by Tracy Kurowski

Similar to the rallies/occupations now being held across the U.S. on Wall Street, in Seattle, L.A. and other cities where jobless youth – those without occupations – have chosen to instead occupy public spheres of financial institutions, Iowa City will hold a JOBS rally on Friday, October 7, 2011, along the PED MALL from 9:00 a.m. – noon.

Why?

If you have to ask, you’re either so consumed by pop culture you have become a zombie, or you are part of the 1% ownership class who doesn’t give a &(*)U.

But you are here, reading a blog, so I think it’s safe to assume you are sympathetic company (or are a right wing researcher employed in creating BS talking points for why repressing workers is good for America).

Anyhow…despite the blatant obscuring from the mainstream media, this Occupy Wall Street movement ain’t going away anytime soon. The extremely astute young jobless Manhattanites, while not the genesis of our discontent, have properly placed our collective financial woes at the altar of global capital for the world to witness. They have renamed Zucotti Park in front of Wall Street “Liberty Plaza,” and as if to anoint it’s new incarnation, the USPS have started to deliver provisions of food, etc. from packages addressed to “Liberty Plaza”.

They have overcome NYPD’s prohibitions against P.A broadcast systems by repeating in unison speakers’ remarks.

They have attracted the likes of alter-economy gurus like Michael Moore and Dr. Cornell West to join them.

Their musicians are actively creating the soundtrack with acoustic guitar ballads posted to Youtube.

They are even getting the sanction of organized labor as the Pilot’s Association, Amalgamated Transit Unions and SEIU have voted to join their ranks.

It’s Madison’s Mayhem Mobilizing Manhattan, though there are millions more jobless, desperate and discontent within driving distance of Liberty Plaza.

If you can’t afford the bus ticket to NY, you can join us this Friday in Iowa City. If you are fortunate to have gainful employment to prevent your attendance, write a letter to the editor of your local paper to help the non-internet news collectors understand what is happening in their county, to their countrymen, women, children.

Though there are many worthy analysts, economists and pundits to provide data to help understand the system’s imbalances, suffice it to say that the main default of global economics is that its rewards for investments far outmeasure that for work. And given that the majority of us work for a living, work to get those paper notes that grant us things like food, housing and medical care, no matter how hard we fight for our rightful places in this monetary meritocracy, we are constantly fighting an uphill battle – with one hand tied behind our backs – wearing a blindfold – with constant dogging from new “conventional wisdom” that dismisses our existential dilemma. Etc.

Tracy Kurowski has been active with the Labor Movement since 1997 when she  became a member of AFSCME 3506 which represents Adult Educators and Coordinators at the City Colleges of Chicago. She has since served as AFL-CIO Community Services Liaison in the Quad Cities Area and most recently is working as a WIN Organizer for the Iowa Federation of Labor.