The Occupy Wall Street demonstrations have the potential to change the game for the progressive movement, but only if we play it right. One reason the progressive movement has largely been toothless for more than a generation is because we create opportunities and let them slip away. One reason we let such opportunities slip away is because we are often so enamored of our own ideals that we fail to consider their effect on everyone else.
I Believe in REAL American Values
We're Bringing Back the REAL American Dream
Last night I Tweeted that I thought we were losing the messaging game. The immediate response from many liberals was largely hostile, as if I'd kicked their dog, which I would never do. That brings up another problem with the progressive movement that I’ll get to in another post; we’re too reactionary. I also got a number of absolute declarations that this was “the beginning of a movement.” Sorry, but unless it plays to Joe, who's working three jobs to keep his inner city rat trap, Ma and Pa Kettle down on the farm, and Jill the soccer mom in Outer Suburbia, it doesn't matter how gooey it makes the average progressive inside; it can't become a "movement."
Seriously, how many times have we heard that before, anyway? Wasn't Barack Obama’s election also supposed to be “the beginning of a movement"? We’re always “beginning movements;” wouldn’t it be nice to finish one for a change?
At the end of a long drive home Monday, I listened to All Things Considered on NPR, where they discussed the lack of a clear message. It wasn’t just conjecture, either; they spoke to organizers, who reiterated that everyone there had a different reason for being there, and that it was hard to encapsulate all of those reasons into one central theme. The reporter, who was being very fair, asked one protester what he thought the message was, and he responded with, “Well, for me personally...” Yikes!
In the vernacular of the Internet Age, the entire report was an “epic fail,” and a serious sign that the organizers of this protest are failing at the number one purpose of a demonstration; to change hearts and minds with a message that is concise, clear and resonates with EVERYONE.
One of the responses I received in my Twitter stream was a link to a page showing a “list of demands”, which presumably was to demonstrate that protesters were “gaining focus.” If THAT is what progressives consider “gaining focus,” it’s no wonder the movement has been stalled.
(By the way, I looked at the Occupy Wall Street website, and there are ZERO statements of any kind to be found there, which is beyond depressing. How many thousands of average Americans have already happened upon that site and seen nothing to rally behind? There is no stated mission, and they’ve taken to calling themselves the “General Assembly,” specifically the NYC General Assembly. How many folks have gone to the NYCGA page and thought they were looking at the New York State government page?)
If we really are looking at creating a movement, we need a damn bumper sticker that encapsulates everything. If people are going to relate to us – and if we’re not trying to bring the masses into this, there is no “movement” – then we have to come up with an overall theme. It's not as hard as it sounds, since all of our problems branch out from the same tree.
I know everyone who reads this thinks his or her own personal pet problem is the key to all other problems, but that’s not the case. All of our problems won’t be solved if we fix the campaign finance reform system, or we increase taxes on the wealthy, but there is a much more deep-seated reason why we have all of these problems.
We’ve lost our values. We have to return to our core values, and restore what we used to see as “the American Dream.”
We Believe in REAL American Values
I'm Bringing Back the REAL American Dream
And those are our themes. We have to return to our core values and restore the REAL American Dream. Not the bastardized “American Dream” the right wing has foisted on America, in which the “American Dream” is having access to as much music and movies as you can for $10 a month or less, so you can forget about the foreclosure, but a real American Dream, in which our country is a great place to live, and where everyone can work for a good life.
Everything we want as progressives, regardless of the diversity of the issues we all identify as problems, can be summed up as “a return to our core values as Americans.” I think everyone should agree with all of the following:
- Everyone should have a heated roof over their heads, nutritious food in their bellies, clean water to drink and clean air to breathe.
- Everyone should have access to health care that meets their needs. No American should ever die, or lose everything because they happen to get sick or injured.
- Everyone should have a reasonable expectation that all products sold meet minimal reasonable safety requirements.
- Everyone is entitled to a free, quality education that meets their needs to become a contributing member of society;
- No one should be required to incur six figures of debt just to learn enough to become a productive member of our society.
- Everyone should have equal opportunity to work in any career they choose and become a productive member of society.
- Every working person should make at least enough money so that his or her family can live reasonably comfortably.
- Every working person should have the right and the support to unionize and collectively bargain with their employer in every state in the union.
- Everyone should have complete control over their own bodies; the government should never be allowed to insert itself into any medical decision between a doctor and patient.
