The Whole World is Watching

A common sign and statement uttered by protesters outside Madison is that the whole world is watching. It can easily be assumed that people have an overinflated view of themselves and their movement. Why would the care about some state they probably never heard of when they have issues in their own countries and major protests, rebellions, and upheavals occurring in many Middle East states.

However, several organizations in foreign countries have written personal messages of support to the Labor Movement in Wisconsin. Solidarity of Poland, the party which helped end the communist government wrote a letter of solidarity; one of the leaders of the Tahrir Square protests in Egypt sent a personal message of support and other movements have indicated their support. The BBC and the Guardian have placed Wisconsin as headline news more than once. In addition, it is the massive donations of food, in the way of pizza grams from numerous countries, that have caught people's attention.

Protesters believe that the reason for the attention is due to the movements toward democracy in the Middle East. Countries are trying to increase their freedom and break from dictatorial rule. Then in America they see elected leaders rolling back on rights, which to some are seen as fundamental. Worker rights are included in the United Nations Declaration of Human Rights. We believe that those countries and their citizens are worried about what it means if America, long a symbol of democracy, attacks and eliminates rights which are held as fundamental.

Whatever reason for that support, people are the ground feel empowered. They feel that they have the support of the world, that they are watching us and rooting for us. It makes our effort seem bigger and more important then it may be, but it encourages us.