Dissecting OWS: A View From a Liberal Texan Living In A Conservative City
The day was September 17, 2011. It was a normal day for me. So normal, in fact, that I cannot even remember what I was doing that day. It was a typical day at the end of a typical workweek. I was probably nursing a hangover from the Friday night before- I do live in a college town, after all.
What I hadn’t been aware of was the start of a rather interesting protest situation occurring on Wall Street in New York aimed at raising awareness of the greed in corporate America. Or was it for the end of the “military industrial complex”? Or for redistribution of wealth? Or for healthcare, or jobs, or one of 100 different reasons that cause people to assemble and yell and point signs at no one in particular.
The point is, four months into the protest I still don’t know if there is a single goal, or if it is an amalgam of ambitious goals.
But don’t let that confuse you into believing that I am particularly against the protesters. They are all championing a noble cause, even if it is forlorn and fruitless. I’m positive that I agree with at least 50% of the messages emanating from the group(s).
For those of you who don’t know, let me parlay some college proclivity and summon the best of my Wikipedia abilities:
“Occupy Wall Street (OWS) is a protest movement which began September 17, 2011 in Zuccotti Park, located in New York City's Wall Street financial district, initiated by the Canadian activist group Adbusters. The protests are against social and economic inequality, high unemployment, greed, as well as corruption, and the undue influence of corporations—particularly from the financial services sector—on government. The protesters' slogan ‘We are the 99%’ refers to the growing income and wealth inequality in the U.S. between the wealthiest 1% and the rest of the population. The protests in New York City have sparked similar Occupy protests and movements around the world.”
There it is, shamelessly lifted straight off the OWS entry in Wikipedia.
OWS, in recent days, has sparked a kind of pop-culture “stick it to the man” slang among America’s youth and disillusioned older citizens, particularly the ones who reside in the economic grey area between employment and government entitlement programs. OWS is part of the American lexicon now, and ‘99%’ means more than what is printed on hand sanitizing lotion labels.
What interests me is how the protests (I refuse to call it a movement just yet. More on that below) have fortuitously highlighted the multifarious spectrum of human behavior, especially when we feel we are being hamstrung by the fiscal elite.
Folks in New York initially staged their best homeless impressions on office steps before evolving into the more traditional protest alacrity by taking to the streets to march, chant slogans, and get arrested. Really, really arrested.
Oakland residents commandeered a plaza downtown and immediately got down to the essence of civil uprising, at least as far as they could until the California riots-tempered hammer came down. Then, in true foot-in-mouth fashion, the Mayor whipped out an epic about-face the next day- only to complete the full twirl a few days later.
Austin residents do what Austin citizens do: devise truly imaginative epithets while engaging in what can only be described as jamming the fuck out.
Denver occupiers “Tebowed” in solemn reflectivity and then fucking set shit aflame.
Seattle protesters quietly and politely returned to Starbucks to plot revenge after being evicted from their overnight base camp.
And Lubbock protesters had a barbecue, I guess. I can’t even believe citizens of one of the more economically sound towns in America would organize in protest. Maybe they did in solidarity with the original group- but even still; there isn’t a television camera within miles of this flat swath of West Texas, and our college daily has a farther-reaching audience.
Similar stories are occurring all over America (and, apparently, the world) and all invariably end in the tragic tale of someone (or many “some ones”) arrested, marches broken up, camps cleared and innocents pepper-sprayed. And for what- just more protests?
For a movement to take hold, it really needs to grasp the hearts of the people it is trying to inspire. From my own observation (and I’ll be the first to admit that my only real exposure is through the national media and “occupiers” in my hometown) the message is disparate and obstinate. I get the impression that the participants in my city are just out for a reason to camp somewhere in public. It’s evident in their elaborate and beautifully crafted signage. I’m not alone. My feelings are the same as everyone’s around me. It’s pervasive.
Four months in and it is apparent that their tactics just are not working. Don’t get me wrong, I really want this protest to coalesce into a viable movement and affect change in this country, I honestly do. I also belong to your 99%.
But it’s getting harder for a regular guy like me to identify with the OWS discourse. Like an innocent game of backyard wrestling that ended in a fight, their affairs are starting to appear puerile and crude- almost as if the crowds are purposefully and willfully antagonizing the police into a massive detainment bonanza in an ostentatious effort to revitalize OWS’ relevancy.
It certainly doesn’t need to be this way. The OWS crowd is as diverse and intelligent as they are ardent and thirsty, and I’ll bet there are some very bright men and women of conscience among its ranks. It is time to deploy their assets and start working the system to their benefit (an ultimately ours) by inciting unity amongst the American people- its combined, collective voice is its strongest policy-shaping weapon. Begin now to combat the permeating flippant depiction and strengthen the OWS image to the masses.
Make no mistake, occupiers- you are at war, and winning the hearts and minds of the people is just as important in this campaign as in any.
But I’m just some guy in Texas. What do I know?
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