OWS Being raided - Live feed

[First Lady]

Originally Posted by c.t.ner

I agree that Occupy Calgary was a joke and to an extent the Occupy movement in Canada did little to nothing to spark any sort of debate, but to say the Occupy Movement in the US didn't affect any change is a bit of a stretch.
........

I think you are bang on. There is a very stark difference between conditions in the US vs Canada.

I think the Canadian movement would have been further ahead if they had come out and said the only goal was to "show support" for OWS. Or if they had organized dozens (or 100's) of bus loads of people going to US to join them.

They failed "Canadian'ize" the movement and as a result just ended up looking foolish and ticking the general public off. (Calgary in particular, IMO)

[HotHotHeat]

Originally Posted by c.t.ner

I agree that Occupy Calgary was a joke and to an extent the Occupy movement in Canada did little to nothing to spark any sort of debate, but to say the Occupy Movement in the US didn't affect any change is a bit of a stretch.

For something that is what two months old now, it spurred a thousand local versions and dramatically changed the political discussion for the past two months, I'd hardly say that there wasn't any change. I'll agree that there wasn't a similar symbolic change as we've seen around the world in the past year (anyone who thought that would happen is delusional), but it's far to early to say what the outcome of the Occupy Wall Street Movement will be.

I'd say there are already some small victories, in the form of the Larger banks rolling back their debit card fees and to an extent Obama's push to help with student loan reform. They're small events, but the key is to look at the talking points and political discussion over the next little while. It'll be interesting to see how the conversation changes over the next months leading up to the 2012 elections. If everyone starts talking about income inequality, removing corporate influence in Washington, student loan reform, then I think you'll see a similar impact from OWS in 2012 as the Tea Party had in 2010.

I recognize the attention they brought to the issues you bring up, and generally agree. What I was getting at is that it there doesn't seem to be a point in them continuing to live in these camps for weeks on end. They've said their bit, had their 15 minutes, now it's time to leave.

[SebC]

Liberate Wall Street?

[Knalus]

Originally Posted by HotHotHeat

I recognize the attention they brought to the issues you bring up, and generally agree. What I was getting at is that it there doesn't seem to be a point in them continuing to live in these camps for weeks on end. They've said their bit, had their 15 minutes, now it's time to leave.

I actually appreciate the fact that the protesters recognize this is not a 15 minute issue, it is much bigger than that, it's about how society is fundamentally structured.

[Winsor_Pilates]

Originally Posted by First Lady

I think you are bang on. There is a very stark difference between conditions in the US vs Canada.

I think the Canadian movement would have been further ahead if they had come out and said the only goal was to "show support" for OWS. Or if they had organized dozens (or 100's) of bus loads of people going to US to join them.

They failed "Canadian'ize" the movement and as a result just ended up looking foolish and ticking the general public off. (Calgary in particular, IMO)

Ditto for Vancouver, completely agree.
In fact, at first I was pretty supportive of the Occupy Vancouver people because I assumed they were doing it to supposed those in the US.
Turns out they were just useless hippies after all.

[Caged Great]

I'm hoping that the Occupy movement now starts their own gathering of candidates like the tea party did.

[Beerfest]

Re-occupy Zuccotti park is apparently going on right now.

http://www.livestream.com/owsoccupyseattle

[valo403]

Originally Posted by Knalus

I actually appreciate the fact that the protesters recognize this is not a 15 minute issue, it is much bigger than that, it's about how society is fundamentally structured.

I respect that as well, I just hope that they respect that there are people that live and work in the community. My issue from day 1 has been the apparent disregard for the fact that their actions had a negative impact on people just looking to live their lives. I respect their right to make their point, I've actually fought for the 1st Amendment rights of a number of causes, but I recognize the need to respect the greater community.

[Itse]

Originally Posted by Caged Great

I'm hoping that the Occupy movement now starts their own gathering of candidates like the tea party did.

I wouldn't be that surprised. The are obvious parallels, and the Tea Party definitely showed that getting your own people elected is possible for an active movement.

Financing obviously could be an issue though, but I'd guess that with a relatively young movement like this there's a lot of people familiar with the possibilities of new media, which might level the playing field a bit.