141-learning-from-the-world

"The message to us from Egypt, Syria, Tunisia, Spain, and England is simple: join in! Rise up! Our answer to them has to be yes. And it has to be yes to each other.

The follow piece first appeared in the Occupied Wallstreet Journal

photo credit: Jim Weill

by Eric Ribellarsi and Jim Weill

We arrived in Greece this summer just as street-fighting broke over Athens. For days the police rained tear gas on the people who occupied the capital’s main Syntagma Square.

People would disperse and reform right on the steps of the parliament. The subways were turned into medical centers for the wounded. There is a worldwide movement of rebellion and resistance building. What started in Tunisia and Egypt has shaken and overthrown governments, then jumped to Spain to Greece to England — and now to New York City and across the United States.

In Greece a generation is waking up. They call themselves the Indignant. They reject old politics and the old parties. They refuse to accept the cutbacks and austerity measures imposed by the global banks and the European Union. They are determined, angry and righteous.

They had challenges in Greece. Right-wing ultra-nationalists tried to infiltrate the movement. Police attacked. Some tired left parties condemned the movement saying it’s not focused on elections or minor reforms.

One popular symbol is the helicopter: the people want the Greek government to leave, resign, fly into exile. Or just get the hell out.

And why not here? If the people of Egypt can run out Mubarak, why can’t we run out the American politicians who serve the banks and brutalize us?

The banks are global. They have globalized their sweatshops and cutbacks. We are globalizing the rebellion.

A young woman who is active in this Greek movement of the squares told us:

“I didn’t involve myself with politics directly until 15-year-old Alexandros Grigoropoulos was killed by police three years ago. An hour after the murder, riots started everywhere — if you were young and a bit active, you couldn’t help but participate.

“This murder was just the beginning for people who were oppressed by the system. After the 1980s the factories were closing, and the youth of Greece found it had nothing. In 2008 unemployment reached a critical point.”

Crisis, unemployment, cutbacks and police murder. Isn’t this what we face here too? In Greece, we were asked repeatedly: What is happening in the United States? Will you join us? What are you doing?

Now we can answer: We are moving here too. We are learning. We are reaching out.

We don’t have to accept the world imposed on us by banks, politicians and police. We are the future.

The message to us from Egypt, Syria, Tunisia, Spain, and England is simple: join in! Rise up! Our answer to them has to be yes. And it has to be yes to each other.