Like much of the country, I have become very aware and tuned into the Occupy Wall Street protests. I'm very excited about it. If the young people in our country want to have a better country, now is their time to reach for the reins of power and try to change things for the better. Our generation made a valiant attempt, spurred by the military draft and the Vietnam war, but also in response to the general injustices and inequalities that our society has ingrained yet continually tries to deny and avoid being held accountable.

While the young generation of today hasn't had to face the same problems, they have different ones that are just as immediate. While I'm a college drop-out and never had the benefit of the grease that a college degree or degrees gives you in finding employment, I know that most of the people that I know that made it through college at the same time that I would've graduated had I stayed in ended up getting a job, and weren't bogged down with huge college loan debts. So, if you avoided the military, like me, by winning the draft lottery, then you had a good chance of getting a job. The same can't be said of today.

And not only that, but the economic injustices that are inherent in our society have not gone away - in fact, they have gotten worse. As the famous line in the play "Marat-Sade" says, "the rich get richer and the poor get poorer." That is not a good formula for social stability. So the climate is favorable for social unrest. And with the inspiration of the "Arab Spring" and the protests in Greece, it has all the ingredients for a time of sort of uprising. And I'm not talking about the stale complaints of the so-called "Tea Party" who want to take the U.S. back to the facade that all of our exercises of belligerence and control around the world entitled us to cheap everything and control of the world. Nor, that we are are the greatest nation in everything - that simply isn't true. Sorry, but that's unrealistic. We need a more realistic vision tempered in the ideals of the founding of our nation - equality, freedom, accountability.

The center of power is only going to be pushed if people stand up, in the streets, in sufficient numbers, and demand it - combined with voting power. And I think that is what the Occupy Wall Street efforts are about, and I applaud it. I also think that those union leaders that have the vision to try and tap into this movement are wise and should continue these efforts. Some nationwide walkout days would shake things up in the US. It should have been done back when Reagan broke the Air Traffic Controllers. But it's never too late to take up a just cause.

The media is still shortchanging the ralliers, because they continue to report that they "have no agenda." This is totally false. I have gotten several emails about the movement, and they have an agenda. They are broad themes, but they are articulated. The involve worker rights, economic equality, accountability, sustainability, and peace. I agree with that agenda, and the media should call it like it is, not like they want it to be.

Obama did talk about the protests today in his news conference. He would be well served to go down there and remember his days as a community organizer and meet with them and maybe even march with them. That's his margin of victory that he needs to win re-election - and he needs to fire them back up.

We'll have our supportive rallies here, and hopefully they will grow, all across the country. It may be too soon to tell whether or not this has staying power. The winter in New York on the streets can be harsh. But spring comes soon enough, and even if they can't hold out all winter, I think many people will be anxiously awaiting their return in the spring, although I bet than many remain through the winter. We need an American spring to turn back the winter that we are already in.