Hunkering down for the winter

Police violence against the OWS protests is increasing, and so a common story of history is repeated before our very eyes. It is still unlikely that OWS will be the movement that leads to a real change in government, though they have clearly bent public discussion. The once unbreakable stand of Republicans on "NO NEW TAXES" is giving way (oh so grudgingly) to the political reality of being the "PARTY OF THE 1%". They are the party of the 1%, they intend to be the party of the 1%, they just realize they can not survive as a viable political force if enough voters think of them that way. They need better P.R., they know it, and they are hoping (as usual) that it proves enough to give them cover as they serve their real masters.

And they might be right. Citizens of the US, bound as we are to having TV and radio do all of our thinking for us, make us the most P.R. susceptible people on the planet. All governments use propaganda of course; the difference in the US is that we actually swallow it without hesitation. It seems likely that the Republicans will raise a few taxes on the poor and middle class by doing away with deductions, insist on even more draconian cuts in social spending on things like roads and schools and public safety, declare themselves the champions of fiscal responsibility. A good many of the people in the US will buy it.

But not everyone will buy it. Maybe not enough every ones that the OWS protests will grow into something that actually will change the trajectory of this country. Not likely, but there is a remote possibility. The OWS protests will fade away during the winter. Police oppression, the constant propaganda playing up the violence as being started by the protesters, as well as a good bit of the country being locked in ugly weather; people will find a warm place to hunker down for the winter.

But come spring...
...of an election year
...with an increasingly schizophrenic government completely detached from
the realities of people trying to live with their "pro-rich" policies
...and an increasingly angry and mobilized population
...that remembers the protests of the fall
...and starts them up again
...Wall Street, Main Street and K Street
...with all the places in between
...knowing that the police will be sent out once again to "restore
order" (as in protect the status quo)?

Imagine an actual leader stepping into this cauldron. Someone unexpected. Someone basically unknown. Someone savvy enough to exploit the mass communications channels that bypass the propaganda machine. Someone who manages to survive the assassination attempts of the lunatic fringe and the black ops of the established power structure. Someone who counts the 99% as the base, and the 1% as the enemy.

Her vision will determine how the government of the US falls, and what replaces it.

(I think a "her" is a bit more likely than a "him". Arrogant, middle aged white guys need not apply. African American males? After Obama and Cain? Tough sell there as well. Latino male? Could be. But maybe the time has come to be done with shallow male machismo of all colors, and I hope that takes the religious fanatics out of play as well.)

Fantasy? Probably. But all revolutions start from such. This social system cannot survive the path it is on. Some kind of revolution is inevitable. Maybe this spring?