With activists occupying the US Department of State and protesters taking to streets in several US cities, it is for those of us who survived the political and populist turmoil of the 1960s just like "deja vu all over again."
Only instead of opposing an unpopular war—despite two waged in Iraq and Afghanistan—protesters now want federal officials to ban the proposed Keystone XL pipeline that would transport oil from friendly Canada instead of unfriendly oil producers outside North America.
Instead of marching down streets in southern cities to end segregation, today's protestors are marching down Wall Street demanding tax increases for the rich. Bloomberg News reported Oct. 11 that hundreds of protestors marched in Manhattan's Upper East Side "past the homes of corporate executives whom organizers said were 'specifically chosen for their willingness to hoard wealth at the expense of the 99%' who don't have it."
Among those targeted was David Koch, co-owner and executive vice-president of Koch Industries. Koch seems an odd target for populist protestors. Known as one of the most generous philanthropists in the US, he also was the Libertarian Party's vice-presidential candidate in 1980 on a ticket that proposed legalization of prostitution, recreational drugs, and suicide—things that many protesters back in the 1960s also favored.
Meanwhile, a "hacktivist" group threatened to erase the New York Stock Exchange from the internet in support of the Occupy Wall Street (OWS) movement, but nothing happened—at least as OGJ went to press last week. "Someone should tell the protesters to keep up the good work, as the market seems to be gaining steam," said analysts in the Houston office of Raymond James & Associates Inc. Stock and oil prices have increased since protestors took to the streets.
It brings to mind a cheerful little protest song from the 1960s, The Merry Minuet written by lyricist Sheldon Harnick and recorded by the Kingston Trio, that commemorated rioting in Africa, strife in Iran, hurricanes in Florida, and Texas' need for rain—all as true today as it was back then. The song observed, "The whole world is festering with unhappy souls," and enumerated conflicts in Europe and other parts of the world before adding, "And I don't like anybody very much." It ended with the happy thought: "What nature doesn't do to us will be done by our fellow man."
What goes around comes around, sometimes in an apparently endless circle.
Populists vs. mainstream parties
Some claim the OWS movement grew out of the same grassroots dissatisfaction with Democrat and Republican parties as did the Tea Party and may someday have as much clout as the conservative group. OWS claims on its web site to be a leaderless resistance movement like the Tea Party. It also claims to use the revolutionary tactics of the Arab Spring, although the Arabs obviously had better reasons for overthrowing ruling despots than simply "tax the rich."
Chatham House, a nonprofit, nongovernmental organization in London, recently reported mainstream political parties are failing to respond to the rise of populist extremist parties (PEP) that "continue to rally large and durable levels of support, even among some of the most economically secure and highly educated regions of Europe." It said, "Their appeal and the profile of their supporters remain poorly understood."
The same could be said of the Tea Party, OWS, and other US groups both right and left. According to the Chatham House report, "Until the mainstream parties begin to exchange lessons and address the actual anxieties of PEP voters…populist extremists will continue to attract significant support and could find a new generation of citizens increasingly receptive to their message."
Contrary to popular assumption, it said, PEPs that were allowed to participate in the wider political system tended in time to move away from more extreme positions.
That makes sense. After all, Tom Hayden, one of the notorious "Chicago Seven" who disrupted 1968 Democratic National Convention, later married a movie star and ran for political office.
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