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    The Week

    What happened to Occupy Wall Street? 4 talking points

    By The Week's Editorial Staff | The Week – Fri, Feb 24, 2012
    After police in cities across the country cracked down on Occupy encampments, the movement lost the "target-rich visual environment" that attracted media organizations, says David Carr in The New York Times. But don't count the movement out yet: Occupy groups of all stripes are taking on a host of issues, from income inequality to banking regulations. Here, 4 ways Occupy Wall Street is trying to change the world:

    1. Partying like it's 1776
    An Occupy-inspired organization — the 99 Percent Declaration Working Group — plans to elect 876 "delegates" for a national assembly in Philadelphia over the Fourth of July weekend. In the mold of the Founding Fathers, the delegates will ratify a "petition for a redress of grievances" against the government, some of which will touch on corporate greed and the gap between rich and poor. 

    2. Organizing mass protests
    Inspired by Occupy Portland, groups in 34 cities are preparing for "a day of nonviolent direct action" on Feb. 29 to protest the influence of business in politics. Occupy groups are also calling for a nationwide "general strike" on May 1, to show corporations what "a day without the 99 percent" would look like.

    3. Going toe-to-toe with financial lobbyists
    Occupy the SEC submitted a 325-page document to government financial watchdogs, challenging the arguments of lobbyists who are trying to water down new regulations of the financial industry. In particular, the group urges the government to implement a tough version of the so-called Volcker Rule, which is intended to prevent banks from using their own money to make risky trades. "Policy fights are won by people who show up," says Matthew Yglesias at Slate. Engaging with regulatory agencies is part of "the day-in, day-out grind of policymaking." 

    4. Or maybe Occupy's work is done
    Perhaps Occupy Wall Street "already won a big battle and is now watching victory unfold," says Carr in the Times. The movement inserted economic inequality into the national conversation, and it's no coincidence that President Obama shortly afterward began pursuing a more populist agenda. Obama's "handlers have steered him away from mentioning the movement by name, but several pages of Occupy's hymnal are now part of his political oratory." Expect Occupy's message to play a role in the November election and beyond.

    Sources: AP, Mother Jones, NY Times (2), Slate

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    • terryton
      terryton  •  3 mths ago
      They went home to watch South Park.
    • BogusN
      BogusN  •  Whiteriver, Arizona  •  3 mths ago
      Protests draw attention to problems, they don't provide solutions. The various outcomes unfolding from the "Arab Spring" are going to give the world a lot of information on what needs to be done after the protesters have made their point. One thing already becoming obvious is that the more confrontational you are, the less likely you will come up with viable solutions.
      • Blue Sky
        Blue Sky 3 mths ago
        Succinct point. The ONLY purpose for protest is to shed light on the problem, and keep the light on the problem until it is solved!
      • Jon
        Jon 3 mths ago
        That is pretty ignorant of history. Protest freed India and were a direct cause of civil reform in this country in the 1960's, and the reform of Egypt. Information is worthless without action. Confrontation is very necessary, it simply must remain non-violent.
    • Christopher
      Christopher  •  3 mths ago
      Occupy went back to occupying their trust-funded urban dwellings, parents' basements, or to whoever they're leeching off of. They just moved the whole bowl-smoking, drum circle party masquerading as a political statement back to where they have idiots who support their behavior once the world tired of their childishness. This article is a joke.
      • Mike M
        Mike M 3 mths ago
        Please continue to drink your flavor-aid. When your world turns upside down, don't be prepared for it.
      • Christopher
        Christopher 3 mths ago
        And you please continue to smoke your bowls and play pretend-revolutionary. You and the rest of your occutard trustifarian bretheren will be the first ones slaughtered when the world turns upside down.
      • harpospeaks
        harpospeaks 3 mths ago
        awwwwwwwwww, look everybody!!!!......christopher thinks if he mindlessly repeats half-a@@ed criticisms he picks up from Glenn Drunk, that Sarah Palin will nail him!!!
    • Patsy
      Patsy  •  3 mths ago
      Occupy voting places and Vote! Vote! Vote!
      • Fasty
        Fasty 3 mths ago
        For Ron Paul
      • Patsy
        Patsy 2 mths ago
        No Thanks Fasty: You guys don't see how pushy and hateful you're crowd sounds to other people. It's intimidating. Soften the tone.
    • Stephen
      Stephen  •  3 mths ago
      I think they went to Occupy Bourbon Street for Mardi Gras, and will Soon Occupy Florida for Spring Break. No real message, or motive, just College "political" majors having a street party.
      • Bob A
        Bob A 3 mths ago
        really? the message was pretty clear to anybody that possesses a brain, sadly that rules you out it seems.
      • Stephen
        Stephen 3 mths ago
        I dare you to definitively define their goals, or for that matter have two people involved in the protest agree on them. Just alot of bitter people upset because they lack the success that a selcet few have, or the over privledged college crowd.
      • Mike M
        Mike M 3 mths ago
        Stephen: you seem like you are the kind who would not take anyone's word for important events, especially infotainment news media, and you have found that this OWS is important enough for you to comment. So tell us of your personal experience with this movement, without perjorative insults, just facts. Tell us what you found there.

