Inour era, in which our mind’s are distracted and circumscribed by relentless,manic formations of instant information and evanescent imagery, we too oftendwell in domains devoid of musk and fury, of the implications carried by mindmeeting flesh; therefore, one is often nettled by an abiding hollownessresultant from voluntary exile in these weightless realms of electronic ghosts.

photo byAngela Tyler-Rockstroh

In Liberty Plaza, both the winged spirit of commitment and the rag and bone shopof the heart abide. Acting upon the human yearning not to live in chains, thoseassembled here are attempting to navigate their way out of the wasteland ofisolation and alienation inflicted by the inverted totalitarianism of thecorporate/consumer/national security state.

"Protestthat endures, I think, is moved by a hope far more modest than that of publicsuccess: namely, the hope of preserving qualities in one's own heart and spiritthat would be destroyed by acquiescence." ~ Wendell Berry

Thebarriers: This photo (of Occupy Wall Street protesters entrapped on theBrooklyn Bridge by the NYPD) is emblematic of existence within the constraintsof inverted totalitarianism. The image is evocative of how the present orderworks to contain and narrow (if you will, kettle and cage) our conception ofboth the right to free expression in the public sphere and, by implication,within the psyche of an individual.

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Forinstance: Notice, under "normal circumstances," how even the thoughtof pamphleteering or making an attempt at public oration in those areas ofhyper-commercialized commerce – e.g., malls, big box retail stores and sportsarenas -- squatting upon most of the landscape of the U.S. is summarilydismissed. An individual who attempts to exercise his right to free speech andfree assembly in those locations is expelled on sight by private security typesmaintaining that the reach of one’s rights to free expression ends whereprivate property begins.

Ingeneral, in daily life, living under the inverted totalitarian nature of thecorporate state, the walls that imprison an individual are invisible to theeye, even as they create bleak barriers within. For example, if you arearrested while exercising your (allegedly) constitutionally guaranteed rightsduring an act of public protest, future employers will be privy to theinformation and chances are that such information will not be exactly helpfulin your attempt to gain employment; hence, many are dissuaded from protest.

Yet,the New York City power elite can be thanked for the following: By actions suchas these, captured in photos like this one, they reveal to us the true natureof the society that they have created, both extant and internalized within.

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Andthis is what the implicit oppression of the corporate oligarchic statetransforms into when challenged. Take a good look, then, ask yourself, as thesong goes, which side are you on?

Theagenda of the parasitic corporate and criminal Wall Street elite (whosefinancial power and political influence has increased unchecked for more thanthirty years) has been: to attain maximum profits by maximum exploitation oflabor and resources. To ensure the labor pool remains submissive, the corporateclass tyrannizes the workforce with threats to their job security and otherShock Doctrine strategies designed to beat an individual down, as all thewhile, their PR flacks promulgate the Orwellian doublethink at the empty coreof corporate/consumer state propaganda i.e., submission to exploitation will,one day, yield to financial freedom…that the economic shackles that yoke anindividual to a life of “free” market-enforced submission are, in fact, hiswings of liberty.

Andthat is something one should bear in mind when considering the subject of theattitudes and actions of the NYPD regarding popular uprisings such as the oneongoing in Lower Manhattan.

Inthe first few days of the occupation of Liberty Plaza, I stopped by and spokewith protesters and police. (The latter only agreed to speak to me, with muchhesitation, and, in a few cases outright contempt, if I promised not to recordthem or reveal their badge numbers.) I told them that I understand andexperience the sort of fear that such dictates, issued from above, level upon aperson. I averred the fear instilled in rank and file officers by their"superiors" in the department is similar to the fear that folks in thepark possess for police in general.

photo by Angela Tyler-Rockstroh

Andthe fear is identical to that OWS protesters hold in regard to the power WallStreet exerts over their lives.

Inthis, we, the beleaguered "99 percenters,” share a common plight--anaffinity of fear instilled within us by economic coercion.

Onecop told me it was nothing personal: He appreciated the protest because of theovertime pay he was pulling as a result of it. I asked him if he feared thatWall Street might squander his pension fund, and that, "if you come downwith a case of 'billy club elbow' from beating on the folks here…that thecrooks on Wall Street might make off with your medical benefits."

Moreover,that if he saw a man trying to rob the pizza restaurant on the end of theblock, he had the power to make an arrest, and, by that token, would it bepossible for he and his crew – who it appeared didn't have a lot to do atLiberty Plaza – could see fit to move down the street a bit…to where the realcriminal activity comes down – billion dollar heists, in fact – and make a fewarrests when the banksters open for business tomorrow? He said he couldn'tcomment on the subject…but I could tell he found the fantasy appealing.

But,bear this in mind, when considering the uncivil attitudes and unconstitutionalactions of the NYPD regarding street protest such as the Occupy Wall Streetactivities ongoing in Lower Manhattan, in particular, and the lack of deferenceto the rights of the public, in general, displayed by police agencies, at boththe local and federal level: Police forces, by and large, are bureaucraticorganizations, comprised of authoritarian personalities who evince a topdown,militarized organizational structure. Most of the individuals therein harbor ahierarchical concept regarding the exercise of power and possess anunquestioning fealty to the maintenance of order.

Therefore,the police will serve as a defacto private security force for the corporateoligarchs and Wall Street elite, as well as the structure of the NationalSecurity State. Accordingly, the safeguarding of individual rights andproviding security for those groups and individuals bereft of power meanslittle to them. Even if an individual officer harbors sympathy for those whodissent, his mission is not to protect the powerless; conversely, the missionof police organizations is to maintain the status quo; and the status quo ofthe present order translates into vast wealth inequity created by an entrenchedsystem in place to protect the powerful (in this case Wall Street Banksters)from the consequences of their criminal activities. 

(Apropos,the 4.6 million dollars with which J.P. Morgan Chase, last week, greased thepalm of the NYPD.)

ThusFreedom will be pepper sprayed and thrown face first upon the pavement, whileWall Street Banksters’ Gulf Stream Jets lift off from the ground and slice theclear, thin air.

Thereis a sign in Liberty Plaza proclaiming, "occupy everything" and itssentiment arrives at the essence of the situation. Yes, occupy everything,starting with your own heart. Otherwise, it will be commandeered by the forcesof the church, the state, the corporation, the bully on your block, the passive-aggressivefriend who is "just here to help", even the demands of your ownegoist agendas that bore to indifference the heart of the world and soul of theage. If you don't recognize your humanity, who will? Who is more qualified tooccupy your life than you? Who is closer to the situation? Who else isqualified to arrive at an original take of the question at hand?

photo by Angela Tyler-Rockstroh

Andyou might find the place to make a stand in the struggle to retake youressential self is in public space, among throngs of others engaged inlikeminded struggle…among others who have heeded a similar call and thus havearrived in those equally troubled locations -- the U.S. public arena and theAmerican heart.

Occupyyour own heart; the soul of the world longs for your companionship.

"Thequestion is not what am I doing in here, but what are you doing outthere?"
- Henry David Thoreau

Phil Rockstroh is a poet, lyricist and philosopher bard living in New York City. He may be contacted at: phil@philrockstroh.com Visit Phil's website http://philrockstroh.com / And atFaceBook: http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100...