(This ran 10/06/11 in the triCityNews and I liked it enough to reprint it here. Special thanks to Dan Jacobson, Publisher of triCityNews for allowing us to do so.)
WALL STREET – By now, you have no doubt heard the low hum of screaming, pepper sprayed twenty-somethings drifting in from across the Hudson. Beginning on September 17th, the Occupy Wall Street protests have drawn thousands of “overeducated and unemployed” citizens to the streets of downtown Manhattan. Now heading into their third week of demonstrations, protesters insist they will stay until the financial sector sees meaningful reform… And no, pepper spray is not a hallucinogenic.
Nothing gets me going quite like unjust police brutality and talk of campaign finance reform, so I took a meeting across the river with the self-branded “99%ers” to see what was happening up close.
What I found at “Liberty Square” (formerly plain ol’ Zuccotti Park) was a crowd of 1000, angry but vague. A colorful array of people seventeen to forty-nine, well-to-do to welfare, informed and intelligent to patently insane, the only thing shared among them a debilitating lack of specificity.
Occupy Wall Street has inadvertently brought into focus three distinct New American Problems. The first of which is our mainstream media, unfailing quick to jump on any story regarding an uprising in another part of the world, is not so interested in domestic dissent. These past two years have been marked by grassroots movements and organized demonstrations, but you would hardly know it by watching the nightly news.
Perplexingly, while the Tea Party (disqualified from the “grassroots” category by virtue of their corporate funding) has never had trouble securing airtime or inches in print, the oil pipeline protests outside the White House received little attention and big networks were slow to cover union rallies in Wisconsin, Ohio, Washington and Maine. Maybe agitated Americans are too polite to make good television, or maybe our media has forgotten what it’s job is.
The second New American Problem is an awe inspiring lack of conviction. We want all of the bombast that comes with a revolution, but want to carry none of the weight of the heart and the head. “That’s not right!” is not an argument, and “we should fix that!” is not a suggestion.
It does not take bravery, intelligence or even mere energy to point a finger at something and declare that it is wrong. Change is a sexy word that can get you elected, we know, but without a definition it is utterly useless. Defining change takes work. Change what, exactly? Would those demonstrating recognize a viable solution if it were presented to them?
Even with a lack of humidity in the cool, fall air, steam emitted from the crowd. Shoulder to shoulder, they moved slowly, not quite sure where they were going. Jon (22) from Connecticut shouted over the heads of two short girls to me, “you can’t run for office unless you’re rich. You can’t get rich anymore. Everything’s f****d up, you know?” The short girls nodded in agreement.
It is tempting to look upon those protesting and concede that given the state of Wall Street and Wall Street’s pet chihuahua, Washington, this is the only option. We cannot vote for change, as Prophet Jon from Connecticut informed me, and with a shrug or a shake of the head, I got the same story from nearly everyone.
Except this is not the only option… This should not even be an option. Maybe it makes me a bad teenager, maybe it makes me a bad liberal, maybe it makes me a naysayer… Whatever it makes me, I cannot ignore the fact that staring like a deer in the headlights as you point out the obvious on the public stage is helpful to no one. A platform is a privilege. To waste it, as those having a slumber party in the financial district are doing, is a disgrace.
Certainly, it could be argued that the message is the lack of specificity itself. How can we be specific when discussing the financial sector, whose reckless behavior is what spiraled us into that fun recession we have yet to crawl out of? Riddled with complexity and defined by corruption, no amount of homework could make it seem sensical. But that is not a message to rally behind. Throwing darts at ghosts, as these demonstrators are doing, is a silly, tiring game that does not even threaten those they wish to hold accountable.
The third New American Problem clearly defined by Occupy Wall Street is our collective laziness. From sea to shining sea, this is the land of abundance to the point of suffocation. Revolt in America – in New York City, no less – seems ludicrous, not helped by the fact that the protesters have a constant supply of free pizza. Therein lies the problem, without a distinct gripe, the message is: “We’re mad as hell! We’re not gonna take it! But we want to be comfortable while we revolt, is that too much to ask?”
Occupy Wall Street’s aim is to echo the revolutionary spirit of the protests that took place in Egypt’s Tahrir Square. Perhaps they need to be informed that those in Tahrir Square were driven to protest in large part because they could no longer afford bread. It is a bit difficult to seem serious when your idea of dissent is a damn pizza party.
Something about having evolved in the internet age makes any type of organized gathering seem like a science experiment or a ploy for attention. With it’s loud wails, Occupy Wall Street feels very much like the latter. Far from a noble effort, this is a disservice to those actively seeking information and solutions. Their noise drowns out the calm discussions that will ultimately lead to real change.
At this point, the streets remain crowded and thanks to Twitter and unwarranted assaults at the hands of the NYPD, momentum continues to grow. Occupy movements are now spreading across the country like a disease (no word on when they plan to take it to Palm Springs, but that would be fun) with the most recent ones infecting Boston and Chicago.
Given that the last time I saw this many kids my age congregating outdoors was during a fire drill, I will say that I am pleased to see young people discussing important issues.
However, that does not overshadow the reality that this is nothing more than flaccid protest and will not result in reform. When it fails, most involved will harden, becoming cold and uninspired. They will be reluctant to engage themselves in the future, becoming the problem for those among us who seek to define the word change.
(Like this article find more Olivia Nuzzi here: http://winglessnews.tumblr.com/)
