History says that each of these men was, at best, ambivalent on their respective issues before those issues became front and center in the nation’s consciousness.

But when those issues did take center stage, these men’s responded with the heroism with which history credits them.

The only difference in my mind with Obama is that the issue of his time (PvC) is still bubbling under the covers, and yet he’s almost finished with his first term. For all three of his predecessors, their issues were burning down the nation — and everybody knew it — at time they become president.

So I’m a bit nervous about how this one is going to play out. Could we be at the gate of the end of America — an idea that goes back more than 500 years?

I hope not.

http://www.npr.org/blogs/thetwo-way/2012/02/24/147349639/occupy-wall-street-doesnt-endorse-philly-conference

Anyway here’s the link:

http://www.amend2012.org/
(http://sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Robert_Reich)

Perhaps Obama will catch on to this wave soon and the only people that will need to die are the corporations… I think it’s a nice idea, but any restrictions introduced on corporate personhood would have loopholes or be generally ineffective if he were leading the charge. Obama is neither a leader nor a hero… and his “swooping in” would kill any momentum behind your idea’s original motive. Obama’s future was purchased by the corporations who own the world’s governments long before he became a senator. And any student of history will tell you that Cointelpro is alive and well in Zuccotti park…

–Andy

I wish I could be as optimistic as you. Must be a Personality Brain thing.

Your People vs. Corporations is an ideology that exemplifies the clear cut boundaries of two separate camps: the humanitarian (cooperation) camp vs. the money (power) camp. I understand the necessity for this type of delineation in order to make your points clear and understood.

However, reality is much, much messier, and not as black and white as you write. Money might not be the path to love and happiness, but it is certainly a large part of the path to warmth, food, shelter and healthcare. As Maslow pointed out, love and happiness are challenging to experience when people don’t have the basics. Money then becomes the all important mighty dollar to everyone, and this is when People need to act more like Healthy Corporations (expert financial money management, self-sufficiency, etc.) and Corporations need to act more like Healthy People (cooperation, acts of kindness, ingenuity, etc.). Not so much an A vs. B scenario, but an AB + BA scenario.

It’s going to take more than “lovin’” for OWS to have a long-term impact on America (and other countries around the world). Likewise, it’s going to take more than Linsanity to have an impact on the NBA.

Time will tell.

I’m going to blog about the long held assumptions about the NBA, seemingly set in stone, that Lin, with the passionate help of his teammates, has destroyed this week.

I expect something similar with OWS this Spring.