Point Made: Occupation Over; Where Should OWS Go from Here?
Last night, New York City government, and more directly, Mayor Bloomberg, re-asserted civil authority over Zuccotti Park that was effectively annexed by the Occupy Wall Street (“OWS”) gang. Walking by the dozens of police officers this morning on my way to work (I am part of the true 99%), I must admit that I felt a tremendous sense of relief.
I have been highly critical of the listless, wanderlust of OWS. I interviewed the OWS crowd for over 2 hours a few weeks ago. When asking them of the movement’s goal and what occurs after such goal may be achieved, the responses ranged from the disjointed (on to the next cause!) to the irrelevant (do away with money).
This is not to say that I disagreed with them on everything. Corporate welfare, to the extent they know what that is beyond a mere jingo, is something that they claimed to be against and whether by well thought-out analysis or mere luck, they stumbled into the truth on such matter.
But as with almost anything, even the truth, you can only say it for so long and so much before its intrinsic value gets lost in mindless repetition (“E = MC²” said once, twice or a dozen times has a nice ring and makes one think; after that, it is nothing more than rote echo). This is what happened with OWS, at least in the New York City financial district.
After initial contempt by many, OWS caught both the understanding and sympathy of many of the “true 99%” who were not protesting but shared the same concerns as the crew of OWS. But of recent, the movement, which was intended to be a means, became the ends. A tent city sprouted and, putting aside the problematic criminal element that infiltrated the park, there became a sense of permanence to an encampment where the only permanence that should have existed was with the policy debates. Even 1960s sit-ins over weightier matters ended far quicker.
So where should OWS go from here?
Realizing that such crowd would not listen to someone of my opinion, but nonetheless sharing some of their views and admiring the civic role they are taking, I would hope that their cause continues in a less cantankerous manner. To wit, organize and meet via the web, issue more robust and thought-out policy positions, and push candidates for office, especially as we enter a major election year, to consider the issues OWS is raising.
Finally, it is premature to assume that OWS will quietly stop its occupation at Zuccotti Park or elsewhere. Early on in the movement, they tried trespassing a building near their encampment at least in part to get arrested and draw attention and sympathy to their cause. Lawrence O’Donnell on MSNBC, amongst others, recklessly tried to whip up anti-police sentiment and support for OWS over such incident. Such is an implicit concession of the weakness of their cause. Let us hope that they do not try to rabble rouse and do see the strength of much of their cause and put their energies to good, constructive use, in the spirit of that other great civil disobeyer, Henry David Thoreau.
-I.M. Windee
