Slog
News & ArtsWednesday, October 26, 2011
Occupy State of the Occupy Movement
Posted by Dominic Holden on Wed, Oct 26, 2011 at 12:26 PM
KOMO radio invited me on this afternoon to talk about about the state of Occupy Seattle, which I've done about a dozen times over the last couple weeks, but this invitation was a little more skeptical than usual. The producer wanted me to talk about "what's left of the Occupy Seattle movement."
So I went down to Westlake Park this morning. The first thing I noticed was this:
- One of the park's granite pillars had been spray painted with the stencil of a police officer beating a man and another man trying to hold back the cop's nightstick.
Just beyond the graffiti was an easel holding a whiteboard with the words "upcoming events." There were no events written on the whiteboard (even though there's a big Occupy dance party later today, and several demonstrations over the next week, including a protest of the Chase CEO Jamie Dimon). Three people were sitting under a blue canopy, including a friendly woman with a brown dog stuffed half into her winter coat, and ten people who appeared to be part of the protest were nearby. The folks under the tent explained that lots of homeless people were attracted to food, hand warmers, and other provisions. And true that: About ten homeless youth were standing a short ways off.
Last night, the general assembly was "really, really big, with about 100 people," one of the men said, but only 10 or 15 people slept at Westlake Park last night.
So what is the state of the Occupy movement?
In Seattle, it's been a week of internal struggle between more radical and less radical occupiers, with a depletion of mainstream supporters who flocked to the national day of action on October 15. There have been long meetings, rain, and a decision to move the nighttime base camp this Saturday to the Seattle Central Community College campus.
In a snapshot, the movement looks a little atrophied. Even overcome by a distracting anti-cop sentiment (for the record, we're not talking anti-police brutality or anti-abuse of power, which are just causes, but raw anti-cop anger and graffiti). But zoom out and consider the big picture over time. Occupy may be much stronger and influential than a bunch of people standing around an empty whiteboard.
The New York Times reported this morning on a poll that suggests the values and message of Occupy Wall Street is framing the way Americans think about the economy:
With nearly all Americans remaining fearful that the economy is stagnating or deteriorating further, two-thirds of the public said that wealth should be distributed more evenly in the country. Seven in 10 Americans think the policies of Congressional Republicans favor the rich. Two-thirds object to tax cuts for corporations and a similar number prefer increasing income taxes on millionaires.
Likewise, David Freiboth, executive secretary of the massive King County Labor Council, says impacts are visible in the bigger picture. "It could be a mistake to read too much into what is happening with the structure of the protests," says Freiboth. "I think the germane point in the popular uprising is that it has changed the discussion we are having publicly about economic disparity and what's really going on with the economy. So in that regard, it's been success."
As for the ongoing role of labor unions, which have toed the line between supporting the Occupy protests and not imposing on them, Feiboth says, "I think we continue to talk about labor's message about the economy in terms of what we think should be done: Progressive taxation and workers rights are really key to maintaining the middle class and real job creation."
Seattle activists say they're just getting started. "We protested, we gained support—and we can always use more support—and now you are start seeing some tactics, including protest directly at banks," says says Occupy Seattle spokeswoman Aliana Bazara. "To people who says it's fizzling, it's not."
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And where is Occupy Seattle protesting at these days? I've only seen a handful at Westlake in the early AM going to work and maybe a dozen or so in the the afternoon.
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Maybe a handful of hearty protesters can keep it going until spring.
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Sticking around for the eventual water cannons doesn't seem like the optimal strategy...no matter the fervor of the participant.
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The problem is that the impetus beyond this to some extent comes from people who looks down upon the less committed or those who favor different means.
I support a lot of the aims, but have no desire to create something myself, lead anything, or take part in way that requires to much time or annoyance.
I'm really, really looking forward to November 5th. A massive, and national outpouring of folks willing to move their bank accounts will be - to use the overused - awesome! Laptops set up to allow people to close their accounts on line in case there are no banks to get into, or if access is barred/restricted. Big bank effigies that could be sledge-hammered into rubble. Mock trials of big bank CEO's. etc.
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To giffy (and anyone else who is interested in being involved), the Occupy Seattle Outreach working group is brainstorming some neighborhood service projects. If you're interested in hearing about them as we develop details (or if you have ideas), please email us at OccupySeattleORD@gmail.com.
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The spray painting vandalism is unacceptable. I had a little empathy when the movement started but not anymore.
This is ridiculous. The movement is diminishing anyway. There's no local or national leader of the movement. And, public squares are being cleared out. Stick a fork in it, it's done.
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One thing you could be doing is Occupying Your Elected Officials. Why aren't you occupying Jim McDermott's office, or Maria Cantwell's? With signs referencing income-inequality facts, not bandanas over your faces?
