Camping On Wall Street

     No true democracy is attainable when the process is determined by economic power.  Democracy is not about the poor against the rich.   It's  about making sure big money doesn't control politicians who decide which programs get funded.  It's about making sure that an elite few don't dam up the stream that brings happiness and well-being to the masses.  Concentrated wealth and power is never a good thing and has brought down many a powerful nation..  There is only one thing concentrated wealth and power stands for and that's "taxation without representation".
     Protesters by the thousands are camping out in Manhattan's financial district.  Solidarity in numbers is growing by the day all across America.  This movement for democracy is not just a bunch of long haired hippies, rather it's made up of diverse ages and  occupations who are tired of corporate greed, social inequality and climate change.
      The Arab Spring has turned into the American Autumn.  Not since the 1960's Vietnam War protest have I seen such passion in such a diverse population.  This could really be the start of something big.  America is about to experience the same wave of grass roots protest that rocked the Arab world.  Instead of fizzling out like the Kings of Wall Street thought it would, the disgust for the pro greed crowd is spreading.  Now Unions and other progressive groups are beginning to endorse the movement.  Those endorsements penetrate deep into the angst of the eroded American middle class,  It is a class that is fast disappearing at the hands of the privileged  elite who have rigged the system so that the stream of the nation's wealth flows in only one direction.
     Protesting with success takes time.  It is not celebrated in one day, one week, one month or even one year. It took ten years for the protest of the 1960's to end the Vietnam War and it may take even longer to end the greed on Wall Street.   I am not quite ready to pack my sleeping bag and head to New York for a camping trip but I am thinking about it more and more every day.  Big Money is almost impossible to defeat but anything is possible.  Sleeping bags and tents are cheap so if I could ever get over my disgust for corporate greed I would visit Walmart for a new tent and sleeping bag.   But then I would be accused of selling out to the greed of Corporate America.  The next thing I know I would be enslaved in the building of that giant dam  that impedes the stream of happiness and well-being for the masses.  You cant't live with them and you can't live without them is as true today as it ever was so maybe I'll buy a new tent and sleeping bag anyway.  If I decide to make the trip to New York. I can always rip off the Walmart labels before getting to Wall Street.
     Decided not to make the trip to Wall Street or Walmart after all  and instead joined hundreds of Austinites protesting at the Austin City Hall.  We all joined in solidarity with those who are occupying Wall Street