“The Protester” was Time magazine’s Person of the Year for 2011, covering the Arab Spring, Occupy Wall St and protests throughout Europe, the latest in Russia. The common threads were frustration with inequality, corruption and injustice and disenchantment with the political and power controlling establishment. The author of the article, Kurt Andersen, noted, “Ever since modern republican democracy was invented(AJ: going back to the American and French revolutions), astonishing protests and uprisings have spiked and spread every half-century or so….It happens almost like clockwork, yet each time people are freshly shocked and bamboozled.”
People want more equality, opportunity and justice and from time to time take to the streets and even topple governments.  There is an immediate feeling of euphoria and accomplishment, yet power and wealth eventually gravitates to the few; precious opportunities for constructive change are lost.  The last 20 years since the fall of the Berlin Wall and the Soviet Union has been a prime example of such hijacking of hope and waste of opportunity. America, the Good Guys, had won the Cold War; there were no major enemies or rivals. America could have led the way to a more compassionate and sustainable planet by leading international efforts to revamp the economic system, tackle the poverty gap and global warming/climate change.  Instead the Republicans sought to make the USA even more militarily powerful and assertive (see www.newamericancentury.org) and of course economically through the celebration and exportation of the unregulated Free Market – greed is good for everyone - which has brought us to where we are now. The 1% got super wealthy but the 99% suffered; the global economy is destabilized and America’s strategy back-fired, since China is poised to take over the economic  top spot.
We need a new set of Ethics to guide us – voters, consumers and leaders alike - through ups and downs and pendulum swings  of opinions and fads. Here are a few suggestions:

• We have to switch our collective motivation away from ever-increasing consumption.  The planet is already over-crowded at 7 billion and India and China are still developing (and consuming) rapidly. Food, water and energy are limited. The concept of Enough needs to become sexy.  Studies have shown that once a country’s average annual income hits $25,000, happiness/ satisfaction peak and decline.
• Leaders, whether individuals or countries, have to lead by example, not though the threat or exercise of naked power. 
• We the People should demand as such from our leaders and in order to do this we have to learn to pay attention and to be steadfast in our objectives, not just swing with the ever-changing news cycles and political parties.
• Our economic and political systems need to be adjusted to take care of long-term, collective problems and to minimize the effects of large (especially corporate) donations and lobbying. At present, we are encouraged to seek short term satisfaction. Corporations are not required to pay the long term damage they cause to ordinary people and the environment.
• In order to achieve the above (and more), we have to learn to truly change ourselves..to deepen/ heighten our consciousness so we can see our interconnectedness as a fact, rather than a remote ideal…which is perhaps the deepest message of the world’s great religious and spiritual traditions. I and other members of the Forge Guild have created a template for beginning to integrate new level spirituality with social and political action. Check out www.globalspiritualcitizenship.org and sign if you agree!