I’m not one to say that I think the answers are inside–that if we would only look inside ourselves we’d find what we need or are lacking. I think this mentality doesn’t do honor to the value of others and it doesn’t do value to the idea that we’re intended for and should expect more than what we (including our insides) currently own or possess. But I will say that we’re often too quick to point somewhere else before we’ll look inside ourselves.
I support the Occupy movement. I do. Despite all the sarcastic and snarky postings on facebook that trivialize what those people are attempting to do, I at the very least appreciate their willingness to peacefully stand up for what they think is right even despite the seemingly insurmountable odds that we can fix it. The danger, though, of a movement like Occupy Wall Street is that it will cause is to only point fingers instead of look within ourselves. The problem with our government isn’t that they don’t represent the people, but for a long time they have perfectly represented us! The government in most ways directly represents who we are as a people. We’re debt spenders who find value in being bigger and stronger than others. We revel in excess and we honestly think we can get gain and change without loss and sacrifice. We prefer power without accountability while we also despise those in authority simultaneously as we desperately want people in authority to just take care of things for us.
So if I am the government and the government is I (good grammar?) then the question is…Am I living differently? Am I willing to change? Do I recognize my own brokenness? Can I see through my fog of pride, fear, or arrogance enough to admit that I’m part of the problem? The reality is that as long as I can make it clear to all that you’re a bigger problem than I am then I’m free to continue my broken trajectory as is…and that’s a problem…what I mean is that you’re the problem…I mean, I’m the problem…no wait, we’re the problem…AND THAT’S ACTUALLY OK! If we’re all willing to own it in all its messy glory then there’s no shame in proclaiming boldly its truthiness (yes, spell check let me get away with this one).
OWS has a powerful point and has developed a powerful platform. But change must happen in the 1% and the 99%
I remember as a kid there was a circuit breaker (ok, I don’t know exactly what it was, but it was a box up on a pole) connected to the power lines behind our house that would catch on fire and blow every couple of years. As a kid it was pretty exciting to have the power go out. We’d rush around and find our candles and flashlights. We’d put my lizard next to the fireplace to keep him warm. And I’d obviously run out and meet my best friend (and neighbor) Brent in the middle of the street to talk about how exciting it was…but it was only exciting for a while. Eventually it got kind of boring. When power outage turned from an exciting moment to a dreaded reality (albeit a short term reality) things got incredibly monotonous.
Many people believe in a literal interpretation of the Bible’s creation story. There are whole conferences and lectures dedicated to defending this point of view. My position right now is that I don’t care.