Do Not Be Obsessed with Ripping the Veil Off American Democracy

The Occupy Wall Street movement has lasted for almost a month, yet the end is nowhere in sight. In this type of large-scale demonstration, overreactions are inevitable, especially when young people become the main force of the movement. Therefore, measures to curb these reactions, including arresting some of the radical elements, are inevitable as well.

According to a recent report, the NYPD has arrested about 500 protesters. Because of this, some socialists seem to have taken hold of the dark side of capitalism, as it were, determined to “rip the veil off American democracy.” They even went so far as to charge that “once the demonstration was directed against their own government, dictatorial measures were carried out without hesitation; the suppression of the nonviolent demonstration in New York tears the mask off American democracy, teaching the world a vivid lesson.”*

Is this really the case? Has the “veil” of American democracy been ripped off and its true authoritarian colors exposed? I don’t think so. It might be just wishful thinking on the part of some of our comrades. America’s democracy is still the same democracy that has lasted two hundred years, and so are the democratic privileges that Americans enjoy. It is undeniable that this sort of situation might keep recurring in the future, undulating and fluctuating, but the truth will ultimately come out victorious.

Thinking back to 125 years ago, hundreds of thousands of workers in Chicago went on a general strike for an eight-hour workday. Authorities attempted to suppress the movement and even killed some demonstrators. This, however, did not put an end to the movement. Rather, the movement persisted tenaciously until its ultimate victory. Today, when we commemorate the widely celebrated Labor Day in May, we cannot help but fondly remember the feat of the pioneers who valiantly fought for the interests of the workers. Arrests and killings have been unable to stave off righteous movements or permanently terminate such campaigns. What plays a role in this? Democracy. Without democracy, such movements would never happen again in the future.

Some eighty years [after the Chicago strikes], Martin Luther King, Jr., America’s most prominent civil rights leader, initiated another spectacular campaign to fight for legal rights for African Americans, which lasted a number of years. Though there were many adversities, people arrested, sent to jail or even killed, the civil rights movement still came out victorious in the end. Not only does Martin Luther King, Jr.’s name resound throughout the United States, his statue at the National Mall in Washington D.C. is revered by Americans of all colors. What is this? Is this not the victory of American democracy? Another eighty years have flashed by. Not surprisingly, the Occupy Wall Street movement reiterates the many histories of the fight for democracy. Why is this so? There is only one answer: to safeguard democracy.

The course and outcome of mass movements vary under different systems. It can be said, however, that such movements only find resurrection under democracy and, in the end, usually victory. On the other hand, these movements would be completely destroyed under authoritarian regimes. Should these movements succeed, the regimes would pay a heavy price. The recent Arab and the Middle Eastern democratic movements readily prove this. Although many lives were sacrificed, what they got in return was yet another regime. In a democracy, even though the regime is never in the hands of the people, the power holders still cannot escape the “threat” of the people, and are subject to the people. Under authoritarian rule, however, the people have to be subjected to the twists and turns of the government and only after that think about how much the government really cares about them.

It is almost predictable that Occupy Wall Street will end with the victory of the people and that the American government will have to make changes in their strategy in order to accord with public opinion. What is this? The answer is democracy. I’m not saying that democracy is free of problems and contradictions; democracy is the route to resolving these contradictions and the outcome that results. Democracy can be likened to a wild animal. It might be possible to heal all its problems or deficiencies through naturopathy and thus avoid major procedures. In democratic countries, mass movements are just a reflection of the deficiencies. When such countries reflect on the ills of the people and change their actions to adapt to public opinion, all the deficiencies will be corrected and the regime can avert a fall.

Perhaps America is currently experiencing such a process. When this excruciating process finally comes to an end, they will realize that most policies and principles of the nation will have been fixed; they will be back on the road to development, prepared once again for yet other painful experiences and adjustments. In short, they will not stop advancing regardless of what people say; they have come a long way over the past two hundred years.

*Editor’s note: This quote, while accurately translated, could not be verified.