The Occupation Wil Be Televised (Occasionally)

          Before we plunge into the murky waters of civil protest, let’s update the Republican Presidential race. Herman Cain is the front runner. If you look at his infrastructure, you see that he’s strolling rather than running for President. George Will of ABC News likened the Republicans to an Andy Warhol race, where everyone gets to be front runner for 15 minutes. The only candidate who’s numbers never budge is Mitt, who is the actual front runner. Will’s thoughts on Romney’s unpopularity “He’s assumed a certain versatility of conviction over the years.” Defense rests.

          As to the People in the Park, they now have a name. I really liked the name Manhattan Spring, but it may be confused as an urban hygiene product. These Folks wish to be called OWS (Occupy Wall Street). I guess flashier names such as The Jets and The Purple Gang were taken. OWS rallies have been conducted in more than 250 cities over the last few weeks. Apparently in-fashion, OWS rallies have also occurred in London, Sydney, Tokyo, Taipei, Frankfurt, Rome, Hong Kong and Toronto. Dang furriners, stealin’ our protests.

          Any demands from OWS yet? Yep, there are four:

1. Government subsidized health care for all Americans.
2. $20 an hour minimum wage
3. A guaranteed living income for all Americans
4. Debt forgiveness for student loans, credit cards, and mortgages

          That sophomore dorm room must have spent half an hour working up these demands. While none of these are realistic policy positions, they do reflect two things, a broad undertone within society and the potential seeds of OWS destruction.

          A good symbolic act of injustice can help galvanize public sentiment around your cause, like the Rosa Parks bus ride/ water fountain. I’m sure she did other things to piss off The Man, but those got popular attention. To date, OWS has no such galvanizing symbols.

          Lacking a charismatic spokesperson or compelling symbolic act, the key to any civil protest movement success and longevity is how much of their sentiment is shared by the middle class and independent voters. Alienating these will doom your movement.

          Protest against the Vietnam War was owned by anti-patriotic hippies, radicals and socialists (hi Hanoi Jane) and other ne’er-do-wells until the middle class jumped on board and it became patriotic to question war. How quickly we forget.

          OWS is at this point a fringe movement of the Left as the Tea Party is a fringe movement of the Right. Unless moderated, OWS will alienate “the majority” and be marginalized. However, both of these aforementioned movements tap into popular civil frustration and discontent and could become a major force for change if common ground messages were uncovered and politically leveraged. I see common ground between OWS, the Tea Party and mainstream America. It is up to the “Invisible Hand” to illuminate such democratic direction within our ongoing experiment in self-governance. That is, if the “Hand” is not too busy making a buck on Wall Street.