Occupy NYC gathered again March 17th for the six month anniversary of the movement. The establishment responded in typical fashion by arresting peaceful protesters in a shock and awe show of force.
Enforcing this unnecessary split between segments of the population, and then repressing those that simply want to initiate a societal discussion about creating a more just society, is doomed to fail.
Separating people into 'us vs them', 'rich vs poor', or 'the 99% vs the 1%', fails to capitalize on our collective interests, and wisdom. It is easy to point fingers of blame and absolve one's self from all responsibility for current conditions.
The challenges of humanity are unprecedented, and in order to find workable solutions we will need to remember our kindergarten lessons and play nice. Everyone. The 100%.
In this regard, I love what the Stoic emperor Marcus Aurelius said 1800 years ago in his Meditations:
"Say to yourself in the early morning: I shall meet today ungrateful, violent, treacherous, envious, uncharitable men. All of these things have come upon them through ignorance of real good and ill... I can neither be harmed by any of them, for no man will involve me in wrong, nor can I be angry with my kinsman or hate him; for we have come into the world to work together..."We have come into the world to work together - you have ideas, I have ideas - let's get this thing done.
Peace. Sustainability. Freedom. Justice. Equality. Sanity. All will be realized when we learn to work together for the betterment of all.
So true! We are all connected in ways we can't even begin to fathom. Only by co-operation can we save ourselves. If we fail, we all go down together. What will it matter to which "percent" we associated ourselves? It isn't survival of the fittest, but rather survival of those best able to adapt.
ReplyDeleteI'm adapting as fast as I can!
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