

What the fuck has Occupy done? - quadrahelix
http://whatthefuckhasoccupydone.com/

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mc32
This has to be for self-consumption, as I can't imagine they would believe
people would take their statements at face value. Example:

>The encampments that characterized the movement during Fall 2011 enabled
formerly disparate and disconnected groups of people to build vast in-person
and online networks.

What I saw in SF, from the visits was a kind of alien landscape -a kind of
flavela. To me it looked worse than a refugee camp. It was more like a
political re-enactment of Woodstock. There appeared to be little care
(garbage, refuse, mud, signs, etc.) which revealed what appeared to be
carelessness. In Japan, for example, there are homeless, but their spaces are
as clean as can be, given the circumstances. Is that dignity? In any event, it
was not welcoming to me.

>Protesters have succeeded in implanting “We are the 99 percent,”

Thanks for coopting me. While statistically true, in a fiscal sense, I share
little with the "movement" beyond that coincidence (and a few other
intersections).

>In response to the failure of mainstream media to cover the movement,
protesters have created various independent media sources including
newspapers, radio programs, and websites.

What planet are they on that's half year behind the news. For weeks, if not
months, all you could see on TV and online was OWS coverage --mostly from a
naive, non-judgmental pov.

>Thousands of protesters have been educated on the consensus model of
decision-making, a form of direct democracy pioneered by anarchists. Yes,
anarchists.

Except, that model of decision-making is suboptimal. Wherever I've been
exposed to this model, it's tedious and virtually fruitless.

>Protesters have shined a grim spotlight on the militarization of local police
forces.

Has it really become militarized? What does that even mean, beside trying to
hook on to a loaded word. If anything, it seems to me police are far less
ruthless and more accountable than they were back in the 1900-1960s.

>Encampments across the country have fed and clothed local homeless
populations despite scant resources.

Good. Not sure that's what they set out to do, but, sure. On the other hand,
their destructive tendencies (sticking it to the man, I guess) caused local
govs to spend money they didn't have, possibly making it worse for the
homeless, in a medium term.

>The Occupy movement has brought attention to rapidly ballooning student debt,
expected to reach $1 trillion during Spring 2012.

Anyone who has been and is a student is "aware" of this, as well as parents of
students. It is a big problem (in my opinion) and needs addressing.

If the movement, is going to achieve anything meaningful I think they need to
lock onto something meaningful which will bring about significant change.
Something like ending the enormous influence of PACs, or reining back the
personification of the corporation. Do something that's impactful but perhaps
not as glamorous or as "revolutionary" as pretending they're at war with the
establishment. I mean, it sounds funny to me how they talk about
militarization and so on meanwhile their speech is very much in tune with that
of revolutionaries and dictatorships --you know, people who bear arms and kill
each other.

------
paulhauggis
"New York State now has a millionaire’s tax. You’re welcome."

Thanks for getting even more theft from the government legalized.

They keep taking and taking from the people that actually have helped create
jobs in this country..and have virtually no accountability.

Yes Occupy, thanks.

~~~
ontoillogical
Theft from the government?

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AJ007
Here is what Occupy has done -> ended any meaningful coverage of the anti-war
protest movement. I'm sure Edward Bernays would be proud.

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jejones3141
Let's see... created environments in which diseases spread (parvovirus in San
Francisco, tuberculosis in Atlanta), dead bodies are found, and crimes take
place (Google "occupy rap sheet" for several lists), destroyed public
property, cost cities a great deal of money... what else?

------
jstalin
The local "OCCUPY" movement in my city has a facebook page that is essentially
a marxist propaganda front. What a joke. It's mostly old-time hippies and
younger entitled hipsters.

~~~
samstave
This from Joseph Stalin?

~~~
mc32
Well, he _would_ know.

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eli
_In response to the failure of mainstream media to cover the movement,
protesters have created various independent media sources including
newspapers, radio programs, and websites._

Don't quite get this one. Occupy got a ton of coverage. For weeks it was
unavoidable. It got a huge amount of coverage compared to the Tea Party even
though the Tea Party had far more participants and, arguably, a far bigger
political impact.

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steve-howard
> Protesters have succeeded in implanting “We are the 99 percent,”

And for that, I hate them. It's an annoying slogan that evokes an "us-vs-them"
mentality and implies the approval of millions of people who disagree with
them.

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jejones3141
>Encampments across the country have fed and clothed local homeless
populations despite scant resources.

Um, you might want to read
[http://www.nypost.com/p/news/local/manhattan/zuccotti_hell_k...](http://www.nypost.com/p/news/local/manhattan/zuccotti_hell_kitchen_i5biNyYYhpa8MSYIL9xSDL);
the occupy cooks resented spending their time cooking for the "professional
homeless" and decided to just give out minimal food and pointers to soup
kitchens, keeping the "organic chicken and vegetables, spaghetti bolognese,
and roasted beet and sheep’s-milk-cheese salad" for themselves.

------
pella
my favorite :

"Occupy Wall St - The Revolution Is Love"

<http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BRtc-k6dhgs>

