Tuesday, November 15, 2011

Home of the Brave

What a sad morning. I woke up and tuned in to see police in riot gear rounding up peaceful protesters out of what I consider the greatest place in the world, New York City. Mayor Bloomberg stated it had become "not a place for protest, but a place for crime."

Really?

He may be right. There was a crime, several of them. But not by the protesters. The crime was from the one percent Occupy Wall Street(OWS) is protesting against. In every protest that has been removed and shut down across America its not shops, businesses, government officials or police that have been injured. It has been the protesters. I guess you can usually win if you bring a gun to a knife fight.

Now, having said that, I'll admit there are fanatics on both sides of this fence, but the message still remains: equality, education, liberty. What is so wrong with standing up for what you believe? We only want to be heard. Why move them out? Officials said, "We could not wait around for someone to get killed in the park." So your solution is to march in, in the middle of the night with a surprise raid, in complete riot gear in a tactical military style, under cover of a media blackout, to remove a bunch of people in tents whose biggest weapons are computers and books? That seems the opposite of protecting 'the right to assemble peacefully', at least from an outsiders perspective.

And then to haul them off in handcuffs, throw their belongings into a trash heap where they must come to the dump later and retrieve them and ignore their court order to be allowed back into the park to retrieve their own things seems extreme removal for a group of sleeping people.

Did you then go over a few blocks and remove the tent cities from the Avenues A, B and C? You know the ones where people live day to day and can't afford the computers you just threw in the trash? Those 5000 books you just destroyed would have felt like gold in the hands of the school children in that area.

No, you only removed the ones making a difference.

We all know the line 'if you can make it there, you can make it anywhere' From New York, New York so does that mean that all of remaining cities with movements inside them will follow suit? Although this is not the first protest to be done away with, it is the most important to date. NYPD is supposed to be our heroes. The city watches you. The Nation does...and now the world. I would tread lightly. You're skating a fine line between protector and militant force right now. Watching you remove those people this morning broke my heart quite a lot. I can't imagine what the world thinks of our Democracy.

I don't assume to know what is actually going on in the streets of NYC right now since I am across the country, but I hear the message. I see the actions being taken on both sides.
But mostly...I feel the movement.

I find it interesting that these actions were not taken seriously until OWS made some difference at high government levels. I'm sure most of Wall Street, the House, the Senate, and officials across the nation were mostly thinking 'Damn Hippies. It is 1968 all over?' and then went to argue over a budget they will never agree on. But then something started taking shape. People perked up and started listening. Celebrities came to join the rally cries and it began...the momentum.

Now the very things that make this country great: free speech, free press, free assembly, and mostly free thinking are the very things scaring the hell out of the one percent in charge! The irony is terrific and beautiful and mostly so very terrifying on levels most of those Senators and Reps had never imagined. It is an amazing time to be alive, don't you think?

There is so much misinformation about this entire movement right now. I read two days ago how government officials and others were condemning the celebrities joining the movement. They said 'they were so far out of touch they couldn't see they were the one percent.' But I don't see it that way. The actors and singers and artists who are involved have charities and foundations and try to give back, not just to this but to all different organizations.
Are they wealthy? Sure they are.
Are they out there in the rain with the rest of us? They are that too.
Are they fighting for the same liberties and using that wealth to help others? Absolutely!

The Senators, the Representatives, and everyone else sitting high and mighty on their thrones(which can't really exist, because this is a Democracy right?) deciding what's best for the rest of us can't possibly know the answer to that question. They don't live like us and they encase themselves in a bubble, sitting high above, looking down on all the rest. They are the ones who are out of touch. You deal in hypocrisy, not democracy.

You want to fix some of the economy? How about a pay cut your self? You spent more time this year in Congress deciding your benefits, tax breaks and your raises than you did debating when our soldiers could come home. More time than you spent on education. More time than you did on the starving children. That is not representative of what the people want from you. My local politicians are not out in the streets trying to fix things, they are worrying about getting elected again. I could think of much better use of this time. Fix things now, people will re-elect you for sure. Instead, you are spending millions of dollars on ads, commercials and campaigns to tear down someone else so you can be the lesser of two evils.

When I hear a certain presidential hopeful spent 2 million dollars on an ad campaign I think, 'Wow those People in Joplin, MO and Alabama devastated by tornado, the People all over the Mississippi river basin area washed out by floods, the People in Louisiana who still haven't been given compensation from Katrina and were told the government was out of funds could have used that'- I bet the kids who are meeting in trailers because their school was flattened would have loved that 2 million dollars. The people whose homes still have big X's spray painted on them waiting for demolition in New Orleans would have treasured a little bit of that. It could go for research to cancer and AIDS, feeding and housing the poor, educating adults so they can join the work force and add to our overall gains. And that two million is just one candidate! How many people were forgetting what to say at the Presidential debate the other night? You do the math.

Its as if our Government only wishes to be the most popular house on Frat Row.You're so busy spending all your time trying to fix all the other houses on the street (i.e. every other country's government we are trying to fix currently) but the sink hole is in your own backyard. You delude yourself into thinking you're the most popular, but in reality the only reason the others come to your barbeque is because they don't want you to unleash your crazy on them. That's not respect, that's fear and that is not democracy.

