The Sound and the Fury: A Critique of Occupy Wall Street

AMBER FROST and RYAN BRILES

So, if you’ve been reading any alternative news outlet this week, you know about the Occupy Wall Street protest. In a nutshell, the protest is taking the form of an occupation nearby Zuccotti Park (since the police knew about the Facebook group they blocked off Wall Street) as well as various marches around the Financial District. It began on September 17th and the organizers plan on an indefinite stay. But, what is really going on down there? What are the demands? What are the guiding principles? And most importantly, is all of this sound and fury going to signify anything? 

Well, let’s examine this, pro and con style.

Pro: The organizers want to develop demands in a democratic manner, via a general assembly. Con: It’s really hard to have a protest that doesn’t have a clear goal in mind. A general assembly of whoever happens to drift by is an unwieldy beast. Not to mention that the working class doesn’t have the time or resources to hang around in Lower Manhattan and dedicate their lives to assemblies. Saul Alinsky wrote that “The price of a successful attack is a constructive alternative.” They know what they are against, but they can’t decide on what they’re for. Something simple like the reinstatement of the millionaire’s tax or Glass-Steagall, or something bigger like the nationalization of the banks would work.

Pro: They seem to have an idea of the intersectionality of the economic issues facing America. Here’s a working draft of their manifesto.  Con: Pretty vague manifesto, huh? Also, adding every conceivable cause (environmentalism, anti-capital punishment, anti-war signs were all present) to an economic protest can easily distract from the main point if you don’t do it right. This is a common problem on the Left and can be fixed with one simple phrase: “Yes, that’s a really important issue, but we’re not talking about that now.”  Because they’re not making a clear connection between these related issues, the multiplicity of them makes Occupy Wall Street look like a confusing sounding board for every sort of complaint about America. Yes, we know that marijuana legalization is related to capitalism, but to the casual observer it’s left field.

Pro: They seem really interested in fostering a social relationship between the protestors. This is great because comrades aren’t comrades without camaraderie. Con: Assuming there is a universal activist culture is alienating. Look, some people might really like Bob Marley sing-a-longs, drum circles, and group yoga, but to some of us, those things make you look like a privileged, white, upper middle class hippie going through an “activist” phase. For some of us, this struggle is our lives. We literally live it every single day and find this treatment of it to be trivializing.

Pro: They’re not afraid to get arrested. On September 24th, almost ninety of them were carted off by the police and some of them were beaten, tasered, and pepper sprayed. Case in point: Here.  Con: They don’t know how to get arrested effectively. Initially, most people had no idea that the cops were looking to arrest them, or what kinds of actions were likely to lead to arrest. They also haven’t decided on a policy regarding interactions with the police. Some people goad them (shouting “fuck the pigs” and whatnot) and some ignore them. They have a table with legal information on it now, but there’s still no real consensus on how to interact with the law.

Pro: They’re willing to do something new and radical.   Con: They think that they’re doing something new and radical. As we well know, there is nothing new under the sun, including democratic general assemblies. They appear to be falling headlong into pitfalls that labor activists and ‘60s and ‘70s radicals know well. A conversation with these seasoned veterans could have helped to avoid them. There is an element of newness to what is going on, but they aren’t reinventing the wheel here. The old cliché about being doomed to repeat history applies to this. The Left needs to use its resources. One of those resources is the wealth of experience.

So, once again, is this going anywhere? We’re not sure. If they can get some demands together (which some protestors are actively opposing), several big unions will pledge support. An increase in age and class diversity would do them well. In addition, the media blackout has swept the actions under the rug, but Saturday’s blatant police brutality has made headlines. There are some really committed people there and hopefully they can get some organization going. Right now they have the sound and the fury; they just need something to signify. We’ll be back out there with them, but probably not until next weekend. After all, we have to work.