Occupy Wall Street – A Perspective
By James Rothenberg
02 November, 2011
Countercurrents.org
In a figurative sense, the state has turned against its own people. Not that it hasn’t happened before, but there is a uniqueness about the combination of elements in the OWS movement that speaks for its latent power. What is emerging is that people are acting in their own self-interest with the growing realization that the state and its institutions have turned against them.
In speculating about this nascent movement, a logical starting point would be an examination of the background that has led to the present state of affairs. Most importantly, what is there now that wasn’t there before?
Let’s start with American imperialism. That’s been here for a long time. Finance capital has had to leave America in search of greater profits, greater than can be generated in the home market. Profitability is not quite enough. The capitalist system prefers and rewards growth of profitability, and for that newer markets had to be developed.
American finance capital – call it Big Business – gained entrée to foreign countries, and particularly under-developed countries, through the power of the dollar backed by that most unsubtle form of government persuasion, the American military. Certain regions, particularly the Middle East, are prized for their energy resources. Others for their supply routes. Others for their investment potential and markets. These are the vital “national interests” that our government refers to, the global reach of US capitalism protected by the US military.
It is unsurprising that the US has such a long history of right wing proxies in foreign countries. It is only with the collusion of dictatorships that American businesses can gain access to the resources of a foreign country and exploit its people. It is also unsurprising that a former Defense Secretary, such as Robert McNamara, and a former Asst. Defense Secretary, such as Paul Wolfowitz, would in their next job each become head of the World Bank. They are two sides of the same imperialist coin. What remains interesting is how few Americans think that theirs is an imperialistic country.
Those that consider themselves lucky to be Americans have good reason to do so. By most standards, Americans have enjoyed a prosperity and upward mobility that were unattainable in other parts of the world. They were constantly reminded of this through a government propaganda campaign that told a story of a classless society. No racial, social-economic underclass. No privileged, moneyed, influential upper class. The propaganda effort was aimed at convincing Americans that we were one great middle class.
It worked very well. The gains of middle class prosperity were not associated with the losses of workers and peasants in the countries that were the objects of exploitation. The routine hostile US interventions, both overt and covert, registered low on a public reluctant to question a state that is on the side of the angels. The thoroughly indoctrinated are provided comfort with the reassurance that we are good, and they are bad.
Of course at any time there are a small number of disaffected citizens, but with constancy they are marginalized by government propaganda distributed through its quasi-partnership with corporate media. Thus public attitudes can be prepared and shaped to suit the needs of the state.
Perhaps the cleverest thing the state has done since the Vietnam War is to eliminate the military draft. This was not seen by the population as a control mechanism over them by removing the obstacle of public resistance to the forced fighting of imperialistic wars. The state now “buys” its soldiers, with attractive pay and bonuses, and its well-paid mercenaries, the military contractors. Coupling the rate of pay with the propaganda message of protecting America’s freedom ensures a steady and quiet stream into the armed services.
So when we invade a foreign country, or overthrow a government, or rape a country of its natural resources, or force the privatization of its basic industries and utilities, or undersell its peasant subsistence farmers, or bribe its leaders into submission with “loans” that enrich only those at the very top while leaving the onerous debt burden upon the entire population, we are simply performing the business of America. And we are told that America’s business, its “national interests”, are in every citizen’s interest. After all, where would you rather be? Here, or there? And the answer is almost always, I like it here!
When we invaded Afghanistan and Iraq, we were told that the state was on our side. When the pretexts for the Iraq invasion became evident, the state was on our side. When we massacred Fallujah, the state was on our side. And when circumstantial evidence of US torture in Bagram surfaced, and even when photographic evidence of US torture in Abu Ghraib surfaced, the state was still on our side. Large segments of the population may have become disillusioned, or ashamed, but it stopped there.
Now something else has started. The sides seem to be changing. Even though the enemy is not precisely identified, it is not any of the old enemies. This one is a lot closer, close enough to feel the harm from it, close enough to feel surrounded.
There is a witty joke in the form of a man on the street interview: Q) What do you think is the cause of the ignorance and apathy of the American citizen? A) I don’t know, and I don’t care!
The serious answer to the question is a lack of self-interest. The OWS movement is taking the distressed and abandoned state of so many Americans very personally. Class consciousness is rising to a level that has people acting out of self-interest. It’s not trivial to point out that the state also acts out of self-interest, and the principal function of the police is to protect the state from interference from its people.
James Rothenberg is a grassroots political activist and writer, commenting on socio-political conditions. [email protected]
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