Lack of Civic Literacy Is a Real Issue

opinion

The Girl Next Door

By Christina Georgiou

Yesterday, David C. Gorczynski, 22, of Easton, was arrested in the city and charged with two counts apiece of attempted robbery and making terroristic threats and a summary disorderly conduct charge after he visited Wells Fargo and Bank of America with signs reading “You're being robbed” and “"Give a man a gun, he can rob a bank. Give a man a bank, and he can rob a country.”

Gorczynski, who is known locally for participating in numerous peaceful protests and is affiliated with the Occupy Easton group, apparently was attempting to inform customers of those financial institutions that he felt they were getting a bum deal.

In that regard, he was probably right. Bank of America in particular has been shown to gouge customers in a variety of ways, from high service fees, to overcharging and double charging for services, to serious problems with their home mortgages.

I think I've met him once or twice and spoke with him briefly last year, during some of the the Occupy Easton events. A very nice guy, who sincerely wants to do good. We need more people, especially of his generation, who care to take the time and actually make an effort to make the world a better place.

But bringing a sign that says, “You're being robbed” into any financial institution is an ill-considered move, even when accompanied by another that more or less clarifies that the carrier of such signs is trying to protest the practices of, not rob, the bank.

A simple change of wording would have made all the difference here, I think. “This bank steals your hard-earned money,” for instance, or “Attention customers! This bank is robbing you!” would have gotten the same message out without completely ruining Gorczynski's day.

While Gorczynski is responsible for his own actions, I don't entirely blame him for the bad choice of wording, or his likely ignorance of the consequences of walking into a bank with such a sign. At 22, he's a recent product of the education system, which hasn't taught much of anything about civics for decades now. It's not doing so much for students' writing skills either.

He likely didn't realize that ANY note, sign or language in a bank that even jokes about theft is nearly certain to result in arrest, even when one has no intention of committing a crime. If he did, I'm pretty sure that sign would have carried different wording to make it clear that he thinks banking customers are victims of theft,

I'm nearly twice his age, and civics education wasn't much better during my school days either. In fact, the only reason I really know a bit about it is because of my experience in the news world and my own community involvement prior to becoming a reporter. Most people my age don't know much about the subject either, though life experience has probably imparted a little bit more knowledge.

Civics is everything from how our government is structured and how it works, to how civil law and everyday rules operate, like what the fine print in a residential lease agreement means, how banks operate, etc.

It's pretty scary how much people don't know, regardless of their age. That's one of the main reasons we're being overrun by banks that get away with gouging and corporations that get away with all sorts of shenanigans, including political influence, I think. People just don't understand exactly what's happening, and when they do, they don't really know what to effectively do about it.

That Gorczynski's friends protested his arrest, calling it unfair and saying that since people know him locally he shouldn't be held or charged with any offense, proves he's not alone in lack of civics education.

It's not the police's job to decide if someone is innocent or guilty. That's the job of the judiciary, not law enforcement, to make that call.

Sure, police decide if the situation warrants charges. But when the law essentially says to detain anyone that says something like, “You're being robbed” in a bank and they witness a person with a sign that says exactly that after being called by bank employees and others, they are duty-bound to arrest that person, regardless if they know them or not. They took an oath to do so.

The protesters yesterday evening are of varying ages, so not all of them have the excuse of age, but since civics hasn't been taught properly in at least 60 years in most places in this country, that they don't seem to realize this is not terribly surprising.

However, continued ignorance of civics won't serve their cause. One can scream all one wants that something isn't fair, but if one doesn't know how a system works, it's nearly impossible to effect a change in that system. “Know your enemy” is always sound advice.

And, it doesn't look good, to the few that know how the system does work. It only serves to empower those that game the status quo for its own gain at the expense, literally, of others.

I personally think Gorczynski is right—Bank of America and Wells Fargo do rip off their customers, many of whom bank with those institutions out of ignorance of the alternatives, like a smaller bank that actually invests in the community, or a credit union.

I also think the Occupy groups are right—that this country is being overrun by the special interests of large corporations and financial institutions, to the great detriment of “We the People” and directly contrary to the reason this country was founded.

I also very much hope the charges against Gorczynski are dropped in court, or at least lessened to something much lower than felony charges. While I may agree with the arrest, simply because the police were doing the job we pay them to do and because I don't want actual bank robbers to think that carrying a second sign or note that makes it look like they might be protesting something will get them off, I don't agree with the charges that Gorczynski was intending to rob the bank or that he made terroristic threats.

I'm glad he's been bailed out too.

We need more people like Gorczynski and the protesters that support him out there. But to win, they need to get savvy quickly, and educate themselves about how that system actually works so they can fix the things that need fixing.