Financial Equality: A Progressive Call to Action in New Jersey

by: Bill Orr

Mon Sep 19, 2011 at 02:02:51 PM EDT

"On Saturday September 17, many of us watched in awe as 5,000 Americans descended on to the financial district of lower Manhattan. Three hundred spent the night, and several hundred reinforcements arrived the next day. Emboldened by an outpouring of international solidarity, these American indignados said they'd be there to greet the bankers when the stock market opened on Monday." The Guardian - 09/19/2011

Given the havoc wreaked by the financial wizards, the increasing power of corporations, the widening gap between the rich and the rest of us, and the continuing malaise of high unemployment, housing woes, and a depressed economy, it's no wonder that people took to the streets of lower Manhattan this weekend. It was an antidote from the left to the Tea Party protests which have taken advantage of economic discontent. The problem is no different on our side of the Hudson River where conditions also are ripe for protest and a call to action.

Richard Flack, a founder of Students for a Democratic Society, said "Lefts everywhere confront the fundamental problem that they are calling on human beings to realize a potentiality which people, as a result of their everyday experience, do not readily perceive in themselves." Awakening this perception is what the Wall Street event is all about and what we should be about in NJ.

Bill Orr :: Financial Equality: A Progressive Call to Action in New Jersey

For us in the Garden State the need is to convert this perception into a movement which gains the allegiance of millions. Although no easy task, using the Wall Street slogan, "We are the 99%," suggests the communal aspect of the endeavor and the very large number of people who have a stake in the outcome. For us it is the poor, the middle class, home owners, job seekers, credit card holders, Blacks, small businesses, immigrants, bus users, and many more who have the need for a better opportunity to achieve their dreams.

The movement should not be one that pits the haves versus the have nots, not one of class warfare, for such has generally been a losing battle for progressives who perennially are in a small minority. Rather it should be a striving for human rights, like past movements for civil rights, a woman's right to vote, and today's struggle for a woman's right to choose and for marriage equality. These social issues are ones for which progressives can proudly take credit in promoting and in which they have had success. In New Jersey during the past lame duck session such issues as prison reform and medical marijuana gained passage and there was a valiant effort for marriage equality.

The need for this human right - financial equality - is not just important now that the economy is in such bad shape. It is an essential tenet of democracy which makes possible "the pursuit of happiness" and the opportunity to succeed. It separates America from those countries in the Arab Spring where people rose against tyrants who deprived them of their rights. In New Jersey and the U.S.A. financial equality still needs to be better fleshed out and defined, but it is under siege and very much worth the fight. In New Jersey this is a call for action - one in which progressives should proudly lead the way.