What was it that triggered the Wall Street Protests?
Was it the bailout of the banks?
Many people point to that event as the one grievance that all the protestors share, but I don't think it is what actually sent folks out into the streets. After all, the bailout happened over three years ago. Why would it take so long?
I believe that, instead, the actual trigger of the protests was the failure of the Obama presidency.
Obama was elected with a clear mandate. He achieved a landslide victory and the people who voted for him expected him to do certain things. Among these were:
- End the Iraq War
- Close Guantanamo
- Use government money to build a new infrastructure
- Create universal healthcare
- Regulate the power of Wall Street
He advocated each one of these ideas in his election campaign. It could not be clearer that this is what the public wanted when they elected him.
Yet, when he attempted, for instance, to create a universal health care system, there was an enormous uproar. Certain loud voices argued that universal health care was not what the public wanted and that Obama, therefore, was going against democracy.
These voices didn't just come from the 1%. They were only able to gain influence with support from the masses. In the end, these voices, however irrational, won out. For whatever reason, Obama caved-in to them.
Now the public feels that the democratic system has failed. They elected a President to do specific things and he has not done them.
When democracy fails, people take to the streets. Nearly hopeless, they feel that protesting is the only way that their voices can be heard.
A riot is the language of the unheard.
- Martin Luther King, Jr.
The Wall Street protestors do not represent the 99%, as they so often claim, because many of the 99% are willing to support the corporate and financial interests that have gained an unfair influence over our government. It is better to see the protestors as representing the 53%.
That's the percentage of people who voted for Obama.
