America. Is. Too. OBEDIENT.

[Zalatix]

Whatever happened to the big sit-in protests of the 1960s? Why aren't America's 46 million unemployed joining Occupy Wall Street? Why aren't more liberal Democrats out protesting with Occupy Wall Street, after all, even if they protest Democrats and Republicans alike, can anyone explain to me where Occupy Wall Street's gripes differ from ours?

I've been to a few Occupy protests and I know for a fact that our numbers should have been FAR larger considering how many people in America hold the same views as OWS. Much less those who have lost their jobs and have gone homeless.

Now I know people are going to demand that I cite some examples of America's servile complacency and I did that pre-emptively in another thread, which led to a little... trouble. So I'll just stay general about it.. America is too obedient.

Nobody fights back anymore. God knows how many folks out there are starving to death quietly, or dying of exposure in this wacky weather, or dying of health problems they know they have. Nobody's rising up. Occupy Wall Street is way smaller than it should be. The unemployed don't even protest. Those who are better off, sure as hell don't do anything, but one can expect that they don't think they'll join the ranks of the jobless or homeless.

We don't even see sit-ins or mass protests anymore. Not even from the millions of people who are the most adversely affected. What happened to our spirit? Are we destined to have a country where the poor are Social Darwinized out of existence?

[alfredo]

1. Wait for the spring.

[Pedalpower]

26. Change can only occur in good weather? OWS self-mutilates...

If the weather doesn't get them, the police surely will. Long-term, physical occupation of public space isn't going to get us the change we need.

Demonstrate, yes.

Choose a method that's damn near impossible to succeed at, no.

Just like the Right wants to make it hard to participate in politics, OWS has chosen a method that makes demonstrating difficult and unappealing.

[alfredo]

31. Occupation has morphed into other activities. Now the occupation has become a meeting place in our

city. As long as there's a presence, passing motorist are reminded that America is ripped off by the ruling class. Our Occupy has taken up the issue of moving the state's money from Chase to a locally owned bank based in our state. Their occupation is in the shadow of a local Chase bank. Local businesses have been very generous and supportive.

The occupy movement was all about changing the conversation from deficits to income inequality, and corporate control of our government. It has succeeded.



There will be demonstrations.

If you feel they should take another tack, show up at a local general assembly and voice your ideas.

[etherealtruth]

2. Good post

Americans are most assuredly too complacent. For those among us that do not feel the need to protect the frailest among us ... just remember: we all are vulnerable.

[Zalatix]

4. "Me? I'm not vulnerable! I have a college degree! I ADAPT!!! to the new economy!"

These were almost the exact words I heard from a guy who got his MBA back in 2003? 2004? and whose last words to me were bragging that he was going across country to work for Countrywide.

[nanabugg]

11. We are too busy "texting" and typing on social and political websites.

Technology has it advantages and drawbacks.

[IcyPeas]

27. I'm ashamed to say...

I feel guilty for doing exactly this. we sit behind our computers protesting.....

[xchrom]

3. Conformity is a killer. Nt

[PA Democrat]

5. Happy to K & R.

Much better frame of the issue.

[lsewpershad]

17. Me too

[Zalatix]

25. And thanks for being understanding!

I've rarely seen a forum where people let you backtrack on a poorly worded comment. You guys and gals are great!!!

[Starry Messenger]

6. We are kept overworked too.

I really want to get out to more Occupy events, but the end of the day finds me dropping from exhaustion. I think the bosses prefer it that way.

[RobertEarl]

7. Some good news

http://www.democraticunderground.com/106968

One of the smallest towns in America had an Occupy rally yesterday.
And it was pretty well attended. Mostly middle class.

I think Occupy has just gone through it's first run from NYC to BC, and there is more to come. First on the agenda is the 'Move to Amend' what do you think of that?

[Zalatix]

9. Occupy and Move to Amend? They're a natural couple. n/t

[quinnox]

8. I think we are slowly going down the drain

and unfortunately neither party is doing much about it either. The rightward direction America has been headed is killing the country and Obama hasn't made the drastic course correction that is needed to stop the country from hitting the iceberg. Borrowing trillions to fight unnecessary wars, give the ultra rich more tax cuts they don't need, and being the worlds policeman is no longer sustainable, and ironically the only major politician talking about this is a republican wacko, Ron Paul. The entire house of cards will fall unless things are changed pretty soon in a drastic way, in my opinion.

