“Arab Spring” in US a “Winter”

Batoul Wehbe

Revolutions across the Arab World have been on the hike this year sparked by the people’s revolution in Tunisia. It tickles proud Arabs, especially the youth, that Americans, through the “Occupy Wall Street” protests, are borrowing slogans from the Egyptian revolution. Finally, the West has exported its most essential commodity from the Arab World Revolution. Starting September 17, the OWS campaign has spread to more than 70 major cities in the US, and is being supported through “Occupy” events in close to 1,600 cities across the world. “Banks got bailed out, we got sold out” “Show me what democracy looks like! This is what democracy looks like!” “How do we fix the deficit? End the war and tax the rich!” “Money for jobs and education, not for war and occupation!” “America is waking up!” “People want the fall of Wall Street” These slogans summarize the OWS rightful demands and summarize their sufferings, especially that arms manufacture enterprises and finance establishments have had the upper hand on America’s capitalist economical system since the beginning of the 20th century. But the most distinguished slogan used by the movement was: “We are the 99%”. This is to illustrate that the 1% are only the wealthy class that monopolizes US policies; thus impoverishing others to preserve this stature. This is the worst crisis that blatantly reflects the lack of trust in the economic system and in capitalism which collapsed four times so far. “There is kind of boiling in the US streets,” says Lebanese expert in US affair Dr. Kamel Wazne. “A voice has risen against the political ideology and the monopoly system that does not suffice the people anymore and would lead to self-destruction,” says Dr. Wazne in an interview with Al-Manar Website. More Debts, Less Jobs Several reasons have accumulated to make the US crisis even worse. US President Barack Obama is under the deep pressure of unemployment, slow growth and economic collapse. “The official percentage of unemployment has reached 9.1% , however, the unofficial percentage according to the Labor Department well exceeds 16.3%,” explains Dr. Wazne. The US Debt till Reagan’s tenure was $2 trillion. It increased to $15 trillion by 2011 and is expected to mount to $16 trillion in 2012. Protesters, Democrats and republicans alike, believe that the president has become completely detached from his “Change” slogan, stressing the importance for the 99% to lead and inspire change. Baby Boomers Americans are tax payers who pay for social security, they are called Baby Boomers (person who was born during the demographic Post-World War II and who grew up during the 1960s and 1970s). The government is taking this money, so once they retire they’ll find no fund for social security. These people are the 77% of the American people eligible for retirement in the years from 2020 till 2030. “In the US the OWS movement has the backing of the Labor Union and has spread throughout US cities. It constitutes a burden to the US especially before the upcoming presidential election as mistrust is deepening between the people and the officials who have driven them into bankruptcy,” the expert says. “This movement is genuine, real and has merits in its demand for change,” Dr. Wazne adds. Concerning the slogans OWS movement had borrowed from Arab revolutions, Wazne explains “this is because same sufferings unite people.” Dr. Wazne concludes that “a significant portion of the American population is considered poor; 46 million are below poverty line and 5% are from the high class that controls the economy. Ultimately, the middle class had been crushed; something akin to circumstances in the Arab World.” With the winds of change blowing tyrannical regimes away in some Arab countries, US authorities are showering protesters with tear gas, mass-arresting them and ripping down their tents, leaving an Iraq war veteran in a critical condition Wednesday with a fractured skull. It’s the same US that is condemning the Syrian authorities’ so called "brutal repression” against an armed Western-backed movement; some like to call it opposition, while the opposition itself has renounced it.

Source: Al-Manar Website

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