What is the "Occupy Wall Street" movement?

Republicans and Wall Street financiers belittle the protest movement, emphasizing the extremists and "fringe" people among them, as well as their supposed lack of organization and message.

Those, who really understand what the movement is about, point to the underlying principles and the wide spread economic resentment it embodies. Those who have spoken about it from being part of it emphasize its spontaneity, the sense of community that is built through the encampment experience, and it's intentional operation through bottom-up consensus.

As to message: it's in the fact of the movement itself, rather than in detailed demands. As I understand it, the message is something like this:

We are here !! We represent the 99% of the people in this country, and you have to pay attention to what you have done to make life harder for us. You, the financial system, must change; and YOU must figure out how to do that.

Congress can't do it alone, because You control Congress. If we put forth a list of demands, it will be met with a few perfunctory promises which never materialize. You must understand the problem this country faces and what you have caused.

The "you" in all this is, of course, the current economic system, not just the fat cat financiers, although they are at the heart of it and the driving force.

Just yesterday, the Congressional Budget Office released this statement:

"The income gap between the rich and poor in the U.S. grew precipitously from 1979 to 2007 . . . with the top 1 percent of earners seeing their income spike by 275 percent."

From another source: The International Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development has released its survey and rankings of 31 developed countries, according to measures of "social justice" and the ability to participate in the market economy regardless of social status. In other words, it is a measure of opportunity and economic mobility within that society.

I suppose for this to mean anything to you, you have to ascribe to the assumption that equal opportunity for mobility and success is a good thing -- the opposite being greed, privileged status, and "more power to the powerful."

In the overall rankings of this survey, the United States ranks 27 out of the 31 -- better than only Greece, Mexico, Chile, and Turkey. Imagine that !! The "land of opportunity" lags behind not only the northern European and Scandinavian countries, but recently devastated economies like Poland, Slovakia, and Hungary.

In the survey, the U.S. ranked 29 out of 31 in poverty prevention, trailed only by Chile and Mexico. Compare us with Denmark, where only 1 in 27 children lives in poverty; in the U.S. it is 1 in 5.

The reports explains: "Under conditions of poverty, social participation and a self-determined life are possible only with great difficulty."

This should be the central focus of the next year's campaigning. Republicans will scream "socialism." But we should stand up and defend this on the grounds of human values and what kind of society we want to live in. Enough of the lies that conceal the truth about this culture of greed and cruelty.

Stop letting their bought politicians hide behind their Christian piety. I would love to have one debate moderator turn that table on them and ask them to explain how their Jesus would justify their political policies and budget priorities.

I'm still waiting for the liberal religious groups to take up the cause and take on the role they did in the civil rights era. Remember that in Martin Luther King's later years, poverty and economic justice became the major focus of his movement, as racial equality had been earlier.

Here's the dream team I wish we could re-assemble: Martin Luther King to speak to the crowds and spark the passion, Bobby Kennedy to translate it into political terms and run for office, Barbara Jordan to thunder at the idiots in Congress about the Constitution, Molly Ivins to ridicule the Republican leaders in her irreplaceable style, and Lyndon Johnson to strong-arm the necessary laws through Congress.

Oh, and while we're at it, let's replace a few of the troglodytes on the Supreme Court -- maybe bring back Earl Warren and Thurgood Marshall in place of Scalia and Thomas.

Ralph