ANTI-FLAG frontman Justin Sane recently wrote a statement about about the Occupy Wall Street movement.
His statement reads as follows:
As long as the world shall last, there will be wrongs. And if no man objected and no man rebelled, those wrongs would last forever.” Clarence Darrow’s words ring true in light of Occupy Wall Street. It is easy for the media and political pundits to focus on what the movement is lacking, but the effects of Occupy Wall Street on America can already be seen. In four months—without a designated leader, paid staff or large sums of money—the movement has grown to such enormous proportions, it cannot be ignored. It has changed the way people in this country function, from the way we speak and think to the rights we demand, and how we understand ourselves.
Occupy Wall Street has given the 99 percent a voice. It has tapped the growing sense among ordinary Americans that something is terribly wrong in our country. It explains why so many hard workers have seen their hopes and dreams slip away, and laid waste to the myth that laziness or lack of intelligence is why the vast majority of Americans struggle to get by. It has revealed a political and economic system that systematically favors the rich in good times, bails them out in hard times and uses the rest of us as economic cannon fodder.
The fact that the Occupy movement has had a major impact on the people of this country has not been lost on politicians who now fear being seen as part of the problem, as part of the one percent. Note Mitt Romney’s terror at having to reveal his personal wealth and the low percentage of taxes he pays. Further note how the debate regarding what is an acceptable way to grow rich has been propelled into unlikely venues such as the Republican presidential race, where candidates denounce unfettered laissez-faire capitalism, an economic model which only a short time ago they championed. Naomi Klein, award-winning journalist and author of The Shock Doctrine: The Rise Of Disaster Capitalism, remarked at a forum on Occupy Wall Street that the movement has created a shift in the political climate in the United States which she believes made it possible for the environmental movement to pressure the White House to stop the controversial Keystone XL Pipeline.
Even in the face of the violent tools of the Corporatocracy—the constant threat of unjustified and brutal police actions—Occupy Wall Street protestors refuse to go away or be silenced. They practice nonviolence, conduct teach-ins and are inclusive of all creeds and colors. They find creative ways to use social media, practice environmental sustainability, and practice and teach direct democracy by conducting all-inclusive general assembles in cities all over the world. Occupy Wall Street is setting a standard for the rest of the world to follow, and it has forced the powers-that-be to take into account the concerns of ordinary people, something that has been lacking in American politics for a very long time. And this is only the beginning.
Go here to check out a full piece of the statement here.
Justin Sane live at Occupy Wall Street:
