Occupy Yourself

When you've been an observant adult for over half a century, as I have, you experience a lot of "been there, done that" moments. I get some of that observing the Occupy Portland scene here. The same youthful marriage of idealism and ignorance (particularly in identifying the "enemy"), reinventing the wheel, a poor sense of history, a lot of posturing, but also some sincere, dedicated people as well. But somehow the dumber elements seem to get the press. At any rate, clearly the system isn't working, and the real question is how do you change it. Can it be changed legally, within the system, or must it be changed illegally, as our Founding Fathers reluctantly came to realize? And if the latter, at whom do you point the guns? There will be guns. The assassinations of JFK, King, Bobby K, various Black Panthers, reveal the stakes when power gets threatened. And everything is made more complicated by the international parameters, including our indebtedness to China. May you live in interesting times.

None of this will be decided in the few years I have left. I'm an observer on the sidelines, no heirs to be affected by the outcome. But I'm interested and curious, of course. And so goddamn delighted not to be younger than I am!

I think the best thing that could happen is the birth of a genuine third party focusing on getting money out of politics. Get Bernie and Liz on board. There are some decent progressive politicians out there. The Democrats haven't been worth a shit in decades. Maybe campaign finance reform and a complete overhaul of the tax system are the places to begin. But that's just my opinion, which matters not at all. And the occupy folks and the tea party folks actually share some concerns.

The kids are going to do it their way. I hope the brightest among them take charge. I hope the dumber ones don't find any cameras to speak to.

Meanwhile my protagonist will struggle with these issues even as I do. I occupy myself.