Unless OWS gets seriously involved in dislodging the Republicans from office in 2012 - their majority in the House and their strangle hold on the Senate- none of OWS' complaints or issues will be addressed for the foreseeable future. At least with the Democrats in power, there is an outside chance that some of the most pressing problems facing the country will be ameliorated if not solved.
The Republicans' current opposition to the extensions of the payroll tax reduction and to unemployment benefits (without further cuts to the social safety net rather than taxing the wealthiest Americans) should show everyone in the 99% that they are not on our side at all. The OWS movement says they are non-partisan but a look at the differences between the ideologies of the Republicans and Democrats will show why this should not be so.
George Lakoff summarizes this beautifully today in the Huffington Post in an appeal to OWS to get involved in the 2012 elections. For the Left, "American democracy is about citizens caring about one another and acting responsibly on that care." A strong private sector depends on a strong public sector, on a strong commons. For the Right, "democracy is about citizens only taking care of themselves, about personal and not social responsibility. According to right-wing morality, the successful are by definition the moral; the one percent are taken to be the most moral."
In recent years, the political conversation has been dominated by the heavily financed right wing echo chamber. Now is the time to shift the conversation away from privilege, greed and fear and to a better understanding of what American democracy really should be all about. Now is the time to get involved in the electoral process or forever hold your peace.
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