the jobless and the homeless have always been so,
everywhere. they occupied - simply occupied the walls
and streets of every city, every nook and corner
loitering, eating, sleeping, with no hope or purpose
tendering a vacant look on passers by,
until one fine day awakened by a call
to Occupy Wall Street,
and Occupy all streets
to Occupy, On purpose.
and then, it went beyond them,
who loiter in the streets, the less fortunate
the jobless, the homeless, the helpless, and the hapless
it’s ‘We’ - add the working class
the more fortunate, the sheltered, the helpful
the hopeful, and then ’We’ are 99 %’
a 99%, who don’t see themselves
stinking rich will possibly drive them,
the 1%, the speculators, out of their foul hubs,
out of their greed and banish them to the suburbs
of the afflicted hearts of men and women,
to show them how humanity differs
from societies and markets
to tell them, the 1%, that ‘We, the 99%’
are not at fault always for what happens
to ‘Us’-
to ask them to correct, correct themselves
their systems, for a fair ground
but Occupants- is it just a riposte
to their greed?-
is our greed under check?
true welfare, social equality, economic justice
a dream? a far-flung possibility -
revolutions on purpose can turn
impossibilities into possibilities
haps a long way to go…a long way to go!
Anna Hazare’s Anti-Corruption campaign, which Occupied the Indian streets in the past months (though the discourse is now mired in the cauldron of protest politics); the Occupy Wall Street campaign, and the Occupy Movement, which started with a call by the Adbusters and sprung up in major cities in the US and elsewhere and such other movements and popular protests against governments and big businesses across the globe – sure, point to the dormant but now rising public strife against the corrupt politico-economic systems that widen the gap between the rich and the poor, globally. About the way governments and some businesses join to dupe the public - bailing the big businesses out with tax payer money and no accountability being just one of the many ways.
The world today looks like a melting pot. A melting pot of discontent and frustrations.
To wish for a tabula rasa of sorts, to sweep clean all systems and start fresh could be Utopian, isn't a possibility. But there ought to be ways, legal and non-violent, to ensure cleaning up of the systems, and of mindsets, a much needed clean-up.
‘Hope in the midst of Chaos’ (http://devika-theunheardvoice.blogspot.com/2008/09/hope-in-midst-of-chaos.html) was in 2008.
From September 2008 when the US markets failed to Occupy Wall Street – It took three years for ‘We, the people’ to understand and to react. Much proverbial water has flowed under the bridge…..and indeed a long way to go…..to reach any juncture that may be called fruition.
I am not sure, despite being a revolutionary in my heart of hearts, these movements are failing to make the cut with me. Is it because the general notion, the modern ideology that ‘Greed is Good,’ propounded by the Capitalist West has become an accepted norm, and that most people I see today, in my country too, especially the young, are headed that way. And the acquired knowledge that greed is second nature to man; to talk of the latest, else why would a mobile phone company portray a young yogi, though a seemingly fake one at that, to endorse the product with a ‘Greed is Good’ slogan - could be a joke, but not without reason, for sure. And that greed will not cease in man, no matter what. Not very sure…possibly all that and more.
Or may be I have reached an age and stage, where I am not too thrilled about all the hullabaloo of protests, the politics of protests itself, which burns down to nothingness, eventually. Nothingness, because ideologies do not go forward without compromises, and in the name of pragmatism, ideologies are sometimes compromised and watered down to zilch.
But, what could be significant is the creation of awareness.
As I stick to my ‘Greed isn’t ever Good’ ideology (Paradoxically, such ideologues could also be a meager ‘One Percent,’ or much less, in the present times? The irony of it all?), watching and tracking these movements and the ensuing systemic and governance changes – I mean the likely changes, both in business and government – would be interesting, in no less terms. Especially, when one doesn't know the way it all would go.
Photo courtesy: as per original copyright at:
http://www.dailyfumes.com
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