By Mark Johnson

On Sept. 21, I participated in a rally at Occupy Seattle. I did so to support the movement and specifically in protest of our country’s over-reliance on a carbon-based economy and the mega corporations that profit extravagantly from its continuance to the detriment of our environment.

Since then I’ve noticed numerous instances of individuals and media pointing to outliers, whether they be people or issues associated with the movement, in an attempt to discredit, mislabel, or otherwise undermine it.

For years polls have shown that most Americans feel the country is headed in the wrong direction.

Whether it is unemployment, declining personal income, out of control personal and/or public debt, upside down mortgages, medical insurance that is too expensive to afford, a historically unequal division of the economic pie, or environmental degradation, people feel a need for changes that will get us back on track.

Fortunately, it’s not too hard to understand how we lost our balance.

Beginning in the early 1980’s, the country veered sharply toward economic deregulation. The trend continued throughout the Clinton Administration and went hard core during the Bush years.

On a related track, the 1990’s saw a strong move toward economic globalization with the passage of free trade measures such as NAFTA and agreements greatly strengthening and entrenching the work of the World Trade Organization.

The result has been an increasing disenfranchisement of workers and thereby families as they’ve watched their jobs shipped overseas.

Over the same time frame a significant realignment of power has occurred, shifting from a government and economy that benefit as many citizens as possible to ones that serve primarily the interests of corporations and the very well to do.

Whether or not they made or inherited their money, the system has been skewed to greatly enhance their advantages both financially and politically.

Most egregiously, the U.S. Supreme Court recently adorned corporations with personhood.

Among other things, this has been interpreted to allow them to inject unlimited amounts of money into our political system.

We essentially now have a government bought and paid for by corporate and other big-moneyed interests such that the majority of citizens’ concerns are essentially pushed out of the conversation.

The Occupy Wall Street movement, or whatever else we want to call it, is a reaction to the consequences of all the above.

While its early stages may appear disorganized and its messages numerous, at its core it’s easy to understand – that is unless one’s real goal is to intentionally misinterpret it for political reasons.

Ultimately, we’ve reaped what we’ve sown. As a whole, the American people, via their vote or lack thereof, have put people in office who’ve brought us to where we are now.

The upshot is that the solution is clear – it’s our vote! It’s what got us into this mess and what can get us out of it.

We can recover, but only if enough people choose to become more informed and then vote accordingly. The “think globally, act locally” slogan truly applies here.

Mark Johnson lives in Kent.