4 Signs the American Spring May Be Coming to Chicago

Here are four signs that the American Spring is coming to Chicago:

1) Political Provocation [by the Elite]2) Climate of Repression3.) Elite-Driven Hysteria4) Dynamic Political Organizing Capacity

Read it at AlterNet

4 Signs the American Spring May Be [Is] Coming to Chicago

by Matt Reichel

This has already been worked out by movement leaders from around the world at the anti-Davos in Brazil. There is huge global solidarity growing that the neoliberal approach to globalization is a dangerous threat to democracy other than in name only. It is viewed as a global power grab for world hegemony under the leadership of Western elites, especially finance capital, the  ideal of which is unfettered rent-seeking rather than development with a view to distributed prosperity. It is seen as merely the next step in neo-imperialism and neo-colonialism, as set forth in the works of people like Michael Hudson and Noam Chomsky in the US.

We are at the outset of a battle that will determine the course of the 21st century. It is a battle between those that believe late stage (monopoly) capitalism, whose goal is global growth through the aegis and under the control of the elite, is the future and those who hold that the future belongs to those willing to struggle for participatory democracy, distributed prosperity, and solidarity. 

The question is one of freedom:  Will there be freedom for the few that make it to the top, or freedom and prosperity for all.

UPDATE: Here comes the protest music. Bruce Springsteen on board with Occupy.

Read it at The Huffington Post
Bruce Springsteen Talks Occupy Movement, New Album

Bruce Springsteen said this week that his new album Wrecking Ball was inspired by an "angry patriotism" that drew fuel from the Occupy movement. 

Speaking to a group of journalists at the Theatre Marigny in Paris, Springsteen described how the financial crisis, income inequality, and other hot-button political issues informed Wrecking Ball, which paints a picture of an America that has failed the working class. 

"My work has always been about judging the distance between American reality and the American Dream--how far is that at any given moment," Springsteen said. Judging by the album's tenor, he believes the gap has only become wider in recent years.

Arabic Rap sends a message

The ability of artists to lyrically articulate the growing rage amongst disgruntled youth in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) has seen the emergence of politicised rap as a hidden weapon during the region’s Arab Spring.

Music has always played a pivotal role in many of the world’s social movements, so it was of no surprise that the youth-driven uprisings that ousted three long-standing leaders in the Arab world included a strong musical component.

Among the most powerful forms of music to emerge during these protests has been Arabic rap. 

"There are of course other forms of music that have the ability to transform messages but rap is an outspoken way of addressing what’s wrong in your society and having the voice of the streets be heard," Martin Fernando Jakobsen, creator of the youth-based initiative for Palestinian youth, Turntables in the Camps tells IPS. 

"In the case of the uprisings that took place in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA), it was political dissident rappers that had an impact because of their ability to echo the people’s suffering."

Read it at IPS
Arab Spring Set to Music
By Simba Russeau

Where are the MMT musicians? We need some MMT protest music.