With the last of the camps getting closed by authorities for the Winter, OWS contemplates next moves. by Bill Gee
(centrist)
Wednesday, December 7, 2011
Zuccotti Park is practically devoid of protestors today. So is Dilworth Plaza in Philadelphia. Occupy K-Street in Washington DC was the scene of a farce of political performance art by protestors more interested in making a scene than taking a stand. All over the country, Occupy Camps are getting shut down with every passing day. Those who remain despite police orders to disburse are getting arrested and their belongings are being unceremoniously tossed into the trash. With every successful camp shutdown, local authorities are emboldened to shut down the camps in their own backyards.
First Amendment Rights? Who cares when the media, and by extension the rest of America, would rather sing Christmas Carols and hunt for the latest “Black Friday” bargain than discuss the growing income gap and the impending collapse of the economy as a whole.
A Comeback in the Spring?
Some in the Movement have speculated that OWS has not gone away, nor has it lost its strength nor its appeal. It’s simply “gone underground” and that by the Spring, the camps will be back and stronger than ever.
Maybe.
According to Google, Internet searches containing “Occupy Wall Street” are rapidly decreasing. Even my own articles on the subject have seen a rapid decline in readership over the last few weeks, so this is likely going to be my last column on the subject for some time to come. One would think that the likelihood for a resurgence of protest activity may be prematurely forecasted.
I doubt it. As I write this, it’s 45 degrees outside and very wet. New England has already seen their first major winter storm and the rest of the winter promises to be just as miserable. Safely indoors, we have Christmas trees, eggnog, food drives for the needy, and a present under every tree. Under these conditions, only the most hearty among us has the stomach to stand outside in the cold and the wet carrying protest signs. I suppose the ones left standing outside are the ones without a Holiday home to go to.
One of the changed tactics for protestors without a home to go to is to Occupy previously foreclosed homes. This has been done in Brooklyn, Los Vegas, Atlanta and other cities where the main Occupy camps have been disbanded by authorities. We can interpret this latest move as the actions of the homeless element of the movement who are both seeking a warm place to spend the winter and bring attention to the reckless foreclosure movement that left thousands of people without homes during the Financial Crisis. During the coldest months of the winter, I think authorities will tolerate these home “reoccupations”, but as the weather gets warmer I’m sure the police will be arresting many people and charging them with trespassing and burglary.
Economic Fundamentals Unchanged
Despite the apparent end or hiatus of the visible protest movement (at least until warmer weather), the fundamentals that brought the people out onto the streets in the first place have not changed. In fact, in many ways they have gotten worse. Europe still stands on the brink of total economic collapse, Congress is still as ineffective and beholden to their corporate masters as ever, and the 2012 Presidential Race appears to have more in common with Reality TV than anything of real substance. Even Vladimir Putin isn’t getting a free ride from the Russian people who have taken their lead from the OWS movement to demand the Kremlin to be more accountable to the rampant corruption there.
I stand by my earlier forecasts that the cascade of economic failures that will characterize 2012, and make 2008 look like a walk-in-the-park, will wait until after the first quarter of 2012 is about half way through.
In short, nothing has changed, but the 1% is now “on notice”. If I were them, I would be VERY afraid.
Conditions for a Comeback of OWS
All that needs to happen for the camps to pop up again in the Spring is for nothing to change or for things to get worse, which they probably will. Unfortunately for OWS veterans, local authorities will be waiting for them with new rules, ordinances, police barricades, and every other tool at their disposal to crush the Peoples’ Right to Free Speech and Assembly.
It will be interesting to see how organizers will alter their tactics in order to meet the new resistance. Will they set up camps in places other than financial districts? Will they be better funded? Will the movement get more violent? Will we see industrial sabotage become a tactic? Will they have a more clear agenda on how they plan to enact the social change they desire?
We’ll just have to wait and see.
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