Love the idea, I’d be there too if not for a family to take care of. Still, I do wonder how many of them are serious protestors, which is needed, or just college kids and Burning Man refugees who are just out for the thrill of pepper spray and orange nets?
If the latter, this movement won’t last. But I’m not there so it’s difficult to know how many are serious protestors and who are essentially party-goers.
Indeed well-organized. I agree there. And it’s hitting mainstream news, which is a huge success.
I believe last count was what, 2-3000 people with almost 800 arrests. In a city as big as NYC and as many people in it, I’d like to see this match the numbers for the tuition protests of the UK back in December. I believe the marches on Millbank and whatever reached 50,000. I’d like to see at least 25,000 in NYC going at it plus at least 10,000 each in at least 4 other major cities.
Now that we’re coming up on a month of OWS, I honestly have doubts that this will work.
Don’t get me wrong, I want this to succeed wildly, but success is only defined as getting corporate money out of Washington and I don’t see signs of that changing. I wonder also just how serious these protestors are. I saw Democracy Now! the other day and Amy Goodman was interviewing a few people. No doubt many of those there are serious, but I’m not sure how many because I also saw a lot of people playing bongos and guitars, eating organic foods and essentially acting like it’s just a big bohemian soirée to them. They had olympian John Carlos there, which was great but I wonder if he was there just to pimp his book.
I only say this comparing this movement to one that actually got crap done: Arab Spring. Unlike OWS (so far) and that of the UK in December, the Arab Spring actually overthrew the country’s leaders. It took people dying to get it done, but it got done and that’s because there was absolutely no one that wasn’t serious about it. I don’t think Obama or any other national leaders are quaking in their boots right now. And for this to be taken seriously, I think that unfortunately means there must be property destruction and retaliation against what clearly is a brutish police. I’m seeing people who are protesting and stuff, but not a lot of pissed-off-ness.
It’s like something I read in the Guardian, someone from Winston Salem NC e-mailed them with his thoughts on the OWS movement in WS:
I’m getting involved with the Occupy Winston Salem in North Carolina. My greatest fear for this movement is that it will be hijacked by the Unions and the Democratic Party. This is what happened to the Tea Party when it was hijacked by the GOP and look what happened.
I think we need to stay away from both parties and become a middle-of-the-road movement. Yes, we are the 99%, but we are also the middle 80%!
We need to remain outside of the career politicians control and influence!
I agree with this sentiment. If OWS doesn’t get unified all over the country in agenda terms and plans of real action, this will fail. I want it to succeed but the way it looks after almost a month I’m not confident. And if the Democrats get their hooks into it, it’s a certainty that it’ll fail.
Honestly I haven’t followed this that much other than seeing a drive by on the news about it.
I love the idea of it. I think the longer it goes, the better chance of it making change. I wish some of the Dem’s big money people would get involved in this like Fox News and the Koch brothers did for the Tea Party.
I too think the longer it goes, the more serious it’ll be taken. However I do NOT want the Democrats getting their hands into it. They’re center right if anything and they’ll only dilute this movement’s potential. They are not liberal enough as a party to warrant their alliance.
It seems to me that protesting in Washington DC and Congressional District Offices, Senators Offices would be the more proper place to conduct a protest. The Legistaltors and President are the people that pass laws. “Wall Street” is laughing at these people. Transactions are done electronically and they aren’t really affetcing those who they are protesting. A protest that goes too long could end up as a negative to the protests. They got their message out and need to move on.
Everyone initially was all for the war after 911, but after 10 years most people are sick of it and want it to end. Same thing with the OWS. Perfectly fine protest, but if it drags, it will lose what it was hoping to achieve because the more you see people on TV unable to articulate a list of specific goals to achieve, the public will tun on them.
I have 2 cousins that were in NYC last weekend and took part. And they aren’t hippy dope smoking drum players. One is the RNC chair in a Northern Va county. If you think all these people are misguided hippies, playing drums etc your wrong. Sure, there are those, but there are also bankers, doctors, cops, military people… in other words, these are Americans protesting big banks, Wall Street and how they have taken over our politics.
My work has had me busy and I haven’t followed the same ole same political talk slamming all things Obama because it’s to obvious what your going to hear and from who. But the past couple of days I’ve watched and read about this and I love it. More importantly, true republicans, real ones, they are into it too.
Get out the popcorn…. this is going to be fun to watch us take our country back.
