College of Political knowledge
Subject: American History
We have all seen the violence and the protesters vs police in this standoff between the 99% and the 1 %…there has been reports of DHS personnel involved, conference calls on how to handle the protests and even a coordinate attack by the PDs on the protesters….I have heard some on the Left call this unprecedented cooperation between the PD and the military…..interesting but unfortunately is just not so…..it has happened before and will happen again….
Let’s go back to the War to end all wars, WW1……people who fought in that war were promised a bonus for their service in 1924 Congress approved the “World War Adjusted Compensation Act”……this was vouchers issued to those who served in WW1 for the amount of their pay plus interests and not payable until 1945…..well we all know what happened on 1929….(pause here for thought)…..the Great Depression began……after about 4 years of no employment and trying to provide for their families….veterans, 17,000 of them marched on Washington on 1932 demanding that they be paid their money…..the numbers of people swelled to 43,000….this Bonus Army set up an encampment in what is now known as Anacostia Park……The camps, built from materials scavenged from a nearby rubbish dump, were tightly controlled by the veterans who laid out streets, built sanitation facilities, and held daily parades. To live in the camps, veterans were required to register and prove they had been honorably discharged.
The protesters remained in their area, now called Hooverville, waiting for Pres. Hoover to make good on the promises of the government……..But instead of treating the veterans with respect and compassion, because the Senate had defeated the bill…..the attorney general ordered the veterans to be removed, by any force necessary……when the police were unsuccessful, Hoover order then Army in with cavalry, tanks and fixed bayonets…..55 veterans were injured, 135 arrested and a 12 week old baby died from complications from the tear gas….
Now here is the rub……of the military officers involved were some of America’s greatest heroes…….Douglas MacArthur, who thought the veterans were a communist plot, George S. Patton and Dwight D. Eisenhower….do those names look familiar?
So you see the government is quite capable of entering into the fray if the need arises….and some of us believe they have already jumped into it….also as you can see there has been a long history of the government pissing on veterans…no matter what they say….vets are of NO consequence to the government….they did their part for the country and now the country has NO need for them they are shoved aside in the name of austerity!
So my advice to the Occupy Movement is to not underestimate what the government is willing to do to protect the status quo……..
I keep thinking that if this conflict keeps happening between the OWS, those who are fighting to prevent more layoffs, better pay and benefits for everyone, and the cops, a group of people who would benefit from such efforts of the OWS, that there might finally be a point when the cops see they share more in common with the people’s movement than they do with the authorities that impose rough tactics on OWS protesters
Larry. I can only give you an observation from my local PD….these guys would pay extra to carry a gun and wear the uniform….it has little to do with “protect and serve”…..and the OWS people should keep an eye on Washington…it is far from pver what these people will do to protect their masters….
Great post. The price for challenging the establishment–No good deed goes unpunished!
Hi B. I just hope it does not come to this….and think about it there is also Blackwater that could be used to avoid the government thing….
We have a special reverence for law enforcement in this country, and they are being glamorized by our TV shows. But when push comes to shove (or pepper spray) they are the ones that do the government’s dirty work.
Hansi, you are so right…..they are not all the loveable little shits we see on TV…..