Being Here—PAJ at 100

Abstract

As I write this preface to the 100th issue of PAJ, Occupy Wall Street has already been influential enough for the movement to spread across the U.S., violently at times, as more and more citizens are drawn into its message of social justice. Similar interventions have broken out in cities on several continents, protesting the corruption of democracy by powerful financial interests. Someone dressed as Jesus, holding a sign that declared, “I Threw The Money Lenders Out for a Reason,” was seen demonstrating in front of St. Paul’s Cathedral in London, in a throwback to what used to be called guerrilla theatre, adding a moral dimension to the outrage. In the cradle of civilization, our biblical garden of Eden, the U.S. is mired in the longest wars and occupations of its history. By now several months have passed since the “Arab Spring” has brought massive upheaval to the Middle East, its revolution streamed by the new social networks that horizontalize the globe. On the continent the Euro crisis threatens the long-held dream of a European Union.