Think Occupy Wall St. is a Phase? You Don't Get It

Think Occupy Wall St. is a Phase? You Don't Get It
By Douglas Rushkoff, Special to CNN
updated 1:09 PM EST, Wed October 5, 2011


(CNN) -- Like the spokesmen for Arab dictators feigning bewilderment over protesters' demands, mainstream television news reporters finally training their attention on the growing Occupy Wall Street protest movement seem determined to cast it as the random, silly blather of an ungrateful and lazy generation of weirdos. They couldn't be more wrong and, as time will tell, may eventually be forced to accept the inevitability of their own obsolescence.

Consider how CNN anchor Erin Burnett, covered the goings on at Zuccotti Park downtown, where the protesters are encamped, in a segment called "Seriously?!" "What are they protesting?" she asked, "nobody seems to know." Like Jay Leno testing random mall patrons on American History, the main objective seemed to be to prove that the protesters didn't, for example, know that the U.S. government has been reimbursed for the bank bailouts. It was condescending and reductionist.

More predictably perhaps, a Fox News reporter appears flummoxed in this outtake from "On the Record," in which the respondent refuses to explain how he wants the protests to "end." Transcending the shallow partisan politics of the moment, the protester explains "As far as seeing it end, I wouldn't like to see it end. I would like to see the conversation continue."

Source: CNN

I'm not going to comment much on this, because I think it speaks for itself, but I do want to say that this is the most coherent breakdown of what's going on with the Occupy Movement that I've read, and from what would be considered a mainstream media outlet, no less. Numbers are growing, and more and more coverage is being given to the protesters by the press. This is something that won't be going away any time soon, so it might be a good idea to gain a better understanding of what this fight for change is all about.

reply to post by Resonant


It may have started out as a phase.

But with the Unions joining in to tell the crowd what to do, it'll soon get...oh...so...much worse.

This movement killed itself when they accepted the Unions help, just like the Tea Party dissolved back into smaller groups when a large segment agreed to accept the Koch Bros money.

The unions won't let people pass a different message or form their own group.

reply to post by TDawgRex


Then they need to drive the union bosses out. I totally agree with you here. The workers are fine. Union boss pigs can go hang with the rest of the scum

and Erin Burnett is hot, but she's a bloody shilling twit

At this point, clearly Burnett was being disingenuous(as usual, since she's a former CNBC whore) about "what are they protesting". You have to be #ing stupid to not know that the general idea is ending the corruption that has led America into the pisser.

they cant ignore it cause its getting too big

theirs one bout an hour from me in louisville ky my brother there now says theirs over 100 people there right now

hes planning to camp out their all weekend

but all this is meaningless if we dont get some real change from it

It's not going to go away because things are not going to get better.
It's just going to get bigger. The worse things get the more everyday,
middle-class American's are becoming disenfranchised.

I couldn't not find any mention of the Federal Reserve in this article.
No surprise because CNN is really CIA. There are plenty of protesters
who are educated on the FED but I didn't see CNN/CIA interviewing
any of them. They are still spinning. Until they start addressing the
FED, it's just another psi-ops in a long line of them.

This is one of the most accurate articles I have come across so far when it comes to Occupy Wall Street. The author is very correct in almost everything he says, including the fact that these people can't narrow down this movement to just one simple goal. The truth of the matter is that they know what's wrong, but fixing something as complicated as what this country has evolved to, is next to impossible.

All in all, the best written article regarding this new movement, which I fully support by the way. The article is not "pro" or against this movement, he is simply stating the facts, which are very true. It's an internet based movement, the information spreads through the web like wildfire, and the only people who truly track the web are the younger generation. Anyone over the age of 50 hardly understands the concept of the internet, let alone organizing an online based movement or protest.

reply to post by Resonant


I think it's funny how the history we are repeating was only months ago and America already forgot about it. We JUST saw this happen all over the world. How can anybody see this happening again and say "pffft... it's just a bunch of hippies"?

Yes, this is definitely a fight for a change of system.

