OCCUPY MOVEMENT IS NOTHING NEW

People think the occupy movement is something new and different and, depending on their politics, either cool as hell or idiotic. It is nothing new. In the 70s we had the hippies. They protested corporate greed and capitalist pigs too. They invaded public spaces with private behavior. They acted like the rules shouldn't apply to them because they believed the rules should be changed. Sound familiar?

At the time, hippies were eventually marginalized as foolish, self-indulgent, immature and, well, unclean. They were replaced by yuppies with their greed and polish and ambition. Hippies weren't just lazy, stupid, dirty or drug-crazed. They served a purpose in history and they had a cause worth protesting (vietnam) but a society of hippies would not last long on the evolutionary ladder. The yuppies, though they are the ones being marginalized this decade, were needed and served their purpose as well. They also had their less attractive aspects but that isn't what I'm talking about today.

Unfortunately, time and a more and more clever and far-reaching media have served to blur the image of the hippy. They've been romanticized and raised to the level of martyr. And now they are being emulated by a lost, bored and lazy generation raised on electronics and entitlements. They are looking for their "vietnam." A cause worth giving all their effort... or any effort for at all. They call themselves the 99%. So far they are FAR from actually 99%, thank God. But they are growing and it scares the hell out of me. I try to believe that social evolution will continue on its merry way and the pendulum will swing. Unfortunately, the Occupy movement has something the hippies never did and that is the internet. Media and what it is capable of has been so dramatically altered by internet and digital media delivery that I worry about how much longer and bloodier the fight will have to be to set that pendulum in the other direction. How much longer-lived and influential would the hippies have been if they had been able to spread their message the way we are able to today?

The movies and media and the softened reminiscences of many of us old-timers have made the hippies into something cool and admirable and unique. I am guilty of it myself. And there were some pretty cool hippies;o) But as a lifestyle, and in particular a lifestyle for a nation, it was not and is not practical. A socialist commune may work for a select few who are dedicated to those principles and to the others in their commune but a socialist nation is not a pretty picture. And it is certainly not an American picture!

America was founded and based on democracy, not socialism. America is about freedom, not entitlement. Freedom is not always peaceful. Freedom is not always free. Freedom has to be fought for and defended. Freedom is not always pretty. But patriotic Americans are willing to die or kick your ass to keep it. We are willing to make sacrifices and accept that we may not have everything we want to have in life if we value our freedom. We are able to be thrilled that some people can become ridiculously rich even if we haven't been able to in a FREE market. We are ecstatic that greenies can drive electric cars and stop buying water in plastic bottles and only use straight edge razors since disposable razors are adding to our carbon footprint, donchaknow. But WE DON'T HAVE TO. WOO HOO! That's what freedom is about! You can sport a bumper sticker on your Prius saying "99%" while the other 90% of us are FREE to get in our cars or our pickups with the bumper sticker saying "Don't Tread On Me" and go to work and pay taxes.

The reasons Socialism is a bad idea and won't work on a large scale over time are for another day. But here is a thought; a democratic, capitalistic society like America really isn't for everyone. It isn't the best approach for every person out there. So if it isn't the best approach for you FEEL FREE TO LEAVE IT AND GO SOMEWHERE WHERE SOCIALISM IS PRACTICED! Good luck with that.