From Egypt To Wisconsin – Protests Were Inevitable
Form the earliest times of humans organizing into tribes the leaders were aware of simple realities: Throw a few crumbs to the masses – enough to feed their children – and you could stay in power. Deny the masses and suffer protest and eventual stripping of power. Government leaders across the globe – from Egypt to the financial centers in New York and Hong Kong – allowed a stripping of the wealth from the working class in the early twenty-first century. Let the protests begin.
This is a simple matter of Maslow’s Heirachy of Needs. Humans can tolerate inability to fulfill personal dreams of self-actualization just as long as their children are not hungry. Threaten fundamental safety and security and look out – the people will rise up and bite the leaders in the ass.
The Republicans don’t seem to get this idea. They are no different than Hosi Mubarak. Deny health care to children, deny the opportunity to work and earn a decent wage, take away pensions, rob 401K plans, look the other way while comrades run horrendous ponzi schemes, send our children to war, abuse the powers of police (Patriot Act), and generally abuse the masses of people – look out, we will rise up and topple your stingy ass.
This is not rocket science – it is evident throughout the written history of mankind. Check any populist uprising, check any populist led revolution, the causes are consistent. The results of the revolution may not have worked out in a manner consistent with the revolution intent – but the revolt was just as real.
The revolutionary leftist movement in North American in the late 1700’s set up a form of government which resembles the ideal of Castro – that of constant revolution. The Constitution of the United States of America was designed to bend with the wind. We in the United States have been in a constant state of protest since the founding of this great nation. As such we have addressed the issues of slavery, workers rights, women’s rights, segregation by race, and business monopolies. The process has not always been pretty. Sometimes the process was quite ugly (check out the Civil War). George W. Bush tried to turn back the clock – and we are witnessing the inevitable result in the form of continual protest from the people.
The revolutionary protests we are witnessing around the world today are direct results of the financial crisis brought on by the greed of the wealthy, by the oppression of dictators, by the willful abuse of power. President George W. Bush and his Republican cronies are likely responsible for most of the calamity around the world today. They fostered an attitude of ignoring government oversight of business in general and the financial sector in particular. Alan Greenspan, former Chief of the Fed (so-to-speak), seemed to be shocked by the abuses. He openly admitted they intentionally let the reigns loose so business could run a faster race. When the financial world collapsed Greenspan feigned shock and disbelief at the financial malpractice.
Tea Party protesters in America are having their party at the wrong house. They are in the wrong parlor and are playing with a deck stacked by the very same people who brought dishonor on our country. This slight of hand has temporary staying power. Historically, when the populist protest resulted in an even worse form of government, there was a only a short time (in historical terms) before the new government was thrown out. The Bolshevik revolution in Russia resulted in the Soviet Union – a government style that lasted about seventy years. The French Revolution of 1793 cast France into a long struggle for sanity in government – with notable characters such as Napoleon Bonaparte briefly taking center stage. Castro’s revolt in Cuba around 1960 is unraveling fifty years later. Again, bad guys only win in the short term.
The point is simple – the protests we are witnessing from Wisconsin to Egypt are the result of abusive leadership – Leadership that ignored the masses in favor of the silver spoon. Deny a person the right to protect his family and look out – you will have protest – and you will see change.
Comment by CJV on 20 February 2011:
I agree with you wholeheartedly, I was beginning to wonder if I just misunderstood the world around me.
I have a renewed spirit seeing the people of Wisconsin standing up to preserve their workers rights, their “entitlements” as they are sadly referred to(and which we the middle class implemented, pay for, and overwhelmingly approve of when used appropriately). We have been used and abused for long enough. It’s time to stand up for ourselves, after all we are the majority. It’s time to shift the power back to the people, I am sick of being lied to, sick of the level of apathy around me, it’s time American’s wake up and shake those out of office that seek to oppress and keep us in poverty, while stealing everything we have worked so hard for right out from under our noses.
I like our constitution, our federal government it’s the representatives we need to throw out. When they speak about “the people” we need to ask ourselves which people are they speaking to and about, they are not speaking about the hard working middle class America; which becomes evident when they threaten to cut education, health care, minimum wage, and our safety net for the poor and those down on their luck.
I am middle class (holding on by my fingernails) and I do not feel contempt for the sick, the elderly, the poor, the hungry and the homeless, I have been there and I didn’t revel in it, I was ashamed and afraid, and feeling hopeless and helpless. Shame on those who want to kick them when they are already down. I personally am willing to pay into the system if it means the children in a poor family will sleep in doors tonight and have something in their tummy when they go to bed, and have an opportunity through education to make the world a better place for future generations.
We are supposed to be a proud “Christian” nation, Christ pitied the poor and the sick and cared for them, he also encouraged his followers to do the same. For a “Christian” nation to turn their back on these people…it is the ultimate form of hypocrisy. Lip service only, these are the ones hypocrites, those with lip service only, that he boldly and publicly denounced if I remember my bible correctly.
In AZ the governor wants to cut the health benefits of 250,000 Axcess participants (Medicaid), because of a budget deficit, yet they are wrapping the outside of the new Phoenix Superior Courthouse in what looks like copper. Thirteen stories of copper exterior, how many mouths would that feed, how many teachers jobs would that save, how many police and firefighter positions would that save, the good sheriff of Maricopa County is spending $8 million dollars to fight the federal government that has accused him of inappropriate conduct, and he’s spending millions more to counter accusations of racism. All this money spent on defending abhorrent behavior of governmental officials caught red handed, while the people are loosing their homes and financial security, and meager health benefits to the poor.
It’s time for change and I support the Wisconsins who recognize that. As I do Iraqi’s, Iranian’s, Jordanian’s, African’s and any others who are tired of being fleeced by those elected or expected to represent them.
Thank you for your opinion. Someone needs to speak up.