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Karen Spears Zacharias

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Occupy Congress

Occupy Congress

Last updated on: November 21, 2011 at 12:21 am by Karen Spears Zacharias

Occupy Congress 2011-11-21T00:21:34+00:00 Karen Spears Zacharias

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If anything I think the Occupy Wall Street folks have been waaaayyy too passive in their approach.

Not that I’m calling for violence. I’m not.

But I think it is that passivity that has allowed incidents like the one that took place at UC-Davis this past week:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BjnR7xET7Uo

In theory, I support the Occupy Wall Street. I applaud their decision to protest the corruption that is coming out of Wall Street. Hellooo. I wrote an entire book about the corruption that is the prosperity gospel.

I take issue with the Occupy Wall Street folks in that they have not pressed for an “agenda”. They have been too namby-pamby in their approach.

To be an advocate for change, you have to identify what you want changed, and thus far, they have failed to do that.

The last time we saw protests of this magnitude in this nation was during the Vietnam Era and we were clear about what we wanted: An end to the draft. An end to the war. Get out of Southeast Asia.

That generation’s protesters believed that they could change American policy. They believed that when administrators & lawmakers acted irresponsibly — ordering the sons of Americans to fight in a war that most Americans did not support — that the voice of the people ought to be heard.

Occupy Wall Street folks are passive about their protests because they simply don’t know exactly what it is they are fighting for — they only know what they are standing… or sitting… against.

It’s not enough to stand against something.

You have to stand for something.

The response of the police at UC-Davis may very well be a defining moment for this generation’s protests. Certainly, the over-reaching arm of authority has helped define the source of the problem — an abuse of power. It is the very thing that has compelled thousands to join the Occupy Wall Street across this nation.

The officers who did the spraying have been placed on administrative leave. Students are calling for the resignation of Chancellor Linda Katehi. Katehi has said she will not resign. We’ll see.

It is important to note that the police are not the enemy in this fight. If anything, public servants are exactly who Occupy Wall Street should be fighting on behalf. To pit these two groups against each other is the wrong fight.

Perhaps the real problem with Occupy Wall Street is who it identifies as the problem.

Wouldn’t Occupy Congress have been a far more effective choice?

It is this country’s lawmakers, after all, who invited Wall Street into their boardrooms and bedrooms and granted the favors that created this environment of rampant corruption and greed.

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