Out of the Loop
With the arrival of the baby, I’ve been pretty out of the loop in regards to the various progressive movements I use to be following. I haven’t even watched all the recent Daily Shows and Colbert Reports which are my primary source of news (well source for what the major news media would want me to know about).
So here’s an update on some things as I catch up on them myself:
Occupy Movement
Despite what some people would have you believe, the Occupy Movement is not dead. Winter combined with aggressive city governments ended many of the persistent Occupations, but the spirit lives on. Events are still being planned as the spring thaw spreads, with people being trained for wider protests.
Protests were held all across Europe in March 31 to speak out against the abuses of Capitalism. I’m not sure I agree that Capitalism itself should be treated as the enemy, but I understand the sentiment.
As we move into the summer and then the general election next fall, I’m interested in seeing what impact the movement has on the voters. Occupy succeeded in it’s main goal of raising the general populations awareness of the income inequality of our current system. With a new year and a presidential election coming, will it continue to grow it’s impact, turn into a radical movement ala the Tea Party, or fizzle and die?
Reason Rally
A few weeks ago the Reason Rally was held in DC. It was a gathering of secularist seeking to raise awareness that this segment of society is growing and to try and dispel some of the bad impressions that they are portrayed as. With people like Rick Santorum having a legitimate chance at becoming the GOP presidential candidate, it is very reassuring that this movement exists. This message needs to spread wide and far that America is NOT a Christian country and that Freedom of Religion means the freedom to have no religion.
Several friends attended the event and had a lot of fun. It is one of those things I kind of wish I had been able to attend. There were a lot of good speakers, including Adam Savage and Eddie Izzard both who I am a fan of, and sounds like it would have been a blast.
It is things like this, and Occupy, that renews my hope in a positive outlook for the future. People like Santorum would turn America into a Christian Theocracy. And watching the mainstream media, you might think it will happen. But there is a strong undercurrent of resistance to this simmering out of sight of most people. And it’s growing.
My generation, and the one behind me, is more secular, more accepting of gay and lesbians, more understanding of a need to revise the broken economic system we live in. I think that is one reason people like Santorum are in such prominence now. The older generation sees this trend and is scared. That throws them to the extremes in an attempt to stop this menacing change while they still have power.
What I fear is that they will be successful. With all of the anti-gay marriage bans based in the last two decades and all of the anti-women legislation being considered now in a blind race to stamp out abortion, they have done a lot to make the world a more oppressive place. If someone like Santorum were to be elected president, with a GOP majority in Congress, there’s no telling what kind of damage they could do.
The shining light is that the more extreme things they try, the more they push the younger generation to wake up and take action. My sister, whose on the front end of what I would consider this new generation, will be old enough to run for president this year. While that’s still to young to be a practical candidate, it does mean we’re now becoming legal candidates. The time is getting closer where the attitude amongst those in power will shift to a more moderate, open minded tone.
