• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • AMERICAN DEMOCRACY
  • WORLD DEMOCRACY
  • POLITICAL ART
  • more
    • election technology
    • money politics
    • political dissidents
    • THIRD PARTY
      • third party central
      • green party
      • justice party
      • libertarian party
    • voting methods
  • DC INFO
    • author central
    • about
    • advertise with DC
    • contact
    • privacy policy

Democracy Chronicles

Nothing Stands Forever – Happy 2nd Birthday Occupy Wall Street

by Craig Boehman - September 17, 2013

FacebookTweetLinkedInPin
2nd Birthday Occupy Wall Street
Occupy Wall Street protester Chris Philips screams as he is arrested near Zuccotti Park, Monday, Sept. 17, 2012, in New York. Multiple Occupy Wall Street protesters have been arrested during a march toward the New York Stock Exchange on the anniversary of the grass-roots movement

by Craig Boehman

Nothing stands forever. Not even Wall Street, or the dominion of their puppets in Washington D.C. History is very instructive on this point. There is always a beginning, a middle, and an end. A time of reign. The inevitable fall. New beginnings.

From imperium comes our word, “empire.” In Roman times, imperium meant ‘the power to command’. In today’s world, as it was back then, the sovereignty of the state trumps that of the individual. Authority is exercised within the constructs of imaginary borders encompassing real geographies and real peoples.

Birthday Occupy Wall StreetWall Street is another kind of imperium, or empire. It derives its powers from one source: money. There are a few hundred corporations commanding the lion’s share of all global wealth. In the US, these corporations buy elections and command multi-trillion dollar bail-outs from taxpayers. They wield the power to loan money for homes, cars, and educations for millions of people. They control the terms – and they make up their own rules as they go along to defraud people of their homes and investments. They control the politicians. Bottom line: They bought a republic and sold off democracy’s stock a long time ago. And today, if you accept their money on their terms, they control you.

Happy Birthday Occupy Wall Street! You set out to change all of that on September 17, 2011. It was a tall order, to say the least. Not only did Occupy Wall Street have to stand up against the Wall Street Empire, OWS had to endure against another empire too, the domestic branch of the American Police State. But nothing stands forever, or even beyond a few short months.

Today, the camps are cleared. The large-scale protests have diminished considerably. The movement has largely gone underground but still maintains its vast networks of activists, many of whom are still busy with OWS pursuits (like myself) or working on community projects that pre-dated the movement.

It’s hard to swallow at times, but we did fail to storm the castle. Wall Street did not come crumbling down. If anything, Wall Street has only consolidated its power, over our lives, and over our so-called representatives in Washington. But OWS had an effect, and it’s still in effect. We communicated to the powers that be that their days are numbered, that nothing stands forever. Supporting evidence is abundant if one cares to look. But before I go any further with this line of thought, allow me clarify that I don’t believe that OWS was the ‘start of it all’ or the end game of what is to come. I view OWS as a transition period, as part of a global movement reflecting a general shift in the mindsets of a great many people who have experienced various forms of the same oppression.

So if we care to look, we can see this ‘transition’ in the real time, in the here and now, right under our noses, probably where many of us shop and eat. Single-issue protests are rocking the United States like never before. Tremendous numbers are turning out for anti-Monsanto and Big Ag demonstrations. Fast food workers have been striking by the thousands across the nation. Walmart employees and labor groups have also been striking and working hand-in-hand to shed light on shameful labor practices by the world’s top retailer. Hundreds of angry, highly-motivated individuals are personally taking a hands-on approach to stopping the Keystone pipeline proposal by putting their bodies in front of bulldozers and in the trees to form living blockades. We’ve also seen many people in the streets protesting the NSA scandal and Obama’s pending war with Syria.

Nothing stands forever – not even the inspiration for Occupy Wall Street. But we should recognize this inspiration while we still possess it, while we’re still capable of sharing it with others. It’s not all doom and gloom out there after all. Let’s celebrate solidarity while it’s on the table. And while we’re at it, let’s have ourselves a piece of that birthday cake.

Birthday Occupy Wall Street occupytrinity

FacebookTweetLinkedInPin

Filed Under: DC Authors Tagged With: American Corruption, New York City and State Elections, Occupy Wall Street, Socialism and Labor, Spying and Privacy

About Craig Boehman

Craig Boehman is a DC author, the creator and admin of the now-closed OWS page "Gilded Age" that played a major part in globalizing the movement. He writes for Democracy Chronicles from Mumbai, India.

