dagblog - Comments for "From Occupying Wall Street to Changing the World"

Of course they are going to

Elusive Trope — Sun, 20 Nov 2011 16:15:37 +0000

Of course they are going to push back. As they always have. It is nice to have the evidence, but it doesn't really change the view of what we thought the way things were. So what next?

Take a look at

A Guy Called LULU — Sun, 20 Nov 2011 15:50:37 +0000

In reply to From Occupying Wall Street to Changing the World

Take a look at this.

http://www.washingtonmonthly.com/political-animal/2011_11/a_peek_behind_...

You're preaching to the

Verified Atheist — Sun, 20 Nov 2011 15:16:50 +0000

In reply to what you say is true, but the

You're preaching to the choir!

Except… I like to emphasize voting every year, not just every two years. Also, voting in primary elections is very important, and again, not just every four years.

what you say is true, but the

Barth — Sun, 20 Nov 2011 14:51:37 +0000

In reply to It was awfully disheartening

what you say is true, but the change people want will only come when people vote every two years. The Congress elected in 2010 has not been, ummmm, helpful.

It was awfully disheartening

Verified Atheist — Sun, 20 Nov 2011 13:16:57 +0000

In reply to It was awfully disheartening

It was awfully disheartening when all the people who demanded change in 2008, decided that if their dreams could not be realized in two years, voting was no longer worthwhile and stayed home, with disastrous consequences...

I wouldn't read too much into the 2010 elections. Historically, there's always been less of a turnout for non-presidential elections, and it seems to me (i.e., I have nothing to back this up with) that this is especially true for Democratic voters.

It was awfully disheartening

Richard Day — Sun, 20 Nov 2011 05:01:58 +0000

In reply to From Occupying Wall Street to Changing the World

It was awfully disheartening when all the people who demanded change in 2008, decided that if their dreams could not be realized in two years, voting was no longer worthwhile and stayed home, with disastrous consequences...

The repubs in Maine and Ohio and Wisconsin and elsewhere told everyone what they were going to do; and once sworn in they did so.

I am heartened by these recall elections as well as the referendums that failed to pass all the way from Ohio to Mississippi.

I do not really know what Obama was supposed to have done, honestly.

And as I have written several times, Pelosi could not have performed better in her important position as Speaker. All whilst the Senate pulled its pudd! ha

But I take heart that our President has stayed in the mid forties to the upper forties this entire year while Mitt can barely reach the mid twenties among repubs!

I am sick about the open graft in Congress, the bribery by WS and the kowtowing to WS.

Oh that's enough for tonite. hahaha

Thanks. well put. I hope

Barth — Sun, 20 Nov 2011 02:51:08 +0000

In reply to The approaches are

Thanks. well put. I hope you are right.

The approaches are

Dan Kervick — Sun, 20 Nov 2011 01:59:42 +0000

In reply to From Occupying Wall Street to Changing the World

The approaches are complementary. People can support the occupation movement and also vote for Elizabeth Warren next November.

In between the times when the participants in OWS are engaging in a focused demonstration or action, designed to send some very specific message, there will be a lot of down time when they are just living in encampments and sending no other message than "We are not going away."

Their behavior might not always be exemplary during those down times. The erratic behavior in itself is disruptive and frightening. But that's part of the message.

Visit the web sites of the various occupations around the country. Almost every one of them is engaged in an action designed to put direct pressure on elected officials and promote some specific government action. It's not all an anarchic free-for-all.

The change through the elected political system starts locally. In NYC, for example, some city councilmen have been arrested or harassed because of their direct participation in the movement. I suspect a lot of young people will have their backs when the time comes to vote in November. They won't vote for everyone, but they will vote for the stand-up supporters.

It will take longer for national leaders and higher-level elected officials to figure out how to navigate the change.

The occupiers are young. They haven't read everything you have. They are figuring it out as they go along. Have some patience.

The fact that you are annoyed and irritable means it is working. The fact that I am annoyed and irritable means it's working. The point of the movement isn't to create universal warm fuzzies. The point is to throw a disruptive monkey wrench into the smooth operations of a failed system.

The fact that this uprising is occurring is an index of the massive failure of the political system. The fact that the participants in the movement don't all have very clear ideas about what kind of social changes they are seeking is a further representation of that failure.

College students are now participating on a national scale. The demands will become more articulate.

It's a big mess. The near future will likely be much messier than the recent past.