Occupy Movement Could Learn Lesson About Having A Rudder
Last night on the phone I had a conversation about the efficacy of the Occupy movement. I think some serious blunders have been made to promote a message, tone, and image for the nation by people who seem determined to be heard. What they have to say within this movement, and what they want done seems far from clear to me.
Then today I read an article about the proposed Keystone XL oil pipeline. While many know this to be troubling idea for environmental reasons, the larger point to the story was that a concerted effort by people who have a mission can make a difference.
Meanwhile the Occupy movement seems like a boat without a rudder.
Yet the Occupy movement could do worse than to learn from the pipeline protest. The difference between the focussed, agenda-driven campaign fought by the environmentalists and the free-form, leaderless one waged by the Occupiers, the historian Michael Kazin says, is that the environmentalists grasped the famous point made by Dr. King’s political forebear, Frederick Douglass: “Power concedes nothing without a demand. It never did and it never will.”
Thank you, Ferrell, for the extensive list of links, from what I have had time to look at (while busy with family and the holiday) I still only see accusations. If any of it is true, I do hope that the victims come forward, so that the accused can be fully prosecuted, unlike has often happened when sexual assault of children has occurred within the Catholic Church thousands of times, (or to be specific, like when David Prosser refused to prosecute). I do not condone sexual assault or harassment be it within an Occupy movement camp, the showers of Penn State, the Catholic Church, or anywhere else. I have to assume that since you apparently reject or ignore the important message (about corporate greed destroying our nation), being made by the Occupy Wall Street movement because of accusations about rape within it’s midst, then you definitely reject the teachings of Christianity and/or Judaism, as many clergymen have committed acts of sexual assault, especially within the Catholic Church, an institution/movement full of acts of sexual assualt — and, worse yet, mostly against innocent children.
CommonCents: Please let me help you out with your proof and documentation issue…
http://bigjournalism.com/jjmnolte/2011/10/28/occupywallstreet-the-rap-sheet-so-far/
At 329 incidents and counting…
I am also glad the the Occupy movement has brought forth discussion about our corrupt financial situation, something that Kevin Phillips has been warning about for years. As to Ferrell’s accusations, I have yet to see any proof or documentation of these claims. I have, however, seen video of actual undue violence against the protesters.
It is true that the movement really could use a rudder, but I suspect perhaps that the problem there is the fact that the problems are so much larger than “Stop The Pipeline”!
It really just isn’t that simple.
That does not mean that things are ok. They’re not ok at all and I am grateful that we are finally talking about it.
It is very easy if you happen to be lucky enough to be secure in your life to point fingers and name-call, but that won’t solve problems either. At least the protesters are doing something.
I don’t think that this movement is going to change the world all at once, but it is the beginning of extremely necessary and long-needed awareness.
Things aren’t working and the way I see it, we have to acknowledge the problems before we can have a chance of creating solutions. The Occupy Movement has at least helped us to do that.
I am waiting to hear more before I accept that this is a truthful movement. When I heard that some were paid to protest, I became disillusioned. I was an initial supporter but I have withdrawn my support now.
I will say that in just two months, this Occupy group has changed the conversation in America to inequality. However, I am not convinced that Wall Street is the root problem. Oh, it is easy to say that it is but Wall Street is not nearly the issue as the Love of Wall Street is.
And both Dems and Repubs cater to the Street…NAFTA, FMA, etc.
I think that those who say that “the business of America is business” may be more of a contributor to the economic conditions then a multinational corporation.
The drivers of business profits are lower costs. One of those costs is labor. Your labor and mine. The productivity improvements since the invention of the computer is as much of a contributor to reducing job opportunities as outsourcing to China. In fact, the computer allows less skilled labor to perform tasks in many cases.
Their “Rudder” problem is inconsequential in comparison to at the least 2 deaths, numerous rapes, arson, and destruction of property and drug abuse to name a few problems that the Occupy Bowel Movement has perpetrated.
A couple of years ago Chris Matthews took the Lord’s name in vain and just about had a bowel movement on the air when someone brought a gun to a Tea Party demonstration. Right now the lamestream media continues to romanticize the Occupy Movement as thought they are fighting for what Americans want when in fact they only fight for their selfish, neo-hippie, Big Government take me over ways.
The Breitbart sites report 320 incidents at Occupy Rallies as of this morning that if ONE of these things happened at a Tea Party Rally there would be calls by the Lamestream Media to have all Tea Partiers Executed and their remains thrown in a deep hole.
Now if they could just figure out what it is they want – and then with logic and not emotion, make a case for whatever that turns out to be.