They’ve occupied my hope

Occupy Chicago protesters rally for economic equality in Grant Park, the same spot where Obama delivered his '08 victory speech. Whether its hope, or hopelessness, we're in for an exciting ride.    

Visionaries, protesters make my world better, greener

I’m poor just like everybody else, but thanks to Groupon I’ve got my Sunday edition of the Washington Post. Thanks to net neutrality, I’ve got my free podcasts, and thanks to the world wide web, I have 24-7 access to liberty as it currently exists and transforms. But what I’m crazy thankful for now, are the visionaries that have led us to where we are at this moment:

Ali Tarhouni: University of Washington Economics Professor turned rebel finance minister who helped orchestrate the robbery of the Libyan National Bank and helped finance the Libyan revolution.

Julian Assange: The Australian ethical computer hacker and editor-in-chief of WikiLeaks who exposed millions of classified documents after the launch of WikiLeaks.  

Anonymous: The loose band of hackers who commit honorable terrorism. They are the most notorious group of net activists who hack organizations, corporations and agencies that they deem debauched. They're the Web's bona fide Boondock Saints.  

And most of all, OccupyWall Street. Don’t let Time magazine, the Washington Post, or any other newspaper or periodical simplify them into a political movement. Occupy Wall Street is a band of individuals who are seeking a more effective society with a more egalitarian distribution of wealth. Their political orientation is irrelevant, but their message is resolute. Fed up with the economic disparities that have arisen from the social elites’ dominance of our political, economic, and earth systems, they will protest, unceasingly until justice is served. 

As an environmentalist in training, I see hope in their movement and in their trend. Once the corporate playing field is leveled or kept in check, lobbying power could greatly diminish. This could have all sorts of good environmental implications. Stronger regulation on CO₂ emissions, an actual domestic energy plan, who knows…

Occupy Wall Street is burgeoning and with Arab Spring in the back our minds rebellion seems way more possible today than at any point I can pull from in my lifetime. I can’t help shake the feeling that the fall of Gaddafi, could accelerate the disintegration of the US.

It’s scary to think that the United States as an entity could fail, or even to admit that the United States is failing. (Yet as an entity it could, and as an entity it is.) However, the essence of the United States will never fail. The essence of the United States is what is pushing Occupy Wall Street. The essence is what every American has the fortune of sensing: life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. 

As our liberties have been stymied by the Patriot Act, the Supreme Court ruling, Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission, the Bailout, and have been exacerbated by an ineffective Congress and a dismal economy, Occupy Wall Street has become the vanguard of those usurped liberties. Since 9/11 our melting pot has become fervid and Occupy Wall Street could be just the ingredient we need to have everything boil over.

As an emotional being, I hope that the movement doesn’t get stolen by the democrats.  And as cities in the US and those around the world become occupied with protesters, hopefully justice will be served.