Occupy Wall Street Lego Set

Santa cutie, and fill my stocking with a duplex,
And checks.
Sign your 'X' on the line,
Santa cutie, and hurry down the chimney tonight
--Santa Baby, Eartha Kitt
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What to buy the kids for Christmas, as a politically-aware caretaker?

How about Occupy Wall Street -- The Lego Set? (an idea from Slate). You control both the protest and the police response, but "only use tear gas under adult supervision". Someone's gotta be the adult.

It's not all skittles and beer, y'know?

Union Made

Oh, you can't scare me, I'm sticking to the union,
I'm sticking to the union 'til the day I die
--Union Maid, Woody Guthrie

Juliet, the dice was loaded from the start
--Romeo and Juliet, Dire Straits

You've gotta have heart
All you really need is heart
When the odds are sayin' you'll never win
That's when the grin should start
--Heart (Damn Yankees)
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Life in America lately is contradictory and painful.

The Occupy Wall Street (OWS) protesters represent a popular agitation with the powers who have bribed bought the privilege to profit out of proportion to their risk, and yet they lack cohesive representation or platform. They are not getting the respect from much of the media or anyone else because they lack cohesion of purpose.

This is what collective bargaining units or unions used to provide for the worker. It was a way for the common man to speak to power and have a seat at the same table. Sans unions, it is easy to conjure an image of Dickensian sweat shops exploiting the lean lives of its workers. Ranger grew up in the 50's and 60's amidst United Mine Workers (UMW) and United Auto Workers (UAW) who were able to live solidly middle-class lives due to their union representation.

The unions have been marginalized today, and foreign companies are moving their manufacturing here as the U.S. is now the cheap labor pool of choice if a company wishes to produce a product with quality control. Remember Ford's Quality is Job 1? You might not have believed it if you drove a Fiesta, but America does know how to produce a product with consistent tolerances, something which cannot be said of the multitudinous amounts of Chinese junk that we buy.

Our priorities are such a mish-mash. NBA players in bargaining last month staged a two-week preemption of season due to salary disputes; these players are far from hurting financially. When was the last time you saw a McDonald's closed for two weeks due to the minimum wage earners staging a collective bargaining event? Yet, most of us who care us just upset that the game is suspended, not outraged at the display.

Why do the wealthy rejoice at the disappearance of unions? The immediate losers are the American workers, that fast-dying breed that used to be the foundation of our national wealth and health. But without those contributors, you have a sick society. Do the wealthy think they can be safe from their countryman's misery behind the gates of their communities? That sounds like feudalism to us.

Recent reports are verifying the idea that America is no longer the great land of opportunity for its native inhabitants, and it ranks 23rd among industrial nations in terms of upward mobility, despite what Rep. Paul Ryan (R) and his ilk claim (The Downward Path of Upward Mobility.)

The people are learning the game is fixed, and their country is becoming a meaner and harsher place. The mean-spirited say to the struggling, "Quit yer bitchin' -- be glad you were weren't born in Bangladesh. Get out and work for it if you want more."

Only, the jobs aren't there, and we have forgotten how to organize.

Who represents the common man today?

Caustic Situation

--Unsuit Wall Street

Double, double toil and trouble;
Fire burn, and caldron bubble
--Macbeth, Shakespeare

Are you taking over
or are you taking orders?
Are you going backwards
Or are you going forwards?
--White Riot, The Clash

So where are the strong
And who are the trusted?
And where is the harmony?
--(What's So Funny 'Bout)
Peace, Love and Understanding?,
Elvis Costello
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If U.S. police have used CS or CN (tear gas) against citizens in Occupy Wall Street (OWS) protests, they are violating current Chemical Weapons Conventions which ban the use of these chemicals on the battlefield.

But of course, citizens are not accorded the rights given combatants; if you protest here, you are at the mercy of a militarized police force which sees you as the enemy. If you're an American citizen protesting your economic betters, you are seen as scum of the earth, or hopelessly naive or fruity; doesn't everyone aspire to having country club membership and annual greens fees?

Flash bang canisters, stun grenades and beanbag rounds are also reported as having been used against the Oakland protesters (Tear gas and stun grenades used on 'Occupy Oakland' protesters). To express one's dissatisfaction publicly might earn you a skull fracture, like that sustained by former 24-year-old Marine and two-tour Iraqi War veteran Scott Olsen (Occupy Oakland protester Scott Olsen awake ahead of brain surgery).

One would think a higher level of care would be accorded to citizens exercising their First Amendment rights. Apparently, the memories of Kent State have been lost in the fog.

Strange days when the U.S. traipses halfway 'round the world to create ripe environments in which democracy might take root, while bashing those fruits at home. Apparently, freedoms accorded in a democracy have a shelf life, and we have exceeded ours.

What can be said? Democracy is a messy business?