Balancing Power

Picture, if you will, a public gathering place within a city. A park, perhaps, or maybe a square. Within its confines, picture an assemblage of run-of-the-mill citizens who are visibly upset with the situation be it economic, religious, or governmental. The powers-that-be are present, too, in an attempt to prevent the situation from escalating. These powers represent the ruling few. Some are police while others are military. Some work for “legitimate” governments while others enforce the will of dictators. In many cases, things get out of hand and force is used against the demonstrators. Arrests, orders to disperse, and the like are followed by pepper spray, water cannons, rubber bullets, or worse in a ratcheting up of the effort to maintain control.

Cairo? Tripoli? Syria? Maybe Greeks or Italians? What about New York City or Oakland or any number of American cities supposedly besieged by Occupy forces? “Hold on!”, you say. “You can’t compare the U.S. with the rest of the world!” Why not? The shoe appears to fit at least to the point where we can draw parallels.

I’m not here to discuss the pros and cons of populations gathering to protest anything they find onerous. I’m looking at the thin line between order and anarchy and the degree to which those who hold power will go to maintain it. The Occupy folks have been ordered out of parks and other venues in the name of security and public health. Similar tactics have been used in other countries and I can’t help but see these tactics, regardless of location, as nothing more than a rationale to clamp down on a growing voice of disenchantment to preserve the illusion of control.

Tunisia, Egypt, Libya, Greece, and Italy have seen recent changes in the hierarchy of their respective governments. All have come about because of severe unrest within their citizenries. Some were relatively violence free while others saw significant bloodshed. Either way, they all prove one point: an orderly government relies significantly upon the cooperation of those being ruled. After all, the masses represent an overwhelming majority and without their acquiescence, upheaval is unavoidable.

And the ruling few know this, too. That is why their response to any protest that appears to be gaining strength escalates exponentially.  A show of force is the only way to defuse a situation that may well lead to changes in the halls of power. Are the powerful few paranoid? Not necessarily, because they fully realize that their hold on power is tenuous at best and requires a degree of public approval.

While our political system seems more organized and orderly than most others, don’t for a minute think that our leaders wouldn’t resort to harsh measures to put down a so-called uprising. Is there a difference between tearing down tents in Tahrir Square in Cairo and in New York City’s Zuccotti Park or San Francisco’s Market Street? Remember Kent State or Chicago’s Democratic National Convention? No, we’re not that much different, folks. Maybe luckier, but not much different.

When the rulers become disconnected from their constituencies, disillusionment follows. In this country, we are seeing a growing chasm between the haves and have-nots and those thought culpable suffer no apparent consequence. The Occupy movement started with a small group of folks interested in bringing Wall Street to account for the sins leading up to 2008. It has grown, though, to include individuals who, for one reason or other, feel abandoned by those chosen to lead and have subsequently lost hope in the American Dream. Without that hope, more and more will find that demonstrating in the street provides an outlet to frustration that might otherwise be vented through more orderly channels in better circumstances. And with that comes sudden, messy changes that may not be in anyone’s best interest.

We are faced with a growing population of frustrated folks who see no use in pursuing a better life through conventional means. And our leaders will resort to ever-increasing means of control in an attempt to convince us that all is well and that “they” can control the situation. Why are the police not tearing down tents pitched outside retail stores in anticipation of Black Friday? Could it be that those campers represent more reasonable positions of economic stimulation? Why should that matter? Aren’t security and public health concerns universal? Does it matter one whit what the purpose of encampment might be?

We’re not in a real good place, my friends. And falsely believing that our leaders have more noble goals than those on foreign soil will not do us much good should things go on unresolved.