Across America and around the world, the self-proclaimed 99% occupy parks and civic centers, facing the uncertain prospect of a forced eviction that could come at any moment. Whatever your politics, it’s difficult to remain impartial as videos of pepper-sprayings proliferate on YouTube, and the New York Times publishes a former Poet Laureate’s account of his wife’s beating at the baton of a Berkeley police officer. What the hell is happening here?
I respect these people’s courage, but I’m somewhat discouraged by the movement, taken on the whole. MLK was hell-bent equal rights for African-Americans; Gandhi was determined to banish the British from the continent; Mandela fought to force the integration of a country and the end of Apartheid. These movements gave us powerful moments in history: the end of Jim Crow, lynchings, and school integration; a bloody but history-altering Partition; a black man taking the oath at a swearing-in ceremony that would have been unthinkable a decade earlier.
What would this moment look like for Occupy? A headline announcing the financially unsustainable capping of Wall Street salaries? Economically unviable legislation giving underwater homeowners temporary respite from their creditors? These would be less a revolution than an ill-advised band-aid on a broken-down system.
With the 99%er’s intense fixation on the 1%, they fail to realize that destiny lies in their own hands. Technology and the continuing rise of sophisticated collaborative consumption models empowers “the rest of us” to transact almost exclusively with each other, removing the corporation as middle man and barrier. I believe the 99% can reach that perfect equilibrium (and a considerably more even playing field) by embracing these new platforms.
After all, why fight ‘em if you can just forget ‘em?
ProFounder and Kickstarter to take the place of overbearing Venture Capitalists and obscene bank rates.
Skillshare to take the place of a Higher Ed. system with tuition that has increased 400% since 1985, blowing inflation out of the water.
AirBnB to take the place of a massively inefficient hotel system, run by a few major chains and plagued by empty paved no-man’s lands aside interstates across the United States.
The list goes on, with a common theme: there are options, whether they’ve been built yet or not. Given everything I’ve read and seen over the past year, I can’t help but think that these two movements are reaching their respective climaxes simultaneously for a reason. The real question: how to get the message to the folks in Zuccotti Park.
Posted by dpierson on December 5, 2011 at 6:27 pm
Comments from Facebook:
David Dalton: I think this is a very valid idea. It sucks to acknowledge it, but our choices as consumers are now far more powerful than our votes. THEY bought the system and made it that way. Now let’s use it against them. In addition to trading only with ourselves, coordinated boycotts also would be useful. Pick an evil company, take it down, then pick another.
Ben Cacchione: Totally agree, with some caveats:
1) even if it works perfectly, it won’t solve everything – it’s not the sole answer, but I think it’s an important part of the answer.
2) there is much work still to be done (PR work, largely, i suppose) before there are enough consumers on board to be sufficiently effective. Sadly, the “99%” who are active & confident about their course of action and willing to make tiny sacrifices to further the cause are, of course, far less than 99% of the population.
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