OccupyWallStreet is a Profoundly Moral - not Political - Movement

I visited OccupyWallStreet yesterday to see what it's really like - as opposed to uninformed criticism from the left and right.

As a starting point for analysis, today's NYT article by Nicholas Kulish is useful in describing global alienation towards political elites, parties, and "elections."

The 2008 financial crash and subsequent bank bailout proved global capitalist system is rigged by and for the bankers. First they created the crash through their deregulated gambling, then used their power to get all their money back from taxpayers - and bonuses too! And now they're demanding repeal of the few new regulations adopted to prevent another, even larger taxpayer bailout.

As Senator Dick Durbin, a decent progressive, famously said of the U.S. Senate: "the banks own the place."

This alienation is especially acute for young adults who see no good way into the disappearing middle class. But it's also acute for middle-aged unemployed workers who are plunging into poverty, or those who are marginally employed and hanging on for dear life.

Occupywallstreet is perfectly symptomatic of this alienation. But their response is neither passive nor nihilistic like the recent British riots.

These activists, both younger and older, are putting their lives aside to creatively confront Wall Street (a.k.a. the global capitalist system) with an alternative system based on genuine Democracy in the specific form of a General Assembly.

This effort can't be analyzed in the same terms as mainstream political activists are used to, where an event is organized to advance a (more or less specific) demand.

Genuine Democracy is a time-consuming process. But that's exactly what the participants want it to be, so everyone can genuinely participate on an equal basis.

So rather than a political movement, it really has to be seen as a moral movement - one that challenges the profoundly amoral "heart" of the global capitalist system.

It poses this fundamental question: Is ruthless global capitalism the only way for humanity to organize itself?

As an alternative, if we sat in a circle and reasoned together, would we create a different system?

That's obviously hugely complicated and I don't know the answer - but it's a fascinating question!