Sunday, November 13, 2011

Dawn of a New Era?


From this mornings New York Times in the Sunday Review, a very powerful op-ed by Jeffrey Sachs. Here's the lead:

"OCCUPY WALL STREET and its allied movements around the country are more than a walk in the park. They are most likely the start of a new era in America. Historians have noted that American politics moves in long swings. We are at the end of the 30-year Reagan era, a period that has culminated in soaring income for the top 1 percent and crushing unemployment or income stagnation for much of the rest. The overarching challenge of the coming years is to restore prosperity and power for the 99 percent."

Could this be possible? It is way too early to say for sure, but I think so. Think about it. Try to move back from your first reaction, and the frustration many feel because the protests seem so amorphous, and without apparent direction. If you can, take in and hold the question in the soft part of your mind, where things move gently and are not seen to be so black and white.

If there were to be a Dawn of a New Era, what might it look like? Why not a great many groups, meeting in small numbers, some in communities, sitting down together to talk about and experience what might be possible if the 1% didn't rig the show, if each and every person were truly valued, if politics were seen and believed to be supporting the 99%, not to exclude the 1%, but where the playing field is truly level?

It could look a lot like Occupy Wall Street.

Think about it.

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