[99Forever]

10. Better written thread.

In answer:

American Spring is right around the corner, my friend. Don't discount The 99% just yet, leave that to the 1% and their lapdog sycophants. Things are moving behind the scenes.

NGU

[handmade34]

12. yes, BUT...

there are those that aren't... many here...

http://www.democraticunderground.com/10361499


calling for the Revolution (yesterday)

[Curmudgeoness]

13. I have had this discussion with many people...

and every one of them has the same problem with OWS---they think that it is just a bunch of homeless people squatting in parks. I know this is not the case, but they have a public preception problem. I think that if we can get more of the ordinary people-next-door middle class and working class to attend events, we will have a good chance of making it work. We can do this with more of a focus on particular issues for these events, a focus that will interest more of the people who should be there.

[Zalatix]

15. You know, about the whole homeless squatting in parks thing...

We need to stop vilifying these homeless, too.

OWS has occasionally stepped in to help the homeless:
http://thinkprogress.org/special/2011/12/12/387807/occupy-windsor-helps-homeless/

http://www.usatoday.com/news/nation/story/2011-10-22/occupy-wall-street-homeless/50868444/1


However, we also have SHAMEFUL moments like this, too.
http://gothamist.com/2011/10/27/occupy_wall_street_kitchen_revolts.php

[Curmudgeoness]

21. You are right that there should not be villification of the homeless.

But with that said, the people you are suggesting you want to get involved in OSW are turned off by the opinion that the OWS are just homeless people. Like it or not. Stepping in to help the homeless is noble, and should be a point that the OWS are making. We just have to get the country behind OWS by making sure that they realize the protester are just ordinary people---just like them. This is the point I am tried to make.

[Zalatix]

22. Totally understood. OWS needs to represent a broad swath of people. The whole 99%.

[Raffi Ella]

14. Thank You for the re-write, Zalatix, much appreciated.

I too have been to Occupy protests, spent the night a few times and it was amazing. I felt a part of something big. Since then it has died down to almost nothing and Occupy wasn't huge in the South to begin with.

I don't know what it's going to take to get people in the streets en masse. I think History will be asking the same thing in the decades to come. Much philosophical debate will be had about us...

[Zalatix]

23. I must admit the rich have done a masterful job of listening to Jay Gould's lesson

he once said back in the 1800s, "I could pay half the working class to kill the other half."

[DeathToTheOil]

16. SHUT UP AND WATCH THE KARDASHIANS!!!

[Zalatix]

18. *pops bubblegum* The Kardashians are so 2011. This year is Snooki's.

[loyalsister]

19. A lot of people who are struggling

have jobs and families and stuff they have to do to keep both going.
There is so much packed into single days that a lot of people simply don't have the energy to divert their attention away from their own and their family's immediate existence.

[sabrina 1]

20. I think you will much more action in the Spring from OWS.

But they have not been quiet and are gathering support now from communities where they are going to help keep people in their homes. This movement is in its infancy and it got off to a great start. In just four months it changed the dialogue, got the attention of the Politicians and the Media and put the issue of money in politics into the public debate.

There are powerful forces aligned against them. First sheer brutality by armies of heavily armed robo cops working for the 1% was used to try to silence them. When all that did was to get them more support, a new tactic, maybe more insidious, is now being used. They are using the Courts to falsely charge them with felonies and keeping them in jail for longer periods of time, also raising the bail money.

So they have to regroup and figure out how to defeat these tactics.

Yesterday eg, they were back in Zuccotti Park and throughout the week there were other actions around the country. I think this movement is growing, not going away at all.

[T S Justly]

24. Occupy had hundreds at the home of the "emergency manager" governor in Mich, just this past week.

People came from all around.

[Jean V. Dubois]

28. No draft + a Democrat in the White House = no big protests.

[rollin74]

29. many americans simply don't understand OWS

it is largely perceived to be a movement about camping rights in public parks. A lot of people don't grasp the political or economic aspect of it

[Mosaic]

30. And that's because the lying, misinforming, greed protecting media

Keeps America in the dark. It's a terrible thing. Only Maddow and Hayes on MSNBC talk about it sometimes. Maddow tells us nobody knows who she is, indirectly the other day. WTF? Way to play strong for the team? We know the liberal media is a joke, the US was always for the 1%! Wake up America! OWS is a powerful movement for us to end this Gilded Age we live in and some like Olbermann and RT, Thom Hartmann, Amy Goodman, and Cenk Uygur can understand why it is important to cover it. You need brains, we all have brains, but sadly most Americans are either too dumb, to misinformed, or too busy. I don't wish to give any comfort to the 1%, so go OWS!

