Gagafesto "Wall Street/Tahrir Square, Gaga Tells Obama to End Bullying" gagablog 34

I will soon talk about how Gaga is transforming the church/religion, I'm not putting it off, I have been too busy and recent events make this the topic of the moment. You know how I think, magically, and there will be a major event that represents Gaga's "cultural baptism" - which will have this intervention/transformation of Christianity/Catholicism/religion in general as one effect - and I will go ahead and predict this event will take place around Halloween, or by 11-11-11. So I will be writing that Gagablog soon.
This week, however, there were some major events that are magically connected and I feel it is my duty to point it out. One is the protests on Wall Street that have grown and spread to other cities, which have been compared to the protests in Tahrir Square in Egypt at the start of the movement that just overthrew the Egyptian government. The other is a dinner where Lady Gaga met President Obama and asked him to put a stop to bullying. To those "with ears to hear" (Oh Gaga, just wait!) you already know what I mean, but let me explain in case anyone else reads this.
The protests on Wall Street could be the beginning of a movement that overthrows the American Government and starts a new way of life - for us but ultimately for the whole world, the way they have always talked about America leading by example only they were lying and wanted to use force. This could be an American Fall to match the Arab Spring. I know I was predicting a European Summer then World Fall, but the American Fall would effectively be a transformation for the whole world, both because we would cease our negative influence on the world that is holding everyone back and we would really be a good positive example to follow. And it has to do with overcoming "bullying". The protesters are currently criticized for lack of focus, but when I was asked what they are protesting I said "economic disparity" and a few other things like oppression that I feel are synonymous with that. The fact that there are so many issues that have this at their root, that there are so many different people with different causes joining this protest, speaks to the power of it and the depth of the problem. The protest is growing because economic disparity is such a  big problem, because people are being bullied by the rich and powerful. It will continue to grow, with more people realizing their stake in it, and when it gets to the point that people realize it will not only effect change, but take over if enough change is not enacted - well, at that point we have won the government back for the people, we have overcome the bullies. I heard one of the protesters on NPR saying "we represent the 99% who aren't going to take the abuses of the 1% anymore" and "we are on the ground calling out to them 'you are cutting the limb out from under yourself' and they can either listen or the tree will go on growing without them." One of these may have been a quote from the Arab Spring, the interviewer asked him about parallels, and he said someone told him they were in Tahrir Square at the start of the Egyptian Revolution and that the protests on Wall Street looked like the exact same thing.
I won't lie, I have long believed our current system needed serious change, or collapse, to fix it. I hoped, and still hope, that Obama has us going in that direction. He could deal justly with the protests, enact the changes people need, and stop Wall Street and corporations from bullying people. He may get a chance to do that before the election, if the protests grow that quickly. And he might make the mistake of dealing with them unjustly. Or if the protest simmers and does not come to that for a year, then we somehow are stupid enough to elect a Republican, just asking for it - well, if any president deals unjustly or harshly with the protesters, as this develops, it would escalate quickly. I'm afraid that's what would happen with a republican in office, or if Obama sells out too much, and it would be Revolution. The people would win, I'm not worried about that, but I think there is a more peaceful path.