Same change that is demanded all around Arab countries, Europe, south and north America, Africa and I believe Asia too. I feel like this is global protest and that people are moving towards common goal and peace.

I support Occupy Wall St. and I will join local protests in Europe once again.
Stay strong!

Now that this movement has grown so large the MSM can't ignore it. And now this movement will grow even larger!

Youtube and other social media is now the way information is passed. The genie is out of the bottle and the www has now replaced the slanted, propaganda that the msm tries to promote in favor of the corporate elite.

My crew and I have been documenting this movement since it started from just less than 100 folks protesting; now it is thousands here in NM. The attacks of calling OWS people "union thugs and hippies" just don't fly anymore. I am seeing an increasing amount of TPM members helping spread the message.

It's a brave new world.

Originally posted by whaaa
Now that this movement has grown so large the MSM can't ignore it. And now this movement will grow even larger!

Youtube and other social media is now the way information is passed. The genie is out of the bottle and the www has now replaced the slanted, propaganda that the msm tries to promote in favor of the corporate elite.

My crew and I have been documenting this movement since it started from just less than 100 folks protesting; now it is thousands here in NM. The attacks of "union thugs and hippies" just don't fly anymore. I am seeing an increasing amount of TPM members helping spread the message.

It's a brave new world.

edit on 5-10-2011 by whaaa because: (no reason given)

The media can only ignore it for so long before it starts effecting their own credibility. That's what journalism is, afterall, and if you have no credit, because you're not reporting the facts, soon you won't be reporting to anyone. We are entering an age where you can only skew the facts for so long before the actual facts come out. Take this entire forum, for example. Yes, some of it might be far-fetched or based on opinion or flawed logic, but there still remains a lot of truth, which is why there are people still here. Deny ignorance, seek truth.

Very good article. It pleased me to give a star and a flag to the OP for bringing this article to my attention.

It is not like a book; it is like the Internet.

I found this quite intriguing. I'm in my early forties and my family is all older. They basically have no clue as to what kind of information is available, how easily it can be obtained, etc. from the net. Mom still listens to the republican shills on the radio, bro-in-law still listens to the republican shills on the radio and tele and sis is rather blase about it all and just wants to live her life.

They are so programmed to not believe anything I say because I wear the tinfoil hat in the family. It got so bad that I got into it with a couple of them over the difference between jicama and the jamaica flower(I don't know how to do that funky Spanish accent on jamaica, it's pronounce hu-my-ca) and it turned into a blowout. I have sorked in produce departments, three diffenret stores and states, and spent years working in food, AND I'm the only one who has been to Mexico in the last few decades(actually a couple of months ago) and consumed the bloody drink that is NOT jicama.

Yet they had to argue. It was like being HAL in 2001, reading the lips of the guys and all I could see was jicama, jicama. I got bent. The didn't know what they were talking about and when it comes to anything remotely important in this day and age, they are clueless or brainwashed by republicans.

It's like I've got Ann Coulter for a mom, Sean Hannity for a bro-in-law and Paris Hilton for a sister. I kid you not. So how am I supposed to deal with these people that are the closest and dearest to me, let alone go out in public and say a bloody word? Most likely get lynched if I start speaking my truth out there in public, not unlike the guy on 9/11 so I'd bet would have gotten seriously hurt had he not gotten arrested/detained, whatever it eventually was that happened.

For many years I was just the nut of the family. I had no proof to back up any crazy theories I might have. I do now, and it makes no difference. They say you can't trust anything on the net, well, how the hell can I trust anything from the MSM, the same people they think of as gods? Sure, like this article is proof, the MSM gets it right once in a while but I can get a much fairer and way more balanced view of things with a hour or so of ATS a day. ATS, even with all it's faults, was a boon to me when I joined in '06. The membership here has helped me to open my horizons a little bit, get different perspectives on things that I might not normally have. I can find a story on British politics, and since I've never been across the pond, I can ask people here about the nuances of whatever I might like.

