The Other America

“Take a look, that’s why I’m here,” says the 58-year old John Hutten while he slips his hand in his pocket, flips over its reverse and shows me its non existent contents. “There is nothing in there but the wind,” he adds with a sad smile. Then, he yanks up a “Stop the Corporate Greed” slogan and joins the angry crowd quickly thickening around the Chicago Stock Exchange and the Federal Reserve Bank in the very heart of the city.

Hutten is one of the thousands of Chicago citizens who have been coming for over a month now to protest against the banking and corporate speculations that have brought about the financial crisis. The demonstrations, started in New York under the Occupy Wall Street motto, have occupied tens of places around the world. In the Windy City they are known as the Occupy Chicago movement.

The Protest Fire

During the business week, the protest fire is fueled by a handful of about a hundred people, but over the weekend it grows to thousands of frustrated Chicagoans, and Chicago does look like an occupied city.

The concrete goal set for the warm Saturday of 22 October is to conquer a piece of ground in the Chicago Grand Park which has become the protesters’ headquarters, similar to Zuccotti Park in New York (or to the Town of Truth built up in the center of Sofia during the 90s). The march towards the park is announced for 7pm, but people of all ages, waving flags and protest slogans, have started coming forward since early afternoon.

People Over Profit

They all line up on the boardwalk in front of the Stock Exchange and start chanting “People Over Profit!” – the motto that has become the mantra of the Chicago protests.

“We are those 99 percent who get nothing in comparison to that greedy 1 percent that holds 40 percent of our country’s resources,” is the answer that Hutten immediately provides when asked who the protesters are.

These are people who ask themselves whether they should buy food or pay the rent; people who are forced to discontinue their education by a growing pile of unpaid bills; people who have been denied medical assistance, because they are not insured; people who work long hours to catch up with low pay.

They represent the other America. The one that cannot be seen on the pages of luxury magazines and fancy advertisement brochures. The America of the millions of broke people in debt whose anger is growing stronger every day. Among the crowd, there are teachers, professors, veterans, full time employees, medical workers, syndicate representatives, punks, hippies and anarchists.

Unlike the Tea Party, sponsored by Republicans and corporations, these people are not brought together to back any political party or movement. If asked who the leader is, they simply shrug and explain they follow their own will. There is nothing backing them up but the desire to change the path their country has taken since Reagan’s time.

“They try to label us hippies, left anarchists, radicals… but that’s not who we are. We are the very patriots and that’s why we are here,” says the 40-year old Mark Dow. His slogan says: “Middle class 30 years ago, poor workers today.” “There was a time, before Reagan, when American millionaires used to pay the same taxes that now rich people pay in France, Sweden, Germany. Look at where they are now and where we are,” he says. “In Germany millionaires say: “Raise the taxes on us, because we don’t want to be rich among the poor,” says a middle-aged African American, jumping into the conversation.

“The American people are upset, because corporate money and their lobbyists buy and govern our politicians. That’s not a democracy, that’s a dictatorship of the dollar,” clarifies Ron Newman from Wonder Lake, Illinois.

Besides from the arbitrary acts of the banksters (that’s how corrupted bankers are called in Chicago), people are upset with the capitalist system that has gotten out of control.

Capitalism Out of Control

“One of the most passionate anti-communists that the world has seen – pope John Paul II, has told us that when capitalism gets out of control, it goes against the principles of the Christian church,” explains a tall guy in his 60s. “I don’t see a future for the young people in this country,” added Joey, a 28-year-old veteran form the war in Iraq who fought in Baghdad. Today, he is out of work buried under a pile of unpaid bills. Having a bullet stuck in his hip bone, he was told by the doctors in the Veteran Hospital that the hospital does not have money right now to take it out. He does not know when it will happen.

Joey came to protest because he is against the U.S.’s complicated electoral system that allows a presidential candidate who took the majority of the votes to be overthrown by his opponent, as it was the case with the Republican George Bush, who in 2000 went to the White House although the American people actually chose the Democrat Al Gore.

“We want to oust the money factor out of politics, we want to annul the tax heaven for the rich imposed by the Bush government,” announces Patrick, a 23-year old student who has one more year to graduate from the University of Chicago. He holds a huge banner with the latest Gini index data, taken from CIA, showing the gap between rich and developing countries.

On the list, ranking countries by the level of inequality, the U.S. scores 98th out 135. The figures listed on the banner could give us Bulgarians goose bumps as well. We are right after America, in 99th place, which means that the inequality in our country is even bigger than the one in the U.S.

“My apologies, I have nothing against Bulgaria, I just pulled up the statistics,” Patrick rushes to explain after he heard that I’m from Bulgaria. “I don’t know whether our demonstrations will succeed, but even if it doesn’t I want to make sure that I won’t miss the chance to at least try to change things for better. That’s why I’m here!” – he explains.

While we were talking, the time has slipped away unnoticed and the hour of the march has come. Around 3,000 people have gathered around us. Surrounded by sullen looking policemen, the protesters slowly step forward – to wake up their country.