About Last Night: What Congress Should Learn From Occupy Wall Street

As I observed the last night of the shit show that was the 112th congress, I thought a lot about the House of Representatives' polar opposite, Occupy Wall Street. First, as the so-called "fiscal cliff" debacle dragged on, it became clear that the negotiations were about political not economic interests. Here's the dirty little secret: Nobody cares about reducing the deficit or the national debt--not even Republicans. As the House Republicans were clearly and unabashedly fighting for the interests of the rich and corporations, Democrats tried to inject some consideration of fairness in our taxes while protecting the much needed social safety net. It wasn't just the winning the election that made Democrats bolder than they were in the 2010 and 2011 fiscal negotiations that led us to the fiscal cliff--Occupy Wall Street gave them some courage. Many cried "class warfare" when the Occupy movement began, but there is no doubt they made it safer for politicians to discuss economic inequality.

Then, things went from bad from worse as the House of Representatives literally walked away from providing much needed Hurricane Sandy relief funds. This after a delay of over two months. In contrast, Occupy Sandy responded to the disaster immediately and compassionately to the disaster--with a philosophy not of "giving charity" to "victims" but of providing mutual aid to fellow community members. Occupy Sandy not only outperformed FEMA, they were also more efficient than the Red Cross. OWS quickly and rightly pointed out that Congress's abandonment of those in need is simply further proof that the social contract is broken.

Remember, the Occupy movement is a true people's movement--working by consensus and without a hierarchy. As this brilliant song from The Civilians cabaret about OWS puts it, "Consensus Is Fucking Hard".

Don't get me wrong. I haven't gone all crazy Libertarian. I don't think necessary services should be handed down to the states, business or private citizens. Many things--disaster relief being an excellent example--are, I believe, best done by the federal government. However, that government must be "of the people, by the people, for the people" Corny, I know, but it's what I truly believe. It's time for our government to start working more like Occupy Wall Street.