        I think you took Faux New's version as gospel (as usual) and don't have a clue who went to these protests, nor what they were doing tere. I found the homeless, unemployed and elderly, but also career people from private business and professionals. They were there not to make easily understandable slogans for lazy infotainment watchers, but to actually open up a new channel for discussing and trying to solve the systemic issues that plague our society. I found their discussions refreshing and respectful of differing viewpoints: they concentrated on consensus, not majority, so all viewpoints that wished to be expressed were expressed. It made for a lot of inefficiency, which is natural to a democracy. But creative and good solutions won't come from your vested right-wing interests or your equally dogmatic opponents. It will come from open-minded examination of our society, which is a difficult and thankless undertaking, not something you can put into political slogans or make a quick buck on.
    • LeoS
      LeoS  •  3 mths ago
      Winter happened, the author is such a conspiracy theorist that he fails to see the obvious.... its cold, they are hibernating
      • JamesC
        JamesC 3 mths ago
        so they are fighting the power....until it gets chilly...

        you know that if they were still there, they might be taken seriously. This is just like the Taliban when they hibernate and then start a spring offensive. We call them FWFs....Fair Weather Fighters....and we consider them a joke too
      • Chris
        Chris 3 mths ago
        actually a lot of them are STILL OUT THERE maybe not as big right now but OWS is still occupying land.
      • Jon
        Jon 3 mths ago
        Seriously??? Did you just use the work conspiracy to discredit the 99%? They were largely ignored by the media, and then arrested... in masses. Please quit twisting information to suit the "protesters are lazy #$%$ version of history. They have more courage than most, and they have hugely influenced national dialogue.
    • Harry
      Harry  •  3 mths ago
      What happened? Winter.
    • Gus
      Gus  •  Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania  •  3 mths ago
      This manufactured nonsense about the so-called 1% vs the 99% is a hilarious joke!! OWS should just be OS.....Occupy Space! The encampments turned into hotbeds of depravity and criminality. I did not hear one OWS trespasser who could articulate why they were there. Good riddance to that rot!!!
    • Kyle
      Kyle  •  Lenexa, Kansas  •  3 mths ago
      We all pay taxes and these morons in DC keep wasting it! We should declare a tax revolt and see how the politicians like it!
    • J G
      J G  •  3 mths ago
      “The “occupiers” are the post-digested remains of the natural journey through the intestinal tract of the metastasizing liberal ideology in education and pop culture”.
    • Gig
      Gig  •  3 mths ago
      They are the 99% of liberals, that's all. They don't represent THIS working man in any way.
    • Watchdog
      Watchdog  •  3 mths ago
      lol occupy wall street..what a joke....I hope they are watching the oscars....there your 1%...and they are the ones giving money to the President... Bill Maher gave a million dollars.... gee..he's middle class right!!....
    • Daniel
      Daniel  •  3 mths ago
      The kind of methods they were using just were not sustainable. I continue to maintain that I sympathized with many of their points, but the methods they used were not remotely constructive and their anger was misdirected. I'm sure I'll be called a "stupid lib" and other names, but to me it really feels like the law is up for sale in this country, Citizens United was the ultimate proof of it. But OWS should have directed their anger toward Washington were our lawmakers have been too busy kissing lobbyist's ring to bother with enforcing the laws they take a vow to uphold.
    • Stiltz
      Stiltz  •  Santa Ana, California  •  3 mths ago
      U.S. Senator and 1964 Presidential Nominee Barry Goldwater
      “The American Republic will endure until the day Congress discovers that it can bribe the public with the public’s money.”
    • Zimmy
      Zimmy  •  3 mths ago
      lazy losers went home to thier holes
    • GuvGeek
      GuvGeek  •  New Orleans, Louisiana  •  3 mths ago
      The biggest thing that OWS has shown is that going tens of thousands into debt for a College Degree is just plan dumb. Maybe just having people realize that it takes a trade and not a College Degree to get a job will implode the Liberal Colleges over the next 10 or 20 years. Maybe Professors will actually have to start working a second job just to make ends meet, like their pupils do.
    • Rachel
      Rachel  •  St Paul, Minnesota  •  3 mths ago
      Makes sense that they had to reorganize and map out a different strategy. Camping out on public land wasn't working, anymore and they were creating a mess that had to be cleaned up with taxpayers dollars.
    • Marshall Law Cle OH
      Marshall Law Cle OH  •  Cleveland, Ohio  •  3 mths ago
      So yesterday.
    • Jim M
      Jim M  •  3 mths ago
      OWS never had any "steam". This misdirected herd was orchestrated in most cases and never actually believed in any of the noise they were paid to spew. Only in their own minds did they think they were having any impact.
    • Bruce
      Bruce  •  Dallas, Texas  •  2 mths ago
      I perfer Democracy over Socialism.
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