Glenn Beck is fond of saying that the difference between progressivism and communism is "evolution vs revolution," in that progressives want to make society gradually evolve to a communist state, whereas communists want to overthrow the state and replace it with a communist one. The assumption that the two are mutually reinforcing has, to this point, seemed foregone.
But some Leftists - especially in the Occupy movement - may have become impatient with the slow, gradual process implied by evolution. As a result, in an event that will strike some observers as deeply ironic, the first target the Occupy movement will be going after following their protest of CPAC is none other than Barack Obama himself. NBC Los Angeles has the details:
Occupy 90210 protesters will gather more than a mile from the home of a daytime drama TV show producer's mansion Wednesday night when President Barack Obama visits the home for a $35,800-per-ticket fundraising dinner.
The group will gather at Will Rogers Memorial Park -- which is indeed in the Beverly Hills 90210 ZIP code -- to protest what they call the "corrupting role that Big Money plays in politics."[...]
"While Obama dines at a $35,800 a plate fundraiser in the home of a 1% TV producer, we will be one and a half miles away occupying Will Rogers Memorial Park," according to the Occupy 90210 Facebook page.
This development is sure to worry progressives, but it may also get the Occupy movement a few points for consistency among their conservative detractors. The lack of outrage on the part of progressive organizations about the excesses enjoyed by the Obama White House has been frequently cited by conservative journalists as proof that progressives really don't care about income inequality, so long as the rich are on their side. This quote from the above NBC story by Occupy Los Angeles organizer Lauren Steiner seems to suggest otherwise:
"Our feeling is there is such a corrupting influence of money and politics and basically it's the foundational issue from which all of our problems result," Lauren Steiner, one of the organizers of the protest and rally, told City News Service. "We have to take money out of politics."
Steiner has written on the subject of what she would prefer to our current political system before. In a blog post at LA Progressive, she describes an event at Occupy Atlanta:
[The protestors] talked about how they were going to explain the process to the mayor [of Atlanta] with everyone taking part in the explanation, so that it would be a communal experience. Someone started making a list of what they were going to say.“Number one, say why we are here.”
“Why are we here?” asked someone to some laughter.
“Number two, we demand that the mayor make a commitment to not bringing the police on us.”
“Number three, recognize this park as ‘Troy Davis Park.’”
“Number four, invite him to spend the night.”
Needless to say, Barack Obama is unlikely to spend the night with Occupy Los Angeles.
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