Democracy… ? Or Plutocracy. As we enter the New Hampshire Primary, all candidates including Obama, have arrested and imprisoned scores of activists protesting Ron Paul’s goal of dismantling the EPA (the only slim barrier between corporate rape of the north american environment) and racist militarizing the Mexican-American border with troops and an electric fence, Obama’s support of the NDAA which gives the government full ability to detain us indefinately, Romney’s claim to be creating jobs when as a part of Bain Capital; he laid off workers and sent their jobs abroad, and Rick Santorum’s ultra-homphobic belief that gay people are animals.
As a result, nearly 6000 political prisoners have been taken since September. One homeless man who was swept up during the brutal repression of the Oakland Commune; faces the three-strike rule and could end up in jail for life.
As we watch these show primaries proceed; we know who the real winner is. The 1%. All of the candidates we have to choose from are supported by corporate money that is laundered to them illegally through loopholes, as well as overt donations. Obama who championed himself on small donations early in his 2008 campaign, was quickly bought off with multi-million dollar donations from CEOs, PACs representing big banks, and corporations part of the ALEC lobby which is so financially powerful; candidates bow down before it. The Occupy Movement has targeted ALEC on Febuary 29th, as a national day of action against the coporate lobby.
This typical NYC General Assembly involves a facilitator granting rights to one person to speak, people listening repeat what is being said in chunks of a few words to avoid amplification ban. The wiggling fingers indicates support for what is being said, while other gestures could indicate criticism.
As the Occupy Movement gains ground in long forgotten corners of the world from Iran to Nigeria, what has set this global revolution apart from movements of past is how it refuses to allow vertical leadership or a single demand co-opt and slow the movement. As more people realize that the candidates put forward do not represent their interests, and are show candidates, more people will join the Occupy Movement; the main cause for the movements spread for originally large cities; to now smaller towns.
The Occupy Revolution is our only hope for democracy in the future. Do not pin your hopes on candidates who represent the 1%. You can tell how far removed these puppets are from reality when you hear Newt Gingrich talk about black people needing to demand paychecks rather than foodstamps. This pompous racism shows his inability to understand the problems of the masses. With high unemployment and a loss of the industrial jobs in a race to lower wages; minority communities are hit the hardest with unemployments higher than the national average. Newt is implying that black people are lazy for using food stamps (a benefit that all races use by the way, and Newt is basically using perpetuating a racist stereotype and ideology of prejudice), but in reality the need for food stamps so widely used in working class communities is just the product of the rotten capitalist system and corrupt politicians like Newt (who in the late 90s gutted welfare by making American citizens “eligible for application” rather than entitled as a result) . Gingrich’s welfare reforms defunded and destroyed a system that the Poor and Working class in America relied on. People rely on food stamps because, not part of traditional welfare, they are slightly more widespread. Nevertheless, they are the tools of survival in communities all over New York City where the cost of living is always rising and our wages remain stagnant.
Meanwhile, Obama has continued Bush’s bank bailouts, while keeping Bush’s cronies in charge of running the war on the middle east. As a result We see a situation where elections are essentially show-elections. The disproportionate criminalization of low-income, high density, and public housing areas all over the nation has resulted in felonies being given to youth too young to vote for non-violent narcotic-sale offenses that are the result of the lack of jobs in our communities! People are losing their right to vote because in reality the War on Drugs, is a War on Your Community. The election is not democracy; its democracy for the rich. Rich candidates, a sham electoral college system, and a congress where over 80% of the members are part of the 1%, another 10% is part of the next 10%, and there is not a single black senator. Yes Obama, was a symbol of change because he made history for Black people in America, but Obama has proven himself to be a lackey. He has passed the NDAA, given up on a promise of single-payer healthcare, and now hypocritically he has kept hush about the police repression of The Occupy Movement across the country. Don’t vote this election, support the Occupy movement in your community, and educate others about the worldwide revolution.
