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It was just a bunch of college kids with iphones and macbooks out partying. In other words it was a joke. If you want to look at a real protest/revolution just look at what happened in Kiev back in Feb.
It was bound to fail because they didn't actually define an enemy. They focused on defining their group. By making it about themselves, they pigeon-holed the rest of us (the 98%) into not supporting them. They and "we" did not hold the same beliefs.
Go ahead and ignore the OWS movement at your own peril - because OWS was a warning shot across the bow.
The NEXT movement may very well turn violent, and if there must be a third one after that, I have no doubt it will organically become a revolution even if it wasn't intended to.
The cold, hard fact is that the middle class is shrinking and the American Dream has become just that, a dream, to many, many people. Our particular brand of capitalism simply doesn't work. Period.
It isn't that everyone is against capitalism, it's how capitalism is handled - namely that what is going on today is just a modern version of the classic medieval raping and pillaging of the nation. It's all about short-term profits, laying people off to increase stock values, and big "e-peen" profit wars to see who beats whom on the Forbes' list. Thus wages are kept low, products are made just well enough to keep people buying them but not well enough to be considered a durable good, customer service sucks, service providers fee you half to death, and all businesses privatize profits while passing debt on to the public.
And as more and more people slip into poverty while fat cats get fatter, prices and profits continue to soar, and the wealth gap reaches critical mass - I can almost guarantee you that there WILL be a reckoning that will make the storming of the Bastille look like a Sunday school picnic.
The problem is that it won't be a revolution as much as it will be a civil war - only because there are just enough ignorant, brainwashed people who've been suckling at the teet of Limbaugh and Beck and Fox News for the last 20 years - who, despite their own poverty, will blindly fight on the side of the rich man.
I agree with some of what you said. But it won't be a civil war. The divide is along class lines. The have and the have not. It'll be a conflict of fiscal policies. It's a bit of a stereotype that these are just ignorant brainwashed rednecks. I would advise the left to stop using such simplistic stereotypes because it's easier to refute and feel better about yourself. Most people against the OWS are well to do, upper and upper middle class, professional class, and a bit of the intellectual class as well. They are the ones who really have the power and means, not the rednecks the left uses to feel good about itself. The well to do certainly won't march on street as they are doing fine. The rednecks march because they are poor. Their perceptions are different from yours but their situation is actually closer to yours than the professional conservative class (that rich liberals are in bed with).
I agree with some of what you said. But it won't be a civil war. The divide is along class lines. The have and the have not. It'll be a conflict of fiscal policies. It's a bit of a stereotype that these are just ignorant brainwashed rednecks. I would advise the left to stop using such simplistic stereotypes because it's easier to refute and feel better about yourself. Most people against the OWS are well to do, upper and upper middle class, professional class, and a bit of the intellectual class as well. They are the ones who really have the power and means, not the rednecks the left uses to feel good about itself. The well to do certainly won't march on street as they are doing fine. The rednecks march because they are poor. Their perceptions are different from yours but their situation is actually closer to yours than the professional conservative class (that rich liberals are in bed with).
People think there is going to be some great uprising of the lower classes to take over and establish justice for one and all....What a bunch of tripe! The don't have the power. While you might not like what I have to say I submit that it will be just the opposite! Sooner or latter the middle and upper class will get tired of the stones around their necks,(perceived or real) and the resulting purge of the "stones" will make the razing of the Warsaw ghetto look like child's play.....
It was bound to fail because they didn't actually define an enemy. They focused on defining their group. By making it about themselves, they pigeon-holed the rest of us (the 98%) into not supporting them. They and "we" did not hold the same beliefs.
They did define an enemy, the 1%. But the problem is what exactly did they want?
Businesses laid off people. Businesses don't pay much. Business leaders made a lot of money. Ok. So what about it? Things are not going well. We know that.
People think there is going to be some great uprising of the lower classes to take over and establish justice for one and all....What a bunch of tripe! The don't have the power. While you might not like what I have to say I submit that it will be just the opposite! Sooner or latter the middle and upper class will get tired of the stones around their necks,(perceived or real) and the resulting purge of the "stones" will make the razing of the Warsaw ghetto look like child's play.....
What you said is entirely possible. There could also be strong anti immigrant sentiments in the left itself, if there isn't already. I don't think the middle and upper middle would choose to see their quality of life decline. They will do something about it.
The occupy movement didn't represent the mainstream of the American society. They were a combination of deep thinking young people and intellectual theoretical influence. That hype of movement will make no difference. And that's why it comes down to blaming people for being too stupid to support their cause.
Income inequality? Who hasn't noticed that in the last two decades. No need for a movement to remind them.
I completely disagree; the American Dream myth that anyone in this country can go from rags-to-riches like Andrew Carnegie is still widely perpetrated, and that it's only so-and-so politician or country who is keeping that from happening right now. A large number of Americans (and especially American politicians) will tell you there is no class problem in this country, only one of motivation.
Yes. Some were quite well to do. Majority were probably struggling in life.
It seemed that the main message is an intellectual one: capitalism isn't working and the US is an oligarchy.
That is a theoretical and broad take on the problems in this society. It was also idealistic and tries to be all encompassing. You can't do anything with that approach. A movement without leadership is merely a dialog or discussion. And that was what it was, a discussion of raising awareness. Sounds like a college course. And it was no surprise that the movement was led by highly educated white middle class people.
The people who were excited by OWS were the ones who already understood their cause. I don't think the movement attracted that many new supporters. Income inequality? Who hasn't noticed that in the last two decades. No need for a movement to remind them.
I think you successfully answered your own question (the one you posed in the title) with this post. Nice take.
Like many, I supported the movement in spirit but did nothing to contribute to it. Even the mini-Occupy here in Buffalo, well, I think I might've once beeped the car horn in a show of support while driving by. As far as I could tell, I agreed with much of the ideology of many of the participants, but if nothing practical was being done, then why should I sit out in the cold.
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