Overnight, the police cleared out Zuccotti Park while the city hosed it down and threw everything left behind into a big pile. The word is that the protestors will allowed back, but without tents and sleeping bags, meaning that they’re not going to let them recreate their tent village.
The police ringed the park and set up bright klieg lights, and protesters emerged bewildered out of their tents. Some blew whistles, others urged calm and still others warned each other: “It’s happening.”
It must have been anticipated that this would eventually happen, though the details weren’t clear. It’s certainly better for the protestors to have the police do the dirty work than to have people simply drift away as the chill became too much to bear. No one wants to go out with the whimper.
So far, everybody is playing their assigned roles, and right on cue. The only question is who has the rest of the script. What’s the next scene? Where does it go now?
The drama over the past month has been mostly about skirmishes between police and protestors, here and elsewhere (with Oakland being a particular flashpoint, given the ham-handed handling by boy with clubs). What is has not been about is ideas to change things that muster widespread, or grassroot, support.
Aside from some sloganeering, such as “We are the 99%,” there hasn’t been much to grab hold of, and as self-interested groups have sought to co-opt the movement, it’s become a mash of idealistic and self-serving concepts that made for a lousy and confusing fit. The only thing everyone seemed to agree upon was that they were angry. Anger isn’t enough to muster the support of the masses.
Some want to crank it up to eleven. Some want their $5000 computer back. Some will go home and some will try to come up with a new plan because they don’t want to give up. Ironically, the communities were quickly becoming a microcosm of the society they protested, with issues of theft and sexual assault to deal with. How long before they developed their own police force, and then their own court system?
It’s inconceivable that Mayor Bloomberg will allow this group to reconstitute itself, whether at Zuccotti Park or elsewhere. They had their fun, but now it’s time to get back to business. Cries for this to be the start of revolution, with resort to violence as the only real alternative, aren’t going to turn this into a real movement. Movements require purpose, and that’s the thing they’ve never been able to find.
In one sense, it’s unfortunate that what started in Zuccotti Park never found traction beyond manifesting the anger and frustration. A quick glance at the candidates for president makes clear that they offer neither hope nor audacity. I can’t shake the image of knock-down clown dolls at a carnival booth. Or wonder whose hand reaches from behind to make their mouths move.
In a completely unrelated post, Nathan Burney wrote about the lie that we can all #occupy the corner office, enjoying the “cushy” job so that we never have to get our hands dirty emptying other people’s garbage cans or putting the fuel injectors on cars with Japanese names. To achieve this American dream, we’ve had to dumb down the criteria to match the sad reality that not everyone is necessarily up to snuff.
And as we lowered expectations so that no challenged youngster found it too difficult or unreachable, as we devalued education while doubling its price, we found that good intentions left us with many unanticipated problems:
A well-educated citizenry is an absolute must in any modern society. Citizens who can manage their own families, run their own localities, elect the right people to manage governmental affairs, understand what their government is doing and hold it properly accountable, run their businesses and build prosperity. These things do not come to those who were not taught the basics, who were coddled and rewarded for mediocrity, and who are left unprepared to succeed once they’ve acquired their diploma.
We may be the most interconnected people ever, thanks to the internet, with the greatest access to knowledge ever. But we are not turning out enough adults with the wherewithal to take proper advantage of it.
We have tons of college graduates, but too few educated people.
Some of them have been living in tents at Zuccotti Park for the past couple of months. That they weren’t sitting in their parents basement, munching on Cheetos while wondering why they had no jobs is to their credit. That they thought sitting in tents in the cold without a solution to their problems was going to change things, make very real problems disappear, was rather pointless. Where will they go now?
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The whole point was to express anger and frustration. There’s a large population of people who feel that their interests aren’t represented in Washington, and they’re sending the message that they’re not going to accept that any more.
It’s similar to the Tea Party in that respect. The Tea Party was formed largely because fiscal conservatives didn’t feel represented within the Republican Party. The difference with OWS is that it’s expressing frustration with the entire two party system and how those parties interact with big businesses.