Its said that to change the world you must first begin within. Why can't we be a nation that 'fixes' the rest of the world, not by force, but by leading with example? Lead other countries to a democratic government and a representation of the people, not with war, but by showing that it works here. Not by squashing our freedoms so you have control, but by respecting and upholding our freedoms to show why it works. You want people to look to us and see the land of opportunity, then we need to make it that once more. And here's your chance - give the opportunity back to the people. You can't do that by shutting down peaceful rallies or sit-ins. You can not do it by bashing them in the media and making your selves look even more like pompous jerks.

You have become the bullies, not the solution. You are supposed to be our leaders. You can not lead in that fashion and then get angry when people do as you do and follow your example. If you are intolerant, then you will lead a nation of intolerance. If you are money driven, those are the generations you will raise. If you insist on combining Church and State at all, but especially when it is convenient for you, then that is the nation you will grow - a group of people who are able to twist words, law and even the Constitution for their own selfish gain, not for the good of the People as a whole.

You claim to be for the people, but you don't know what that is. You use the Constitution and the Bible in equal amounts when it suits your purpose. I never knew all my life that the underscore of being a Republican meant you had to be Christian. But apparently, that is part and parcel to the whole thing. What's that? Republicans don't believe that? You can be any religion you want and be on 'our side'?
Really? Oh I see. I just can't run for office and represent the group if I'm something different. Also Democrats are the lesser 'because we actually do let anyone in'? I thought Christianity was excepting all and not judging. I thought division of Church and State was so that the Government couldn't enact laws based on their faith. I don't remember ever reading anywhere in the laws of this country how being gay was grounds for unfair treatment in things such as marriage, rights, and holding high position in commerce and government.
Just like slavery and suffrage movements before them, a small handful of white, God-fearing men hold the cards. How is that representative of a nation that prides itself on being a melting pot of all different colors and creeds?

Why does being gay, being a religion other than Christian, being female or expressing your own opinions become the things that lose you an election? The people you represent are those things! We are outcasts, we are losers, we are struggling, we are poor, we are passionate, we have beliefs, we have our own faith, we fight the glass ceiling and we are never satisfied with just good enough.

That is why we are American - so we can be whoever we want!

And we want our government to reflect that. Right now, it looks like my Grandpa's coffee circle and the little old ladies from church who scare the crap out of me with their judgements and funny hats!

A whole slew of in touch celebrities are lending their name to this fight and others and while they may not have to worry about where their next meal is coming from, at least they are looking ahead and trying to do something about the big picture.

That's what the 1% do not understand about this issue - its not about your bank account...its what you are doing with the money that's there. Its all about intention and desire to help. WE don't want a handout. We want opportunity!

These powerful people who are focused on OWS(Mark Ruffalo), the environment (Ian Somerhalder and the ISF Foundation, Leo DiCaprio) , veterans (Gary Sinise), education(Oprah), ending child hunger(Ellen DeGeneres), fighting AIDS(Sir Elton John), maintaining the arts in schools(Madonna, Sheryl Crow), housing the homeless(Brad Pitt) and youth sports(Mia Hamm, MLB), just to name a few, are using not just their names but all things at this generation's disposal - Twitter, Facebook, Google+, YouTube and their wealth - all to get their messages out there. They are raising money. They are standing up for what they believe. They are doing the work that needs to be done.

And they aren't doing it because they think it will be best for their campaign.
They aren't doing it because it will make them popular.
They are doing it because they have the means to make a difference and they are able to do the right thing.

They have been become our Representatives, these hypocrites as you call them, they are the ones we look up to now. They are our astronauts and we hold on to their coat tails to take us somewhere we didn't know this world could go. They are the team leaders of our dreams and desires.

We would do it if we could, but not all of us have those means and followings available to us and now with shutting down these protests, moving away the rallies you, Government, are taking from us the only thing some of us still have - hope.

Without the right to assemble and speak our minds, what makes this place any different from the rest of the world? Short answer - absolutely nothing.

But Occupiers - don't give up. The path must be the right one if its causing this much of a stir. If it meant nothing, they wouldn't try to stop it. Push forward with progress and peace. When they slap us, just turn the other cheek and show them we are still standing. Making a difference is never easy, people are resistant to change - even when its for the better, but it will be worth it in the end. When our children and grandchildren are reading in the History books about how we stood up and made sure the world would be better for them - that's when we'll know we did the right thing.

Home of the Brave indeed!