Lady Gaga presented the peaceful path when she met Obama at a fundraiser dinner last week. Much has been said of how she towered over him, he referred to it as "intimidating" and this was widely reported. Why was it widely reported, "Obama says meeting Gaga was 'intimidating'"? Its the very nature of this topic: bullying. While he was referring to her outfit, since with her 18-inch heels and high hair she was reportedly two feet taller than him, the headline implied he was intimidated by her, because that feeds the bully mentality to make fun of him for being intimidated by a woman or by a pop star. This Tea Party mentality reveals it, and the right in general, as a bullying clique. I'm glad the headline read that way to show this, but it was not Gaga's intention to intimidate the President, but to deliver a message. There are two types of bullies. There are powerful/rich people who instead of sharing their fortune lord it over others. They feel guilty for having more and need to sustain their position and deny that guilt by trying to make others feel bad and pointing out why the less fortunate are less deserving. There are rich people, and rich kids, who don't do this, but too many are snobs and bullies because of this mentality. The other bully mentality is the powerless people who envy that power instead of seeing through it, seeing it for the sickness that it is. These are the minions of the snobs, and all the "normal" people who don't reject this social order. In the political world, the rich and right-wing are the first group and the Tea Party is the second group.The people who do reject this social order, the outkasts and freaks, are abused by the people in power or who crave that power. People of minority groups might want to be part of the status quo but are likely to be subject to bullying and ostracism just because of how they were born. And the truth is there are more of us, the outkasts, poor, disadvantaged and minorities. We will survive and we will ultimately rise up and create a society that is just to all people. This was part of Gaga's message to Obama by towering over him. She was not trying to intimidate or bully him herself, just visually showing a mystical truth that she is more powerful than he is as long as she is the one who is doing more to help the people who need it most. The main message of her outfit, a long black dress and black veil/train on her hair, was that it was a costume of mourning for Jamey, the little monster who committed suicide after incessant bullying, to whom she dedicated her performance of "Hair" at the Las Vegas show recently. She wants an end to bullying and has taken it up as a cause to seek a political solution to a social evil, with a focus on the well-being of kids. I have so much to say about how important it is that Gaga focuses on kids, how if we can always do right by kids we will grow into a just and good society naturally. This is of paramount importance, because while kids have become immensely powerful as a demographic to be marketed to, they still have very little power in our society. We end up pandering to the negative cravings of childhood, like bullying, to the point that we have this whole political movement of adult bullies, the Tea Party are in fashion now but represent that same bullying mentality the right has always had of being rich snobs or honoring that. It's just that our focus has become so infantile that we aren't ashamed promoting that behavior in adults. But we don't listen to the kids, or respect that what they really want to do is not to exclude each other but to play together. One effect of the protests on Wall Street is that many Tea Partiers, libertarians or other right-wing sympathizers will join the protest because it coincides with their causes as well, and they will find that it is more fun and effective to protest with a large group of diverse people that with a clique, whether they are in the drunk Tea Party or the dry Tea Party. It's just more fun to hang out with everyone than it is to make an insular group to try and feel better than everybody else.
Some would say that a law against bullying would make the government a bully over the bullies, or that bullying is natural, a part of growing up. But the truth is it should not be and does not have to be, and having specific consequences to address it can both prevent it more and make people more aware of it, just as hate crime laws have done. It might not stop someone from committing a hate crime to know it will be called that, but if such a terrible thing happens and it is reported that way, it can change peoples' minds and get people to think about things more deeply so they don't hate others or tolerate it. The same is true for abolishing DADT. Yes, many peoples' lives are directly effected by this, but so are the lives of people who have no interest in the military. It is such a big institution, and pervades into every part of the country and much of the world, that a change in military culture has far-reaching effects. States may become more likely to recognize gay marriage if the military does, for example. The same will be true of bullying. By bringing more public awareness to the problem of bullying, we can stop more kids from ding it and spare more kids from suffering it. But while we are thinking about it, we can also see how the bullies in our society are acting, the adults, and even how our country has acted and still acts like a bully around the world. By becoming aware of something that has bothered kids forever and actually doing something about it, we can literally save the world. We will free kids to be who they really are, we will appreciate their ideas and listen to them and benefit greatly in so many ways to hearing their voices. We won't ever lose another child because they did not fit in - this should never have happened but should certainly never happen again. When we all become aware we will all be responsible. And we will become responsible for ourselves as adults, too, and for our country. We have to stop bullying people who are different or less well-off. We have to stop insisting that there is One American Way that is right for everyone here and the world, when America's greatness is in our diversity. There are many American ways, and if we can realize how they all go together towards the brightest future, how we are the best by including the most of us, we will be an example for the rest of the world to follow - and we will come to appreciate other cultures for their examples for us to follow. We will realize that we are all kids learning from each other, both big and small.
