Published: 13 October 2011 10:18 PM
... Nearly half a century after it was written, the SDS statement still reads like an idealistic manifesto for a generation. It is outdated in parts, relevant in others. “The wealthiest one percent of Americans own more than 80 percent of all personal shares of stock,” it proclaims at one point. After walking around the tent city at Pioneer Plaza, it is hard not to come away thinking that what we have is a new battlefield for an old battle. Only the percentages, or the formula, have changed ...
It is easy to caricature the movement, or to condemn it as irrelevant because you hear that it lacks a coherent platform. Yes, the man in the clerical collar yelling Revolujah! into a camera is laughable. That he was prominently displayed on the homepage of October2011.org, a main entry point into the movement, says a lot. But to be fair, the same website lists “15 core issues the country must face.” (No. 13: require the media to be honest, accurate and accountable to the people.) It is a manifesto, with more than a passing echo to 1962, and you are free to agree or disagree — but only after you read it ...
In 1962, the Port Huron statement was produced on mimeograph, 20,000 copies, each sold for 35 cents. A call for participatory democracy today is amplified by social media — and free. At one point yesterday, 10,944 had liked Occupy Dallas on Facebook, lots of them no doubt “people of this generation.”
Prophets of rebellion? Probably not. But many were moved by the movement, and that is what matters.
http://www.dallasnews.com/opinion/editorials/20111013-editorial-why-so-impatient-with-occupy-wall-street.ece
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