The Declaration of Independence starts with it.  It is chanted in the street.  It is called out repeatedly in the general assemblies.  It is the position from which millions speak these days.  It is “we.”  Our uses of the word “we” give us a sense of solidarity, and they enable us to pull people into the streets for a march, into the camps for a peek, and into the GAs for an education.  However, with camp life centered on its own occupants and activities, with supporters from outside the occupancies seeing mostly tweets and posts, and with the talking heads of the Right criticizing the human fabric of this movement while the Left remains largely silent, the question can be raised, “Who are ‘we’ exactly?”

“We, the people…” is a title bestowed upon us with great honor by the first among us to rise against powers that attempted to exploit our labor and natural resources, tax the working class without remuneration, and endow the wealthy and connected, all while ignoring the needs of the people.  More than two centuries later, we find ourselves in colonial shoes, and the reference to our declaration doctrine is empowering on the lips and to the ears.  It reminds us that we were here before, and it rallies us to rise and defeat those tyrannical and oppressive forces again.  It gives “we” – the plural pronoun that names us – a singular designation: the people.  It is an identity based in unity, all of us together as one.

We are the 99%.  Even though it is more symbolic than statistical (especially when you consider the upper-middle class who foolishly and arrogantly align themselves with the Billionaire Boys Club to which they will never truly belong – but that’s another post), the statement is meaningful and powerful.  Most importantly, it is accurate in distinguishing the opposing 1%, the real target of our frustration – regardless of what Fox News tells the nervous and miseducated upper-middle who are installing security cameras at their McMansions and crouching protectively over their Beamers.

March chants like “we won’t take it anymore” and the use of the word “we” in addressing the group during GAs give us a sense of union, reminding us constantly that this isn’t the time or place for the I-statements we were encouraged to use as children struggling to vocalize our emotions.  Ironically, for all that we were taught, it is not “I” that helps us confront our fears and express our preferences anymore.  Our frustrations are universal, and our emotions are shared by millions.  Speaking in the first person suddenly seems limited and short-sighted.  Turning on the television to survey the opposition reinforces the antiquity and self-centered sound of “I” in the context of our current human and environmental climate.  We cringe as they bang their fists on the desktops, regurgitating the proclamations of egotism and entitlement: I worked for what I have.  I pay enough taxes.  I shouldn’t have to pay the bills of the lazy and the inept.

Barked between their corporative and megalomaniacal talking points are blips of what they think of us, who they think “we” are.  According to them, we are Socialists.  We are unemployed because we are lazy or because we didn’t work as hard as they did.  We are inconsequential, confused and moronic, disorganized and doomed, a passing trend of protest from a spoiled and savage group of hippie youth who are looking for the next handout.  We know that we are none of these things, but still the question pleads an answer.  Who are “we”?

We are artists, teachers, writers, strategists, analyzers, techies, farmers, foodies, medics, organizers, philosophers, intellectuals, laborers, spiritualists, scientists, and legalists.  We are mothers, fathers, sisters, brother, husbands, wives, and children.  We are those seeking platforms and those seeking enlightenment.  We are those who wish to speak and those who wish to listen.  We are the young, the old, and the in between.  We are the thinkers, dreamers, and doers.  We are a representative sample of the entire human population.  We are everything we need to be to change the world.  We are hope.  We are vengeance.  We are calm, quiet justice – inevitable and liberating.  We are individuals banned together by common plight and common goals.  We are crowds of thousands occupying an ever-growing number of cities worldwide.  We are mankind, standing together until the last glass castle falls.  We are the people of the world… And we are mad as hell.

*If you would like a visual perspective of how big this movement really is, please see this collection of photos as posted by The Atlantic.  It’s truly awe-inspiring how massive we are, and hence, how powerful.  (http://www.theatlantic.com/infocus/2011/10/occupy-wall-street-spreads-worldwide/100171/)