Getting to the "Heart" of the Occupy Wall Street Movement

This young woman's sign, in Sunday's march from Zuccotti Park to Washington Square, is what I love about the Occupy Wall Street movement, and the reason the movement is spreading so fast to other cities and towns all over the world.

The sign sums up my personal motto: "One Earth, One Humanity, One Love". (Until it wore out, the bumpersticker on my car was "One People, One Planet, One Future.")

I strongly feel that the reason anybody is involved in this movement -- or any movement dealing with the environment, ending war or ending corporate dominance and greed -- is for one basic reason only: Love. Love is the unspoken word at the heart of this movement -- why ordinary, everyday people are willing to take nonviolent action to peaceably occupy a public space for weeks on end, to risk police brutality, and experience public ridicule led by highly-paid, irresponsible corporate journalists.

Love is the basic motivator for the whole of our being, for even existing in the universe. We all want a better world for our own lives and for those whom we love -- our families, our children, our friends, our neighbors and communities. And above all, we want time to love life, to enjoy the richness of its natural resources and beauty. We want time to spend with the man or woman who is everything to us, to watch our children grow up, and to live to our full human potential and contribute productively to society and the lives of others in a world that is peaceful, loving and free from harm.

These are our deepest desires; these are the deepest wishes our collective ancestors have wanted since the beginning of our humanity. Why is it that in the 21st century, with all the technological advances in computers, robotics and telecommunications, people are working longer hours and for less pay, with insecurities of hunger, homelessness, in a war economy based on ever more superior weapons of mass destruction -- issues that have plagued generation after generation of our collective ancestors?

Why is it that the powers that be fail to recognize how "trickle-down" tax breaks for the rich and a war economy, combined with outsourcing and technology advances that replace human labor/jobs are destroying the middle class and self-sustaining communities that once were the social fabric of our parents' generation?

In the 21st century, we have the technology to communicate with anyone anywhere instantly, to share and ship resources anywhere in the world overnight. We are on the cusp of a new world where everyone has the potential for living our lives to our greatest human potential -- full of abundance, love, sharing and caring, rather than in needless scarcity, suffering and exploitation. We have the human ingenuity to make the world a better, more safer place for all; I believe there are more people who care about others and would rather live healthy lives of love than ones of fear, misery and degradation of those who are more weak, sick or vulnerable.

I believe we can do it together. Love is our only reason for living.

I crave a sustainable economy in which to live in; I crave human ingenuity and open dialogue about creating such a world. I can only surmise that these feelings are shared by many, and I will be looking for under-reported news stories, the voices of the people and a growing sustainable global economy movement.

(I realize that the top 1 percent are also driven by the same basic human needs, but more on that topic later.)

In my last blog, I wrote about the irresponsibility of highly-paid corporate "journalists" such as Erin Burnett and Bill O'Reilly, whose Occupy Wall Street coverage and commentary are not serving the public: Burnett and O'Reilly didn't do proper research, and they intended to mislead and ridicule.

And, in the case of Patrick Howley, American Spectator assistant editor, he not only didn't do proper research, but actively intended to "mock and undermine" the actual message of the group he is supposed to be covering. Some Occupy Wall Street activists have even called his actions "criminal" because he attempted to start a riot.

But enough of those sorry examples of "journalists" who do not serve the public good. Here's an example of fine journalism by CNN reporter Susan Candiotti who spent the time trying to report on what's at the "heart" of the movement.



As Heshi Gorewitz, a community college business professor who started a farm co-op in upstate New York, said: "Let's focus on what unites us, not what divides us."