by Ammianus » Sat Oct 01, 2011 8:04 am
Tinker,
I do not wish to intrude or shatter any rosy nostrums, but two issues must be addressed:
1. Even a cursory looks at the plaza where they've encamped shows it cannot contain more than 2-3000 at most, let alone hundreds of thousands that Tahrir Square had. Despite their fierce desire to set up shop there, if they don't have the simple raw manpower needed to make waves, no one, not the ordinary New Yorkers, nor the feckless cops, not the most ensconced plutocrat, will care. They'll be no different from the standard homeless vagrants loitering on college campuses, except on a bit more festive and cleaner level. The physical spatial limitations of their geography almost condemns them to be a boutique curiosity if they don't get rowdy soon. Or receive a rude but total eviction.
2. Perhaps most importantly, where is the message? Very well, they've bared their wrath against Wall Street and Corporate America (two actually fairly separate in many ways, but alas a different story). They've show the thirst for popular representation, the passion to cry out No Mas, the voice to say they're there and hell no they won't go. Beyond that, what are the actual words, sentences they wish to say? What do they REALLY want? Anti debit fee increases? Prosecution of the Banksters? Anti- Bush tax cuts? Opposition to deficit reduction based social policy? Cuts to SS and Medicare? More and better unemployment benefits? Pullout of Iraq, AfPak, Yemen? I'm sorry, but simply saying your against the oligarchs is excellent sentiment but poor to none existent substance. Last I checked to take action against the oligarchs one can't simply pass a literal anti-oligarch law filled with such emotional verbosity but no policy prescriptions whatsoever.