I often wonder why American citizens don’t flood the streets of major cities demanding the end to policies that have concentrated wealth in the hands of the very rich so inequitably that the bottom 40% of Americans own only 0.2% (that’s 1/5 of 1%) of the wealth. Where is the anger that the economy is booming on Wall Street, while Main Street suffers a virtual depression? Perhaps we need to take lessons from our neighbors across the pond.
Imagine a parallel universe where the Great Crash of 2008 was followed by a Tea Party of a very different kind. Enraged citizens gather in every city, week after week—to demand the government finally regulate the behavior of corporations and the superrich, and force them to start paying taxes. The protesters shut down the shops and offices of the companies that have most aggressively ripped off the country. The swelling movement is made up of everyone from teenagers to pensioners. They surround branches of the banks that caused this crash and force them to close, with banners saying, You Caused This Crisis. Now YOU Pay.
As people see their fellow citizens acting in self-defense, these tax-the-rich protests spread to even the most conservative parts of the country. It becomes the most-discussed subject on Twitter. Even right-wing media outlets, sensing a startling effect on the public mood, begin to praise the uprising, and dig up damning facts on the tax dodgers.
Instead of the fake populism of the Tea Party, there is a movement based on real populism. It shows that there is an alternative to making the poor and the middle class pay for a crisis caused by the rich. It shifts the national conversation. Instead of letting the government cut our services and increase our taxes, the people demand that it cut the endless and lavish aid for the rich and make them pay the massive sums they dodge in taxes.
This may sound like a fantasy—but it has all happened. The name of this parallel universe is Britain. As recently as this past fall, people here were asking the same questions liberal Americans have been glumly contemplating: Why is everyone being so passive? Why are we letting ourselves be ripped off? Why are people staying in their homes watching their flat-screens while our politicians strip away services so they can fatten the superrich even more?… [emphasis added]
Inserted from <AlterNet>
Kudos to and solidarity with the British protestors. How much more suffering do we need before we learn to follow suit?
10 Responses to “Learning Protest from the UK”
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I suspect the contrast is due to astroturfing (or a lack thereof). As you said, the UK movement appears to be rooted in genuine populism, whereas the U.S. Tea Party movement has very wealthy and powerful backers.
Of course, but why are we missing authentic populism? Could it be that real populists are being diverted and brainwashed by the Teabaggers?
YEAAA, UNITED KINGDOM! The Brits’ example should be a catalyst for every non-wealthy American citizen to get off their dead ass and raise hell about the screwing we’re all taking!
This is the “land of the free” only for the wealthy. When it comes to setting wages and benefits, we of the majority have no say or freedom at all.
So true, Jack. Unions have been relegated to a few fields only.
Good for the Brits. I think one reason we are so passive may be because deep down we know the media wouldn’t even report it – at least not fairly. Maybe many of us are simply overwhelmed by the juggernaut that is the Tea Party and Fox News.
Leslie, if demonstrators massed on Wall Street every day, wouldn’t media have to report it? Except Fox, of course. 🙁
Because we are too fucking lazy and prefer to just let the Wall Streeters rip us off again. 🙄 Could you see 100K of fat American protesters on MSM? I’d prefer not to see that too. 😛 The world would not be concentrating on the protesting but how fat and lazy we’ve all become.
Good on the Brits though! 😎
Yep!
Hey! I’m fat, but I’m not lazy! 🙁