As for what will happen after Occupy, wait until Thursday. Odds are clearing the park will make the demonstrations even bigger.
I’m betting that you can’t see that your reaction is half an idea that goes nowhere. Let’s assume you are absolutely correct and Thursday’s protest is huge. HUGE!
And now everyone knows you’re angry and frustrated, and you’re not going to take it anymore. Or else!
Then what?
TO BL1Y,
There was/is no movement. I walked past this OWS “movement” every day for the past 2 months, as I live and work one block away. These weren’t concerned soccer moms and out of work dads. You had kids that were 16, that knew nothing of working or making ends meet. Anarchists who have absolutely no agenda at all (by definition.) And recently, its gotten a bit, shall we say, seedy. Not the types you want around. Certainly not the types you want to sleep next to. If, during the 5 or so times I stopped there to talk, one of the people I spoke with could even state the name of their representative, maybe I would have been a little bit more impressed. But no one could. Because it’s easy to say the system is broken over and over again, and then eat, sleep, and wake up to say the system is broken over and over again. Because it would require some level of co-operation and leadership to espouse some solutions. Because this wasn’t a movement with grievances or a plan. It was a band of people, all screaming together at the same time, but saying absolutely nothing at all. They wont shut down the NYSE on Thursday, nor any day after. I guarantee you that. And I’m happy for it. Because most of the people that work at NYSE are good, hardworking people. They don’t make millions. And even if they did, maybe they earned it. Sounds crazy, I know. And for every single local business (and I know manu) and resident down here who suffered because of a glorified sit in, I applaud their ouster. They have a good message, but put into practice or stop screaming.
To achieve this American dream, we’ve had to dumb down the criteria to match the sad reality that not everyone is necessarily up to snuff.
Wow, aren’t you’re the Meanie for insisting on telling it like it is?
Then what? Who knows. The movement isn’t even quite two months old yet. It’s not surprising that there isn’t a concrete plan in place. It’s a cultural movement, not a political party.
If you count the Treaty of Paris as the end of the American Revolution, the whole thing took 12 years. If you count the Treaty of Ghent as the end, it took 42 years. These things take time.
Yup. Meanie. That’s me.
Yeah, and you’re Publius. It’s not about time but purpose. If you have no purpose, it takes no time at all to accomplish. Things with purposes take longer.
Breaking the hold that big banks and other giant corporations have on Washington isn’t a purpose?
Is it? Or is it a vague slogan that conjures up Utopian images in the minds of the idealistic and fashion-forward tin foil hat wearers who don’t understand that a purpose is a discrete objective to be accomplished through clear and definable means?
Or maybe the purpose of #OWS is to bring about world peace and harmony?
May I quote the sage philosopher:
“If you don’t know where you’re going, you will wind up someplace else.” — Yogi Berra
And what exactly are you ‘working stiff’s’ working for? Seeing something wrong and trying to fix it. Seeing that the country is has left a large majority of its citizenry in favour of a minority and trying to find a solution. No, you did not do that.
You found yourself in the middle of a race and closer to the leaders than the people at the back so made quick calculation that it would be easier to run in front than get jostled at the back. That is understandable.
But don’t marginalize the people that are trying. Just because you can’t see a purpose doesn’t mean there isn’t one. There is definitely a purpose, you are just looking at it with the wrong scale.
And there are no $5000 computers. There has never been any for at least a decade.
This is the problem. Words. They sound kinda nice. They can be interpreted by readers to meet generic complaints. But to what end?
You say “there is definitely a purpose,” but neglect to say what that might be. There isn’t a purpose because you ask questions or have beefs. Lots of people agree that there are big problems, devastating problems, but they don’t agree at all about how to fix them. Except for the nutjobs and morons, who see simple answers in every vague platitude.
As for $5000 computers, don’t tell Nan Terrie she got ripped off. She probably feels bad enough already.