Occupy Wall Street Protests: The Already Accomplished

Hissyspit

(1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore

Mon Oct-10-11 01:28 AM
Original message

Occupy Wall Street Protests: The Already Accomplished

Edited on Mon Oct-10-11 02:27 AM by Hissyspit

The Occupy Wall Street Protesters are not doing it perfectly. Why? Because there is no such thing as "perfectly" here.

The Occupy Wall Street Protesters are mixing up their messages and confusing everyone, we are told. Who is their leader? (Why is there assumption that there should be one?) What exactly do they WANT? Why can't they give me a laundry list!?

Reuters/Stephen Lam

When I was a child, and my father was off on a tour of duty in Vietnam, my mother, a young Army wife and mother of two, three, then four children, did not understand, based on discussions I have had with over the years, the protesters in the streets at the time. "Why were they there?" she was probably asking herself, as she read the newspaper and watched the nightly news. Why were they doing this? A few years later, if you talked to her, or if you were to talk with her today, she would say that she understood or understands EXACTLY what they were doing and what they wanted. And you won't find her criticizing the Vietnam War protest movement. (You can't talk to my dad. He died a few years ago from lung cancer after spending a couple of years in his youth inhaling a carcinogenic defoliant used by our government in another country. Yeah, he smoked a lot, too. He had a drinking problem, as well. They were pretty much under control in his later years. Read whatever cause-and-effect into you will. I can't necessarily say you are right or wrong.)

How much of the critique of Occupy Wall Street is false marginalization tactic? How much stems from real confusion brought about by the protest movement's activities? How much is real confusion brought about by honest but unnecessary ignorance?

The Occupy Wall Street protests have been met with conscious marginalization tactics, some of the tactics dating back centuries, some arising in the last few years. The Occupy Wall Street protests have been met with stereotyping. With hypocritical co-opting of critical approaches. With faux and real confusion about the messages, with cynicism, and with, frankly, just-plain-lazy-ass analysis from reporters and pundits. Yes, of course there is confusion and conflation - it's about things like credit-default swaps and derivatives and Casino Nation. Of course, there is confusion and a lot of different messages on the handmade cardboard signs. But, seriously, media folk, just go to friggin' Wikipedia if you don't get the fundamentals: "The participants of the event are mainly protesting against social and economic inequality, corporate greed, and the influence of corporate money and lobbyists on government, among other concerns. Adbusters states that, 'Beginning from one simple demand – a presidential commission to separate money from politics – we start setting the agenda for a new America.'"

There have been failed protest tactics throughout history. There have been failed protests movements. No one is arguing that this is not true. Claudette Colvin gave way to Rosa Parks. Not everyone agreed on the tactics of the Civil Rights movement OR the Vietnam War protest movement. The Bush years taught us that, as with everything, when it comes to social progress, all is PROCESS. Tactics that worked in the past won't necessarily work the same way in the future. But, despite the deliberately or not dismissive and derogatory anti-protest messages, and despite the general cynicism, and, yes, real honest critical concerns about how this will play out, about what all this IS... Despite all this. Let's say this all disappears tomorrow, through malevolently effectively forced or just natural attenuation...

These Are Things That The OWS Protesters Have Already Accomplished:

Brought together Americans from all walks of life out into the streets, no matter how much some may have tried to stereotype them.

David Shankbone

Brought the pundit and politicians apologists out of the woodwork to document exactly which side they are on and to reveal their motivations and agenda.

Paul Weiskel

Proven the viability of large-scale social media-based dissent organization here in the United States.

Paul Weiskel

Drawn out absurd, telling defensive reactions from the 1% and their obsequies servants.

Brought many citizens out of their complacency to engage others about these issues.

Expanded, starting from almost nothing with essentially no mainstream coverage at all, to dozens of communities around the country.

Reuters/Stephen Lam (San Francisco)

Created "occupations" and demonstrations that are STILL on-going and growing.

Mario Tama/Getty Images

Drawn inappropriate, overreactive and unbalanced crowd-control responses from law-enforcement, and made viral the documentation of such.

David's Camera Blog

Connected the issues of the ongoing Bush tax cuts, current tax rates, our expensive ongoing wars, attacks on unions, and the devastating and unfair medical insurance system in this country to the corrupted political/economic system in this country.

