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The Spectacle Blog
Just a quick note on the Occupy Wall Street movement that is (or isn’t) gaining steam.
A number of outlets (including new media created by the Occupy Wall Street folks themselves) have reported that many members of the movement hope that it can generate a political and cultural impact similar to the Tea Party’s.
What separates the Tea Party from other grassroots movements is simply its demographics. While the Tea Party comprises many different age and socioeconomic groups, its defining characteristic seems to be the number of middle-aged, middle-class people involved for no obviously self-interested motives.
When young people demonstrate or riot, it’s not such a big deal. They don’t have many responsibilities, and they aren’t very engaged in politics. So when a bunch of 20-somethings with nothing to lose show up at the G-20, or hundreds of buses of students flood into D.C. for the March for Life, it’s routine. The same goes for rallies in which the participants clearly have some something to gain, for instance the regular huge pro-immigration rallies here in D.C. or the fairly large marijuana legalization events in a number of cities.
It’s much harder to rally people who have families, jobs, etc., and for whom the status quo, broadly is working well. The Tea Party seems to be skewed toward that kind of participant.
Judging by photos of Occupy Wall Street activists, the movement, for now at least, appears to be closer to the “rebellious youth” model of protest than the “fed-up citizenry” feel of the Tea Party. We’ll see where it goes from here.
View all comments (20) | Leave a comment
More Blog Posts by Joseph Lawler
http://spectator.org/blog/2011/10/03/occupy-wall-street
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David W| 10.3.11 @ 5:59PM
Maybe they can occupy a Freaking Full Time Job for a change!!!!!!!!!
Con Chef (NB) | 10.3.11 @ 10:11PM
Nah. Why would they do THAT? Not when they have dreams of looting the "stolen" assets of "the evil rich."
Lullabys, Legends and Lies| 10.3.11 @ 6:05PM
The Occupy Wall Street crowd doesn't have to start a new version of the Tea Party, the Left's already started one (remember?). Why don't they just join the Coffee Party, or the political trend setting movement No Labels? Now there's two Political movements that are just sweeping across the Nation like a bad sexually transmitted disease, like this Occupy Wall Street group will as well (I'm sure?)!!
And talk about winning over new friends to your movement, shutting down the Brooklyn Bridge to a bunch of people just trying to get to work, to Truck Drivers making deliveries, to Tourists trying to get into Manhattan, or to people just trying to go shopping downtown. Now that's the way to win the folks over, get them stuck in New York City traffic for hours!! Greg Gutfeld just said on the Five, that more people were arrested on the Brooklyn Bridge the other day, than all the Tea Party events across the Nation since 2009, combined!! He was right!! The Tea Party is made up of law abiding, taxpaying, hard working Citizens, who aren't out there to get arrested, they're out there to help save our Country from imploding upon itself, due to the policies of the Left that were started long, long ago. This Occupy Wall Street crowd, is no Tea Party!! A bunch of Losers is more like it!!
Rust Belt Ronnie| 10.3.11 @ 6:37PM
We have a 60 year old liberal local talk show host here in upstate PA who plans to go and demonstrate. He is trying to recruit other geezers who never got emotionally or intellectually out of the 1960's to go with him.
JimH| 10.4.11 @ 7:59AM
Just have to amke bail in time for the early bird special.
JimH| 10.4.11 @ 7:59AM
sorry - make
Fast Johnny| 10.3.11 @ 6:42PM
Yeah, I was also looking at the footage and pics of the Occupado on Wall Street and came to the same conclusion: the demographic look like young, unkempt and, dare I say it, entitled. I mean even when I was that age I didn't have time to be hanging around shouting slogans and being mad at the 'oppressors', and then I grew up, got a job (it was a recession then too) and eventually started a family. How do these kids pay for their soy lattes, cell ohones and european male purses?Cause they sure aren't working or looking for work. A good dose of a drug called reality would certainly be a good prescription for this genre. Maybe cutting off of the funds from Mummy and Deddy, possibly the parents seeing if they are getting the most for the kids ed at NYU or the like, by seeing if they are in class or maybe something else...who knows. Mst look like they haven't finished undergrad yet and spend their evenings at clubs scoring some X. Dude......
