Mass Confusion

TULELAKE, CA— You ever feel sometimes that just when you think you have a handle on something and then something doesn't seem right. You try so hard to do the right thing or at least you think it is the right thing at the time. Then you realize maybe what you have done is not so great after all. Reality Check.

Now it seems I can’t make heads or tails about what OCCUPY WALL STREET is all about. Just what is it? Is it a movement and for what purpose?

"The 99% protesters have tapped into a powerful vein of discontent with Wall Street and the corporate capture of our democracy. Around the country, and countless others are taking to the streets to voice their opposition to a system rigged for corporations and the rich." MoveOn.org

I have spent some time just watching and observing and writing about what I see and hear from behind the scenes. To the point even after all this time I still have no idea what the discontent is all about. Like many others I have been carried away with something I thought was nostalgic but am waiting to understand. I am not saying that the movement is not a good thing. We need change but is this the right change? It seems to be just a bunch of people that just are getting together and camping out to occupy space.

I am not a professional and I will be the first to admit it. I have tried to report on what is going on behind the scenes from a small town in the USA. Don’t get me wrong I still support what they are trying to do. But trying to convey that message into words is not as easy as it may seem. I have got caught up in the moment but the only ones that know what is going on are those on the scene who are camping out and protesting what they believe is the right thing to do. Across the USA there are many encampments but they do not seem to be connected from what I have seen and heard. There is no clear message, no demands except to occupy a piece of ground in a city park and claim it as their own.

Where they are willing to be arrested to prove a point. What point as there doesn’t seem to be one? Sure Wall Street is a major problem as they were bailed out and have made profits doing it. But where does that leave any of us. You hear chants, “We are the 99% but the 99% of what? Sure it is claimed that the 1% need to pay their fair share so that the deficit can be paid down. And if we could bring our troops home that would help too.

We are stuck in two wars that the last administration led us into and now the present administrating is winding it down. There have been over 700s arrests now. But what have those arrest accomplished for the unemployed who are losing everything they have worked for to achieve. They are losing their homes, their cars and their dreams, The American dreams of a better world. Some people have referred to the occupation as Marxism or a bunch of communist people gathered together for one big party. Yet they are depending on a consensus where every one is given the opportunity to speak or share their ideas at each of the occupy cities. But what are their ideas? Those ideas are not being made clear for those of us on the outside looking in.

There are on line live steams and chat rooms to try and get their message out so others will join them in their cause. Spending time listening and seeing their cause before live streaming and live chat room’s claming they are exercising their American right to free speech and the right to assemble. But for what, is this a faze or is it something that will be around for the long haul where they in reality are representing those who are on the firing line so to speak as they are in their camps of occupation.

So what is it and how is it serving its purpose? The only ones that have that answer are those that say they’re representing you and I as they claim as being part of the 99%.