I love Gaga for speaking up for kids. I was always a smart kid who felt insulted that I could not vote. We at least learned about global warming when I was a kid in school in the 80's and 90's, yet put up with a decade of government denying it after that, and it's somehow currently a debate. 2010 was the year they said in the 80s that if we didn't change by then there would be no going back - they meant scientifically and hopefully were wrong, but could thay have imagined that we would go backwards in awareness even as it got worse, as predicted? I'm mentioning this because as a kid, we got it, but adults are keeping us from fixing it. Still, if we focus on doing right by kids we will have a better society as they grow up. Kids today already smoke less cigarettes and eat less meat than they used to. Maybe we can make the changes where they bully each other less too. And I still have hope for kids of all ages as we grow up retaining or rediscovering our love for animals and nature so we literally save this planet from the "grown-ups" who don't seem to care.
Hopefully this won't become a real issue, but while talking about bullying and economic protests, and the importance of honoring kids, I recall hearing someone say on the radio that in Greece their could become a civil war between the young and the old. The economic structure is bullying Greece to pay it's debts, instead of being cool about it as Bart Simpson would advise, not realizing that with an economy so bent on tourism Greece will be fine again when the economy picks up, or as more Chinese tourists go there - the Chinese alone will make Greece rich in coming years. And apparently, as in America, Greece has a social/political structure that favors the older generation at the expense of the youth. Because things are so bad there someone is suggesting there could be Civil War - between young and old. I hope not but it shows the way these issues come down to generational disparity as well. This should be all I have to say about this topic, because honestly Civil War between young and old should never be more than myth or an idea, even in Greece where their myths can be pretty intense.
I will soon write more about how significant it is that Gaga, the Goddess incarnate, has such an emphasis and care for kids. It's only natural, she is our Mommy Monster. And when kid's emerging power is on the internet, it is fitting that Gaga is Queen of Twitter and Empress (High Priestess?) of Facebook. Kids have a mastery of imagination that we lose as we grow up learning to master other things, unless we hold on to our youth. We need a society that values imagination, that values kids, and Mommy Monster is creating that in our monster family and as an example to the world. Let's support each other, monsters, and let's survive so that the world can survive. We owe it to each other, ourselves, the planet, and Gaga to live on and make the brighter future she is showing us.
And I will soon write the gagablog about how she is transforming the Christian religion, and religion in general, as there are monsters all over the world of every faith. But Christianity/Catholicism is long overdue, and the nature of the songs on Born this Way and Gaga's social messages will bring her in conflict with the old Jesus religions and reveal the new one that will replace them. It will transform other religions as well, ultimately, since it is a universal message of love that is already at the heart of all religion, and it will bring us all together. With the old-school Jesus churches, the conflict should come shortly, in the spiritual period between Halloween/Samhain/All Saint's Day and 11-11-11. It may coincide with the release of a new single. If she stays with a political message, it could be "Government Hooker", but this and all the Born This Way songs have strong enough sexual and empowerment messages to provoke an intervention for the Church. "Bloody Mary" or "Black Jesus t Amen Fashion" would be more on the nose, or "Marry the Night", but any of the songs could do it because they all have this radical message of universal love. It is liberation theology of Christianity, what I believe Jesus was truly all about, and while it upsets the established church it is the foundation of the new one - the stone the builder's rejected becomes the cornerstone of the new, in this case the feminine, sexual, and compassionate/tolerant. And it may be a news/media event that provokes this confrontation of Gaga vs. the Church, or just all the kids with Gaga-inspired Halloween costumes this year, representing her power. I saw a party supply store ad with their "Monster High" line of costumes, obviously going for the little monster appeal. But I will talk about the details of her spiritual message on these songs soon - I need to write a book about the theology of Gagaism and the messages of all her lyrics - and how she is improving the way people love Jesus and each other. Paws up, Monsters! Gaga, I love you!