![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
There's a lot being written about Occupy Wall Street, and a lot being written about the copycat protests which are now springing up in a lot of other countries (including Australia). There isn't as much spoken or written about where the movement to occupy city areas and public spaces, and calling for a renegotiation of the social contract as it is interpreted by the powerful, actually got started, and where it's been flourishing for the better part of a year.
It started in Egypt, in Tariq Square (where it's still ongoing, to the best of my knowledge). Occupation-style protests have been happening in Iceland, in Spain, in Greece, and in a lot of other European countries since at least June this year. And they're still going on there. See this list of articles from Pressenza to get a better idea of the scope of the actual demonstrating, both in terms of global spread, and temporal spread.
However, there appears to be this strong media (and now internet) -fed meme which says something isn't actually "real" until it affects white citizens of the USA - preferably white, middle-class, male, heterosexual Christian citizens of the USA. Unless they're affected, unless they're doing it, whatever's going on in the rest of the world doesn't matter. The global economic crisis didn't affect anyone (even though the economies of many countries were affected for months, or indeed years, before the US banking system was forced to own up to its iniquities at the end of 2008) until it affected the USAlien middle classes. Various World Wars didn't actually "start", in the opinion of hegemonic popular culture, (despite the involvement and devastation of multiple countries) until the USA sent troops. Poverty in the USA didn't exist until it started lapping at the toes of the middle classes (despite the presence of a growing underclass of persons who were born into poverty, and who have lived their entire lives in poverty, and who could not escape their poverty no matter how hard they tried, since approximately the Reagan years) and more particularly the white middle classes.
It's nice that the USAlien middle classes have apparently finally decided they're part of the world majority. It's nice that they're finally joining in with the rest of the people on the planet to demand a bit of equity, and a bit of fairness.
It would be even nicer if they would just, for once, publicly acknowledge that the problems existed before they'd noticed them or been affected by them; that the movement they've joined (and effectively hijacked) existed before they started to participate; that they were, once again, late to the party, and only joining in once other people had got things started. It would be really good to have this acknowledgement that not everything happens in a vacuum, and that the world outside the window of the USAlien white middle classes is actually present. It would be really good if the ongoing efforts of people outside the USA to renegotiate the social contract weren't erased, or ignored.
It started in Egypt, in Tariq Square (where it's still ongoing, to the best of my knowledge). Occupation-style protests have been happening in Iceland, in Spain, in Greece, and in a lot of other European countries since at least June this year. And they're still going on there. See this list of articles from Pressenza to get a better idea of the scope of the actual demonstrating, both in terms of global spread, and temporal spread.
However, there appears to be this strong media (and now internet) -fed meme which says something isn't actually "real" until it affects white citizens of the USA - preferably white, middle-class, male, heterosexual Christian citizens of the USA. Unless they're affected, unless they're doing it, whatever's going on in the rest of the world doesn't matter. The global economic crisis didn't affect anyone (even though the economies of many countries were affected for months, or indeed years, before the US banking system was forced to own up to its iniquities at the end of 2008) until it affected the USAlien middle classes. Various World Wars didn't actually "start", in the opinion of hegemonic popular culture, (despite the involvement and devastation of multiple countries) until the USA sent troops. Poverty in the USA didn't exist until it started lapping at the toes of the middle classes (despite the presence of a growing underclass of persons who were born into poverty, and who have lived their entire lives in poverty, and who could not escape their poverty no matter how hard they tried, since approximately the Reagan years) and more particularly the white middle classes.
It's nice that the USAlien middle classes have apparently finally decided they're part of the world majority. It's nice that they're finally joining in with the rest of the people on the planet to demand a bit of equity, and a bit of fairness.
It would be even nicer if they would just, for once, publicly acknowledge that the problems existed before they'd noticed them or been affected by them; that the movement they've joined (and effectively hijacked) existed before they started to participate; that they were, once again, late to the party, and only joining in once other people had got things started. It would be really good to have this acknowledgement that not everything happens in a vacuum, and that the world outside the window of the USAlien white middle classes is actually present. It would be really good if the ongoing efforts of people outside the USA to renegotiate the social contract weren't erased, or ignored.
Tags:
no subject
Well, almost. I would just like to add that I've seen several places where the OWS movement has fully acknowledged itself as a continuation of the democratic protests in other countries, including the Iceland and Arab Spring protests. It's the secondary sources, specifically American news media giants, that are making it seem like it is a purely American original springing to life fully formed like Athena emerging from Zeus's head with no antecedent. And I suppose that in itself is a continuation of that very peculiar American delusion that is the American psyche and self-image.
no subject
Now, this is an ongoing problem that I'm finding all over the place - whether it be things like trying to explain to USAliens[1] (or as they used to be described on alt.fan.pratchett, Merkins) how the world works outside their particular home town, or trying to explain that X historical event actually affected people in $COUNTRY as well as people in the USA (for example, the Great Depression did actually affect people in Australia, and the UK, and Germany - and the Great Depression was a major factor in the start of World War II). There's even things like trying to explain the historical antecedents of various events (which means I'm coming up against a strong hegemonic belief that the world apparently popped into existence, fully formed and complete, a week ago last Tuesday).
I never did find out whether there was going to be any kind of protest here in WA.
[1] I should define my terms. A USAlien is a citizen of the United States of America who has never been required by their lifestyle to have any understanding of how things work in other countries, or even of the notion that people in other countries might choose to do things differently to the way they're done in TheirTown, USA. USAlien Privilege, in fact (a form of online privilege, in which other nationalities are required to be literate in US culture, but folks from the US can maintain their ignorance of other cultures without penalty).
no subject
Though maybe I just had good history professors and actually paid attention in history class. Though thinking about it you maybe right as more than one public speaker has misremembered or changed history to suit them. *facepalm*