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ows didn't have a leader or any representations/ clear connections in the political realm that could actually put change into practice. any political movement without these things in north america cannot succeed in the long term. not in this day and age.
had a leader emerged who was in some kind of office, i suspect ows would have risen past the green party's level of recognition, but still have been very far from the more standard 'respected' political choices. the main problem with ows was that the majority of people over a certain age would dismiss it regardless of how organized it could have become.
they also didn't have any kind of connected message between the lot of them, and often (begging and end) attracted individuals whose mentalities and stations weren't "good publicity" to those that might have thought of 'joining the movement'.
also, most people are too complacent for things like what the spirit of ows was supposed to be.
But think about this. You are making good money. Your neighbor used to make good money but is now unemployed. Now things got worse and the government says you have to pay more so that your neighbor can have a bit more. Human nature says you two are now going to be suspicious of each other. You are still making the same amount, and who wants to pay more? Who wants to see their own quality of life reduce? On top of that, Americans are well aware that there is a growing population who need more and more. How much is enough? How much more before this country completely falls? The majority of those making decent money will not be wiling to go into a lower standard of life. My guess is that we will continue to be a highly divided society along fiscal issues.
The problem is that too many idiots blame the person who's out of work and needs help vs. blaming the record-profit making corporation that sent his job to China or the record salary making executive who decided to send the jobs overseas. No, in the loony land of America, no matter how hard you work and how many things you do right, when you're screwed over, it is still "your fault" and "you don't deserve anything?!" It can never be the fault of corporations... heavens no... and a lifetime of work should't yield any reward.
The majority of those making decent money don't understand that they are one layoff, injury, or illness away from being unemployable, and yet the begrudge the victims vs. those who have gotten rid of the jobs and declared whole swaths of our society "unemployable." They may not be willing to "lower their standard of living" to help a fellow citizen, but it is going to happen anyway once they get culled in some future round of layoffs. Of course, by then the citizens will all hate each other and be blind to what is happening away - which is exactly what the wealthy elite want.
Agree on the lack of structure (which the "leaders", at least in NYC, saw as a good thing) preventing it from turning into a long-term movement. If they and the Tea Party had been able to find some common ground (impossible in this day & age), it could've effected some real change. They were successful in bringing the reality of income/class disparity to the national consciousness in this country, to the point the president has made it a central cause in his second term.
Hardly anyone understood the point of it all, if it had a point.
Being anti-everything it was pro-nothing, voiced in cliches, anbiguities, slogans and meaningless rants.
Eventually most of them got bored living in filth and moved on.
The problem is that too many idiots blame the person who's out of work and needs help vs. blaming the record-profit making corporation that sent his job to China or the record salary making executive who decided to send the jobs overseas. No, in the loony land of America, no matter how hard you work and how many things you do right, when you're screwed over, it is still "your fault" and "you don't deserve anything?!" It can never be the fault of corporations... heavens no... and a lifetime of work should't yield any reward.
The majority of those making decent money don't understand that they are one layoff, injury, or illness away from being unemployable, and yet the begrudge the victims vs. those who have gotten rid of the jobs and declared whole swaths of our society "unemployable." They may not be willing to "lower their standard of living" to help a fellow citizen, but it is going to happen anyway once they get culled in some future round of layoffs. Of course, by then the citizens will all hate each other and be blind to what is happening away - which is exactly what the wealthy elite want.
I don't entirely agree. Most people know they are one layoff away from being unemployable. But they are employed. It's not really meaningful to discuss uncertainties as life is uncertain and jobs aren't always lifetime stable. Most have recognized that this economy means temporary jobs and constant job changes. Employees are used to jumping and they screw companies the same way and they know that. They are used to it now.
Blame the employers? What exactly do you want the employers to do? Bring jobs back? That chapter is closed long ago. The market supply and demand are here to stay and the global economy is what it is. What can people do? They have a mortgage, family, and a thousand things to worry about in life. The problems are clear. The causes are clear. But the answers are unclear. Depending on your philosophy, I don't know that businesses are really to be blamed, except obviously and ones. The global market is open. We are an immigrant society. We are also a market economy. For years, people did nothing when companies went overseas. Universities even taught how to offshore in their business schools. So was it wrong? Or is it wrong now that people see the effects of it? Should immigrants' country of origin blame them for leaving? There was an article in the New York Times about how countries lose so much capital and skilled people to America? In that light, it does have a negative effect on those countries. Brain drain. Don't they have obligations to their country? The same way that our rich have to our country? And we are getting the best and the brightest. But we don't want our best and brightest to leave? Do we care about any other country? We look after ourselves don't we? In the end, it's a global economy. Everybody is being selfish, business and people alike.
Agree on the lack of structure (which the "leaders", at least in NYC, saw as a good thing) preventing it from turning into a long-term movement. If they and the Tea Party had been able to find some common ground (impossible in this day & age), it could've effected some real change. They were successful in bringing the reality of income/class disparity to the national consciousness in this country, to the point the president has made it a central cause in his second term.
The tea party was eventually well funded by corporate interests. The OWS was not embraced by the political establishment. Even the media, including mainstream liberal media, distanced themselves from the movement. The movement, however, had a lot of support in the intellectual community. It was also quite popular among middle class people who talked about it but never did anything.
People just didn't take it seriously. They weren't interested in any sort of movement. If you want to bring down capitalism, how and how long does it take? Is this a lifelong career and IOU put aside family and work? At the end of the day you still have to pay mortgage and student loans don't you?
We all know the famous slogan of the occupy movement. The argument is that the movement represents the 99%. There was a lot of buzz in the media. Finally the 99% had their own "tea party movement".
So why the OWS began after the tea party and ended earlier? Why didn't the American public pour more support to OWS? Where did the 99% go?
OWS didn't last as long as the Tea Party because while tea partiers were being courted by right-wing zealots like Dick Army and financed by the Koch brothers, OWS activist were being clubbed, pepper-sprayed, tear-gassed and jailed by the police. In the USA, right-wing "activists" are allowed to do pretty much whatever they want, while left-wing activists are attacked and destroyed.
If you doubt this, try to imagine what would have happened if, say, some left-wing environmental group trained guns on federal agents they way Cliven Bundy and his supporters did. They'd all be dead or in jail right now.
A lack of a a core set of political objectives much less fundamental driving ideological principle, disdain for leadership development, and inability to build meaningful coalitions and a lack political immaturity.
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