The day we left Honolulu, we got a chance to participate in an Occupy Wall Street rally. How could anyone resist? Not only was it close by, it turned into a great walk starting at Magic Island, a beautiful park and ending at the statue of Gandhi next to the Honolu Zoo along Waikiki beach in front of such modest little shops as Cartier,Tiffany's, Ives St. Laurent, Bulgari. Maybe 5 miles. I have no idea of the total attendance except it was a lot, tending toward twenties and thirties but with a good leavening of us more mature folks. At one point I got out of line at a bend in the street and saw that the procession stretched a couple of hundred yards and out of sight to either side, approximately single file .
By now of course, we're most all well aware of the causes of this movement - outrage over an inequitable tax structure, high corporate profits not reflected in anyone else's income, the unavailibility of employment and the general feeling that most of us in this country are getting screwed to the benefit of the wealthy. Have I missed anything?
The whole thing had a vaguely 60's peace march feel to it. Some of the people I met actually had been involved in them. The crowd chanted slogans the entire way - "We are the 99 %." "Banks got bailed out, We got sold out." "What does Democracy look like? This is what Democracy looks like." among others. Totally peaceful but with no doubt of the anger felt and probably building. Gentle herding by extremely polite police, with a tolerant smile. Only a few TV cameras in evidence, though I did witness a TV interview with a quite photogenic, well-spoken young lady. Only a couple of misspelled signs, which were quickly put to right or disappeared (Take that, Tea Party!).
A news article I read later expressed bafflement in that there seem to be no central leaders in any of the marches that are springing up throughout the country. Perhaps it's just that so many people saw them as such a good idea there was no need to actually lead , just participate. I expect it will only be a matter of time until someone in politics speaks to this groundswell. Hopefully such a politician would be a person of honor and ideals. Probably I wish for too much.
Good on you for participating. Even though they pretend to be baffled, I saw an article yesterday - Eric Cantor exclaiming on some tv show this weekend that "A few have too much." I think they're feeling the pressure. I'm so grateful to everyone who has participated and hope to get an opportunity to do so as well soon. Occupation of Grand Circus Park in Detroit started this weekend with 200 people.
ReplyDeleteWe finally see Mike and Liz in their travelling threads! And with picket signs no less! What fun!
ReplyDeleteIf you get a chance let us know how the clothes are working for you. Are they drying in 10 minutes? Is there a great freedom with travelling with just your backpack? How much do you carry in your vest every day?