Occupying Democracy

"It's coming from the feel

That this ain't exactly real,

Or it's real, but it ain't exactly there ...

Democracy is coming to the U.S.A."

—Leonard Cohen, Democracy

To the U.S.A.? No, Cohen's got it all wrong.

As our leaders loudly preach, democracy is something that we export to the rest of the world — to certain monarchies and autocratic regimes that rule Arab nations, for example. And it's understandable though regrettable, they tell us, that there would be eruptions of pent-up anger at aloof upper classes in India, Greece, Spain and Israel.

But a genuinely populist uprising to bring democracy, both economic and political, to the U.S.A.? No way! Yet, there it is: the sassy, brassy and savvy Occupy Wall Street movement, rapidly spreading to every ZIP code.

It is real. Yes, it's youth-driven, broad-based, determinedly democratic and deeply grounded in the most basic of American values of economic fairness, social justice and equal opportunity for all. It's not about left-right ideologies, but top-down realities. It's focused directly on the narcissistic greed of today's financial and corporate elites and on their gross corruption of our political system by a flood of money from corporations that now masquerade as persons.

Is it exactly there? No, not by a long shot; but it has a shot. The spunk, motivation, idealism, creativity and passion of these young people are genuine, not the product of partisan consultants, think tanks, rich funders or large organizations. So the movement's direct street action is turning out to be the spark that millions of disgusted grass-roots people have needed to stop moaning and start acting, which is why Occupy Chicago, Occupy McAllen, and hundreds of other Occupies have sprung up spontaneously across the country within weeks of the Wall Street initiative. These people are on target and on the move. 

If you doubt it, note the edgy tone of Mitt Romney, who expressed alarm about the rising rabble who're daring to confront the corporate order: "I think it's dangerous, this class warfare."

This was hardly the first plutocratic pronouncement by Romney, a dedicated warrior for the corporate class. In August, the well-heeled seeker of the GOP presidential nod, dressed in preppie-casual togs, hopped atop a hay bale at the Iowa state fair. He looked as natural as a goose in a tuxedo. But then, after a somewhat testy exchange with fairgoers who had challenged him to end corporate tax breaks rather than cut benefits for people, Romney blurted out one of the stranger tenets of right-wing theology: "Corporations are people, my friend," Romney said, with a little condescending chuckle.

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