I have to confess that I have been teetering on the edge of bitter misanthropy these last five years--angrily and impotently watching a democratic administration continue the hedonistic obeisance to the vile Corporate Megalomaniacs who've usurped our media, our politics and our global economy. Ive felt alienated from the countless bloggers online whove reveled in hate- and fear- mongering, whove gleefully hurled invectives and indulged in name-calling, using the vilest vulgar epithets to vilify those with whom they disagree.
I admit that I almost made the same mistake these vile Corporate Megalomaniacs have made: I had concluded that the last sixty years of co-opted public education successfully strangled our citizens' critical thinking skills beyond redemption. I thought that the vast majority of us had become complacent little automatons, completely devoted to wanton consumerism. I thought our species had devolved into spiteful, narcissistic, hedonistic brats.
I am so very thankful that I am wrong.
#Occupy is the brave first step on our species' journey to recovery. I hope that those of us who cannot be there (poor health, no money, no transportation) will pick up the gauntlet in whatever way we can. For example, as an educator, I practice Satyagraha at every opportunity, and my students are hearing about #Occupy, about radical income inequity, about Satyagraha, and about BEING the change we hope to see in this world.
I look forward to watching this social movement spread across the planet.