A few months back, I signed on to the sustained October rally in DC. After soul searching, examining my own questions, email exchanges with friends in the peace movement, and a trip to NYC to participate in the Wall Street protest, I’m writing on October 2, and I’ve made a decision to stay away from DC.
Here’s why:
What is the greatest threat to the 99%?
It is not the possibility that Rick Perry will reside at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue in Washington, DC.
It is not that Barack Obama may lose his second term as president.
It is not a Republican first dude.
Or some Democrat that doesn’t step up and challenge Obama in the primary.
It does not exist at the edge or center of some wedge issue.
The greatest threat to the middle class and working poor is the criminal-banking cartel whose hub of Ponzi-ing is Wall Street.
This is why a group of energetic young, mid-life crises-ites, seasoned oldsters, and anyone anywhere on the sliding scale of income, age, and rage, and the gut reaction that this country bears no resemblance to representative democracy gathered and continues to assemble (Occupy Wall Street) at the front in this war of terror to scream a primal “No more. We demand change.”
And change is what the organized peace and justice groups are working for by going to DC, asking this and that from politicians.
Yet …
How many steps and arrests and chants will echo in front of the White House before protestors understand that this is the wrong venue? How many petitions, calls made to our Congressmen and women, votes punch-screened or levered before we acknowledge the truth? That the land of economic opportunity is a myth?
Meanwhile, political luminaries are sending emails, soliciting a $3.00 donation and offering a chance to sit with Obama and three other “supporters” during dinner. Think money, its influence, and the voice of multinational corporations that whisper sweet somethings to perfectly coiffed objects that, then, beg for your dollars with Saccharine nothings. So, no, Joe Biden, I cannot “chip in” to say I’m in when you tell me that this has never been about you and Barack—that you’re “just two guys”. That it’s really “about folks” like me “who will decide this election” and that what we’re “capable of is incredible”. If we decide to do it. Chip in, that is. And, no, Michelle, I will not come to the table prepared to “tell my story” because these “dinners mean a lot to Barack” and he wants to “say thank you” if I’m “selected to join him”.
What horseshit.
The best place to amass is at the financial capital of the world where all decisions are made to drill baby drill, make war not love, freakin’ frack like there’s no tomorrow, push pharmaceuticals, high five big insurance, and pompom nuclear energy forever even if forever is just a few more years because of the dangers of nuclear meltdowns and melt through.
Again, the monster is the criminal-banking cartel on Wall Street. DC politicos are mere spokespersons for the corporate BEING.
There are herds of rough beasts slouching towards more, more, more of your blood and sweat. Don’t be fooled.
Refuse to give credence to the bankers’ mouthpieces. Do not march, sit, or carry one more sign at the First Family’s wrought-iron barrier or at what is called Freedom Plaza in DC. The trail of tears is the result of Wall Street. Take your body and vocals there. If that’s impossible, go to the smaller protests spreading like kudzu in front of Federal Reserve Banks.
And for those who are already in DC, think about directing your attention to the Federal Reserve Bank on Constitution Avenue.
You have nothing to lose. Most likely, your mourning has turned to anger.
Missy Beattie lives in Baltimore, MD. Reach her at missybeat@gmail.com.
