear-thinking political and economic experts and emerging leaders are poised to bring the revolution into full swing. It is clearly evident that the present state of the politics, economics and environmental protection is woefully inadequately and unsustainable and will soon collapse. Every citizen regardless of education, income or status must participate to make sure that the transition is not one of disorder, confusion and tragedy, but one of dynamic excitement, rejuvenation, enlightenment and above all peaceful. The Occupy Movement is the only option for a economic and political system that is now collapsing.  Therefore, we as global citizens, must nurture it, support it and utilize it as a vehicle for transformation.