The Revolution Will Not Be Televised
Posted: November 7, 2011 Filed under: #Occupy and We are the 99 percent!, Bailout Blues, Banksters, Economy, financial institutions, income inequality, The Great Recession, U.S. Economy, unemployment, worker rights | Tags: 2011: days of revolt, jobs, U.S. Economy 5 CommentsNor apparently will it be discussed or reported in anything but negative terms. Take a quick spin over to Memeorandum’s page. The Portland Occupy group is fighting off cooties [head and body lice]. According to the New York Post, Zuccotti Park has devolved into anarchy, a mad den of rapists, vigilantes and wild men demanding free food at McDonalds. Occupy protesters, anti-capitalists all, are beating up elderly women, according to another reasoned report. The Sun Journal leads with the headline: The Lawless Heart of Occupy Wall St. , and then questions the legitimacy of a group that “would interrupt the flow of commerce” in a time of recession [referencing the Oakland port takeover last Wednesday]. And then, there’s the repeating, oh so familiar meme: the protesters are a bunch of Leftist radicals, dedicated to the overthrow of democracy.
Did I mention that they’re all hippies?
What we’re not seeing on the television is this:
War Veterans. These are our men and women who are deified in the press, while shedding blood [frequently their own] in wars of no end and seemingly no point. What are their prospects once home? Not good. Not good at all. According to US News:
And a Department of Labor report shows that unemployment tops 20 percent among 18-to-24-year-old veterans, compared to a national rate of about 9 percent.
Veteran unemployment is projected to worsen after 10,000 servicemen and servicewomen return from Afghanistan and 46,000 come home from Iraq by year’s end — many wounded or suffering from mental trauma.
Nor do we see much of this:
Hummm. Not enough dirty hippies in the group, I guess. This was the “Surround the White House Action,’ to protest the Keystone Tar Sands Pipeline yesterday. Crowd estimate? Around 10,000.
We’ve certainly had full coverage on the violence last Wednesday, in the waning hours of the General Strike in Oakland. The bonfires, the group in black hoodies breaking windows, spray-painting walls, the suggestion that civilization was about to end. But I haven’t seen much coverage of this recent incident [although I see Dak picked this up in the Morning Reads]:
While filming, the cameraman was shot with a rubber bullet. It appears that taking photographs of the Oakland PD is a criminal and/or a violent act, requiring defensive action.
But here’s the thing. Images like this:
Aren’t terribly different from this:
The first is from Occupy Oakland. The second is from the Civil Rights Movement of the 1960s. And if you flip through images of the 1930 Labor protests, the similarities are there as well—people coming together, voicing grievances, demanding resolution. Movements demanding social and economic justice have never been neat and tidy. Nor short. Not in the 60s, not in the 30s. And not now.
So, the song is prophetic. The Revolution will not be televised. No re-runs, brother. It will be live–growing, evolving. For better or worse, morphing into what it will become.
Or not.
peej
Carissa
bostonboomer
ecocatwoman
grayslady
mablue2
NW Luna
peggysue22
skydancingguestblogger
Mona (aka Wonk the Vote)
Sky Dancing 
Excellent post. Obviously the corporate media propaganda about crime and disease, etc. is ridiculous and disgusting–though not surprising.
But I do think the issue of women’s roles in the movement is one that needs to be addressed. The article at Global Research (a left wing site) suggests some problems with the leadership that hopefully can be worked out.
This is a new and growing movement, and diverse forces are trying to co-op it. Personally, I’m rooting for the Occupy movement to survive and grow. I think it’s just about our only hope at this point.
Yup, I agree. Sadly sexism is alive and well in the world. A pattern of behavior that doesn’t want to give up the ghost anytime soon.
Having read the article more closely, I had the feeling these people are spending way too much time inside their own heads, trying to reinvent the wheel. We have the framework in place; it’s the inner structure that’s been warped and compromised, almost beyond recognition. But Fritz’s idea [something he admits was basically ignored]:
‘concluding that OWS’ main goal should be to develop dialogic, democratic methods in the occupied areas, and to extend this way of life into every home, workplace and school, and in local, regional, national and international bodies.’
is out there as far as I’m concerned. What may sound good [although for me it doesn’t] or look good on paper, frequently just doesn’t work in the real world.
Personally, I’m not looking to reshape the world or give a nod to some purity test of the democratic method and extend that into every home, workplace and school. I don’t even like the way that supposed ‘goal’ sounds. Plus, there’s a reason that eventually a leader or leaders will need to emerge–you’ll never accomplish anything with the process they’re describing.
Maybe this sounds better when you’re 20-something :0).
But like you, I’m still rooting for the group.
Can you imagine a large governing body run by GAs? I can’t nor would I like to see it tried on any scale. There would be a good reason to ignore that in the long run.
OWS has been a success already in changing the national conversation from a one-note spew about cutting deficits into a larger agenda of jobs and reform. It’s up to all the people to make the changes required in our government, not just the occupiers alone. We have the power of our votes and our buying (or not) power to push for change.
I second the excellence of this post! You hit the nail on the head Peggy Sue. Each of the past movements in the country suffered demonization at the hands of those with the power to disseminate information. In the case of the civil rights movement, it took protesters getting bit by dogs and sprayed with firehoses and some honest JOURNALISM to let the country know what was going on. A similar thing with women’s suffrage in the 20’s. A similar thing with the anti-war movement in the late 60’s. Hopefully, someone in the mainstream media will be brave enough to speak the truth.
Hillary 2012
Thanks for the informative post. 🙂