I’ve stopped by Zuccotti Park/Liberty Plaza a couple of times, donated some simple supplies I could gather from my home, and took part in the October 5th march.  And I’m planning on being there–hopefully with the Dude this time–on October 15th, when the next large-scale event is planned.

You should be going, too.  The last march, though slow, was peaceful.  It’s was also incredibly exhilarating.  Thousands of people of all ages, races, and professions  were in attendance (don’t be fooled by “trustafarian” rhetoric).  There were a number of people there riding coattails to promote pet causes (anti-circumcision, pro-vegan, etc.) but they were also carrying signs and voicing their support for the larger message that corporate influence over the US political process has to end.  My favorite chant was that of a group of pre-K children, marching with their mothers/caregivers, proudly shouting “STOP!  BEING!  GREEDY!”

While the coverage of the protests has necessarily increased, the tone of that coverage still leaves a lot to be desired, even from those who should be sympathetic to the cause.  The GOP (and a number of Dems, but they’re being much more circumspect, generally speaking), which today I read now stands for Greedy One Percent, are fuh-reeking out.  Please see Jon Stewart on their inherent absurdity.

I’d also recommend David Sirota’s piece at Salon about what’s behind conservatives’ hand-waving criticisms, like calling the protests “riots,” and bandying about that already-tired term “class warfare.”  The money quote:  “the modern Republican Party doesn’t just object to 1960s-style imagery, tactics and political performance art, it objects to the concrete legislative results of 1960s mass protest.”   In other words, they’re scared because public activism, long and slow though it may be, can change policy.

So get on it.  Educate yourself by going down to an Occupy event near you.  Livestream one of the talks going on at OWS–Slavoj Zizek‘s (transcript at link) this weekend was pretty great–and there’s one today about how income inequality is bad not just for the people suffering in poverty, but for the entire system.  Get out in the streets:  Occupy Together has all the basic info to help you find a demonstration near you.

Have you been involved in actions in your neighborhood.  Please fill us in!  How is it going?  What do you need?

If you’ve sorta kinda got an idea of what’s been going on in Wisconsin (or Indiana, or…), or if you’re wondering why people (like me) keep posting links to clips of Anthony Weiner on the floor of the US House of Representative, or if you keep thinking “why are we still talking about ‘austerity’ as a legitimate approach to the economy?  Isn’t that just supply-side economics, AKA Reaganomics, AKA trickle-down economics, AKA voodoo economics?” (Yes, yes it is.  Bullshit then, bullshit now.)  Are you asking “why is Congress spending so much time on social engineering and depriving people of their rights, rather than working on job creation?”

Then please, tune in at a campus near you, show up at Judson Memorial Church in Manhattan, or just dial up the live-streaming webcast here and sign in as a guest.  I’ll be watching and thinking about what I/we can do, and try to follow up with a post later this week.