There are stars upon thars...
Among my colleagues there is a general wariness about mentioning the Occupy Movement (may I call it that?) because, like religion and sex, we're not sure if we can bring it up without offending each other. I've been following along for lots of reasons - my interest in understanding and participating in our democracy, for one - but perhaps my keenest interest is in how we're all communicating with each other about what's bothering us.
My observation is that both the 'Occupiers' and those opposed to them are still working on clearly stating their issues and stances. Part of the problem, of course, is that the initial movement was not organized in the traditional sense so from the beginning there have been hundreds of voices contributing to media inquiries rather than a select few. And, on the other side of the coin, groups such as political parties were not included in the upstart so have been slow and reticent to join the discussion.
In the middle of all of this, I am reminded of the Sneetches. Those Big Bird-ish creatures with green stars on their bellies (and some WITHOUT stars on thars...) invented by Dr. Seuss (Ted Geisel, in case you care about his real name). The essential story is best retold on Wikipedia, here...but the part I'm interested in is more than the obvious allegory for prejudice and discrimination. I'm fascinated with Sylvester McMonkey McBean...the clever, entrepreneurial "fix-it-up chappie" who swoops in to help the Star-belly Sneetches with their problem of maintaining their elite star status.
He may not be a scrupulous person, but he understands the Sneetches' weaknesses. At some level, I believe we're living out this story in real life - different groups trying to maintain or improve their status, and attacking one another because they think what they want involves denying the other group their own demands.
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I don't pretend to have it figured out but I do appreciate instances of clear, meaningful communication...such as this protester from Dayton, Ohio who brought a flag with him to the Occupy Dayton event.
What do you think?