Occam's Tool| 10.3.11 @ 7:38PM
I was too busy studying to do stuff like this in college. I joined YAF and wrote Opinion pieces (extracurriculars helped with Med School applications) for the Daily Skiff.
Al Adab| 10.4.11 @ 12:37PM
Another fellow YAFer. The contrast between the Tea Party protests and gatherings and the "occupy Wall street" folks reveals much about the divisions in our current political culture. The Left wants to return to their "glory days" of 1969 anti-war protests and recreate it. Remember how nicely non-violent that was? They seek a central government in control of whatever the current issue or inequality of the day may be. The better mannered and larger by orders of magnitude Tea Party events have a different agenda, one of Liberty.
Rogue Elephant| 10.3.11 @ 9:42PM
Code Pink, anarchists, communists, labor unions (?!) - not even remotely close to the American mainstream.
Con Chef (NB) | 10.3.11 @ 10:19PM
This is nothing more than the same crowd who destroyed "Dahn-Tahn" Pittsburgh during the G20 summit. They're anachists, communists, eco weenies, pro Obamunists, Palistine Firsters/Jew Haters & Code Pinkos. And if Bloombooger the Salt Nazi had a hair on his nuts, he'd blast these douchebags with firehoses the next time they block traffic.
You wanna protest & get your opinions out there? FINE. I don't, & will NEVER agree with you message. But hey, its cool, go & protest. But do it LAWFULLY. Otherwise, I have NO PROBLEM with you getting maced, fire hosed, or wood shampooed.
Just like THIS stupid idiot during the Pittsburgh riots who thought that she'd throw her bike at a fully riot geared cop when he shoved her to move her along:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=13iUAQBQbpw
I laugh every time I see this. And she later admitted she was stupid for doing it, BTW.
Mark J. Goluskin | 10.4.11 @ 2:14AM
Um, I think that this is an acid flashback to the 60s. Without the acid. More like Geritol. And maybe some ganja for the youts caught up in all this. I know Glenn Beck is worked up about this, but I think this just drives more people into what some president once called the "Silent Majority". Yeah, Richard Nixon coined that. And was at least right about that.
JimH| 10.4.11 @ 8:01AM
Its know of one enterprising young man who deals weed at the senior centers around here.
Tenn Slim| 10.4.11 @ 8:27AM
Again, WRONG conclusion.
This particular demo is orchestrated by the venerable Radical/Marxist, Van Jones.
Check his sites, read and get up to date on the Movement.
This, plus Cloward Piven, plus Job Act Bill, = the demise of the 2012 election process.
Try getting up to speed on the Movement.
End
Semper Fi
Wrister| 10.6.11 @ 5:43PM
Yes! The Tea Party is made up of many various demographic and socioeconomic groups while this is just a bunch of wacky kids smoking pot. Oh wait... I've also seen the pictures from the tea party rallies and I think I observed white, old, angry, uneducated, racist, toothless people holding misspelled signs about the government keeping their damn hands off of their social security and medicare. (by the way - shhhh- those are socialist programs that these same tea partiers just love... right? )
Anyway, you can pretend that the tea party is grass roots, but who the heck paid for all of those nice busses to the rallies and the pre-printed signs you all were holding up? I know... and you should find out before spewing this nonsense about your pathetic "grass roots movement"
jimpinto | 10.15.11 @ 3:33PM
Poem: Occupy Wall Street http://jimpinto.com/writings/o...
This was written on October 15, 2011 while the "Occupy Wall Street" movement was just about a month old, and still growing. Many are confused with the message. This poem may help to explain. I'll appreciate your comments and suggestions as I prepare a YouTube video.
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yisong| 10.26.11 @ 2:41AM
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Real Estate Broker | 10.30.11 @ 4:41PM
more fresh photos from OWS Movement (New York, Washington, Baltimore) you can find here:
http://homekrakow.pl/easyblog/.....fania.html
In Poland we haven't Movement like OWS, people are happy if they are working for corporation.