Illustration: Liu Rui
It came as something of a shock that the Arab Spring, which appealed for anti-corruption, democracy, and freedom, didn't sweep through Iran, China, and Russia, as some predicted, but instead blossomed in the US and has grown into a worldwide "anti-capitalism" campaign. What's going on?
The root of the problem is inequality. For a long while, the chief problem in Europe and the US has been that freedom, at least for some, has overwhelmed equality. The US regards itself as the lighthouse of the world and the home of liberty. But freedom needs to be rooted in economic, political, social, and legal equality.
Equality has always been a key value of Enlightenment thought. It was a flag borne by the lower-middle class as the bourgeoisie rose to power. But as capital became dominant, political and social systems which held capital at their core have gradually taken on a single-minded interpretation of freedom and democracy. Freedom is given the highest place, and equality has become a mere affiliate.
When the need for equality contradicts the principles of capital, the public is forced to fall into line. Calls for equality in the US are demonized as "socialism" and a concept of freedom that favors the power of capital above all else is imposed on the public.
But unfortunately, as the Chinese saying goes, "too much water drowned the miller." The dominance of capitalist politics is eating up the very system it depends upon. The greedy monopolies of Wall Street have torn apart the ideals of freedom, democracy, and fairness that were formed over time, and exposed a huge gap between the freedom of capital and the needs of the public.
A mere 1 percent of the US population holds 40 percent of the country's wealth. They are the real masters of US society and are protected and pampered by politicians from all across the political spectrum. Meanwhile, the other 99 percent of the US population can't enjoy the benefits of economic growth.
When times were good, the financial class crowed about meritocracy and the power of freedom and the markets, sloughing off attempts to regulate them. But when the crisis came, they passed the buck to taxpayers and demanded hundreds of billions of dollars in bailout money from the government.
Meanwhile, they still speculate with taxpayers' cash, fight against financial reform, work to advance their own interests, attempt to push back against restrictions under the slogan of "small government" and oppose attempts to make them pay more taxes or take on any responsibility for vulnerable groups.
Using the power of capital, they continue to claim huge bonuses but fight vehemently against comprehensive medical insurance for all, desperately needed by a huge number of vulnerable people in the US. They claim that comprehensive insurance would go against people's "right to choose."
It's this huge and absurd conflict between freedom and equality that has pushed people onto the streets. The protestors argue that ordinary US citizens didn't cause the crisis, but have to pay for it.
They accuse the Wall Street financial elite of imposing hardship on ordinary taxpayers while living it up themselves, and the government of failing to support regular people, but bailing out Wall Street and mega-corporations. They are furious that their country has been kidnapped by the rich.
The living standards, democracy, and freedom of speech in the US are naturally very different to the Middle Eastern countries where the Arab Spring started. But the core of the two movements is the same, and should be a warning to other countries with high levels of income inequality.
Occupy Wall Street is part of the new tide of demands for fairness in the 21st century. It won't topple American democracy, but it may force it to live up to its own values, and make new balances and choices between freedom and equality. The 99 percent may yet reclaim their place as the core of society.
The author is a professor of School of Marxism Studies at Renmin University of China. opinion@globaltimes.com.cn