Comments | ontd_political: "Awareness is empowering."

mzflux in ontd_political

"Awareness is empowering."

Nov 08, 2011 13:04

Occupy Wall Street: Changing the Topic
By Peter Dreier, E.P. Clapp Distinguished Professor of Politics, Occidental College

Posted: 11/1/11 10:26 AM ETThe Occupy Wall Street (OWS) movement has changed our national conversation. At kitchen tables, in coffee shops, in offices and factories, and in newsrooms, Americans are now talking about economic ( Read more... )

inequality, media, charts n shit, occupywallstreet, elections, october surprise

Comments 25

bludstone November 8 2011, 23:15:24 UTC

I find myself having to defend OWS against my conservative friends. A lot of them think its thuggish (sometimes it is) and ignorant (sometimes it is) and violent (rarely)

But it still doesnt warrant the crushing police response. Sure, you can disagree with OWS, question them, etc. But to deny their frustrations are wholly legitimate is incredibly shallow and unthoughtful. Everyone should be upset about the corporatism going on, even if you disagree with what the solution is.

My criticism is that "Occupy wall street's targeting computers are misaligned, but thats about it."

What OWS needs is more actual solutions.

mzflux November 8 2011, 23:22:53 UTC

I hope you can help provide some of those solutions. Out of curiosity, do you mean legislative solutions or a list of demands?

bludstone November 8 2011, 23:29:50 UTC

Eh, you guys dont like my ideas. =)

You know, getting rid of the governments power so the big corporations (and anyone else) cant influence it. Instead, focusing on prosecuting fraud and damage.

subversive_kiwi November 8 2011, 23:25:53 UTC

I fail to see how OWS is "thuggish".

Thread 5

screamingintune November 8 2011, 23:22:00 UTC

This movement happening when it did has been so cool for me, since I'm taking an inequality class right now and inequality has been the focus of my academic research. I can't believe people are actually talking about income inequality in the mainstream media, and it's pretty exciting to see it become a hotly debated topic. If anyone doubts the power of having a living narrative in the mainstream media, they're not paying attention. Sometimes having that narrative is all a movement substantively needs to make a huge effect.

theguindo November 9 2011, 00:13:00 UTC

This is a response to a comment upthread but I'm starting a new thread for it.

"I've been heavily involved with Occupy Oakland, Occupy San Francisco, and Occupy Sacramento."

I haven't heard a whole lot about Occupy Sacramento. How's that going? I've been thinking of going down there but I have ~*issues*~ with crowds because of anxiety.

mzflux November 9 2011, 00:21:57 UTC

This is an interesting development: http://www.sacbee.com/2011/11/03/4026761/occupy-sacramento-protesters-vow.html

Also, I recommend checking out OccupySac.com for more updates and livestreams. Obviously getting down there is best, but if you have issues with large crowds, I recommend blogging and donating. They have a list of needs on their website and it's updated regularly.

theguindo November 9 2011, 01:53:32 UTC

Thanks! I'll see about donating some supplies.

empath_eia November 9 2011, 00:19:33 UTC

Are those charts supposed to be identical? It's a fascinating chart, yes, but as far as I can tell there's only one...?

mzflux November 9 2011, 00:20:50 UTC

Sorry, the last two images I posted linked to the same graph.

EDIT: FIXED

romp November 9 2011, 08:22:50 UTC

My main hope for OWS has been to raise awareness in people who otherwise only hear Fox News. There are concepts they don't have and an entire vocabulary to be learned about right and wrong and what is possible. Letting people know what a meritocracy is and how it's a con despite being a popular myth can go a LONG way toward getting people to vote for someone who'll represent them in gov't rather than who delivers the correct buzzwords.