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I’ve had this loose sense for some years, now, that America (perhaps more than nearly any other society) is becoming a victim of its own success. In more ways than one in fact, probably, but in this case I refer to the long decades of enjoying the fruits of market capitalism. I’ve arrived at this notion that the free-enterprise system has proven both so effective and so relatively easy a means of making so many things better that we’ve now gone generations without really confronting any major problem through any other way.

The last exceptions were probably the civil rights movement and the feminist revolution, and both of those were pretty much complete by the time I was born. And I’m 33.

Outside of those upheavals, the solutions to which I think required effort outside of capitalist free-enterprise but not particularly any direct conflict with it, the vast majority of America has been able to take for granted a pretty comfortable living through a combination of shopping, and a sort of “maintenance” approach to collective society. Basically, vote, at least once in a while, and beyond that just trust that the resultant government may act out amateur drama but will keep the streets paved, the water drinkable, etc., and not screw anything up too disastrously.

Which is understandably a very tempting situation to settle into, I believe, not least from my perspective; I find politics interesting but I don’t want to march or knock on doors or get pepper-sprayed or engage directly with people who disagree with me or, for that matter, people who share my views either, really. I like vote-by-mail! By contrast it’s difficult and unpleasant, hashing out situations where we can’t all simply have our own individual preference without our decision significantly affecting anyone else. Shopping is much more fun.

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So, Whither the Occupy (Wall Street, etc.) protests?

I can’t do a whole lot here other than echo what others have said. On the one hand, I have to agree with Uncle Paul in that this seems like a favor, or at least an opportunity, for the Occupy protests in some ways. They had kind of plateaued, in terms of raising awareness of inequality and winner-take-all-capitalism concerns, and appeared in danger of fading away. That may still happen, but I think that if “The Man” had wanted to silence their voices he would have been better off letting short attention spans and cold weather do the work through slow attrition.

Frankly I can’t quite figure out the thinking behind this crackdown. It really does seem to do nothing but make the protesters look more relevant than before, and make Bloomberg, et al., look like heavy-handed dictators. In return for what? Is it just an instinctive reflex, “this rabble is challenging my authority, I will destroy them” i.e.? Is the establishment actually admitting that Occupy Wall Street has rattled them, then? Why?

Honestly, it’s tough for me to see the threat; interest in the protests seemed to be waning, as noted, and in the meantime I’m unsure what they were disrupting. To be blunt, the parasitic business of Wall Street seems to have continued pretty much uninterrupted despite its “occupation.” Are the big city bosses really that sensitive? And, more to the point, that sensitive on the issue of questioning the prevailing wealth=virtue dogma? I suppose they probably are, as Uncle Paul among others has chronicled since Obama took office (“Ma, he’s looking at me funny,” etc.).

Still, whatever the reasoning it all looks like a horrible reactionary assault. I have difficulty believing that, whatever Bloomberg, et al. may tell themselves, there isn’t a big ideological element to this establishment repression of protesters. The official justifications are just so easy to poke holes in that they’re pathetic, though at the same time also scary. (more…)

There are a lot of good, intelligent things being said as part of these anniversary observances, including a lot of things that were quite apparent ten years ago but which, hearteningly, seem to be spoken a bit more freely now. Indeed, most of the things I would say have probably been checked off.

One thing, though, one small thought/request now that it’s been 10 full years—

Can we dispense with the mandatory flag lapel-pins, now?

Seriously, I don’t know how making it obligatory for all of these people to walk around with a little ticky-tack tin replica of it actually honors the American flag, or the ideals which it should symbolize either. But I recall that, 10 years ago, everyone wanted flags or flag images everywhere, and perhaps this was emotionally comforting; so be it. In most ways, we have subsequently gotten over this and restored a normal degree of flag-ubiquity, since. Can we do so with lapels, now? It just looks cheap, and silly, and forced.

If terrorists do still “hate our freedom,” that’s all the more reason to protect and celebrate it. Jacket-lapel freedom shouldn’t be left out.