2012 begins.

The only bright spot I see as 2012 begins is the heroic  Occupy Wall Street movement.

The middle class and the working poor are getting squeezed to death by depression conditions.  They are confronted with prospects of less employment, government austerity and erosion of social programs, endless war, and curtailment and eventual elimination of civil liberties.

Both of the political parties, Republican and Democratic, have sold themselves to the rich and corporate interests; Congressmen will do anything to get re-elected so they sell out the citizenry on every issue.

The Supreme Court is packed with unscrupulous pro-corporate ideologues eager help the venal bankers and CEOs take complete control of the country.  Sure there are four “Liberals” on the court, and Kennedy votes with them most of the time.  Keep thinking that as you look for a bright spot in the court’s present configuration.

The President is either weak and afraid, or he is complicit.  I think he is complicit, because otherwise one cannot explain his constant capitulations and lack of initiative.  But even if we ignore his motives and examine his actions we see a President who is no leader and who has betrayed the voters' trust.

The media has completely sold out and has betrayed the public trust.  At the level of the individual media employee, very few will dare risk their jobs by clearly stating the truth if the report is not approved by the corporate management.  At the macro level we see consolidation of the media such as we have never seen before in the United States.  Corporations bought the influence they needed in order to cause the government to allow this media consolidation, and now that the media are in the hands of these corporations, the media is used to gain further power over the system by the propagation of endless lies and propaganda in an endless positive feedback loop.  ABC, CBS, NBC, MSNBC, CNN, FOX, PBS—all to some extent liars, all more or less corrupted.

What do you do when the public institutions you have trusted betray you?

Phillip Berrigan said that if voting could change anything it would be illegal.  It’s hard to argue with that sentiment  when contemplating the way that money has bought our government.   It’s a totally rigged system in which voting certainly won’t change much.  That said, I still must say we should always vote for the lesser of the two evils, on the off-chance that your vote might do some good.  I keep coming back to that thought when I contemplate what Obama has done, and what Romney, Gingrich. Perry, Bachmann, Santorum, Paul, or Huntsman (the seven dwarfs?) would certainly do were they to gain the presidency.  It’s kind of like deciding between a poke in the eye and a knife in the liver; there is only one real choice, and even that choice is quite unpleasant.

Since voting won’t change the  way things are done in government, the citizens have only one peaceful avenue for change left to them, and that’s protest.

That’s where the heroes of Occupy Wall Street come in.  I am sure they don’t see themselves as heroes, but I certainly see them that way.  The state has responded to the Occupy movement with brutal repression, propaganda and lies.  The occupiers persist, and bow their heads as they are being gassed, beaten, and dragged off to jail.  Every American owes the Occupy Wall Street movement a great debt of thanks for what they have done so far, and for what they will certainly do in the future.

But what have they done, you ask. 

Occupy Wall Street has changed the debate.  They have focused the discussion on what really matters, which is the vast disparity of means between the 1% and the 99%.  They have focused the eye of the public upon the truth that our government is corrupt and must be changed for the good all citizens.  Even the very rich now must see that their own vital interests are intimately bound with the interests of the great mass of citizens.

Occupy Wall Street has shown the way forward—they have shown clearly that persistent protest works.  In recent times nothing else has made such an impression upon the government and the public debate as they have done.  The huge (and virtually unreported) anti-war rallies came and went without causing a moment’s worry to the powerful interests.  The Occupy Movement bothers the establishment intensely—if you don’t believe it, just look at the level of violence used by government to crush the Occupiers.

The rest of us must join the protesters.  If you can’t physically be there as an occupier, you can support in other ways, such as by donating useful items or money, by visiting and expressing support, and by communicating that support to the government at all levels—local, state, and federal.

Another thing you can do is to be skeptical of things you see on the U.S. media.  These people are proven liars, and they play the same tricks over and over again, hoodwinking the public consistently.  A perfect example is what is going on now with Iran.  This scenario is a virtual replay of what went on before the Iraq war, and it’s going to work unless people wake up and stop it somehow.

To sum up:  In 2012, let’s vote, yes, but first and foremost let’s all protest.  I intend to do so, and I hope you will too.