WHY "OCCUPY WALL STREET" IS ATTRACTIVE TO YOUNG ADULTS

I don't generally re-post on this particular blog but Andy .... has shared some timely thoughts on his blog The Journey because LIFE MATTERS and a Christian worldview is need to deal with real life.-Steve

A Revolution is beginning!  It's just like the mid-east revolutions we saw in the Spring of 2011.

Of Course, no one knows how long the revolution will last, or if in the end it will wind up like the hippies of the 60's or the students of Tienanmen Square.  We just don't know.  But I am confident this generation is ready for something like 'Occupy Wall Street.'

I've been working with teenagers and young adults for over 15 years now, and I've been watching as a generation slowly drift into the abyss of dis-connect.  They've been marginalized, told their work doesn't matter, and get in line and someday you'll get your due. 

They don't want to stand in line.
They don't want to pay their dues. 
They want to graduate college and start making $100K, because that's the lifestyle they're used to while living under the Boomer house.
This generation is different.
They think different.
They want to be taken serious for who they are.
They long for something; anything to belong to.
They want to connect.
They want real community.

They want a cause, ANY CAUSE.  Whether Tom's Shoes, or RED product, they want to contribute.
They know, after watching their parents succeed in business and be able to have comforts in life, they know it doesn't amount to happiness, but they don't want to do without the lifestyle they've had.

I've watched Harvard M.D.'s give their lives to the mission field, because they want their life to matter.

I've seen Cornell Ph.D's teach kindergarten, because they felt there was a plce for them to make a difference.

So many graduate students aren't climbing the corporate ladder because they see how long it takes to get to a place where you can actually put your fingerprint on the world.

The issue the media doesn't get, this isn't just 99% of homeless college students trying to make make a new system in America.  They could care less about a system.  This is a movement of people who see a chance to develop community around emotional needs of significance, somewhere they can say "I was there when," but they don't really know where there is.  They're not really concerned with the money, they want a place where they're lives can contribute to injustice they see in the world, whatever injustice looks like to them.

And this is where it gets dangerous.

I've heard so many pundits give their 2 cents about how they need a leader, they need a message, they need...they need...they need....It's all BULL.  They don't need any of that stuff.  They're participating in the end game.  They're living their purpose.  They're connecting with like minded people.  They feel the synergy of purpose.  They have a cause individually that doesn't really need to coincide with the needs of the group.  They don't need a finish line, the finish line IS IN the occupation.

Now, as the movement begins to grow, the charisma of a few will begin to drive the mass.  They'll have someone stand up and say, "Let's go march to Murdoch's house" and you'll hear a collective, "YEA...LETS DO THAT!"  Soon, it will be a common case of 'group think' and those of you who are living in the bulls eye, right in the sites, better get out of town.

When the town folk come to burn your house down, there's little you can do to stop them.  The Mob mentality is a real deal, and as the OWS movement gains steam, you don't have to think very far back in history to find....The French Revolution, The Bolshivic (sic) Revolution, or the Berlin Wall coming down.  I mean, come on, we watched 30 year dictators be thrown from the throne this last spring in Egypt.  You don't think that can't happen in America?  Watch.

High number of unemployment.
No sense of significance.
Dismall projections for the future.
A need to connect.
A purposeless generation longing for purpose.
Broken Government, unwilling to fix the problem for personal gain.
Economic bombs going off everyday from Greece to France to right on Main Street America.

It's like ingredients for an afternoon upside down cake....PERFECT STORM!

We've seen these kinds of revolutions throughout history, but none have had the systemic understanding of post modern truth.  I know that's not a very popular phrase among my secular friends, but when there's nothing at the center of a movement, and everyone accepts you being there for whatever reason you're there, it only takes a spark...and the fires will rage. 

After all, we were created for movement. The human race has always longed to be on the changing side of history.  I feel like the lack of moral true north, and the selfish entitlement of this one, might be a game changer.

Let's keep our eyes on this, and see how we can look at this movement through the lens of a Christian Worldview.  If we believe in God's sovereignty, something's going on here...
In anticipation...

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