"Occupy Wall Street has already won."

[WilliamPitt]

http://www.slate.com/articles/news_and_politics/the_best_policy/2011/10/occupy_wall_street_s_victory_it_has_shaken_up_american_politics_.html

:toast:

[mod mom]

1. Written by Eliot Spitzer! rec'd

[malaise]

2. MUST READ

Occupy Wall Street has already won, perhaps not the victory most of its participants want, but a momentous victory nonetheless. It has already altered our political debate, changed the agenda, shifted the discussion in newspapers, on cable TV, and even around the water cooler. And that is wonderful.

Suddenly, the issues of equity, fairness, justice, income distribution, and accountability for the economic cataclysm–issues all but ignored for a generation—are front and center. We have moved beyond the one-dimensional conversation about how much and where to cut the deficit. Questions more central to the social fabric of our nation have returned to the heart of the political debate. By forcing this new discussion, OWS has made most of the other participants in our politics—who either didn’t want to have this conversation or weren’t able to make it happen—look pretty small.

Rec

[OneGrassRoot]

3. K&R! n/t

[EFerrari]

4. Logical consequences. I think it was over right here.

:)

[texpatriot2004]

20. Hey thanks for posting this pic. It has been on my mind since

I heard about the OWS protests. Very interesting.

[EFerrari]

23. Imo, there are images that can change the world.

:)

[certainot]

5. with enough time 1000 ignored think tank-coordinated radio stations and a corp media can fix that

[Bragi]

6. This guy should run for State Governor!

Oh, nevermind.

[kentuck]

7. Not until actual changes happen...

Wall Street will go back to business as usual if nothing is done. As will the politicians.

[mmonk]

16. +1

[Tuesday Afternoon]

18. yep. we have just begun. It ain't over by a long shot. n/t

[joshcryer]

8. No, being on the high info news media for a week or a half week is not a win.

It'll be a win when they actually affect the change that they want. Progressive tax code, single payer, stuff like that. Until then it is still a movement that needs to continue protesting.

[Bozita]

9. Morning Joe couldn't go more than 10 minutes without talking OWS

[EFerrari]

11. Sweet.

[Bonhomme Richard]

13. +1. They haven't won anything yet other than reluctant coverage...

from the media and reluctant pandering by some politicians. They will have won something if we get some real changes in whom the government really works for.
I have faith that they will change things for all of us.

[TBF]

10. Well I wouldn't say they've won the war -

but to get folks talking about class is very important. That is a start for sure.

[socialist_n_TN]

19. Yep. This point IS the main victory to this point

Even a miniscule raising of class consciousness in this country is a victory. Not a big one, but a victory nonetheless. As as I've said all along, just making the BASIC Marxist connection of economics, politics, and power is a positiive.

[myrna minx]

12. Thank you Mr Spitzer.

:patriot:

[Raksha]

14. K & R - great article. n/t

[salinen]

15. And

maybe some people learned how to make signs, pull permits, camp out, speak up, learn things, congregate, use the bus, be spontaneous, clean a park, be civic minded, and practice civil disobedience.

[mmonk]

17. The key I think:

"Could it launch a citizen petition demanding that a Paul Krugman, Joseph Stiglitz, or Paul Volcker be brought into government as a counterweight to or replacement for the establishment voice of Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner? Maybe. Could OWS demand meetings with top—government officials? Could it demand answers to tough questions—from the specific (explain the government’s conflicting statements about the AIG-Goldman bailout) to the more theoretical (why “moral hazard” is a reason to limit government aid only cited when the beneficiaries would be everyday citizens)?"



"There is much ground to cover before real reform, but as a voice challenging a self-satisfied, well-protected status quo, OWS is already powerful and successful."

[donheld]

21. night time kick

[Douglas Carpenter]

22. EXACTLY!! They have put economic justice and distribution of wealth back into mainstream discussion

again - after at least 30 years of only existing on the margins and fringes of respectable opinion. That is a start!!

[lunatica]

24. They've revived hope & excitement in the hearts of the 99%

That is what will make it a victory. No message or anything else can survive without the total support of the people they speak for. And to get that support they must be the people.