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Creative Commons Flickr image by Kimberlyki |
While what
seems like the fifteenth or sixteenth Republican debate garnered the usual headlines
for zingers, one-liners and who called who a liar, there has been a political happening
going on that has proved much more poignant, timely and ,frankly, tethered to
reality. The Occupy Wall Street (OWS) protests,
which started off as a loose collection of people dissatisfied with our
imbalanced economic system, has blossomed into a full-fledged movement,
spreading to numerous cities across the country, even to those without a Wall
Street (I’m not sure what they call their protests). And while some arms of the
media and certain political pundits categorize the protesters as bored
hipsters, malcontents and hippie liberal troublemakers, let’s remember how these
same politicos and elements of the media embraced the Tea Party protesters as
‘true Americans expressing their outrage at a broken system’. This is exactly
what is happening at the OWS protests, albeit without guys dressed up as Ben
Franklin (although I bet by now someone has dressed like him for one reason or
another). And the same folks casting stones at ‘selfish spoiled college
kids’ demanding to get college loan
relief, please remember you had no problem with ‘patriotic concerned citizens’
rallying against big government and universal health care but balking when it
came to their own social security and Medicare checks.
But I
digress. Of course, all protests, once they reach a certain size, will attract
all types of groups who will use it to try and bring attention to their cause,
whether it is related to the original idea or not. But lately,
environmentalists have been adding their voice to OWS, and for good reason. The
economic imbalance and protection of corporate interests in our country has
definite negative impacts on our environment, specifically in the dismantling
of laws, policies and regulations that serve to protect not only the
environment but our health as well.
A hot topic
recently has been hydrofracking, the process of injecting millions of gallons
of water and chemicals (some of them toxic) into gas and oil wells in order to
create more fissures and cracks, enabling the oil or gas to flow more freely.
There are many anti-fracking signs in evidence at OWS, and for good reason. The
byproduct of hydrofracking is a toxic sludge that is difficult to clean up and
there have been numerous incidents of contaminated groundwater in areas where
hydrofracking occurs, not to mention an increase in earthquakes as well. Local
community groups and landowners who oppose hydrofracking out of fear for their
safety and health find themselves pitted against a giant and powerful industry
with deep pockets and unimaginable lobbying power. Corporate interests versus
the health of our citizens. Who will win?
Bill
McKibben, uber-activist and founder of 350.org (which I have written about in
previous articles), recently gave a speech at OWS about the Keystone Pipeline,
among other things. He shed light on the recently revealed fact that the entire
environmental impact statement process
for this controversial pipeline that will run from Alberta, Canada to Illinois
was corrupt, with the company building
the pipeline being allowed to hand-pick the company that conducted the
environmental impact statement. Surprise, surprise, they picked a company that
had extensive contracts with them and, shocking as it may seem, this company
determined the environmental impact of a gas pipeline over 2,000 miles long would
be negligible. Once again, small communities and grass-root organizations have
been banding together to fight Keystone in scenarios reminiscent of David
versus Goliath. Once again, I have to wonder who will win.
The OWS
protesters are a diverse bunch, and like in any large group, there are going to
be some fringe elements that don’t merit the press attention they will receive.
But the majority of protesters are exercising their rights, standing up for
what they believe in, and working for a better future for everyone, as opposed
to the few. Seems to me these are the principles this fine country of ours was
founded upon.
This article originally appeared in the Monadnock Shopper News 10/19/11
This article originally appeared in the Monadnock Shopper News 10/19/11
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