What Future for the University Square Protests?

In the latest issue of what I consider to be the most prestigious cultural and political magazine, “The New York Review of Books,” I read an extensive piece on the “Occupy Wall Street” movement that began almost 5 months ago in New York. I found so many similarities to the Romanian manifestations generically called the “University Square” protests that I thought I would try to draw a parallel. “OWS” is said to have begun when many Americans could no longer remain silent about an issue intensely discussed privately: the economic inequality supported and promoted by the political class, which was being influenced and, in fact, dominated by the power exerted by major corporations. Nowadays in the U.S., 1 percent of Americans – the tip of the pyramid – owns a net fortune equal to that of the 90 percent forming the base of the pyramid! The widespread poverty, as well as the number of children living in poverty, places the U.S. on the same level as countries such as Mexico and Turkey. It is no wonder that, according to recent sociological research, there are currently more U.S. citizens under 30 who favor socialism rather than capitalism. The ratio is 49 to 46! The difference is probably even greater in Romania. President Obama echoed the protest when he condemned certain people’s “breathtaking greed” and expressed the need to “restore balance,” which is “the defining issue of our time.” I do not remember Romanian President Traian Băsescu adopting a similar position.

In both the U.S. and Romania, the protest managed to become the focus of media attention and achieve a great deal of popularity, with the sole difference being that it was more articulate and had very clear demands in Europe. The reaction of both the American and Romanian police force was harsh enough for its members to be described as mercenaries of an anti-democratic cause, with the difference that in the U.S. policemen arrested and abused 20 journalists. The presence of the police “felt more like a tactic than a legal necessity, as if they were there not to uphold order but to demoralize protesters,” according to the author of the NYRB article. A renowned American theologist compared OWS to early Christianity, which was “born as a public movement, in public space, a series of spontaneous gatherings.”

Some representatives of the protest movements in Bucharest and New York said that the ultimate aim of the demonstrations was “a government accountable to the people, freed up from corporate influence.” From the protesters’ great creativity I would choose the OWS slogan “You cannot evict an idea” and the “University Square” slogan “Please excuse us, we can’t produce as much as you can steal!”

To continue the parallel, it is worth quoting the words of the OWS organizers about the fact that the protesters fully participated in a process of “horizontal, autonomous, leaderless, modified-consensus-based” democracy. Similarly, in Bucharest we can also find the idea that it does not matter whether those in power adopt various laws. It is not about the law; it is about dignity against humiliation, dialogue against deafness, defending one’s rights against bureaucratic obtuseness. To paraphrase St. Paul, an exercise for which I hope God will forgive me, I would say that what seemed insane became wise. I am certain that both protest movements had an educational effect that was as beneficial as possible to building more respect, reducing egotism and creating a genuine civic responsibility.

If the “University Square” protests were to become an embodiment of public conscience, in addition to having a moral substance, they should ask questions that are clearer and more specific. For instance, what state institution reforms would bring the latter closer to and would make them favor the citizens, or what degree of economic inequality would be acceptable so as not to destroy one’s motivation to challenge personal limitations, or what specific elements could significantly reduce the influence of business interests on politics. The people have the ability to provide answers because of their sincere belief and their creativity. I can only quote Saint Paul directly: “Now faith is the substance of things to be hoped for, the evidence of things that appear not.”