The Seed of World Revolution?
From corner to corner of the planet, in unprecedented worldwide demon-strations, millions of people in more than 80 countries expressed they are fed up with the political elites and financial powers.
It all seems to be for real, because the call that could herald a global transformation spread its answer Saturday, October 15th when squares and streets near the centers of financial power were occupied in more than 951 cities in 82 countries—mostly capitalist and many in crisis—in a day of demonstrations to demand “a real global democracy” and of protests against the greed of bankers.
There were many receptive ears in Washington and New York, in Madrid and Barcelona, in Paris and London, in Tel Aviv and Cairo, in Hong Kong and Athens, in Haifa and San Francisco, in Rome… .
The October 15 action, which started with Beethoven’s 9th Symphony, could have the impact of a 9/11 on world awareness, even when its organizers from social networks Twitter and Facebook clearly say this is not a matter of a day, but of permanent political work that would open the eyes of hundreds of millions in the five continents so they understand we are the 99 percent of the world’s population and cannot be pushed around by the greedy, selfish, mean, and self-profiting one percent. It’s time for their bag to burst.
The reasons for this wave—that began on May 5 in Puerta del Sol in Madrid and grew more tangible and global when Occupy Wall Street started on September 17 in New York—were in the words of the demonstrators: “The powers work for the benefit of a few, ignoring the wishes of the great majority, and the price that human beings and the environment must pay… .”
Although the big media, accomplice and part of the one percent exploiting power, tried to ignore, hide, and manipulate the movement, the wrath of the many came to light because of its own strength, even when the objectives are not yet clear and the expressions seem chaotic and anarchic.
The accusations, however, have the bankers and the politicians who represent them in the defendants’ dock. This is why they pose a present danger for those who carry in their billionaire pockets corruption, opulence for themselves and hunger for millions, wars and the worst crimes against humanity, ignorance, the division between the very rich and the extremely poor countries, the internal abyss between Citigroup, Bank of America, Goldman Sachs, the polluting oil companies and the 62 million Americans who do not have a single dollar in those banks.
Once again, as in Chicago in the 19th Century and in Seattle in 1999, the spirit of the oppressed has awakened. The challenge is to keep the struggle alive; to give it roots that would feed its trunk and branches, to make it flourish out of spontaneity to careful and coherent culturing. Even if repression is violent and there are provocations to hack this popular force, which opposes a system of exploitation that is making the global economy stumble in crisis, and the greed of the powerful does not allow them to understand, they are killing the planet.
Some with their feet well on the ground are calling the “indignadas” [fed up] masses to gain awareness, to become a movement, to avoid being distracted or divided, to target the essential: an unfair society and an unfair system should be demolished and on their ruins to build an inclusive world of justice and opportunity of life for all.
The goals cannot be small bites to the capitalist beast; this is a battle from reason and for the reasonable; it won’t be easy win it, but it is possible and necessary to undertake it. It doesn’t matter how long the road is to travel. The essence is to remain united and in permanent motion. That is how revolution against capitalism is made, and this October 15 the seed might have been planted.
Juana Carrasco Martín can be reached at: [email protected]
A CubaNews translation edited by Walter Lippmann.
—jeventudrebelde.cu, October 15th, 2011 22:48:04 CDT