By Jessica Lloyd Rogers

I’ve been watching the events unfold at #OccupyWallStreet and thinking about the French Revolution and the sans culottes, the laborers who made up the bulk of the Revolutionary Army. Called “sans culottes” because they didn’t wear the silk breeches (culottes) of the fashionable class, they were quite literally the “no fancy pants” people.

According to Wikipedia the sans culottes held political ideals such as “popular democracy, social and economic equality, affordable food, rejection of the free-market economy, and zealous pursuit of perceived counter-revolutionaries and political enemies.” Sound familiar?

As an etymologist, I find it enchanting that the word “revolution” holds the word “evolution” within itself. Both words indicate change, one suddenly and one more gradually; one urged on by the will of the people and the other a product of nature’s adaptation.

Adding to the elegant simplicity, the word ‘revolution’ originates with the past tense of the Latin word meaning ‘to turn over’. And so, the end result of the struggle – the ‘turning over’ is embodied in the very word used to describe the process.

Every revolution begins with a desire for change. And those who begin the revolution are generally a) in the minority and b) considered radicals by those around them for challenging and wanting to change the status quo. From the American Revolution through Women’s Suffrage, Temperance, Civil Rights and the Anti-War movements to more recent social changes such as those led by Mothers Against Drunk Driving, each social change movement has seen those on the leading edge called names, denigrated, and often threatened, subjected to violence and sometimes death.

In the United States, we can look at such struggles from the American Revolution forward and see that those who protest all began by trying to work within the system, from letters to the King, to filing appeals, court cases, etc., and only when that doesn’t work, do they take to the streets for a little civil disobedience.

When reading reports about the protests, it is important to remember that the first rule of war is to dehumanize the enemy and the first casualty of war is the truth.

That’s why we see those participants (young people, parents, workers who have lost pensions, families who have lost houses, veterans, union members, old, young, and middle-aged) of Occupy Wall Street called “dirty,” “useless,” “uneducated,” and “potentially violent”.

And, just like the French Revolution, there are those who sit on high in the balcony drinking champagne and laughing at the ragtag crowd.

But, movements grow, both because more and more people come to identify with the protesters and because others join in solidarity against the often over-the-top treatment by those who serve the masters by fighting desperately to maintain the status quo.

So, we remember Sheriff Bull Connor using fire hoses and unleashing the dogs and then we see the aptly named NYPD Sergeant Bologna with a look of unmistakable rage on his face pepper-spraying protesters who have already complied with given orders.

And next we hear reports of some 100 police officers refusing to show up for work in solidarity with the protesters after the pepper spray and other incidents of violence against the protesters. We hear of military veterans, and even some active duty military, passing the word that they will show up to support the protestors.

Army Veteran Ward Reilly passed on a message from a former Marine, “My true hope, though, is that we Veterans can act as first line of defense between the police and the protester.” Within hours of posting, the thread had thousands of comments and more promises to hit the road for Wall Street. As the sign of one veteran at the protest stated succinctly “2nd time I’ve fought for my country – 1st time I’ve known the enemy.”

Many citizens go through each day with a foreboding that our system – democracy, the best in the world – is still stacked against them. Some collude in their own demise by not recognizing that their ‘grassroots’ organization was part of a strategy, carefully planned and funded by the imperial Koch Brothers.

Now, as Bloomberg Markets Magazine reports, we see that the emperors are naked.

They didn’t get rich by being good capitalists and taking advantage of the free enterprise system; instead they made a good portion of their wealth by stealing and lying, by poisoning workers and those living near their factories, and by trading illegally with those identified by their government as the enemy. In the old days, before down was up, the latter actions were called treason and were a hanging offense.

Revolutions are messy and occasionally dramatic. – Like war, they are a breeding place for great cowardice and great courage; bringing out the best and the worst in people. It takes courage challenge the status quo and to those with a vested interest, it is easy to write it off as ‘disrespect’ or ignorance. Like Stephen Moore of the Wall Street Journal who said, “These kids just don’t understand how the world works.”

One could argue that ‘these kids’ (note the denigration?) who are part of the 99% that don’t control country and the wealth, those who don’t get a free pass after stealing billions of dollars, those who don’t get more money handed to them without any requirement for accountability AFTER they have squandered not only their money but that of those who trusted them – one could argue that these people understand all too well how the world works.

And the defiance of those who would keep the status quo often initiates the violence. Bull turns the dogs loose on those who want to exercise their legal right to vote. Bologna pepper sprays individuals who have already complied. Is there really any difference?

The one sure thing about revolutions is that nothing stays the same. How the change comes about will be up to each and every one of us. By the U.S. Constitution, we are a government of the people. And, under the First Amendment, we all have a right to Occupy Wall Street.