- Marriage is between two unrelated people, and should not be defined by the government.
- No one should be denied any of their basic civil rights due to any arbitrary factor, such as skin color, gender assignment or sexual orientation..
- All people should be equal in the eyes of the law.
- Corporations are fictional “people,” created with the stated purpose of protecting the individuals who control them; they are not actually people.
- Taxes should be progressive, based on ability to pay.
- People should be encouraged to work, by providing them with the means to work, such as accessible public transportation systems and free or affordable quality child care.
- Improvements to society should be based on necessity and improvement of the “general welfare” of the country. They should never be dependent on whether or not an individual or corporation can profit from them.
- We should build out a high-functioning energy grid that uses renewable energy sources to the extent possible, regardless of whether or not it's profitable.
- We should encourage energy conservation wherever possible, and begin a transition away from burning things for energy, especially fossil fuels.
- We should understand that not everything is a “free market” and we should nationalize those industries that have ceased to be “free.”
- Consumers should receive at least as much protection from businesses as businesses receive from consumers.
- The government is mandated by the Constitution to regulate commerce to make it fair for all players, from large corporations to small corporations to sole proprietors and consumers.
- All corporations, large and small, should be required to comport to specific ethical requirements that put the public interest at least equal with their own or their stockholders’ interest.
- The government should invest, not spend, meaning that every dollar spent by government should be evaluated for the benefit to society, not to the profits of a few.
- All politicians should understand that it is OUR government, not theirs, and that they have to act honorably in the conduct of their office.
- Campaign finance laws should allow every individual to express support for his or her favorite candidate, but that support should never be marginalized by any other entity.
- All lobbyists should be held to the highest possible ethical standards and everything they do should be overseen by an impartial third party representing the people.
- Everyone is entitled to a presumption of innocence and a public trial, with very limited exceptions in times of war, against enemies. But even those exceptions should have several layers of oversight.
- The government always has to prove guilt; no individual should ever have to prove innocence.
- The United States should never, ever start a war.
- The United States should never mistreat anyone in its care, including prisoners of war.
- The United States should promote peace and democracy everywhere, but it shouldn’t dictate terms to any other country.
There are a lot more, I know. In fact, put others you think of in the comments, and if appropriate, I’ll add them to a complete manifesto.
But note a couple of things. These are general statements of principle, not a laundry list of complaints. They are all positive statements we can use to show a majority of Americans that the people in charge are not doing what they swore an oath to do when we elected them. More than that, they are statements of VALUES. REAL values, not the phony "values" some right wingers extract from a Bible that doesn’t exist to justify their complete disregard for the actual values we Americans are supposedly famous for.
That’s why concise statements of belief, such as “We Believe in REAL American Values” or “Bring Back the REAL American Dream” (or both) are far more useful than a long list of demands. In fact, take another look at the “list of demands” once more. You’ll notice that every single one of those “demands” fits neatly somewhere above. But at the same time, such a list of demands is very limiting. For example, if you get rid of the entire Patriot Act and two years later replace the most onerous parts of it with something else, what have you gained? What if the government accedes to demonstrators’ “demands” and rushes a whole bunch of Wall Street crooks to trial and they’re acquitted because they didn’t have time to get the evidence together? Then what have you gained?
(Side note: the “forced acquisition of the Federal Reserve” “demand” is just plain loony and shouldn’t even be there. If you have to ask why, then go learn about the Federal Reserve and get back to us.)
Also, that’s a small and incredibly narrow list of demands; what if a majority of people think those are less important than something else? For example, in that entirely too-lengthy “list of demands”, there is no “demand” that corporations start creating jobs. There is no “demand” that employers pay a living wage. There is no demand that the health care reform plan enacted last year be protected and strengthened. There are only “demands” that seem designed to appeal to other progressives. There's nothing there designed to encourage the vast majority of Americans to grab hold of the spirit of the protests and say “YES! We’re with you!”
Movements don’t just happen because a bunch of left wingers feel like marching. They can ONLY happen when we get a majority of the American people behind it. And I’m not just talking about polls, I’m talking about votes. We need them to vote with us, and against the “values” that have dominated our politics for the last 40 years. What attracts other progressives doesn't necessarily attract the average voter, and we need them if we're to create a "movement."
It’s time to focus.
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I/We Believe in REAL American Values and I'm Bringing Back the REAL American Dream bumper stickers and t-shirts will be available next week.
