Like that stingy weed growing in the middle of your driveway, the Occupy Wall Street protests seemingly came up over night and just won’t seem to go away. Reactions to group have run the gamut from disdain to ridicule to fear, and some are claiming that the group itself is ignorant of its own principles, composed mainly of angry, disenfranchised lazy hippies who need nothing more than a shower and a job. Though the group is void of leadership and a bit murky on the exactness of their demands, it is clear that the issue for which they are protesting is the unequal distribution of wealth and the preference the government seems to have for businesses and corporations.
This particular issue seems to strike back at the very heart of what it means to be an American. Our narrative has always been one which avoids and tends to abuse any utterance of social or economic equality, swiftly categorized as Marxist, Communist or Socialist. And yet, our narrative is not without conflict. State rights, popular sovereignty, slavery, civil rights, suffrage, these are the issues fought over in the American narrative. So, what I find most interesting about the Occupy protests, is that this seems to be the one issue we haven’t publicly debated.
For sure other countries have dealt with the rise of the working class. During 1871, the city of Paris was seized by a group of violent radicals who found their opportunity to seize the City of Lights in the wake of the Franco-Prussian War. From September 19, 1870 - January 28 1871, citizens of Paris were restricted from leaving the perimeter walls by Prussian troops. No one was allowed out, and no food or other supplies allowed in. Food became scarce and officials began the mass slaughter of horses, and even the city zoo wasn’t off limits as exotic animals were killed to satiate a deprived people’s need for protein.
Eventually France surrendered the city to the Prussians, who did nothing more than march through the Arc de Triomphe. Yet, many were angry that the government surrendered, with many loyal citoyens claiming that the city could have lasted for many more weeks, even months. German states united, took control of the Alsace-Lorraine region of France, and happily left with their peace treaty tucked away in their back pockets.
A few weeks later, on March 28, the difficulties of the Franco-Prussian War, the siege of Paris, the humiliation of defeat, and the widening gap between rich and poor, all contributed to one of the bloodiest times in French history. During the siege, a National Guard was created and armed in case the Prussians invaded. Several canon and large stores of ammunition were gathered. Also during this time, the French Assembly moved to Versailles, just south of Paris, because they felt the city was still experiencing tremors of discontent.
It wasn’t long before Adolphe Thiers, elected and given executive powers after the war, would seize the canon and artillery in Paris, claiming Paris to be under command of a new government ruled by the working class people. While the communards controlled Paris, anyone representing wealth, position or establishment feared for their lives. Priests were shot and dumped in the famous Pere Lachaise cemetery, and aristocrats feared for their lives. Church and state were separated, the Vendôme column was torn down, and, during La Semaine Sanglante (the bloody week), thousands of communards were killed by the advancing, state supported army, killing so many that the Seine turned red. Not since 1789 had there been so much violence, and at the core of that violence was an wavering commitment that society had grown too far apart between those who have and those who do not.
Yesterday I watched this video from the news magazine France 24 discussing why France hasn’t experienced the same kind of mass Occupy protests as other European countries The video claims that it is because citizens in France feel more secure about their jobs and are not experiencing the roller coaster of a volatile economy.
Personally, I wonder if the answer doesn’t lie in the fact that the issue of labor, wealth, finance and government control has already been fought out, literally in the streets, and in subsequent decades of legislation, by the French. As mentioned earlier, we’ve had our fights here in the U.S., but they’ve never been solely about whether it’s okay to have the poor among us or a minority having such a high percentage of wealth. Not to say that issues have been at the periphery before (during the Civil War many claimed it was a rich man’s fight fought by the poor man). Here in the U.S., we value a rags to riches story, we believe you can pull yourself up by our bootstraps, and, if you don’t, it’s because you’re lazy.
What we’ve seen in France’s history is that when the wealth and power is controlled by the aristocracy or the monarchy, a person doesn’t really have many options to regain their money. How can you pick yourself up by your bootstraps when the monarchy has the bootstraps? Perhaps the same can be said for the poor in U.S. society, and perhaps the occupy protests are bringing much needed attention to this issue because, if I’m reading my history right, we’ve never fully addressed this issue in the U.S., but we’ve yet to write a disastrous history in response to our wealth inequality.