You look ridiculous as it is, and ridiculous isn't going to get any bills introduced.
From the very beginning of the occupation, people tried to stop Westlake as the location, or even tried to just take a week to do research and come up with more options. No, the zealots insisted on starting the occupation immediately, at Westlake, with no planning, no permits, no overall strategy for how to grow the movement. In the initial excitement, this was OK, as we had enough numbers to replenish the troops at the occupation. But as governmental resistance increased, local businesses complained, weather got worse, and arrests started mounting, people were worn out by this misguided decision. We got a couple life-lines, such as the "night of 500 tents", which netted about 150 tents only and gave the movement a brief reinjection of energy. But it didn't last.
OccupySeattle has suffered massively due to this failure. Instead of picking a place that can accommodate growing support, where people could put up tents and exist humanely, the loudest voices kept chanting Westlake at all costs. Anyone who questioned this, or god forbid tried to negotiate for a different location, were attacked, ostracized and driven from the organization. You can look around the nation at other occupations such as Boston, LA, Dallas and NY for examples of how to build a sustainable occupation. Seattle is but a shadow of these other occupations.
There are zealots amongst the crowd of Seattle occupiers with various agendas. If you say something that does not agree with their agenda, you might be branded things such as 1) traitor 2) corporate shill 3) took the blue pill not the red pill 4) stupid 5) anti-free speech, etc. etc. etc. If you don’t want to stay at Westlake, well, you just don’t understand the word “disobedience” in “civil disobedience”. People have been character assassinated at some of the various working groups, general assemblies and most certainly online. Why would anyone in their right mind want to support this movement and deal with this kind of treatment?
Finally, let us not forget the influence of the anarchist movement, which no one, the Stranger included, seems to want to report on. Numerous anarchists are very influential in keeping Westlake as the focus. I guess it’s something to do with WTO riots from a fucking decade ago. Who wants to go up against a group of people who have no respect for the rule of law? Given their aggressive tactics towards anyone who disagrees with them, what’s to stop them from vandalizing your property? Or assaulting you? Or defaming you? Nothing. I’m not going to get in their way. Nope, sorry, my life ain’t that bad that I’m going to make myself the target. So I guess that makes me a stupid corporate blue pill sellout who doesn’t know the meaning of civil disobedience.
So, there you have it. In Seattle, we have not united the 99%. We had a different 1% that is shouting down, misleading, persuading and manipulating the 98% into going along with their bad strategy.
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Looks pretty full to me.
Also, there's the calendar at http://occupyseattle.org/calendar , which lists a whole bevy of events. I realize that not everyone has internet access, but...
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It would be like if I assumed all the slog readers were represented by one asshat's post.
I am someone who has spent a lot of time down at Westlake, and frankly, the graffiti bums me out (partially because it adds in to the negative, and frankly lazy, stereotypes).
I am a huge fan of public spaces, I absolutely feel that the protesters should be able to find a permanent home in Westlake, even after hours, but I also feel that the protesters (myself included) need to respect that public space!
If you at all support, empathize, or even slightly agree with the movement, I recommend you try communicating and throwing your voice in to the mix (I mean aside from snarky comments to online articles).
I am going to take my own advice and head down to a City Council meeting, then out to Westlake for a little music and dancing. Check out the occupyseattle.org calendar for stuff going on that you, too, can support, and perhaps even enjoy, should you feel inclined.
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Hey, we agree! The messaging of the occupation at OWS at least is focused on a culprit. It would've been nice for people to point out that our fools for Senators voted to dump the estate tax for a couple of years.
Of course, I think the rest of your criticism is lame, but I'll take what I can get. ;)
OWS has done more to change national discourse about inequalities in a few weeks than your politics as usual have done in 3 years. YOU got nothing, pal!
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Lots of free space here:
http://www1.officespace.com/Flyer.cfm?Rg…
Get a deal going...work with City to create a permanent Occupation, Inc. -- gain media attention and advertising.
The Occupation Social Network alone is worth billions.
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What the hell is wrong with Dominic Holden? He jumps to post some idiot's letter about "radicals infiltrating the movement" and then continues to post more and more shit that seems basically intended to deter people from coming down to participate... It's almost like he doesn't want it to succeed. Hmmmmm....
"we prioritize the involvement of indigenous sovereign people in the redesigning and rebuilding of a new way of living on their ancestral land in the context that there is one mother of us all, our earth mother"
Try selling that to the AMerican public on election day. Cuckoooooooo….
It's Nickelsville for radicals!
While I don't support violence, I will enforce police action if they get in the way of the fucking carousel.
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This is why this will not fizzle no matter how much the 1% desires for this to be so.
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