Spencer Platt/Getty Images

Demonstrated the continued (despite the shaming of the Bush war years) inbred corruption of our corporate-based mainstream media, and essentially forcing them to cover a story, however badly or "spin-fully," that they didn't really want to cover. That these organizations, indeed, do see these issues and problems as "abstract."

Made it clear to anyone who is WILLFULLY trying to understand that this is about corruption of a broken system, that the protesters want ACCOUNTABILITY, and true, meaningful, fair and lasting regulation of the lobbying and financial industries.

The Rude Pundit

Communicated to the rest of the world that not every American is fine with what Wall Street has been allowed to do to the world.

Paul Weiskel

Facilitated in many areas of U.S. discourse unavoidable discussion of the vast unprecedented inequitable transfer of wealth that has been occurring, with policy orchestration, in addition to the daily down-and-dirty corruption, over the past several generations.

Made iconic a memorable slogan: I Am The 99%.

Andrew Holbrooke/Corbis
Created an historical and now well-documented and REAL symbol of reality-based dissent for our time.

Despite all this, they just haven't done it quite right, and most certainly not perfectly, and nobody knows how it is all going to end up, and plenty still don't get it (obviously, they NEVER will, right?), and it will eventually just peter out, so they probably shouldn't be doing it at all.

Right? Sure. Ask my mom about the Vietnam War.

Why do people want SOMETHING? We haven't fixed our financial crisis, according to author Michael Lewis ("Liar's Poker," "The Big Short"), who says that Wall Street (which in recent years seems to have become, he terms, "an engine of unfairness"), where "people are paid more than anyone in the society because they supposedly know what they are doing with money" - Wall Street "orchestrates the biggest misallocation of capital, of money in the history of the world, and pay themselves an awful lot of money while they're doing it." And then were essentially bailed out of their own mistakes with taxpayer money. For people outside, "it looks like socialism for capitalists," he explains.

How do you make people aware of all this, or more aware of all this, or get a Presidential Commission, or do any of the things on the list above? At some point, it comes down to the Todd Rundgren rule: What do we do now? Something/Anything. Speaking up about this continuing egregiously flawed and essentially POLITICAL situation IN ANY ORGANIZED WAY is something important and it has been accomplished. It has begun the attempt to set an agenda for the new America, in SOME way.

It is not the job of the protesters to draft legislation.
- New York Times Op/Ed, Oct. 8, 2011

It is unfair and in fact disgusting that the American political economy is run for the benefit of a plutocracy. I don't see how that can be misunderstood.
- Todd Gitlin, Oct. 9, 2011

Let me tell what they're talking about. They're complaining about the fact the Wall Street wrecked the economy three years ago and nobody's held responsible for that. Not a single person has been indicted or convicted for destroying twenty percent of our national net worth accumulated over two centuries. They're upset about the fact that Wall Street have iron control over economic policies of this country and that one party is a wholly owned subsidiary of Wall Street and the other party caters to them as well, that's the truth of the matter...
- Alan Grayson, Oct. 7, 2011

“Why are they protesting?” ask the baffled pundits on TV. Meanwhile, the rest of the world asks: “What took you so long?” .... Let’s treat this beautiful movement as if it is most important thing in the world. Because it is.
- Naomi Klein, Oct. 6, 2011

Here, media folks and P.J. O'Rourke. Here. Go here:

http://wearethe99percent.tumblr.com

"The richest 20% of households own 85% of the wealth." - Time Magazine Cover, Oct. 10, 2011 Issue.

Would this cover have been published without the Wall Street Protests?

-I am $92,000 and rising in defaulted student loans.
-Lost financial aid during my LAST semester of my BFA (just taking electives to finish the degree)
-Now, I cannot complete my education— EVER. No Masters for me, no PhD for me. EVER.
-I’m disabled from PTDS/Depression/Major Anxiety/Agoraphobia and more- CANNOT work.
-I’m being evicted mid-November w/my 2 companion animals out onto the streets.
-I have NO family and NO ONE to take me in; my social worker never even called me back!
-My blood pressure was158 over 106- HIGH.
-I don’t earn enough from Soc. Sec. Disability (750/mo. and $48 in food stamps/mo.) to even rent a room anywhere.
-I wish I were dead.

I am the 99 percent.