Stock markets, banks and governments worldwide are rattled as they fail to intimidate the working class into accepting the burden of a financial collapse caused by corrupt governments, greedy speculation and unregulated bank loans. Despite the Obama administration’s efforts to keep interest rates at an all time low, a new “stimulus package” and even a token millionaire’s tax, the stock market nervously swings up and down. Even if the Republicans went along with more taxes, these “reforms” would not solve the underlying problem—capitalism cannot control UNBRIDLED GREED.
Permanent high unemployment and a lower standard of living is predicted for the U.S. and Europe. Young people in particular are hit hard with no prospect of getting jobs. Despite efforts of governments whether military dictatorships in the Mideast or so-called social “democracies” in Europe and the United States to suppress protests or misinform the public through a controlled or corporate mass media, people are developing a new awareness of their power, summed up in the phrase that Obama used, but hardly imagined would
characterize recent events, “Yes we can!”
People in Tunisia and Egypt have already toppled their governments. People in Yemen. Bahrain, Syria and Israel are on the streets opposing the political and economic system that can no longer work. The Greek working class is on the verge of a prolonged general strike and mass demonstrations are happening in Italy, Spain, Portugal and England. Public sector unions in Europe and the U.S. have organized protests and strikes as the economic collapse has caused debt crises and governments, banks and corporations try to cut pensions and lay off workers. Recent examples in the U.S. are the closure of Pacific coast ports by long shore workers, protests by postal workers, and the strikes of the Verizon workers, the California healthcare workers and nurses and the Tacoma teachers. These protests and strikes, however, are not sustained and do not force the ruling elite to make significant changes. But a new tactic coming out of events in the Middle East has the ruling class worried—people taking over the centers of cities and refusing to go home until
the government resigns or makes significant changes. This tactic was not lost on Wisconsin’s public sector workers’ prolonged occupation of the state capitol.
Your occupation of Wall Street, first by mostly young people, now joined by people of all ages including organized labor, has brought the struggle for change in this country to a new level. As Mayor Bloomberg observed, “You have a lot of kids graduating college and can’t find jobs. That’s what happened in Cairo and Madrid. You don’t want those kinds of riots here”. Growing numbers of people realize that bourgeois “democracy” and capitalism cannot solve the economic and environmental crises. Finance capital and corporations are antithetical to democracy and environmental wisdom. You realize that through the militant tactic of sustained occupation you can circumvent the corruptpolitical establishment and mass media. Police attacks and arrests have only strengthened your resolve. Just as Tahrir spread throughout out the Mideast, your occupation of Liberty Square is spreading to other cities in the U.S. and Canada. Just as at Tahrir Square, as the word gets out, more and more people will either join your occupation or bring you food, blankets and money as you call for a society that puts people ahead of profit!
In solidarity,
The Green Party of Manhattan
manhattangreens.org