Some highlighted Democracy Chronicles topics

Africa American Corruption American Local Elections American State Elections Asia Capitalism and Big Business Celebrity Politics China Democracy Charity Democracy Protests Democrats Dictatorships Education Election History Election Methods Election Security Election Transparency Europe Internet and Democracy Journalism and Free Speech Middle East Minority Voting Rights Money Politics New York City and State Elections Political Artwork Political Dissidents Political Lobbying Redistricting Republicans Russia Socialism and Labor Social Media and Democracy South America Spying and Privacy Supreme Court Third Party Voter Access Voter ID Voter Registration Voter Suppression Voter Turnout Voting Technology Women Voting Rights Worldwide Worldwide Corruption

Reader Interactions

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Home | DC AUTHORS | Nothing Stands Forever – Happy 2nd Birthday Occupy Wall Street

Primary Sidebar

Advertise button

A Dangerous Reprise Of American Exceptionalism In Ukraine

By Jamie Lampidis May 15, 2022

The stakes are too high to cave into Putin’s phantasmatic imperial play, and too high to believe that this war can be won by arming Ukrainians.

On The Coming End Of Roe v. Wade

By Peter J. Dellolio May 11, 2022

Anyone who says that the evolution of law has nothing to do with politics is either very corrupt or very stupid. Laws evolved through the centuries.

democracy chronicles newsletter

DC AUTHORS

Goodbye Roe v. Wade, Goodbye Rule Of Law

By Andrew Straw May 5, 2022

Congress should impeach judges who act like that because it is not good behavior, and they were asked not to act that way when they were confirmed.

PODCAST: Debating The Future Of Debates

By Jenna Spinelle May 4, 2022

We love a good debate — and have certainly had plenty of them on this show. But how effective are they in today’s media and political landscape?

What “Pro-Palestine” Student Groups Get Wrong

By David Anderson, J.D. May 3, 2022

Back then – as now – this fit into a “colonialist” narrative of European Jews oppressing Arabs – an easy, eye pleasing but intellectually lazy fit.

Examining Government As A “Necessary Evil”

By Gary Berton April 29, 2022

Thomas Paine defines government as separate from society, and indeed if society functioned perfectly there would be no need for government.

Ukrainian And Polish History: Fighting The Empires

By Maxim Sidorenko April 26, 2022

On February 24th, Russia started an unprovoked war against Ukraine. It has become one more attempt of the empire to demolish the Ukrainian state.

PODCAST: What Student Debt Says About Democratic Institutions

By Jenna Spinelle April 26, 2022

In a new book, Josh Mitchell draws alarming parallels to the housing crisis, showing the catastrophic consequences student debt has had on families.

Aging White Men Who Commit Voter Fraud Have Nothing To Fear

By Steve Schneider April 22, 2022

The sentences stand in contrast with the actions of the Governor who recently got the state legislature to create an election integrity police force.

MORE FROM OUR AUTHORS

VISIT OUR POLITICAL ART SECTION:

dc political art

DEMOCRACY CULTURE

Kenyan 'Cartooning For Peace' To Draw Africa Towards Democracy

Kenyan ‘Cartooning For Peace’ To Draw Africa Towards Democracy

May 17, 2022

Cartooning is an art that has been playing a major role in illustrating stories in different ways, from health to politics, and even sports.

Anxious Leaders Influence Their Followers' Anxiety, Even Online

Anxious Leaders Influence Their Followers’ Anxiety, Even Online

May 17, 2022

Organizational leader’s tweets can influence employee anxieties and this effect is more prominent since the rise of COVID-19, study.

North Korea Cracks Down On 'Capitalist' Pop Culture

North Korea Cracks Down On ‘Capitalist’ Pop Culture

May 6, 2022

North Korea has increased its campaign against “capitalist” style clothing, others, in broader crackdown on foreign pop culture.

DiCaprio, Ruffalo Urge Brazilians To Vote, Irking Bolsonaro

DiCaprio, Ruffalo Urge Brazilians To Vote, Irking Bolsonaro

May 6, 2022

Hollywood stars Leonardo DiCaprio and Mark Ruffalo joined other celebrities making a final push for voters in Brazil to register to vote.

Mock M&M Election Teaches Alaskans About Ranked Voting

Mock M&M Election Teaches Alaskans About Ranked Voting

April 26, 2022

There are paper cups with eight different kinds of M&M near the entrance to Amalga Distillery in Juneau for a mock ranked choice vote.

MORE CULTURE

VISIT OUR US DEMOCRACY SECTION:

American Democracy