[SammyWinstonJack]

37. +1000000!

[PETRUS]

32. Take heart.

We're "on schedule," so to speak.

Crash in 1929, people took to the streets in '32-33, progress begins a few years later.

Of course, it didn't go far enough back then. The system was reformed, but the oligarchs retained power. Lesson learned.

[Zalatix]

34. Thanks! Fortunately back then they didn't have a Tea Party... did they?

[PETRUS]

35. Not that I'm aware of.

But the adversaries did include American fascists with deep pockets.

[lunatica]

38. You should probably read up on Bush's grandfather's history for starters

Prescott Bush. The teabag party would be proud to count him as one of their own.

"How Bush's grandfather helped Hitler's rise to power

Rumours of a link between the US first family and the Nazi war machine have circulated for decades. Now the Guardian can reveal how repercussions of events that culminated in action under the Trading with the Enemy Act are still being felt by today's president."

http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2004/sep/25/usa.secondworldwar

********

"BBC: Bush's Grandfather Planned Fascist Coup In America
New investigation sheds light on clique of powerbrokers, including Prescott Bush, who sought to overthrow U.S. government and implement Hitlerian policies"

http://www.prisonplanet.com/articles/july2007/240707fascistcoup.htm

********

Prescott Bush's biography

http://www.spartacus.schoolnet.co.uk/MDbushPR.htm

********

Who needs the Teabag Party when they have the Bush family?

[Art_from_Ark]

40. I have some Arkansas newspapers from 1932

On the front page of one newspaper from August is an article about hundreds of farmers in Sioux City, Iowa who blockaded food shipments into the city to protest low food prices, and there was serious talk about declaring martial law and sending in the military to end the uprising.

[Neoma]

33. Because they're busy searching for a job!

[lunatica]

36. Occupy is keeping quite busy

And it's getting a good solid experience of community activism under its belt, so to speak. Every Occupy enclave is actively 'occupied' in their community now, engaging in replacing the broken system that doesn't work anymore with something that does. You should try to be more patient and understand that grassroots movements are organic things that must grow and change and grow roots so as to have a solid foundation. That all takes time which any study of history will show. Example: Women fought for the vote since long before the Civil War and they finally obtained it after WWI which was decades later. Blacks fought for their civil rights much longer but in the end they made it happen. Gays are still fighting for equality and they will get it too.

Occupy has also avowed they're against violence so their method of fighting back is not as glamorous as some sort of physical confrontation. And the magic of Occupy is that you can do it in every aspect of your life without having to be in the public eye. Like most massive popular movements work is done at the kitchen table in small groups and out of sight of the press.

[ClassWarrior]

39. Nobody?? Did you pass out last January and wake up mid-April?

<----- There was something going on here in Wisconsin that might interest you.



NGU.

[MineralMan]

41. You'll see huge crowds soon.

When President Obama goes out on the campaign trail in earnest, you'll see huge crowds turning out to support him. Then, when he wins, you'll see another enormous crowd turn out for his inauguration.

As someone who was heavily involved in the protests of the 60s, from civil rights to anti-war, I can tell you that most of them were small. It was rare when they were huge, but those are the ones we remember, not the small ones. There was a large crowd in 1965 in Selma and Birmingham. I remember it, because I was part of that crowd. There were huge crowds at the 1968 convention. I wasn't there, because I was in the USAF at the time. There were big crowds at the pentagon protests, too. I was in those crowds.

There were also many, many smaller protests - protests that turned out a few dozen at most. I was at many of those.

The huge crowds you'll see in 2012, though, will be in support of President Obama. Those crowds will outnumber almost all of the Occupy protests that may occur.

[alterfurz]

42. Howard Zinn concurs...

Civil disobedience is not our problem. Our problem is civil obedience. Our problem is that numbers of people all over the world have obeyed the dictates of the leaders of their government and have gone to war, and millions have been killed because of this obedience....Our problem is that people are obedient all over the world in the face of poverty and starvation and stupidity, and war, and cruelty. Our problem is that people are obedient while the jails are full of petty thieves, and all the while the grand thieves are running the country. That's our problem. -- Howard Zinn

[Zalatix]

43. Howard Zinn is quite right.

How did we come to this, anyway?