Stupid example, but you get the point. I'm fighting a losing battle with my family to just get accepted as human. I can only take so much abuse before I get bent and explode. The more times I get dismissed as a idiot when I am bloody right, and well researched and KNOW what I'm talking about, well, how much would you take? IMHO, that's the way I see the OWS protest, just us little guys, down here in the trenches, fighting to be accepted as human. That my opinion DOES matter.

I don't have any answers to the problems we have(well, get rid of the Fed, end the stupid wars, easy stuff) any more than the OWS protesters do, and their list of demands(whatever they are called) shows. That doesn't mean there is no reason to join up with them or that their cause is futile. It has to start somewhere. Maybe this is it.

This system is failing, simply put, and it needs either a jump start or a really big fix. Both are pretty scary but it needs to be done. We cannot keep on keeping on with our heads in the sand anymore.

Occupy Wall Street is meant more as a way of life that spreads through contagion, creates as many questions as it answers, aims to force a reconsideration of the way the nation does business and offers hope to those of us who previously felt alone in our belief that the current economic system is broken.

Seems like the author of the piece understands things a bit differently than most so called journalists. Kudos to him.

The members of Occupy Wall Street may be as unwieldy, paradoxical, and inconsistent as those of us living in the real world. But that is precisely why their new approach to protest is more applicable, sustainable and actionable than what passes for politics today. They are suggesting that the fiscal operating system on which we are attempting to run our economy is no longer appropriate to the task. They mean to show that there is an inappropriate and correctable disconnect between the abundance America produces and the scarcity its markets manufacture.

My family is getting left behind in this brave new world. They can't adapt. All we can do now is disagree. That leaves me feeling very cold.

I don't dig this brave new world, mind ya, but I have to live in it.

Why is everyone talking about this "Occupy Wall Street" being a revolution?

If this were a revolution, people would be also protesting against Obama and the Federal Reserve, two entities that are interlocked with Wall Street, large multinational corporations, and corporate cronyism (GE and Solyndra).

Yet there are more protesters asking for more government intervention which, as history proves means more protections for Wall Street and GE types. Now with the unions joining in, I wonder what the protesters are protesting for?

Sorry guys but the Tea Party isn't the only movement that got hijacked....

yeah see they can not protest Obama, because Moveon.org (obamas little propaganda machine)has been helping with the protests, even listed on their website as an affiliate, right with AFL-CIO, SEIU all the usual jack booted thugs

front.moveon.org...

nyclaw01.wordpress.com...

So all they are is the left counterpart of the Tea party that Van Jones was talking about. The media probably doesnt cover it because of the violence that has occurred they don't want people to see that after they tried so hard to show the mythical tea party violence that never happened.

This is just the begining. To say it's a fad or phase is dead wrong. Momentum and steam grows by the hour.

I'm actually a bit scared.

I support Occupy was hoping they could find a way to keep it nonpartisan.

As it is, it's being painted as very left wing.

I am not sure if it is propaganda to try to divide and conquer it or what, but the rhetoric is ugly.

It makes me think that America is being primed for civil war.

I'm not blaming #occupy, I"m blaming the American propaganda machine, and both parties for being too hateful of the other and blind to the fact that both the parties are full of ....scum....

I don't like what I see- young against old, haves vrs have nots (and I don't mean the 99% against the 1%...I mean, the have jobs, against the don't have jobs, lol)

We are way, way more polarized than ever, and if we were a cell, with the genetic material all lining up in the middle, we're fixing to pop apart.

reply to post by hadriana


I also don't understand the left wing rhetoric. Interesting clip here from The Daily Show, Stewart kinda rips the media for it's portrayal of it all. Great piece in there of Hannity and how hypocritical he is.

ATS

I actually know nothing. The "protests" here are a few people walking with signs in front of a casino. Pretty stupid if you ask me. The media tells me one thing, ok, then I come to ATS and it, of course, get's much murkier. Where OWS came from, who started it, who's supporting it, etc. I don't know.

