Back to the basements
The dream is over. Bloomberg finally pulled the plug on Occupy. His remarks are interesting:
"Protestors have had two months to occupy the park with tents and sleeping bags," the mayor said. "Now they will have to occupy the space with the power of their arguments."
But their arguments don't stand up on their own. They need props. This is why there are no really successful liberal talk radio shows while there are many conservative ones. Liberals rely on images and theatrics to communicate their message. They have to go through all this "occupying" drama to make a point. Which is... what? Rich people won't share their money with poor people? It's unfair that banks got bailed out? White collar criminals should go to jail? We should have a Marxist revolution? Regardless of the value of any of these messages, why is a tent and sleeping bag a good way to communicate them?
Don't be too quick on calling OWS over, Pauli. They've already gotten a temporary restraining order from a lefty judge, and they're fighting to get back in.
ReplyDeleteAs far as the rich sharing with the poor, their optics are not too good with that, considering their attitudes about not wanting the homeless sharing "their" stuff. Even though a lot of the largesse has been donated by others.
Now for the bad news: even if OWS is over, sufficient time will pass prior to next year's election for the icky details about rapes, murders, etc. to fade away. That will let the media and the Dems reconstruct OWS as a pure and innocent Movement of the People, of which Obama is the spiritual leader in the class struggle. There are lots of fools who will swallow that story.
ReplyDeleteRegardless of the value of any of these messages, why is a tent and sleeping bag a good way to communicate them?
ReplyDeleteThat's what I've been wondering all along. How on earth does a giant camp-out accomplish ANYTHING? (Except to spread STDs and TB.) I don't get it.
considering their attitudes about not wanting the homeless sharing "their" stuff. Even though a lot of the largesse has been donated by others.
ReplyDeleteSo many ironies, so little time!
Tents and sleeping bags signify commitment at the creature discomfort level.
ReplyDeleteAnd yes, the fact that no one can say just what it's a commitment to works in the favor of opponents of opponents of OWS. Weeks back, one of the NYT columnists wrote to the effect that, though the protesters couldn't quite articulate what they want, we all know what they mean, and now it's up to us to go and fix things -- and what regular reader of NYT columnists could disagree? We owe it to these protesters to honor their commitment by implementing what we want.
(There's also been a certain amount of projection from opponents of OWS; the protesters can't both not know what they want and all want to overthrow the government at the same time.)
They don't want to overthrow the government. They want to overthrow everything else.
ReplyDeleteI'm guessing that few of the OWS "thinkers" would want to live under a government with the power that they are clamoring for the government to have.
ReplyDeleteFunny thing about Utopia is that nobody really wants to live there. John Lennon wrote "Imagine" but lived on the Upper West Side.
pikkumatti, the OWSers don't want to live under a government that has that much power. They want to be in charge of that government. The useless degrees from universities with all the "right" names didn't get them the cushy path to Easy Street that they imagined they would.
ReplyDeleteAlso, what do you think of the claim that OWS was just a warm-up for next summer?
You're right, Barb, this phony movement is driven by those who want to be in charge of such a government. Clue #1 of that is that their main beef is 3 years old -- the bailouts happened in late 2008 to early 2009. Makes me think the whole thing is drummed up for timing's sake.
ReplyDeleteThe OWS sheep following those Pied Pipers (mixed allusion, I know) are simply the useful idiots who haven't thought it through.
I wonder whether the plan is to continue it through next summer. Seems a risky bargain to me -- so I'm sticking with my guess (comment 2) that the plan is to let time pass so that OWS takes on its romantic allure for the election, having lost its nasty little details along the way.