Saturday, November 12, 2011

The Written Word - A Tribute

I'm addicted to words. I love it. In books, in movies, in songs, in a cafe with my best friend sharing coffee and highly caloric treats. I love hearing the way it sounds when my babies say 'Watch me, Mama' or my husband says 'I love you' or the way I can still remember my grandma's voice as she passed on her wonderful wisdom.
The lyrics to a song can touch me like none other sometimes. A passage in a story can bring on the most vivid scene in my head, building the house its speaks of or the person it describes right before my eyes. In a movie, certain words become catchphrases, iconic to the point where they take on a life of their own.
But they all start at the same place - the page. Perhaps on a computer or maybe an idea jotted down on a scrap of paper. A name or sentence written on a crumpled napkin and shoved in a purse to grow its own story later. The page takes all kinds.
But its on this page that lies my true addiction - the written word.
My babies and I go to the library once a week. They don't ask to go for ice cream or to the movies on Fridays when they get home from school, but instead pack their bag of books and off we go. If something else has to be done then, like yesterday, then Saturday mornings are all about that followed by a trip to the book store. Today was no exception.
I just love the smell that a library has. Nothing compares to it, not even a bookstore can truly compete. The quiet interior housing millions of words, thousands of stories, all guarded by three or four trustworthy people who love these stories like I do. Mention a book to them and they know it. They are passionate with love or hate for it and what are we fired up about? Words.
In writing my books, I find myself getting caught up in the words. I want to describe each thing with flowing overwrought beauty or hideousness. There can't be enough words sometimes. You carefully craft your story, hold the characters close to your heart, they live and breathe within you and yet the first thing you have to tell about the book - word count.
And that's the thing - they do count! Every. Single. Word.
I am surrounded by words in my world. I have music coming out my ears, and not that it all has lyrics, but the vast majority - yes, and each one means something. I am, of course addicted to Twitter and Facebook, and the words that people write there. I have posters and paintings and books filled with quotes and sayings and memories put into words, a lifetime worth of words that have made of my life. I also have a vast collection of books in my home - all of us in my family being the big readers we are. I have magazines and far too many subscriptions that come in every month. I have scripts from plays I've done as well as ones I haven't. I have collections of musings by people I admire, just hoping I might learn something from their words. I just can't turn it away. Words you can carry with you when you go.
Think about the last time someone said something to you that was hurtful. Had they slapped you, you would be healed and forgotten the feeling...but the words, they remain. They are powerful. More powerful sometimes than we would even like them to be. Leaders are born with the right words and taken down just as easily with the wrong ones.
But the greatest of all these is a book, the ultimate written word. I love the feel of the paper between my fingers, the crisp, yet gentle sound of a page turning, the way you smile like an idiot and cry like a fool over these simple things printed within, with ink on pieces of mashed trees - words.
I'm not saying that a Nook or an iPad or a collection of eBooks aren't the way to go...it probably is. And it would be much easier than hauling the three or four books I'm always reading, the five magazines I'm halfway through and the two or three notebooks with a slew of pens and pencils for the moments inspiration grabs me to make my own written words. I get it, but I can't do it.
When I first got my iPhone I downloaded some books. It was nice to have when the kids were running late from an activity or there was a line where ever I might be, but it just wasn't the same. The Great Gatsby is great to me not just for the story, but also for the yellowed color of the aged pages, the way the spine is broken in no less than seven places, the way the cover will fall off at any minute despite the scotch tape that litters it. It's the eyes staring out from a blue sky. It's not just the story or the words, its the experience, an old friend if you will.
It gets you through the moment of something or maybe its your first love of reading. I have my copy of The Westing Game from the sixth grade. I loaned it to my son. He fell in love with the little mystery just like I did and when we went to purchase a copy all his own we were both more than a little disappointed it didn't have the same cool cover as mine. I thumbed through it and the words were the same but the pages were white and new and hadn't been read ten times by a blonde headed aspiring dancer in the summer between 6th and 7th grade because her parents split up and she moved to a new town and those characters were her closest friends.
No, nothing can ever replace opening a book and being able to hold an entire universe in your hands.
Every time I get a postcard with one of my magazines telling me to subscribe online I cringe a bit. I love the glossy pages, the way the ink smears on my fingers due to the steam of the water when I'm reading in the bath. The movie reviews in EW come with a smartphone icon to view the trailer online and promise more of the story. But what if I want to read the story myself? Right there? Yes, I can read it online, but I can't pick up the computer and plop it down on the table in front of my husband and say "You gotta read this!" And the irony that you will read this on the computer and not by hard copy is not lost on me.
As a now aspiring writer, it's a scary thing that my love affair with the written word with one day be obsolete in the way I know it. I won't have one or two books that are out of print, but they all will be. My shelves will not be filled with stories but relics as well. Relics of a time when you could spend a Saturday afternoon at the library or bookstore and find those other kindred spirits. We'll all be in our own space, talking through virtual chat rooms or worse, not talking at all.
I know eventually I'll succumb and get myself an eReader. I know every eBook saves trees and makes my inner hippie dance around with flowers in her hair. I know there will come a day when we no longer print books. I know there will be a generation someday too soon that will have never held a textbook in their classroom. They will be able to type in the topic and a brain inside the machine in front of them will find what they need and they will never have to flip through the pages of encyclopedias. They will never know that smell of knowledge that a book can hold. They will no longer carry bags of heavy books to and from school but only a cover for their laptop.
But for now, I look over at my son, grinning ear to ear at his library book on this Saturday afternoon and I think...someday, but not yet.