It only took a couple of months before the Tea Party became a joke IMO. I was going to go out and do something, then Hannity et al. jumped in on it and I bailed. Sure can't trust our MSM to give us anything resembling the truth, so figure they are lying through their teeth and the opposite of whatever they say is true.

Seems like a bunch of people that are pissed about a boatload of things and trying to do a sit-in, to me. Why it's called a left-wing thing, I am in the dark.

Originally posted by TheLoony
reply to post by hadriana

 

I also don't understand the left wing rhetoric. Interesting clip here from The Daily Show, Stewart kinda rips the media for it's portrayal of it all. Great piece in there of Hannity and how hypocritical he is.

ATS

I actually know nothing. The "protests" here are a few people walking with signs in front of a casino. Pretty stupid if you ask me. The media tells me one thing, ok, then I come to ATS and it, of course, get's much murkier. Where OWS came from, who started it, who's supporting it, etc. I don't know.

It only took a couple of months before the Tea Party became a joke IMO. I was going to go out and do something, then Hannity et al. jumped in on it and I bailed. Sure can't trust our MSM to give us anything resembling the truth, so figure they are lying through their teeth and the opposite of whatever they say is true.

Seems like a bunch of people that are pissed about a boatload of things and trying to do a sit-in, to me. Why it's called a left-wing thing, I am in the dark.

I've found that with most things, finding the truth is a balance. If you cannot develop a firsthand opinion on your own accord (that is, if you cannot be there for the actual protests), then I would say take a balance of opinions from both sides.

This is different than the Tea Party, because that was more of a political movement than anything, and it became too easy to target. The Tea Party lacked diversity, both on its following and its views (which were also strict), and because of that it wasn't durable enough. This movement transcends political parties, it isn't about small issues. Repealing a few laws or rewriting some tax codes isn't going to make things go away. It is confusing, but you can't look at this like protests and movements in the past, it isn't playing by the rules and it's leaving a lot of people confused. The trick is to adapt the way you're looking at this, or being told to look at, and you can start to see the bigger pictures and that the fundamental backbone issue of this all is change in its purest form.

Originally posted by Vikus
Why is everyone talking about this "Occupy Wall Street" being a revolution?

If this were a revolution, people would be also protesting against Obama and the Federal Reserve, two entities that are interlocked with Wall Street, large multinational corporations, and corporate cronyism (GE and Solyndra).

You're trying to pin a focus point for the movement, "Don't protest the money, protest the law!" That's not the idea of the movement, it's the recognition that there is a problem and a lot of it stems from 1% of the population controlling 40% of ALL the wealth in this country, 1% controlling 80+% of all the stocks in this country.

Q3 fundraising numbers are starting to come out for next years presidential candidates...it's not about approval rating or how many votes a candidate can garner on their political points...it's about how much money they can get. Rick Perry raised $17 million from 22,000 donors, spread evenly that's nearly $800 per donor! We all know big money buys politicians.

Yet there are more protesters asking for more government intervention which, as history proves means more protections for Wall Street and GE types. Now with the unions joining in, I wonder what the protesters are protesting for?

How about reinstating Glass-Steagall? That's government regulation that saved us from Wall St. gambling for 70 years!

The unions represent blue-collar workers, which represent a large portion of the middle-class. I always hear about the middle-class shrinking but never hear the correlation of union membership dwindling at the same rate over the same period of time. Union members are an integral part of the movement, union executives are not.

Sorry guys but the Tea Party isn't the only movement that got hijacked....

What are you doing to stop it?

reply to post by links234


We have a symbio-parasitic infection feeding on the body of our Nation. The Governments AND Corperations. They feed off each other in order to get more blood (Money)

Until these two are addressed in concert. It will never be fixed.

Unless there is a mega-nuclear war...and then this will be the least of our worries. But it'll be fixed, won't it?

give me a break what happened around the world was sponsored by the cia at the behest of the shadow government so that the new world order would finally come out of the shadows.

here comes the pain people lots of it!!!

i get the ows bunch of people who want a bunch of money they didnt earn blah blah 1% blah

sounds like the current potus with his wealth redistribution montage.