As spring emerges another May Day
is upon us, also known as International Workers’ Day. This year the Occupy Wall Street crowd is planning a general
strike in over a hundred U.S. cities.
They’re calling for “no school, no work, no chores, no shopping, no
banking”. It’s like a midweek
Sabbath for agnostics. The idea is
that the incredibly wealthy business owners, the 1%, will feel the pinch when
their workforce, the 99%, doesn’t show up on Tuesday.
By the way, I am still blown away
by OWS’s arrogant self-appointment as the voice of the 99%. It’s unbelievable that any entity can
seriously claim to embody the will of virtually all Americans--especially in
the face of record political polarization. With this false notion as their centerpiece slogan, much
doubt is cast on the truthfulness of the entire movement. It reminds me of the claim that the
left speaks for women (meaning all women) and defends their existence against
murderous, evil white men on the right.
The big problem with that misperception is there are actually a lot of
women on the
right. The tea party’s full of
them. And believe me, if the woman
happens to be traditional, conservative, apolitical, or not yet born; the left
wouldn’t spit on them if they were on fire. Rhetoric like “equality” and “rights” goes out the window
when a woman isn’t inline with the left’s orthodoxy. You’ll find the left’s “annexing” of demographics to be
widespread: the gay movement, the
student movement, the immigrant movement, the civil rights movement--the list
goes on and on. Of course, they
have no legitimate right to claim all of these individuals but they will,
nevertheless, because it makes for effective propaganda--much like the absurd
notion that one school of thought encapsulates the wishes of 300 million
Americans.
But I digress. May Day is the topic at hand and the
OWS has big plans for their events.
Of course, there are rallies, marches, and protests scheduled; followed
by nonviolent acts of civil disobedience.
If history is any indication, this means they’ll violate the terms of
their permits (assuming this time they’ve actually arranged for permits) and
begin blocking intersections, bridges, tunnels and any other place they can
impede drivers and get attention.
What a contradiction it is to claim the 99% as your own and then deprive
them of getting to work and making a living. Does this happen to stump anyone else?
OWS websites brag on their hopes of
shutting down New York City, if not partially then in its entirety. If memory serves, that was Bin Laden’s
goal, too, which makes me wonder if the shared objective is somehow ironic or
simply apropos. At any rate, if
you live or work in Manhattan, hopefully, you won’t need an ambulance or a fire
truck that day. Of course, it does
keep with one of the May Day tag lines, “be the crisis”. Wow, isn’t it great to have goals? And I may be going out on a limb here,
but don’t we have enough crisis on our plate without fabricating entirely new
ones like producing gridlock in our major metropolitan areas?
The contradictions are nearly
endless. They want workers to
abandon their jobs, risking employment and wages, in an effort to demand that
the government pay for healthcare, college tuition, mortgages, and a slew of
other things. But isn’t it self-defeating
when those projects are financed by tax dollars that can’t be collected if the
workingman doesn’t show up?
Furthermore, many cities on their target list can barely afford to stay
above water, as is. What happens
to municipal social programs and emergency services when they’re funding gets
siphoned off to finance the police and sanitation expenses that will be
necessary for security and clean up at these protests? While nearly a quarter of Americans are
in need of employment it’s atrocious that the left is encouraging people to add
to those dismal numbers and shake up an already shaky job market. Not to mention, the toll it will take
on employers, who seem to be OWS’s overall target on Tuesday, could be
substantial.
As a child, I recall the May Day
events overseas. Communist regimes
like the Soviet Union and their Eastern Bloc subordinates had long parades that
showcased their nuclear arsenals in an attempt to bolster internal support and
strike fear into the hearts of free westerners. This is what May Day represents to several generations of
Americans--the greatest oppressor of all time threatening the rest of the
world. It’s no surprise that the
OWS movement is in bed with the same Marxist ideology that led to the iron
curtain, but it’s shocking to see a Soviet flag flown at an Obama celebration
outside the White House--as was the case a few years back. Furthermore, the president has endorsed
OWS more than once, along with Democratic Leadership. Even though the movement has taken a stand against the
president it’s clear he has sympathies for their cause and has strong ties with
labor leaders that work closely with OWS.
What’s coming on Tuesday could turn
ugly in a hurry. An investigator
recently approximated that roughly a third of OWS protestors are militant and
often armed at these events. That
means fights and teargas and police lines and arrests and plenty of property
damage that everyday people get to pay for. Additionally, it could also mean a loss of productivity and
commerce for the businesses in the area.
There already have been shops that went belly-up with jobs lost in the
vicinity of Zuccotti Park because of OWS’s presence over the winter.
As I ponder what the organizers of the general strike
are urging…no school, no work, no chores, no shopping, no banking; I wonder if
there isn’t a more useful branding that could be used for the event. After reflecting on the recent history
of OWS’s stay in Zuccotti Park I’ve concluded that their message would be more
constructive if it stated: No
raping, no public defecation, no pimping out children, (and most importantly)
no Patchouli. I think it’s obvious
that if these were the instructions coming out of the Occupy Movement we’d all
be better off.
